undergraduate research mentorship and identity development · brad wuetherick, executive director,...

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Brad Wuetherick, Executive Director, Learning and Teaching

TRU Undergraduate Research Symposium 2018, Kamloops, BC

Creating an Inclusive, Scholarly, Knowledge-Building Community

Undergraduate Research Mentorship and Identity Development:

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Tansi … Tawow Kwe … P’jilasi

• I would like to begin by acknowledging that Thompson Rivers University is situated within the unceded traditional lands of the Secwepemc Nation.

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Who am I?

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Executive Director, Learning and TeachingDalhousie University

(formerly at the University of Saskatchewan, and the University of Alberta)

Métis (Cree) – European settler ancestry

@bwuetherick

Where are we now?

•What do we mean by identity development in the context of mentored undergraduate research?

•What do understand “an inclusive, scholarly, knowledge-building community” to mean?

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“All undergraduate students in all higher education institutions should experience learning through, and about, research and inquiry” (Healey and Jenkins, 2009)

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Undergraduate Research Outcomes

•Enhances overall engagement and learning (student-faculty interaction; frequent feedback; challenges new ways of thinking•Improves student success, retention and completion (especially for underrepresented groups) •Increases pursuit of advanced degrees

(Kuh, 2008; Laursen et al, 2010; Turner et al, 2008; Wuetherick and McLaughlin, 2011)

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Undergraduate Research Outcomes

•Research-based learning helps students develop critical academic dispositions (towards the world, knowledge and themselves as learners/people) and enables students to “become authentically their own persons” (Barnett, 2005)•Research experiences open up the ‘episteme’ (or hidden, underlying game) of the discipline – the ways of thinking and practicing in a field (Cousins, 2006)

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Inclusive Scholarly Knowledge-Building Community

Creating an inclusive, scholarly, knowledge-building community of practice, both within and beyond the formal curriculum

(Brew, 2006; Wuetherick & McLaughlin, 2011).

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Inclusive Scholarly Knowledge-Building Community

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(Brew, 2006)

Inclusive Undergraduate ResearchAligns with movements to support:•Students as producers (Neary & Winn, 2009)•Students as collaborators (Taylor & Wilding, 2009)•Student as co-creators (Bovill, Bulley & Morss, 2011)•Students as change agents (Kay, Dunne, & Hitchison, 2010)•Students as partners (Little, 2011; Cook-Sather, Bovill & Felten, 2014)

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Gallup-Purdue Index on The Undergraduate Experience

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Undergraduate research mentorship is key to these outcomes

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Undergraduate Research Mentorship

Mentoring within the UR experience provides:•Intellectual support (related to learning and undertaking the research and inquiry process)•Personal and emotional support (related to the personal well-being of the student)•Professional socialization support (related to learning the norms of the disciplines)

(Thiry and Laursen, 2011)

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Undergraduate Research Mentorship

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(Shanahan et al, 2015)

Mentoring Undergrad Research and Identity Development

•Research Focus: undergraduate students’ perceptions of the influences their mentored research experiences had on their identity orientation, both personal and professional

• Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning Research Seminar on Mentored Undergraduate Research

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Mentoring Undergrad Research and Identity DevelopmentDefining Mentorship:•A more bonded and mutual relationship in

which the faculty mentor is deliberate about both facilitating the student’s personal and professional development (Johnson, 2007)•Mentoring is more focused on the

individual rather than the performance –also concerned with a more holistic view of the student rather than being exclusively task-related

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Mentoring Undergrad Research and Identity Development

Exploring Identity Development:• Little doubt about the impact of higher education on student identity

development (Torres et al., 2003; Estrada-Hollenback et al., 2011)•Role of UGR on identity development in the context of academic identity,

disciplinary identity, and researcher identity is well-established (Hunter et al., 2006; Laursen et al., 2010)• Less research about the impact of UGR on personal identity and other aspects of professional identity

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Mentoring Undergrad Research & Identity Development

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(a) identity as situated in personal and cultural contexts; and

(b) positioned at the intersection of undergraduate research and mentorship, and NOT the individuals in isolation.

(Palmer, Hunt, Neal & Wuetherick, 2015)

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Institution Number of Respondents

Institution 1 92

Institution 2 59

Institution 3 33

Institution 4 32

TOTAL RESPONDENTS 216


Collaborators:Andrea Hunt, UNAMichael Neal, FSURuth Palmer, TCNJ


What do undergraduate participants in research from these institutional contexts report as the specific elements of their mentored undergraduate research experience that contributed to change in their personal and professional identity orientation?

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•Information support (e.g, advice and guidance in completing the research)•Instrumental support (e.g., help with research and writing tasks of various kinds)•Companionship support (e.g., help with working with others as part of the team) •Esteem support (e.g., supporting when successful or consoling when there is failure)

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Support Information Instrumental Companionship Esteem

Faculty supervisor

89.8% 68.1% 39.8% 52.3%

Advanced Student

48.1% 36.1% 42.1% 38.9%

Peers 30.6% 23.1% 54.2% 56.5%


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Relationship Mattered Most During Research

Mattered Most for Personal or

Academic Vision of Self

Peers 19.9% 17.1%

Advanced Students

14.4% 7.9%

Faculty Leader 51.9% 59.3%

Other 1.4% 2.3%

No Response 12.5% 13.4%


1. Relational•relationships with faculty mentors•getting to know other students•working within teams•networking with others in the field

“ . . . I've also realized how indebted I am to my Freshman seminar (FIG) advisor; without her showing me the amount of options I had, I would have never reached this point.”

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2. Future Oriented•resume or CV builder•soliciting letters of recommendation from faculty•graduate school and professional preparation

“I have learned that I am able to tackle much more than I thought and that I am capable of going to graduate school.”

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3. Inquiry/Process-Oriented Skill Development•transferable skills (e.g., time management, self-discipline, communication, teamwork, etc.) •disciplinary research (e.g. competencies acquired and enhanced through all the stages of the research process

“Working in this group setting improved my leadership skills and capabilities. I also improved my skills as an experimental researcher.”

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4. Feelings/Affect•positive feelings (included pride in work completed, self-confidence, happiness, and satisfaction)•negative feelings (included frustration, isolation, failure, and disillusionment)

“I have found one field that I am fairly certain I will not enter professionally. I want to love my research.”

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5. Compensation/Credit•academic credit•financial support (included everything from direct pay through summer stipends and scholarships to future anticipated compensation)

“I will be pursuing my project after my graduation, and hope to turn it into a marketable product.”

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A. Disciplinary/Professional Identity Shifts•confirmation of disciplinary choices

“I am interested in what I thought I was (I thought I wanted to go into research in psychology and I am more convinced now with these experiences). I am organized (which I knew) and capable of teaching and leading others (which I was doubtful of).”

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A. Disciplinary/Professional Identity Shifts•changes in professional status/direction

“My research experiences have pushed me to change my main academic interest and to pursue higher education within that field. My research experiences also opened my eyes to how boring and tedious business work can be compared to the excitement of academic research.”

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A. Disciplinary/Professional Identity Shifts•support for professional self

“This was the first chance I had to practice very basic levels of 'thinking like an engineer' … The experience strengthened my confidence in my chosen major. I do not think I want a career in research. I greatly enjoyed the experience, but at times, I was very stressed from the uncertainty of whether experiments would work at all. Even so, I have not completely ruled research out at this time, since the successes were also amazing to witness.”

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A. Disciplinary/Professional Identity Shifts•attribution of value of mentored undergraduate research to any profession

... Research is crucial to the development of a student in any field because it allows for you, yourself, to delve into a subject matter. I found that because of this, I learned a lot …”

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B. Academic/Researcher Identity Shifts•connection between their mentored undergraduate research experience and a sense of self as a learner

“I am unsure of myself as a researcher to a great degree; and, at the same time, the challenge of the research and being unsure of myself is exciting.”

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B. Academic/Researcher Identity Shifts•reinforcing not only future possibilities, but also effective habits that enable academic success

“I can succeed in just about anything you want to do with hard work. I always felt behind because I didn't have the best high school education, but I just worked harder to keep up and I consider my undergraduate research career very successful. I learned that I wanted to be a researcher! Before I started working on my project, I did not think that is what I wanted to do.”

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B. Academic/Researcher Identity Shifts•awareness of connection to their broader educational experience

“… I have found that my interest is less dependent on the specific topic, and more dependent on the fact that I am working on finding unknown answers to a question. I have found that developing my leadership skills in clubs and organizations … has given me the upper hand as a researcher. … gave me skills in team management, communication, and time management, each of which are all highly applicable in research.”

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B. Academic/Researcher Identity Shifts•transferring what they learned to the rest of their academic experiences

“Research has held me accountable and made me more responsible as a student and as a person in general. Research has also taught me that even if the results do not turn out the way you hoped, it does not mean that you have failed.”

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C. Personal/Cultural Identity Shifts•role of mentored UR experience on their connection to community, social change

“... I was also able to realize that I truly love mixing my interests for the Latino community, civic and community engagement.”“I have a passion for topics that others don't and because of my research I want to create change in the world around me.”

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Mentoring Undergrad Research & Identity DevelopmentC. Personal/Cultural Identity Shifts•opportunities to develop themselves as informed global citizens, even if such an orientation makes them uncomfortable

“I learned that I want to pursue a career in research ... This will allow me to share ideas, see the world, and become a more knowledgeable and cultured person.” “Research is something that I want to do for the rest of my life. And because of this need to know and discover more, it has pushed me to travel and live and see the world out of my comfort zone.”

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C. Personal/Cultural Identity Shifts•students from historically underrepresented communities emphasized the possibilities that came from mentored UR experience

“I am achieving things that I didn't even realize were important or even existed until going to (University 3). Attending graduate school might just be possible for me even though I am a deprived first time college student.”

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D. Importance of Mentorship Relationship• importance of meaningful engagement with their faculty mentors

“... I meet face to face with my faculty advisors (not grad students but actual tenured faculty) to speak my mind freely and have my thoughts/opinions valued and respected.”

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D. Importance of Mentorship Relationship•role that faculty mentors played in shaping their goals for the future

“My research interest solidified academia as a major career interest, my faculty advisor was always willing to talk with me about further education and the research that he has completed. Through my research project, I learned a lot about the public sector, and it increased my interest of pursuing a career in that field as well.”

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D. Importance of Mentorship Relationship•experiences of mentorship influenced their own future orientations to mentorship

“… I would like to continue to do research as a principal investigator at a research institution. I want the opportunity to mentor students like my mentors did me. They had such a positive impact on my life, and I want to provide that for the next generation of scientists.”

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•faculty are credited both for the initiation and sustaining their leadership in the undergraduate research experience•student success in the context of mentored undergraduate research can and must rely on a constellation of persons providing different support (informational, instrumental, companionship, esteem)•signal that attention must be given to more complex mentoring models

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•complexity of student identity development as an outcome of mentored UR experience •more attention be given not only to the identified elements, but also to other related facets of learning (including motivation, persistence, and autonomy) that contribute to an individual’s conscious engagement in their own learning and development

•mentors must be fully prepared for this role, yet are rarely trained to be mentors (always/already)

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Etuaptmumk (Two-eyed seeing)

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Wahkotowin

Sâkihtowin

Atlantic Indigenous Mentorship Network

•5 year CIHR ($1 million) funded project to enable pathways for indigenous students to enter health research •Building on a legacy of other similar projects over the previous decade•Mentorship is the critical component for indigenous students to choose a research path (from undergrad, into graduate studies) – Ideal mentor characteristics:•Someone who was also indigenous*•Was respectful and created inclusive environments – indigenous

research methods, epistemologies, culture, ceremony, community

DATE, ADDITIONAL DETAILS (set this text using “Header & Footer) 46

Adaptive Mentorship

•One model (of many mentorship models) we might consider focuses on mentors adjusting their mentorship behaviour in response to the developmental needs of EACH of individual students they are mentoring•Influenced by psychological, social, organizational and cultural aspects of the mentorship setting (Ralph and Walker, 2010)

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Adaptive Mentorship – Student Perspective

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Competence

Confidence

High

Low

Low

D1D4

D3 D2

Adaptive Mentorship – Mentor Perspective

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Task

Support

HighLow

A1A4

A3 A2

High

(Ralph and Walker, 2010)

Discussion Prompts

•How do we create a truly inclusive, scholarly, knowledge-building community?

•How does undergraduate research mentoring influence student identity formation in personal (socio-cultural), professional and academic communities?

•How do we prepare faculty (and others) to be effective mentors, particularly for historically underrepresented students?

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undergraduate research mentorship and identity development · brad wuetherick, executive director,...

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