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29 - Undergraduate Research in Psychology

Learning by Doing

from Part III.3 - Social Sciences

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

By
Sabrina L. Thurman  and
Maureen Vandermaas-Peeler
Edited by
Harald A. Mieg ,
Elizabeth Ambos ,
Angela Brew ,
Dominique Galli  and
Judith Lehmann
Harald A. Mieg
Affiliation:
Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
Elizabeth Ambos
Affiliation:
Council on Undergraduate Research, Washington DC
Angela Brew
Affiliation:
Macquarie University, Sydney
Dominique Galli
Affiliation:
Indiana University–Purdue University, Indianapolis
Judith Lehmann
Affiliation:
Universidad de Buenos Aires, Argentina
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Summary

In many undergraduate psychology programs, students gain research experience through intentional scaffolded experiences throughout the undergraduate curriculum and in some cases by joining a faculty member’s research program outside of the classroom. In sustained undergraduate research experiences, students benefit from developmentally appropriate mentoring as they gradually develop and master skills, an approach often compared to an apprenticeship model. Many psychology faculty use evidence-based mentoring practices, such as the Salient Practices Framework, which was developed by an international, multi-institutional research team. Examples include setting clear and incremental expectations and supporting students as they transfer more basic skills learned in the classroom to conducting community or field-based research. There are creative and evidence-based ways to improve access for all students by being more intentional about embedding research experiences in the psychology curricula, or by further considering ways to recruit and retain UR students from historically underserved groups.

Keywords

psychologyundergraduate researchscientific methodmentoringapprenticeship modelcommunity of practicesalient practicesaccess
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Undergraduate Research , pp. 285 - 292
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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