Resources for Instructors
Would you like your students to engage more with undergraduate research? Bookmark this page for a variety of resources and opportunities to partner with the Office of Undergraduate Research.
I would like to:
have my students learn more about undergraduate research opportunities at the University.
1) Book a class visit and presentation with OUR Staff
2) Incorporate OUR symposia into your class assignments or attendance (see below)
have my students learn more the research process through my class, but I need some support.
1) Join OUR’s Faculty Learning Community on the integration of research into teaching and CURE development
2) Join the Council on Undergraduate Research‘s Community of Practice on Mentoring the Integration of Research into the Classroom
integrate research events into my classes and teaching about research.
1) Looking for examples of student presentations? Since 2023, OUR has hosted symposia and conferences in a hybrid format with online presentations accessible via Symposium.
2) Here are some examples of potential class assignments to incorporate conferences and symposia as learning experiences
From J. Schmitz (Piedmont University)
Attend 2-3 presentations and answer the following questions on each presentation and/or poster (make sure to put the title of the presentation in your summary)
1. Briefly summarize the presentation or poster.
2. Tell me one unique thing you learned from the presentation or poster.
3. What is one question you have for the presenter?
From L. Barton (Austin College)
First year students
Attend 2 poster presentations or 1 oral presentation for credit and complete the following form for each presentation. Include the title and name of the presenter.
- Write a question about the research seminar content. It can be for your instructor or the speaker.
- Relate the content of the seminar to your coursework in the space below.
- Extra credit point if you include a selfie with the presenter and upload it to Canvas. Note: These pictures will be used by the UR office to promote this event and future events. Dr. _____ and I are competing this year and whichever class submits the most selfies will get rewarded with donut holes in class!
Second year students
Communicating, within the discipline, to a technically minded, informed audience is a very important aspect of science. It provides a scientist the opportunity to seek feedback on their work and progress, but to also propose new ideas and share novel knowledge with their peers. Communication, from the discipline, to a public audience is just as important for scientists to inform the public and mainstream media about scientific problems with everyday relevance. This form of scientific communication requires just as much preparation and practice to do it well. While both forms of communication are important for successful scientists, they look and sound very different. Can you spot the differences and evaluate these forms of communication on campus?
You must attend at least two presentations during the semester. They may be campus wide convocations related to science, department seminars, or conference presentations. If you attend a seminar or convocation, you must stay for the full hour in order to get credit. On this sheet or an attached page, write a critical review of the research presentation. (If there are two presenters, you should choose only one.) Your review will include:
1. Which type of communication were they using (within or from the discipline)? Where they successful at connecting with the audience? How do you know?
2. Include a brief summary of the research presentation (no more than a short paragraph) that includes data presented and major conclusions.
3. Any unanswered questions or insight you have about the topic and a brief evaluation of the science presented (possibly as it pertains to class).
4. As you think about your own upcoming presentation, are there any strengths you would like to emulate or suggestions to improve the presentation?