Extending the EvaluateUR Method to Expand the Community of Users

Industries and businesses across the country have identified technical and professional competencies and skills they consider to be essential in today's workplace. These skills include communication, problem solving, time management, and teamwork. Above all, industries and businesses want employees who can identify and think through problems and figure out how to solve them. If students are to succeed as employees (or as entrepreneurs) they will need to master these and related skills, be aware of what they know and don't know, and understand how best to overcome any gaps in their knowledge and skills. Undergraduate research and internships, two high impact practices, have been shown to help students take ownership of their learning as they develop and apply problem-solving skills. Many technician education programs at community colleges also include internship opportunities for students at area businesses and industries. Indeed, community colleges play a vital role in preparing students to succeed in the workplace. To measure a broad range of desirable outcomes that include both content knowledge and skills that are critically important in the workplace, this project will use an evidence-based method called EvaluateUR in which students work one-on-one with faculty or research mentors. The approach also provides students with metacognitive skills that improve their problem-solving abilities. The EvaluateUR method helps community college students in technician education and other programs identify the knowledge and skills they gain from conducting research, to see clearly the areas where they need to improve, and to use this knowledge to their advantage as they enter the workforce. The overall goal of this project is to increase the number of undergraduate students who utilize the EvaluateUR method when they conduct research or serve in internships.

This project will overcome barriers to implementation of the EvaluateUR method at all educational institutions, but with a focus on Community and Technical Colleges. Towards this end the project will pursue four objectives. First is to develop a student-only scored version of the EvaluateUR method for community college students conducting research applicable to multiple internship venues including government, business or industry internships. Second is to create a version of EvaluateUR (called EvaluateUR-CURE) for shorter duration research experiences such as those in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE). Third is to develop a no-cost version of the EvaluateUR method for faculty mentoring three or fewer students in summer or academic year research. Fourth, and finally, is to host an online forum for the community of EvaluateUR users to pose questions and share best practices.