The Development and Delivery of a Multidisciplinary Research Course for First-Year International Science Students - Summary - Course Evaluation

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by jay

Examines how a two-course sequence supports first-year international science students in multidisciplinary undergraduate research and presentation at a student-led research conference. The study defines course goals and structure, assesses whether goals were achieved through instructor reflections, student performance, and survey data, and compares curriculum changes between Year 1 and Year 2. Findings show meaningful engagement with research and improved understanding of scientific knowledge construction, while a modular model with front-end support benefits instructors more than continuous individualized mentorship.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages12

Reading Time30 min

AccessFree to download

Course design and context

Course goals and learning outcomes

Research process engagement and epistemic outcomes

Evaluation and curriculum change

Year 1 vs Year 2 comparison

Instructor reflections and student survey data

Instructional model

Modular model with front-end support

Recommendations for similar courses

The Development and Delivery of a Multidisciplinary Research Course for First-Year International Science Students Priyanka Lekhi, Meghan Allen, Fok-Shuen Leung, Brett Gilley, Georg Rieger, and Joanne A. Fox University of British Columbia DOI: 10. 22329/celt.v10i0 .4734 Students who engage in undergraduate research experiences acquire many benefits, including an understanding of how scientific knowledge is constructed, recognition that knowledge can be complex and uncertain, and the habit of viewing knowledge critically. This paper describes a first-year twocourse sequence that provides multidisciplinary opportunities for international science students to engage in the research process and present at a student-led research conference. We describe course goals and structure, and discuss whether the goals were attained using instructor reflections, student performance, and student survey data. We also evaluate the impact of changes to the curriculum between Year 1 and Year 2. In both years, we found that students engaged meaningfully with the research process and began to understand how scientific knowledge is created. We also found that a modular model with front-end support worked better for instructors as compared to a continuous individualizedproject mentorship model. This modular approach involved structuredpre-andpostclass assignments within discipline-specific themes containing examples of the research process embedded into the discipline. These discipline-specific modules were followed by modules covering broader research process themes. We encourage instructors who are thinking of delivering a similar research-based course for first-year students to provide support via example research questions and other example templates for student submissions. t is important for undergraduate science students to Idevelop an understanding of how scientific knowledge is constructed, to begin viewing science as complex and vulnerable to criticism, and to start seeing themselves as potential contributors (Fox et al., 2014; Magolda, 2006; Wieman, 2012) . This set of goals is epistemic in nature (i.e. related to views of knowledge) (Hofer & Pintrich, 1997) . On a course level, active learning techniques and undergraduate research opportunities are effective ways to achieve these goals (Healey & Jenkins, 2009; Schalk, McGinnis, Harring, Hendrickson, & Smith, 2009; Thiry, Laursen, & Hunter, 2011; Watkins & Mazur, 2013) . Student benefits from undergraduate research experiences are well-documented (Adams et al., 2006; Healey, 2005; Seymour, Hunter, Laursen,& Deantoni, 2004) and include understanding the nature and development of scientific knowledge, recognizing that knowledge is complex and can be uncertain, and viewing knowledge critically (Healey, Jenkins, & Lea, 2014; Magolda, 2006; Seymour et al., 2004) . Undergraduate research projects are oneway to give students the experience of knowledge construction and the realization that they are themselves a source of knowledge (Thiry et al., 2011) . First-year university students tend to view knowledge as certain, finite and explicit, and look towards external authorities, such as instructors, as holders of knowledge (Abd-El-Khalick, 2006; Hofer, 2004; Schommer, 1993; Tsai, 1999) . These views are inconsistent with the epistemic goals of undergraduate science education. In order to correct students’ naïve views of knowledge over their undergraduate degrees, it is important to engage them in the research process from their first year (Healey et al., 2014) . Further, Rodenbusch, Hernandez, Simmons, and Dolan (2016) recently found that first-year science, technology, engineering, or math (STEM) students who participate in a one-year research experience are more likely to graduate with a STEM degree than their peers who did not have a one-year research experience. This paper describes a two-course sequence that provides opportunities for first-year science students to engage in resear

FAQs

What course experience does the paper evaluate for first-year international science students?

It evaluates a two-course sequence that engages students in multidisciplinary research and culminates in presentation at a student-led research conference.

How does the study determine whether course goals were achieved?

It uses instructor reflections, student performance, and student survey data to assess goal attainment.

What instructional change produced different outcomes between Year 1 and Year 2?

The curriculum shifted and the study found a modular model with front-end support worked better for instructors than a continuous individualized mentorship approach.

Oct 15, 2026

Uploaded by jay