Elaine Seymour - Böcker

Undergraduate research enhances the learning experience of students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. Undergraduate Research in the Sciences offers a groundbreaking and practical research-based book on the topic. This comprehensive resource addresses how undergraduate research benefits undergraduate participants, including those populations that are underrepresented in the sciences; compares its benefits with other types of educational activities and experiences; and assesses its long-term value to students and faculty as both a scholarly and educational endeavor.In laying out the processes by which these benefits are achieved, this important book can assist faculty and program directors with practical guidance for design and evaluation of both new and existing undergraduate research programs.Praise for Undergraduate Research in the Sciences"This meticulous, definitive study of the effects of working with a faculty member on research as an undergraduate confirms the overall value of the experience by taking us deep into the minds and actions of participants—both faculty and students. As a result we now have many more compelling reasons to get more students involved with research mentors and ways to optimize the benefits for all parties."—George D. Kuh, Chancellor's Professor and director, Indiana University Center for Postsecondary Research"This timely book offers a unique, comprehensive analysis of undergraduate research in the sciences, based on the voices of college students and faculty mentors who have participated in these voyages of discovery. As our nation struggles to train more scientists, this book will be a valuable resource for designing undergraduate research experiences that can build our country's capacity for discovery and innovation."—Arthur B. Ellis, Vice Chancellor for Research, University of California, San Diego"The text is written in a lucid and engaging style and will be a valuable guide to policymakers, academic administrators, and faculty members who want to find ways to engage undergraduates in the 'real work' of investigation."—Judith A. Ramaley, president, Winona State University"This book is a 'must-read' for anyone who directs undergraduates in research. It presents an impressive and rigorous body of work that brings fresh insights into the field of undergraduate research. The next generation of scientists will benefit greatly from the findings and recommendations!"—Jo Handelsman, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor, Yale University

Partners combines in-depth interviews with quantitative data to show how innovations in the roles of graduate teaching assistants at universities are improving both their own experiences and the overall educational environment. This book addresses a topic of growing interest in higher education, namely the professional development of the future professorate. It explores the contribution that both undergraduate and graduate teaching assistants can play in undergraduate education, particularly in the sciences where considerable rethinking of both content and pedagogy is underway. Drawing on three studies of undergraduate reform initiatives-two in chemistry and one in astronomy-the author illustrates the under-used potential of teaching assistants as collaborators in implementing active and interactive models of teaching and learning. She points to unmet needs in the educational preparation and support of TAs in more traditionally-taught science courses, and the additional preparation that TAs require to be effective enablers of learning in support of new pedagogies. The TAs emerge from her studies as trouble-shooters, consultants, and collaborators in support of the innovations for which they work, with a potential for active collegial engagement that may be underestimated. They also provide insights into the causes of problems that undergraduates often experience in shifting to active learning modes, and of resistance to these changes among students, faculty, and TAs themselves.

​Talking about Leaving Revisited discusses findings from a five-year study that explores the extent, nature, and contributory causes of field-switching both from and among “STEM” majors, and what enables persistence to graduation. The book reflects on what has and has not changed since publication of Talking about Leaving: Why Undergraduates Leave the Sciences (Elaine Seymour & Nancy M. Hewitt, Westview Press, 1997).  With the editors’ guidance, the authors of each chapter collaborate to address key questions, drawing on findings from each related study source: national and institutional data, interviews with faculty and students, structured observations and student assessments of teaching methods in STEM gateway courses. Pitched to a wide audience, engaging in style, and richly illustrated in the interviewees’ own words, this book affords the most comprehensive explanatory account to date of persistence, relocation and loss in undergraduate sciences.Comprehensively addresses the causes of loss from undergraduate STEM majors—an issue of ongoing national concern.Presents critical research relevant for nationwide STEM education reform efforts.Explores the reasons why talented undergraduates abandon STEM majors.Dispels popular causal myths about why students choose to leave STEM majors.This volume is based upon work supported by the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Award No. 2012-6-05 and the National Science Foundation Award No. DUE 1224637.