This qualitative study examines how the COVID 19 pandemic impacted undergraduate research at Miami University. For our study, groups of student researchers in a First Year Research Experience [FYRE] class interviewed students at Miami University who participated in undergraduate research during the pandemic. We asked them to discuss their recent research experiences, the methods that they used, how they adapted to virtual environments and how these adaptations will affect their future careers and research. After the conclusion of the interview phase, transcripts of the conversations were reviewed and annotated. Annotations across 12 separate interviews were compiled and examined for emerging themes. We found that undergraduate researchers found virtual research to be challenging at first, but they eventually adapted to the circumstances. A challenge was that these researchers experienced a lack of personal connections to their group members, faculty and interview participants. Our next steps could be to develop a survey that is sent out to the larger undergraduate researcher community to obtain more specific information on the research environment before, during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. This research may be helpful in finding ways to further engage students in research in a virtual environment.
Authors: Benton Griffaw, Cole Woodruff, Ava Kalina, George Criddle
Faculty Advisor: Dr. Joyce Fernandes, Biology
Graduate Student Advisor: Ally Tamez, Student Affairs in Higher Education
You must be logged in to post a comment.