2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This Work in Progress paper reports a novel course titled “Starting an Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE): Intro to Research” which synergistically combines course design, peer-led instruction, and specifications grading to reduce barriers to entry into undergraduate research and increase students’ sense of belonging. Undergraduate research is a high-impact experiential learning opportunity; however, students often face high barriers to entry, including lack of confidence, uncertainty about how to start, limited guidance, and feelings of inadequacy. These challenges are especially pronounced for first-year students, first-generation students, and members of underrepresented groups.
To address this problem, we designed a one-credit course focused on professional development primarily for first-year engineering students. The four course learning objectives were: (1) to recognize what undergraduate research is, how undergraduate research works, and identify the value of undergraduate research; (2) to gain a deeper understanding of lab environments and identify personal goals for a research experience; (3) to seek out research opportunities and effectively communicate skills and goals; and (4) to be able to find and analyze scientific writing applicable to a topic and become familiar with research deliverables. Activities designed to support these objectives incorporated active learning opportunities such as undergraduate research panels, lab tours, a contact letter writing workshop, and mock interviews. The course was taught by a peer instructor. Learning objectives were assessed using specifications grading, which is an inclusive strategy that empowers students to make choices about their learning.
The integration of a peer-taught course format with specifications grading specifically aimed at facilitating undergraduate research is novel. Preliminary results suggest barriers to entry are successfully lowered, based on students sending contact emails to lab PIs, shadowing in labs, and being offered research positions. Moreover, students’ sense of belonging and self-efficacy is increased, based on the Departmental Sense of Belonging and Involvement Questionnaire and the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire. Student self-assessments of learning in a “snowball” activity with open-ended prompts revealed themes associated with increased self-confidence, sense of belonging, and engagement. Overall, the unique course design supports first-year engineering students in engaging in undergraduate research experiences.