Exploring Undergraduate Research Projects Success Factors in Muni University, Uganda
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.51986/ijer-2021.vol3.02.09Keywords:
Undergraduate Students, Research Projects, Success Factors, Muni University, UgandaAbstract
This paper presents the success factors for undergraduate research projects (URPs) at Muni University. The objectives of the study were to determine the relevant skills required for the success of undergraduate research projects and investigate the roles of students, supervisors and faculty towards the success of URPs. Questionnaires were administered to a population of 70 final-year students. SPSS-v.21 program was used to analyse the data collected. The research instrument was reliable at Chronbach’s alpha 0.9038. Results showed that research, research environment, research management, personal effectiveness, communication, networking and teamwork skills are paramount to the success of URPs. The study found out that the key stakeholders (students, supervisors and faculty) perform their roles throughout the project period. However, there’s a need to have a mechanism for project tracking, filing complaints, and having URPs externally examined among others.
References
Beer, F., & Thompson, J. (2017). Undergraduate and Graduate Research and Creative Activities: Faculty’s evaluation, time commitment and perceived barriers. A Practice Report. Student Success: A journal exploring the experiences of students in tertiary education, 8(1), 73-78. https://doi.org/10.5204/ssj.v8i1.329
Cooley, E., Garcia, A., & Hughes, J. (n.d.). Undergraduate research in psychology at liberal arts colleges: Reflections on mutual benefits for faculty and students. North American Journal of Psychology, 10(3), 463-471.
Crews, A. (2013). A Partnership for the Future: Undergraduate Research’s Mutual Benefits for Students and Administrators. CUR Focus, 33(3), 3-6.
Daihong, C. (2017). An Assessment of Integrating Authentic Research in Undergraduate Science Curricula. Seattle Pacific University.
Fernández-Santander, A., García-García, M. J., Sáez-Pizarro, B., & Terrón-López, M. J. (2012). Development and assessment of key skills in undergraduate students: an action-research experience. Higher Learning Research Communications, 2(1), 32-49. https://dx.doi.org/10.18870/hlrc.v2i1.37
Follmer, J., Zappe, S. E., Gomez, E. W., & Kumar, M. (2015). Preliminary Evaluation of a Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Program: A Methodology for Examining Student Outcomes. 122nd ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition. Seatle, WA: American Society for Engineering Education.
Herrington, J., & Oliver, R. (2000). An instructional design framework for authentic learning environments. Educational Technology Research and Development, 48(3), 23-48.
Kuo Y. (2009). The Role of a Mentor in Undergraduates’ Research Writing Process. Paper presented at 5th International Symposium on Teaching English at Tertiary Level. Hong Kong, China: Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
Linn, M. C., Palmer, E., Baranger, A., Gerard, E., & Stone, E. (2015). Undergraduate research experiences: Impacts and opportunities. Science. Retrieved from http://science.sciencemag.org/content/347/6222/1261757
Lopatto, D. (2004). Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences (SURE): First findings. Cell Biology Education, 3, 270-277.
Maltese, A., Harsh, J., & Jung, E. (2017). Evaluating Undergraduate Research Experiences—Development of a SelfReport Tool. Education Sciences, 1-16.
Moskal, B. (2000). Scoring rubrics: what, when and how? Practical Assessment, Research & Evaluation, 7(3), 1-5. https://doi.org/10.7275/a5vq-7q66
National Survey of Student Engagement. (2015). Engagement Insights: Survey Findings on the Quality of Undergraduate Education. Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research, Bloomington, IN, USA.
Nolan, J. R., McConville, K. S., Addona, V., Tintle, N. L., & Pearl, D. K. (2020). Mentoring undergraduate research in statistics: reaping the benefits and overcoming the barriers. Journal of Statistics Education, 28(2), 140-153. https://doi.org/10.1080/10691898.2020.1756542
Olson, S., & Riordan, D. (2012). Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. Report to the President. Washington, DC, USA: Executive Office of the President.
Programme for the Bachelor of Information Systems Degree. (2012). Curriculum Structure for the Bachelor of Information Systems. Faculty of Techno-Sciences, Muni University, Arua, Uganda.
Programme of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. (2010). Regulations and Curriculum Structure for the Programme of Bachelor of Science in Information Technology. Faculty of Techno-Sciences, Muni University, Arua, Uganda.
Programme of Bachelor of Science with Education. (2015). Curriculum Structure for the Programme of Bachelor of Science with Education. Faculty of Science, Muni University, Arua, Uganda.
Rueckert, L. (n.d.). Tools for the Assessment of Undergraduate Research Outcomes. Northeastern Illinois University.
Tariq, V. N., Stefani, L. A., Butcher, A. C., & Heylings, D. (1998). Developing a new approach to the assessment of project work. Assessment and Evaluation in Higher Education, 23, 221-240.
Tress, B., Tress, G., & Fry, G. (2005). Ten steps to success in integrative research projects. In B. Tress, G. Tress, G. Fry, & P. Opdam, From landscape research to landscape planning: aspects of integration, education and application (Vol. 12). Springer, Dordrecht.
Umbach, P., & Wawrzynski, M. (2005). Faculty do matter: The role of college faculty in student learning and engagement. Research in Higher Education, 42(6), 153-184. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11162-004-1598-1
Walkington, H. (2017). Students as Researchers: Supporting Undergraduate Research in the Disciplines in Higher Education. Higher Education Academy.
Wilson, A. (2012). Using the National Survey of Student Engagement to Measure Undergraduate Research Participation. Quarterly Council on Undergraduate Research, 32(3), 9-15.
Young, C., & Crews, A. (2012). The Role of Discipline Associations in Program Assessment. Paper presented at the annual American Political Science Association Teaching & Learning Conference, (pp. 17-19). Washington, D.C.
Zúñiga, F. S. (2009). Community College Students and Applied Research. CSSHE Professional File: Canadian Society for the Study of Higher Education, 1-16.
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
Copyright (c) 2021 Nicholas Nkamwesiga, Phelix Businge Mbabazi, Ritah Nafuna
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.