Skip to main content Accessibility help

We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.

Close cookie message
×
Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T18:00:43.842Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

48 - Undergraduate Research in the USA

Origins, Institutionalization, Growth, and Challenges

from Part IV.1 - Americas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  11 August 2022

By
Maria T. Iacullo-Bird
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
Get access

Summary

Higher education in the United States is characterized by a decentralized organizational structure in both public and private colleges and universities across the fifty states and five major territories. Institutional diversity is distinguished by fundamental, self-identifying features that include but are not limited to mission and history, location, funding and endowment, architecture and facilities, campus culture, and degrees offered. The history of the US educational system is of interest to the development of undergraduate research in view of the early emergence of college student research in American higher education and US leadership in undergraduate research. In the US undergraduate research began through the senior capstone or honors thesis requirement. Beginning in the late 1990s the growing recognition of undergraduate research as a high-impact educational practice for student success resulted in expansion of undergraduate research across disciplines and institutions impacting curriculum design, academic culture, and student outcomes.

Keywords

USAundergraduate researchhistoryeducational systeminstitutionalizationCouncil on Undergraduate Research
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Undergraduate Research , pp. 445 - 455
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

AAC&U. (n.d.). Liberal Education and America’s Promise (LEAP). Association of American Colleges and Universities. Retrieved August 17, 2020, from www.aacu.org/leapGoogle Scholar
Allegheny College. (n.d.). Academics: Senior project. Retrieved February 2, 2021, from https://sites.allegheny.edu/academics/senior-project/Google Scholar
Altman, J. D., Chiang, T-M., Hamann, C. S., Makhluf, H., Peterson, V., & Orel, S. E. (2019). Undergraduate research: A road map for meeting future national needs and competing in a world of change. CUR White Paper No. 1. www.cur.org/download.aspx?id=4393Google Scholar
Ambos, E. L. (2020). Undergraduate research in the United States: Diversity, growth, and challenges. In Blessinger, P. & Hensel, N. H. (Eds.). International perspectives on undergraduate research: Policy and practice (pp. 19–38). Palgrave Macmillan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barney, C. C. (1990). Hope College and the NSF-REU program in biology – partners in undergraduate research. CUR Quarterly, 10(4), 38–42.Google Scholar
Blessinger, P., & Hensel, N. H. (2020). Undergraduate research as a high-impact educational practice. In Blessinger, P., & Hensel, N. H. (Eds.). International perspectives on undergraduate research: Policy and practice (pp. 1–18). Palgrave Macmillan.Google Scholar
Bok, D. (2013). Higher education in America. Princeton University Press.Google Scholar
The Boyer Commission on Educating Undergraduates in the Research University. (1998). Reinventing undergraduate education: A blueprint for America’s research universities. The State University of New York at Stony Brook.Google Scholar
Campus Compact. (n.d.). Who we are: Campus Compact overview. Retrieved February 2, 2021, from https://compact.org/Google Scholar
The Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. (n.d.). Carnegie classifications. Retrieved February 2, 2021, from https://carnegieclassifications.iu.edu/Google Scholar
Chamely-Wiik, D., Dunn, K., Heydet-Kirsch, P., Holman, M., Meeroff, D., & Peluso, J. (2014). Scaffolding the development of students’ research skills for capstone experiences: A multi-disciplinary approach. Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, 34(4), 18–26.Google Scholar
Cohen, S.A., & MacVicar, M. (1976). Establishing an undergraduate research program in physics: How it was done. American Journal of Physics, 44 (3), 199–203. https://doi.org/10.1119/1.10456Google Scholar
College of Wooster. (n.d.). Independent study. Retrieved February 2, 2021, from www.wooster.edu/academics/research/is/Google Scholar
CUR. (n.d.). NCUR information. Council on Undergraduate Research. Retrieved March 29, 2021, from www.cur.org/what/events/students/ncur/info/Google Scholar
Dewey, J. (1916). Democracy and education: An introduction to the philosophy of education. Macmillan.Google Scholar
Dolan, E. L. (2016). Course-based undergraduate research experiences: Current knowledge and future directions. Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science, The University of Texas at Austin. https://sites.nationalacademies.org/cs/groups/dbassesite/documents/webpage/dbasse_177288.pdfGoogle Scholar
Doyle, M. P. (1991). A brief history of the Council on Undergraduate Research: The early years. Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, 12(2), 17–23.Google Scholar
Freeman, J. (2012). American empire: The rise of a global power, the democratic revolution at home, 1945–2000. Penguin.Google Scholar
Geiger, R. (2016). The ten generations of American higher education. In Bastedo, M. N., Altbach, P. G., & Gumport, P. J. (Eds.), American higher education in the 21st century: Social, political and economic challenges (4th ed., pp. 3–34). Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Hawkins, H. (1979). University identity: The teaching and research function. In Oleson, A. & Voss, J. (Eds.), The organization of knowledge in modern America, 1860–1920 (pp. 285–312). Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Iacullo-Bird, M. T. (2014). Revisiting the arts and humanities: Service learning, undergraduate research, and creative expression. In Crawford, I., Orel, S. E., & Shanahan, J. O. (Eds.), How to get started in arts and humanities research with undergraduates (pp. 82–93). Council on Undergraduate Research.Google Scholar
Kahan, J. (2009, Autumn). Tales of the tower. Reed Magazine. www.reed.edu/reed_magazine/autumn2009/columns/apocrypha/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Kinkead, J. (2012). What’s in a name? A brief history of undergraduate research. Council on Undergraduate Research Quarterly, 33(1), pp. 20–29.Google Scholar
Kuh, G. D. (2008). High-impact practices: What they are, who has access to them, and why they matter. Association of American Colleges & Universities. https://www.aacu.org/publication/high-impact-educational-practices-what-they-are-who-has-access-to-them-and-why-they-matterGoogle Scholar
Malachowski, M. R. (2019). Reflections on the evolution of undergraduate research at primary undergraduate institutions over the past twenty-five years. SPUR, 3(2), 38–45.Google Scholar
Morrison, J. A., Barthell, J. F., Boettcher, A., Bowne, D., Nixon, C., Resendes, K. K., & Strauss-Soukup, J. (2019). Recognizing and valuing the mentoring of undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity by faculty members: Workload, tenure, promotion, and award systems (CUR White Paper, No. 2). Council on Undergraduate Research. www.cur.org/download.aspx?id=4246Google Scholar
NEH National Endowment for the Humanities. (2016). NEH announces humanities connections grant program. www.neh.gov/news/press-release/2016-04-29Google Scholar
NIH National Institutes of Health. (2019). Undergraduate Research Training Initiative for Student Enhancement (U-RISE).Google Scholar
Princeton University. (n.d.). The history of the Princeton senior thesis. Retrieved February 2, 2021, from https://blogs.princeton.edu/mudd/2015/04/the-history-of-the-princeton-university-senior-thesis/Google Scholar
Schilpp, P. A. (1960). The impact of John Dewey’s philosophy upon American education. Chicago Review, 14(1), 97–108.Google Scholar
Sederberg, P. C., & Portnoy, J. A. (Eds.). (2008). The honors college phenomenon. National Collegiate Honors Council (NCHC) monograph series. University of Nebraska.Google Scholar
Shanahan, J. (2012). Building undergraduate research into the curriculum. In Hensel, N. & Paul, E. (Eds.), Faculty support and undergraduate research: Innovation in faculty role definition, workload, and reward (pp. 68–76). Council on Undergraduate Research.Google Scholar
Slocum, R. D., & Scholl, J. D. (2013). NSF support of research at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs). CUR Quarterly, 34(1), 31–40.Google Scholar
Spurr, S. H. (1970). Academic degree structure: Innovative approaches. A general report prepared for The Carnegie Commission on Higher Education. McGraw Hill.Google Scholar
Thelin, J. R. (2011). A history of American higher education (2nd ed.). Johns Hopkins University Press.Google Scholar
Uriciuoli, B. (2005). The language of higher education assessment: Legislative concerns in a global context. Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, 12(1), Article 6.Google Scholar
US Department of Education. (n.d.). Overview: Lists of postsecondary institutions enrolling populations with significant percentages of undergraduate minority students. www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/edlite-minorityinst.htmlGoogle Scholar
US Department of Education. (2021). Ronald E. McNair postbaccalaureate achievement program. www2.ed.gov/programs/triomcnair/index.htmlGoogle Scholar
Veysey, L. (1965). The emergence of the American university. The University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Wellesley College. (1925). Report of the President, 1921–1924. Wellesley College Bulletin, Series 14(5). https://repository.wellesley.edu/object/wellesley743Google Scholar

Save book to Kindle

To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure no-reply@cambridge.org is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.

Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.

Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.

Available formats
×

Save book to Dropbox

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.

Available formats
×

Save book to Google Drive

To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.

Available formats
×