Development Opportunities

Creativity, Inquiry, and Discovery: Undergraduate Research In and Across the Disciplines

Sponsored by: AAC&U; Network for Academic Renewal
Date: Thursday, November 11, 2010 - Saturday, November 13, 2010
Registration Deadline: September 3, 2010
Location: Durham, North Carolina

Creativity, Inquiry, and Discovery: Undergraduate Research In and Across the Disciplines, will showcase promising models of undergraduate research. The conference will also help participants address issues related to the sustainability and evolution of this veteran practice—including aligning undergraduate research with broader student learning goals; integrating research preparation and practice into departmental curricula, courses, and capstone requirements; assessing students’ undergraduate research to see if they have achieved essential learning outcomes; supporting faculty innovation and leadership for these efforts; institutionalizing undergraduate research in and across the disciplines; strengthening offices of undergraduate research; and broadening participation in undergraduate research, especially among underserved students.

Four thematic tracks make up the conference:

• Defining and Assessing Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice
• Faculty Roles and Rewards
• Mapping Research Preparation and Practice In and Across the Disciplines
• Implementing, Scaling Up, and Sustaining Programs Across Institution

For more information, please visit the conference website.

• View Additional Information on the Creativity, Inquiry, and Discovery: Undergraduate Research In and Across the Disciplines Development Opportunity

Call for Proposals

Across different sectors, leaders are calling for college graduates to acquire skills and expertise developed most effectively through active learning approaches such as undergraduate research. In a recent AAC&U national survey of 302 private sector and nonprofit employers, more than 80% endorsed educational practices where students (a) demonstrate depth of knowledge in their major and their acquisition of analytical, problem-solving, and communication skills; (b) connect classroom learning with real-world experiences; and (c) develop the skills to research questions in their field and develop evidence-based analyses. In a similar survey from 2008, employers overwhelmingly preferred assessments of real-world and applied-learning approaches over tests of general content knowledge as indicators of a graduate’s level of knowledge and potential to succeed in jobs over the long term. Likewise, with increasing attention being given to the need for an active and informed citizenry, for global perspectives, and for ethical development in college, educators are also turning to hands-on learning approaches to best develop these important outcomes.

Undergraduate research is a particular form of engaged learning that the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) defines as “an inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.” As the CUR/NCUR statement notes, this practice, at its best, involves collaborative relationships between faculty and students, spans all academic disciplines, “motivates students to learn by doing” and “promotes both new research and a student’s analytical and communicative skills from the student’s first days within the college experience.”

The Network for Academic Renewal invites submissions of promising practices reflecting four conference themes related to helping faculty, deans, department chairs, student affairs professionals, senior administrators, and students make undergraduate research part of a substantive vision for learning across the college years.

The themes include:

• Defining and Assessing Undergraduate Research and Creative Practice
• Faculty Roles and Rewards
• Mapping Research Preparation and Practice In and Across the Disciplines
• Implementing, Scaling-Up, and Sustaining Programs

For more detailed information, including the guidelines for proposal submission, please see the conference website. Questions on proposals may also be directed to Siah Annand at annand@aacu.org.

Submission Deadline Thursday, April 8, 2010

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