2020年春季, the RCA Research Development Unit surveyed NDSU faculty regarding their involvement in undergraduate research. Survey responses were received from 30 departments or units, representing six of the academic colleges at NDSU. 

105份回复中, four indicated that they did not provide research experiences to undergraduates and seven responses were incomplete.

Respondents were asked to provide information by semester: 2019年夏天, 2019年秋季, and 2020年春季.

2019年夏天

55 respondents (57%) indicated that they engaged undergraduate students in research experiences 课堂外 during the 2019 Summer Semester. 在这些受访者中, 74% reported 1-2 undergraduates involved in research experiences, while 26% reported working with 3 or more undergraduate students in research outside the classroom. 116 total research experiences were provided to undergraduate students 课堂外.

Only 5 respondents reported engaging undergraduate students in research experiences 在课堂或实验小组内 在这段时间里. 12 total research experiences were provided to undergraduate students 在课堂或实验小组内.

Responses to the “Other” category included:

• 夏季就业
• 研究经验
• 启动
• 活的程序
• 学术研究轮转
• Paid through local funds; class credit earned

2019年秋季

68 respondents (72%) indicated that they engaged undergraduate students in research experiences 课堂外 during the 2019 Fall Semester. 在这些受访者中, 56% reported 1-2 undergraduates involved in research experiences, while 37% reported working with 3-6 undergraduates, and 7% reported 7 or more undergraduate students. 205 total research experiences were provided to undergraduate students outside the classroom.

26 respondents reported engaging undergraduate students in research experiences 在课堂或实验小组内 在这段时间里. Numbers reported by this group ranged from 1-100 undergraduate students engaged in research 在课堂或实验小组内. 480 total research experiences were provided to undergraduate students within in a class or lab section.

Responses to the “Other” category included:

• 领域经验
• 研究经验
• 顶石项目
• Paid through local funds; class credit earned

2020年春季

With the change in University operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic, many planned research experiences were cancelled. The data for 2020年春季 reflects planned participation as of the start of the semester.

72 respondents (77%) indicated that they engaged undergraduate students in research experiences 课堂外 at the beginning of the 2020 Spring Semester. 在这些受访者中, 54% reported 1-2 undergraduates involved in research experiences, while 38% reported working with 3-6 undergraduates, and 8% reported 7 or more undergraduate students in research outside the classroom. 213 total research experiences were planned for undergraduate students outside the classroom.

33 respondents reported engaging undergraduate students in research experiences 在课堂或实验小组内 在这段时间里. Numbers reported by this group ranged from 1-380 undergraduate students engaged in research 在课堂或实验小组内. 926 total research experiences were planned for undergraduate students 在课堂或实验小组内.

Responses to the “Other” category included:

• 领域经验
• 额外的信用
• 研究经验
• 顶石项目
• 工作研究

Finding Undergraduate Researchers

Respondents reported multiple avenues for finding undergraduate researchers.

Responses to “Other” include:

• 口碑营销
• Recommendations from colleagues
• Student workers hired specifically for research
• Students approach them directly
• 荣誉项目
• Student contact through advising, class
• Advertisements on dedicated websites
• 活的程序
• 在其他班级招聘

Total Number of 研究经验s Offered

The total number of research experiences offered by semester includes those reported both outside the classroom and research experiences as part of a class or lab section.

其他问题

• 57% of respondents had publications and/or presentations that included undergraduate students in the last year.
• 81% of respondents would be interested in a centralized jobs board to post undergraduate research opportunities.
• 33% of respondents have engaged high school students in research .
• 51% of respondents would be willing to have high school and/or community college students do research in the summer.
• When asked what resources or other support was needed, the most common responses were for funding to support undergraduate researchers and assistance identifying interested students.