Involving Undergraduate Students in Curriculum Development - A Student Perspective

Abstract

In 2016, the Information Sciences and Technology department received the OSCAR Curriculum Scholarship Development Grant to incorporate research activities in five undergraduate courses. The team consisted of full-time professors, graduate and undergraduate students. The proposed poster provides an opportunity for the students to share their experiences, presented both the research they developed but also how they benefited by doing such research. As an example, a short summary on what students have learned while working on this project is provided below:

âFor me, the process of developing teaching modules on how to perform research was awesome. Not only it provided a great theoretical introduction, but it I also allowed me to directly apply and acquire research skills. Moreover, I felt as being part of something useful as my work was immediately integrated in various courses providing the students an introduction to the research methodology (or refreshing their research skills). During my time with this project I have gained a more thoughtful understanding of the types of research skills that are asked from a student. When most students have to start a research assignment they usually have no idea where to begin because the skills they were taught were either incomplete or simply not advanced enough, and the instructors are more focus on their subject matter rather on the general research methodology. I believe that our work will fill the gap, making the students more comfortable to perform research projects or write research papers in any branch of study.â (Priya Pelluru, 2018).