An Alternate Approach to Teaching Undergraduate Research Larry L. Kirk and Larry F. Hanne California State University, Chico, Chico, CA 95929
The benefits of undergraduate research to both students and faculty have been described previously 11.21.Students who learnto desien and execute ex~erimentsas undereraduates certainly are better preparei for graduate schoz and careers in science. Facultv involvement in undereraduate research leads to cumen& in the field and hothyenewed enthusiasm and increased effectiveness in teaching. Although some individuals and institutions (3, 4) have been able to establish active and viable undergraduate research programs, the development of a successful undergraduate program is subject to many hurdles (5). These hurdles can seem almost insurmountable when the institution has a past record of minimal involvement in and support for undergraduate research. This article describes a unique format by which faculty that have full-time teaching loads can establish a viable undergraduate research program during the academic year. The objectives of our program are : 1. To establish a research team of faculty and students. 2. To involve students in an interdisci~linarv research . oraiect. " 3. To teach studentsfundamentalresearch skills usingastrue-
tured classroom setting. Background This program was developed because our past experience with traditional undergraduate research was less than ideal. By traditional we mean a program in which students work on individual research projects for one faculty member during the academic year. In our hands this traditional approach had several weaknesses: I. Student training in research. Students were often introduced to resear& and research techniques in a haphazard fashion. When working on an indiv~dualresearch project for a single faculty adhsor, they learned a rather limited number of research skills and were not well-prepared to work as part of a research team. A team approach
to problem-solving is important in many academic and industrial settings. 2. Student commitment to the oromam. Since students signed up for 1or 2 semester ;nits of credit (usually for onlv one semester). thev often committed less time and energ; to research than they did to other courses. When faced with conflicts during the semester such as studying for exams, they prioritized research lower than their other coursework. Students' enthusiasm for research may decline when faced with experimental difficulties in the laboratory, lack of faculty supervision and help and the realization that their research project only involved learning .a few skills. 3. Fucul/y commifm
