2026 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

This Complete Research Paper explores the effectiveness of a peer taught course designed to reduce the barriers of entry into undergraduate research. Undergraduate research is a high-impact experiential learning opportunity that positively influences student learning and enhances overall educational experiences. Beyond academic skills, students report improved interpersonal skills including communication, problem solving, and critical thinking. Additionally, undergraduate research opportunities provide students with mentorship and real-world experiences that help students make future career choices and increase their sense of professional belonging.

Although the benefits of undergraduate research are well established, significant barriers to entry still prevent many students from participating. Previously described barriers to entry include a lack of representation in research, feelings of inadequacy, lack of belonging, high financial need, and low awareness of research opportunities. Institutional data suggest the most significant barriers of entry for our students are “I’m not sure where to begin”, “I don’t feel qualified”, and “research sounds too difficult.” We also know that these obstacles are especially prevalent for first-year students, first-generation students, and members of underrepresented groups.

To address this challenge, we designed a one-credit, peer-taught course primarily for first-year engineering students. As described in detail in a preliminary paper, aspects of this course include specifications grading and active learning opportunities that support developing skills needed to successfully join a research lab. This paper builds on the previous work by evaluating more specifically the impact of the course in reducing barriers to undergraduate research and by comparing the results to first year engineering students who have not taken the course.

To evaluate whether or not the course lowered barriers of entry into undergraduate research, we assessed student perceptions of sense of belonging in research, self-confidence in research, and research awareness. To address the barrier of a lack of belonging, we measured students’ sense of belonging in research using an adapted version of the Mellinger Sense of Belonging scale. Next, to address the barriers of feelings of inadequacy, “I don’t feel qualified”, and “research sounds too difficult”, we assessed students’ self confidence in research using an adapted version of the Antonou Self-Efficacy for Research instrument. Finally, to address the barriers of “not knowing where to begin” and low awareness of research opportunities, we developed an eight-question instrument to assess students’ research awareness. This construct encompasses students’ perceived ability to identify the role of an undergraduate researcher, research opportunities available to them, and the process for joining a research lab.

Under our approved IRB, we administered at the beginning and end of the semester a survey that included all three constructs to students enrolled in our course (the intervention group) and students enrolled in a first-year engineering design course (the control group). We compared pre- and post-course changes between the intervention and control groups.

Changes in research belonging were small in both groups, in part because students in both groups had not yet participated in research. Self-confidence in research and research awareness increased in both groups from the beginning to end of the semester, and increases were larger in the intervention group. While the general first-year engineering course briefly introduces undergraduate research, our course actively enhances students’ awareness of research through targeting activities such as lab tours, student panels, contact letter writing, and mock interviews. Effectiveness can also be demonstrated by a higher proportion of students in the intervention group expressing interest in participating in undergraduate research. Additionally, the course equips students with the skills and knowledge necessary to enter and succeed in a research lab, which fosters student self-confidence. Finally, by facilitating faculty and peer interactions, our course helps foster a sense of belonging within the engineering school and in research.

The combination of increased research awareness, self-confidence in research, and sense of belonging in research demonstrates a reduction of the barriers of entry into undergraduate research which should lead to an increased number of students who participate in undergraduate research.