Browsing by Author "Flanagan, Kyla"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    A Guide for Undergraduate Research at UCalgary
    (University of Calgary, 2022-01) Flanagan, Kyla; Braun, Rachel; Cantin, Ariane; Loy, Kara; Summers, Mindi
    Undergraduate research activities are meaningful Experiential Learning (EL) opportunities where students “learn by doing” and develop research and transferable skills. High-quality research experiences intentionally evoke students’ curiosity, engage students in the discovery process, ensure opportunities to disseminate findings, and extend learning through critical reflection. With thoughtful design and mentorship, undergraduate research immerses students deeply in a topic while encouraging students to take risks, develop as people and professionals, and build resiliency by overcoming inevitable challenges that arise in research. Research is a meaningful way to engage students as partners in inquiry, inviting them to become creators and contributors of discovery and knowledge. Our intended audience for this guide is instructors designing curricular undergraduate research experiences or research mentors supporting undergraduate research experiences in an apprenticeship model during curricular or non-curricular undergraduate research experiences. We have written this guide with an awareness of the disciplinary differences in research and student diversity while still providing meaningful guidance and direction for the research process. We hope you will use this guide to design research-based courses or develop support for one-on-one mentorship of research experiences. We may use the terms “instructors” and “research mentors” interchangeably throughout or use one title or the other to signal curricular or non-curricular research experiences. Graduate Teaching Assistants supporting undergraduates conducting research will also find value in this guide. Finally, undergraduate students undertaking a research project may also find this guide beneficial in understanding the research process and designing their investigation.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Institutional collaborations to support undergraduate research as experiential learning
    (2023-11-10) Flanagan, Kyla; Stowe, Lisa; Summers, Mindi; Murphy, James E.
    Changing a campus culture to have experiential learning become essential to the student experience requires extensive buy-in and support from the campus community (Stowe & O'Connell, 2022). The Office of Experiential Learning at the University of Calgary supports experiential learning institutionally, with a bold target of all students having at least two high-quality experiential learning opportunities during their academic studies (Kaipainen et al., 2020). At UCalgary, a large, research-intensive institution, undergraduate research is a signature form of experiential learning where students engage in hands-on research in collaboration with researchers. There are numerous benefits to students participating in research (for example, see Lopatto et al., 2020); however, a lack of incentives and training can limit faculty members' willingness to engage in pedagogical change (Brownell and Tanner 2017). In this panel discussion, we will describe the landscape and context of undergraduate research at UCalgary, programming that has supported more than 3500 students engaging in research initiatives over the last three years, and institutional-level collaborations that have facilitated a culture shift, increasing undergraduate research in curricular and co-curricular experiences. As a vital part of our work, we will describe extensive research to understand barriers to accessing experiential learning opportunities for deserving equity groups and ameliorative actions we have taken as a campus to increase accessibility (Stowe et al., 2022). Finally, we will discuss the challenges and successes faced in expanding undergraduate research and experiential learning opportunities in our context institutionally and explore with participants how our experiences may translate to other institutional contexts.
  • Thumbnail Image
    ItemOpen Access
    Library programming in undergraduate 'Ready for Research' badge: Reflections from librarians and students
    (2023-11-10) Murphy, James E.; Chiang, Bronte; Flanagan, Kyla; Stewart, Rachel
    Librarian involvement in post-secondary teaching and learning programming depends greatly on institutional context. Librarians and SoTL scholars have much in common, with librarians focusing on how students interact with the information they encounter in their academic activities. How do librarians perceive their contributions to undergraduate teaching and learning outside course-integrated instruction? And how do students respond to the information literacy skills librarians aim to impart? This year saw the launch of a micro-credential badge at University of Calgary aimed to prepare undergraduate students to be ready to engage in research activities. Organized and facilitated by the Taylor Institute for Teaching and Learning, the pilot year involved a significant presence of workshops from librarians and library staff. This presentation: (1) showcases the context leading to this collaboration and (2) highlights survey feedback and reflections from both librarians teaching and students learning in the program.