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The Importance of Research to Students

Tags: Become a Doctor of Chiropractic , cleveland university-kansas city , Communications Staff , Doctor of Chiropractic (DC) , Exercise Physiology (MS) , Exercise Physiology and Sports Performance (Master's Degree) , Exercise Science (BS) , health sciences , research

C leveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) is an independent, nonprofit chiropractic and health sciences university. This report – part of our ongoing blog series – examines research opportunities while in college. Want one-on-one information? Get connected to our advising team here .

For universities, offering research opportunities and research programs for students allows for a broader educational experience. Students are able to explore the effects of applying new thought processes through study and testing. Students are then able to use that experience to understand the practical application of research.

Learn How Research Opportunities Can Enhance Your Educational Experience.

Consider what it would be like if the automotive industry ceased all research and development efforts. Cars would not improve in safety, comfort, or efficiency, and we would never know the benefits of advancements we often take for granted. Research makes cars better, safer, and more comfortable.

The same is true for the health sciences. Without research programs, advancements that have improved and even saved lives might have never been discovered.

Cleveland University-Kansas City (CUKC) understands the importance of research to students. Dr. Mark Pfefer, director of research at CUKC, collaborates with students through various research opportunities. He says students have the opportunity to take an active role in research projects and learn about proper investigative techniques.

Let’s take a closer look at the importance of research to students and how students are able to participate in research studies, research programs, and other research opportunities on campus at CUKC.

Research Opportunities for Students in College

One aspect surrounding the importance of research to students includes students performing actual research in collaboration with faculty. Dr. Pfefer explains that students interested in research projects are mentored by faculty members.

“We’ve had numerous students participate as co-authors on recent publications and presentations,” Pfefer says. “Students are taught strategies to search for information and assess the quality of the information found. Students learn critical appraisal skills; all information is not the same — some information is good and some is not.”

Students assist in various ways, including:

• Literature searching
• Data collection
• Manuscript development.

The collaborative work between students and faculty has proven to be a successful combination, and Pfefer looks forward to the continuation of these efforts in future research studies.

Research Programs That Take You Outside the Classroom

While time in the classroom is important, the importance of research to students is bolstered by having access to an on-site research department where students are able to grow and challenge the boundaries established by their predecessors. Students are encouraged to expand their minds and be open to the possibilities that research can reveal. Ultimately, students can become better healthcare professionals by engaging in research projects outside the classroom.

Participating in research programs can enhance a student’s future in their chosen profession. Some students become co-authors on research studies, putting them in the position to attach their name to efforts that may reshape parameters that were once the norm. Participating in research opportunities can light the fire of curiosity that will continue to provide benefits throughout a professional career.

At Cleveland University-Kansas City , students are part of the exhilarating breakthroughs that research projects can deliver. Research opportunities educate our students personally by opening their eyes to new possibilities. It rewards them professionally by getting their name out to the research community before they’ve even graduated.

Get to Know Cleveland University-Kansas City and Our Student Research Projects

CUKC is a private, nonprofit chiropractic and health sciences university in Overland Park, Kansas, a major suburb of the Kansas City metropolitan area. In addition to our more than 100-year legacy of offering the Doctor of Chiropractic degree, CUKC offers two-year degrees in radiologic technology and biological sciences. CUKC also offers a B.S. in Human biology, B.S. in Exercise Science, M.S. in Exercise Physiology and Sports Performance, and a 12-credit-hour graduate Certificate in Sports Performance (CSP).

Explore our academic degrees/certifications here .

Research is a powerful part of the educational experience at CUKC and one we are proud to share with our students. As an example of the topics and issues explored, check out this research blog and our website for evidence-based research on chiropractic issues and topics .

Download our free guide to help you pay for college: Your Guide to Navigating College Financial Aid .

CUKC is a student-focused, high-academic-quality university. Sound interesting to you? Get more information about CUKC and your future in health sciences and research. Request Information

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5 Reasons Why Undergraduates Should Do Research

• by Julia Ann Easley
• May 02, 2017

Nearly 40 percent of UC Davis undergraduates participate in hands-on research. On the occasion of the 28th annual Undergraduate Research, Scholarship and Creative Activities Conference on April 28 and 29 — where more than 700 students presented their work — we introduce you to some students and graduates who shared what they’ve gained. Consider how the research experience can benefit you, too.

1. Exploring career directions

Here is how undergraduate research influenced the direction of three UC Davis students:

​Shadd Cabalatungan started his studies at UC Davis aiming for a career as a veterinarian. Touched by his aunt’s diagnosis with breast cancer, he got involved with research at the UC Davis Comprehensive Cancer Center . That experience was key in changing his direction to pursue a medical degree. He also did research on how drinking by college students affects others who don’t drink. With a degree in sociology , he is now completing his first year as a medical student at Stony Brook University.

Graduating senior Rong Ben, once fascinated by the aesthetics of fashion, is geeking out on how technology can be incorporated so fashion helps solve problems. As a junior, this design major did a research internship with a professor working on wearable technology, including gloves to provide a patient’s vital statistics. “It opened up a new view for me,” said Ben. As a participant in the University Honors Program , Ben designed a grab-and-go coat for safety in an earthquake with protective materials, lighting, emergency food and water, and more. Next up for Ben: the graduate program in fashion enterprise and society at the University of Leeds.

Physics major Mario D’Andrea took a course related to climate neutrality to confirm his desire to study physics in graduate school. He worked with two other students to research waste reduction and carbon sequestration through composting. He enjoyed the research, and it helped confirm his desire to study condensed matter physics in graduate school. “I wish more classes were open-ended like this,” he said.

2. Building transferable skills and enhancing resumes

Graduating senior Julie Beppler has learned a lot about food options in downtown Davis. The managerial economics major analyzed how 49 restaurants use menu design to promote certain items. But more than that, she developed and demonstrated skills that employers seek. Beppler first worked as a research assistant and then pursued this project for her Undergraduate Honors Thesis . It focuses on the cost of production and price of featured menu items as well as their relative healthiness. She taught herself computer programing; learned time management; practiced professional communications as she interacted with restaurant managers; and proved her ability to motivate herself and direct her own work.

Beppler will soon start in the management development program at E. & J. Gallo Winery, so take her word that doing research can also help students find a mentor who can provide letters of recommendation and advice to support their success. Kristin Kiesel , a faculty member in agricultural and resource economics and a mentor to Beppler, agreed: “There is no better way to recommend a student than by having them successfully complete an undergraduate research project.”

3. Learning to publicly advocate for and defend work

“Nerve wracking.” That’s how graduating senior Kathryn Green described her anticipation of presenting for the first time her research on California’s clean car consumer rebate program. Now she’s a UC undergraduate research ambassador. Last quarter, the political science major participated in the policy program at the UC Center Sacramento , which included classes, an internship with the advocacy organization Environment California and a research project.

Presenting the research was a requirement. Green designed a large poster representing her research and, in a session lasting 90 minutes, explained it one-on-one to attendees. She talked about the process and her policy recommendations not only to policymakers and people from the clean car industry, but also to others who were unfamiliar with the topic. “I became almost a teacher,” said Green. “I took my research and explained it to someone who didn’t know about it.”

Based on her success in that venue, Green represented UC Davis at showcase in Los Angeles earlier in April for alumni, donors, regents and other friends of the University of California. “I’m really proud I got to go down and share my research,” she said.

4. Getting a leg up on graduate or professional school

When Becky Fu came to UC Davis in 2008, she was the first in her family to attend college. Nine years later, this genetics and genomics major is preparing to defend her dissertation and graduate from Stanford University with a doctoral degree in genetics and a master’s degree in biomedical informatics. A 2012 graduate from UC Davis, she credits her participation in undergraduate research as foundational to where she is today. “No question about it,” she said. “Without undergraduate research, there would have been no way I got into any of the graduate programs I did.”

As a freshman, Fu heard others talking about research and sought out the Undergraduate Research Center on campus for more information. She went on to do research with two professors; participate in the undergraduate research conference ; publish in Explorations , the UC Davis journal of undergraduate research; be awarded a Provost’s Undergraduate Fellowship to help pay for her research; and win the Chancellor’s Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Research and other awards.

“Having that experience as an undergraduate to fail a lot and expand on the techniques,” Fu said, “was an integral part of being prepared for and getting through the doctoral program.” At Stanford, she is working in the lab of Andrew Fire, who shared the 2006 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine .

5. Contributing knowledge and impacting the world

Annaliese Franz, associate professor of chemistry  and faculty director of the Undergraduate Research Center , sees students experience the joy of discovery and creation through research. “Students really get the chance to create something new as they go into the lab or out into the field or study new policy.”

Fu, the Stanford student, explained how undergraduate research developed a new quest for her: “I wanted to be contributing to a bigger cause, a bigger realm of intelligence, and that’s advancing medical care in general.”

And Green, who did the research on the clean-car rebate program, discovered a new power. “My research told me that an undergraduate can make an impact,” she said. “You don’t have to have a master’s degree or doctorate to make valuable contributions.”

Julia Ann Easley of News and Media Relations supports communication and writes stories at the heart of the university. Her career includes a noble cause, adventures in learning, working with wonderful people and a beautiful green setting.

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Empowering students to develop research skills

February 8, 2021

This post is republished from   Into Practice ,  a biweekly communication of Harvard’s  Office of the Vice Provost for Advances in Learning

Terence D. Capellini, Richard B Wolf Associate Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology, empowers students to grow as researchers in his Building the Human Body course through a comprehensive, course-long collaborative project that works to understand the changes in the genome that make the human skeleton unique. For instance, of the many types of projects, some focus on the genetic basis of why human beings walk on two legs. This integrative “Evo-Devo” project demands high levels of understanding of biology and genetics that students gain in the first half of class, which is then applied hands-on in the second half of class. Students work in teams of 2-3 to collect their own morphology data by measuring skeletons at the Harvard Museum of Natural History and leverage statistics to understand patterns in their data. They then collect and analyze DNA sequences from humans and other animals to identify the DNA changes that may encode morphology. Throughout this course, students go from sometimes having “limited experience in genetics and/or morphology” to conducting their own independent research. This project culminates in a team presentation and a final research paper.

The benefits: Students develop the methodological skills required to collect and analyze morphological data. Using the UCSC Genome browser  and other tools, students sharpen their analytical skills to visualize genomics data and pinpoint meaningful genetic changes. Conducting this work in teams means students develop collaborative skills that model academic biology labs outside class, and some student projects have contributed to published papers in the field. “Every year, I have one student, if not two, join my lab to work on projects developed from class to try to get them published.”

“The beauty of this class is that the students are asking a question that’s never been asked before and they’re actually collecting data to get at an answer.”

The challenges:  Capellini observes that the most common challenge faced by students in the course is when “they have a really terrific question they want to explore, but the necessary background information is simply lacking. It is simply amazing how little we do know about human development, despite its hundreds of years of study.” Sometimes, for instance, students want to learn about the evolution, development, and genetics of a certain body part, but it is still somewhat a mystery to the field. In these cases, the teaching team (including co-instructor Dr. Neil Roach) tries to find datasets that are maximally relevant to the questions the students want to explore. Capellini also notes that the work in his class is demanding and hard, just by the nature of the work, but students “always step up and perform” and the teaching team does their best to “make it fun” and ensure they nurture students’ curiosities and questions.

Takeaways and best practices

• Incorporate previous students’ work into the course. Capellini intentionally discusses findings from previous student groups in lectures. “They’re developing real findings and we share that when we explain the project for the next groups.” Capellini also invites students to share their own progress and findings as part of class discussion, which helps them participate as independent researchers and receive feedback from their peers.
• Assign groups intentionally.  Maintaining flexibility allows the teaching team to be more responsive to students’ various needs and interests. Capellini will often place graduate students by themselves to enhance their workload and give them training directly relevant to their future thesis work. Undergraduates are able to self-select into groups or can be assigned based on shared interests. “If two people are enthusiastic about examining the knee, for instance, we’ll match them together.”
• Consider using multiple types of assessments.  Capellini notes that exams and quizzes are administered in the first half of the course and scaffolded so that students can practice the skills they need to successfully apply course material in the final project. “Lots of the initial examples are hypothetical,” he explains, even grounded in fiction and pop culture references, “but [students] have to eventually apply the skills they learned in addressing the hypothetical example to their own real example and the data they generate” for the Evo-Devo project. This is coupled with a paper and a presentation treated like a conference talk.

Bottom line:  Capellini’s top advice for professors looking to help their own students grow as researchers is to ensure research projects are designed with intentionality and fully integrated into the syllabus. “You can’t simply tack it on at the end,” he underscores. “If you want this research project to be a substantive learning opportunity, it has to happen from Day 1.” That includes carving out time in class for students to work on it and make the connections they need to conduct research. “Listen to your students and learn about them personally” so you can tap into what they’re excited about. Have some fun in the course, and they’ll be motivated to do the work.

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The role of research at universities: why it matters.

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(Photo by William B. Plowman/Getty Images)

Teaching and learning, research and discovery, synthesis and creativity, understanding and engagement, service and outreach. There are many “core elements” to the mission of a great university. Teaching would seem the most obvious, but for those outside of the university, “research” (taken to include scientific research, scholarship more broadly, as well as creative activity) may be the least well understood. This creates misunderstanding of how universities invest resources, especially those deriving from undergraduate tuition and state (or other public) support, and the misperception that those resources are being diverted away from what is believed should be the core (and sole) focus, teaching. This has led to a loss of trust, confidence, and willingness to continue to invest or otherwise support (especially our public) universities.

Why are universities engaged in the conduct of research? Who pays? Who benefits? And why does it all matter? Good questions. Let’s get to some straightforward answers. Because the academic research enterprise really is not that difficult to explain, and its impacts are profound.

So let’s demystify university-based research. And in doing so, hopefully we can begin building both better understanding and a better relationship between the public and higher education, both of which are essential to the future of US higher education.   

Why are universities engaged in the conduct of research?

Universities engage in research as part of their missions around learning and discovery. This, in turn, contributes directly and indirectly to their primary mission of teaching. Universities and many colleges (the exception being those dedicated exclusively to undergraduate teaching) have as part of their mission the pursuit of scholarship. This can come in the form of fundamental or applied research (both are most common in the STEM fields, broadly defined), research-based scholarship or what often is called “scholarly activity” (most common in the social sciences and humanities), or creative activity (most common in the arts). Increasingly, these simple categorizations are being blurred, for all good reasons and to the good of the discovery of new knowledge and greater understanding of complex (transdisciplinary) challenges and the creation of increasingly interrelated fields needed to address them.

It goes without saying that the advancement of knowledge (discovery, innovation, creation) is essential to any civilization. Our nation’s research universities represent some of the most concentrated communities of scholars, facilities, and collective expertise engaged in these activities. But more importantly, this is where higher education is delivered, where students develop breadth and depth of knowledge in foundational and advanced subjects, where the skills for knowledge acquisition and understanding (including contextualization, interpretation, and inference) are honed, and where students are educated, trained, and otherwise prepared for successful careers. Part of that training and preparation derives from exposure to faculty who are engaged at the leading-edge of their fields, through their research and scholarly work. The best faculty, the teacher-scholars, seamlessly weave their teaching and research efforts together, to their mutual benefit, and in a way that excites and engages their students. In this way, the next generation of scholars (academic or otherwise) is trained, research and discovery continue to advance inter-generationally, and the cycle is perpetuated.

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University research can be expensive, particularly in laboratory-intensive fields. But the responsibility for much (indeed most) of the cost of conducting research falls to the faculty member. Faculty who are engaged in research write grants for funding (e.g., from federal and state agencies, foundations, and private companies) to support their work and the work of their students and staff. In some cases, the universities do need to invest heavily in equipment, facilities, and personnel to support select research activities. But they do so judiciously, with an eye toward both their mission, their strategic priorities, and their available resources.

Medical research, and medical education more broadly, is expensive and often requires substantial institutional investment beyond what can be covered by clinical operations or externally funded research. But universities with medical schools/medical centers have determined that the value to their educational and training missions as well as to their communities justifies the investment. And most would agree that university-based medical centers are of significant value to their communities, often providing best-in-class treatment and care in midsize and smaller communities at a level more often seen in larger metropolitan areas.

Research in the STEM fields (broadly defined) can also be expensive. Scientific (including medical) and engineering research often involves specialized facilities or pieces of equipment, advanced computing capabilities, materials requiring controlled handling and storage, and so forth. But much of this work is funded, in large part, by federal agencies such as the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, US Department of Energy, US Department of Agriculture, and many others.

Research in the social sciences is often (not always) less expensive, requiring smaller amount of grant funding. As mentioned previously, however, it is now becoming common to have physical, natural, and social scientist teams pursuing large grant funding. This is an exciting and very promising trend for many reasons, not the least of which is the nature of the complex problems being studied.

Research in the arts and humanities typically requires the least amount of funding as it rarely requires the expensive items listed previously. Funding from such organizations as the National Endowment for the Arts, National Endowment for the Humanities, and private foundations may be able to support significant scholarship and creation of new knowledge or works through much more modest grants than would be required in the natural or physical sciences, for example.

Philanthropy may also be directed toward the support of research and scholarly activity at universities. Support from individual donors, family foundations, private or corporate foundations may be directed to support students, faculty, labs or other facilities, research programs, galleries, centers, and institutes.

Who benefits?

Students, both undergraduate and graduate, benefit from studying in an environment rich with research and discovery. Besides what the faculty can bring back to the classroom, there are opportunities to engage with faculty as part of their research teams and even conduct independent research under their supervision, often for credit. There are opportunities to learn about and learn on state-of-the-art equipment, in state-of-the-art laboratories, and from those working on the leading edge in a discipline. There are opportunities to co-author, present at conferences, make important connections, and explore post-graduate pathways.

The broader university benefits from active research programs. Research on timely and important topics attracts attention, which in turn leads to greater institutional visibility and reputation. As a university becomes known for its research in certain fields, they become magnets for students, faculty, grants, media coverage, and even philanthropy. Strength in research helps to define a university’s “brand” in the national and international marketplace, impacting everything from student recruitment, to faculty retention, to attracting new investments.

The community, region, and state benefits from the research activity of the university. This is especially true for public research universities. Research also contributes directly to economic development, clinical, commercial, and business opportunities. Resources brought into the university through grants and contracts support faculty, staff, and student salaries, often adding additional jobs, contributing directly to the tax base. Research universities, through their expertise, reputation, and facilities, can attract new businesses into their communities or states. They can also launch and incubate startup companies, or license and sell their technologies to other companies. Research universities often host meeting and conferences which creates revenue for local hotels, restaurants, event centers, and more. And as mentioned previously, university medical centers provide high-quality medical care, often in midsize communities that wouldn’t otherwise have such outstanding services and state-of-the-art facilities.

(Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

And finally, why does this all matter?

Research is essential to advancing society, strengthening the economy, driving innovation, and addressing the vexing and challenging problems we face as a people, place, and planet. It’s through research, scholarship, and discovery that we learn about our history and ourselves, understand the present context in which we live, and plan for and secure our future.

Research universities are vibrant, exciting, and inspiring places to learn and to work. They offer opportunities for students that few other institutions can match – whether small liberal arts colleges, mid-size teaching universities, or community colleges – and while not right for every learner or every educator, they are right for many, if not most. The advantages simply cannot be ignored. Neither can the importance or the need for these institutions. They need not be for everyone, and everyone need not find their way to study or work at our research universities, and we stipulate that there are many outstanding options to meet and support different learning styles and provide different environments for teaching and learning. But it’s critically important that we continue to support, protect, and respect research universities for all they do for their students, their communities and states, our standing in the global scientific community, our economy, and our nation.

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Why you should encourage your students to do research

By Elizabeth Rushton and Nicola Robinson 2019-12-17T09:39:00+00:00

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Independent research projects give students a richer understanding of what it means to be a scientist 

Source: © Otto Dettmer/Ikon Images

Developing research projects with students can help equip them for work

Recent studies suggest that it is good for secondary school students to participate in independent research projects (IRPs) as part of their science education. IRPs are student-led, open-ended practical projects which help students engage with science in a way that gives them a richer understanding of what it means to be a scientist. 

However, coursework projects were removed from the A-level chemistry curriculum in England, Wales and Northern Ireland in 2015. They still remain part of Scottish chemistry teaching. Instead, students do required practicals which assess practical skills and knowledge in an external examination. If students in England, Wales or Northern Ireland want to do an IRP, they have to seek out the Extended Project Qualification (EPQ) or extracurricular programmes such as the British Science Association CREST Awards . But how can schools best support and encourage their students?

Drawing from our perspectives as an education researcher and a secondary school chemistry teacher, here are three ideas we recommend you try out in your own classroom.

1. Build a research community

Research is a team endeavour that brings together different skills and experiences to establish research communities involving a variety of key players: students from across year groups, teachers, technicians and parents. Invite former students, university researchers and industry representatives.

You can foster a sense of community by making research events social – visit a university research lab and allow your students to mingle with the scientists, for example, or host research-related social events like watching a film or visiting an exhibition relevant to the project. This will also help break down barriers between students, teachers and other professionals, and create team spirit.

2. Celebrate student research within and beyond the school

Generally, students have limited opportunities to share and celebrate their work within and beyond their school community. Researchers share their science at conferences by giving talks and presenting posters, but sharing research with the wider public – through public lectures or magazine articles, for example – is an equally important part of science communication.

Through IRPs, you can give your students an opportunity to develop their understanding of both the research itself and why it’s important to the wider community. A simple way to start would be to display student research posters in classrooms and corridors and refer to them in lessons. You could also organise outreach events. Encourage students to share their passion for science by giving an assembly about their research at a local primary school, for example. Your students could even host an open evening where they invite the local community to attend a mini-conference; they could give small talks and display their posters. They will gain valuable experience in presenting to different audiences.

3. Encourage a diverse group of students to participate

Organising these kinds of trips and events requires good planning and organisation, and visits to primary schools especially rely on students who can communicate with younger students in an appropriate and engaging way. So a broad range of student skills are needed to make the events successful. Recognising these varied roles and promoting them to students will encourage a diverse group of students to participate in research, and may encourage more students to experience how they can contribute to the project and science in general. Teachers and technicians play a vital role in recruiting students so everyone can benefit from the IRPs.

Giving students the opportunity to do IRPs could heighten their awareness of many potential STEM career options they may not otherwise have considered. In addition to developing the obvious skills associated with problem-solving, lateral thinking and the scientific method, students also get to build valuable social networks. And students who decide to study science at university will inevitably be better prepared for their studies because of the skills and experience gained through doing IRPs. Finally, the process could also free them of the compartmentalised thinking they might normally encounter at school as well as helping them form better relationships with others.

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The Value of Research

Many people ask why research is so important to UNLV and other universities. Below, we have answered a few common questions.

Research seeks to advance the existing body of knowledge in virtually all disciplines. Although stereotypical depictions suggest research is conducted in laboratories, it is actually performed in virtually all subjects – from English to physics, from health sciences to history, from chemistry to criminal justice. Different methods are employed, but, at its most fundamental level, research seeks to expand understanding.

Faculty members are tasked with discovering and creating new knowledge and sharing that knowledge – as well as their systematic methods of acquiring it – with students. Faculty members who perform research gain the respect of their colleagues, stay at the forefront of their fields, and are able to share their disciplines’ latest developments with students. They tend to collaborate with scholars from other universities, consider new interpretations and methods, and bring valuable grant funding to the university.

Teaching and research are far from mutually exclusive; they are, in fact, complementary activities. Students benefit tremendously from involvement in hands-on research experiences and develop valuable practical and analytical skills from their participation. Faculty who conduct research share up-to-date information with students and give them the opportunity to explore fields of interest in greater depth. The best and brightest students are often attracted to a university because of the opportunity to work closely with faculty; as a result, outstanding research programs tend to help recruit great students at both the undergraduate and graduate levels.

The public benefits when sophisticated faculty expertise is employed to improve quality of life. Research addresses a variety of pertinent local and state issues, solves practical problems, and encourages economic diversification. UNLV is particularly committed to conducting research that is beneficial to the community, state, and region.

University research creates knowledge that can lead to new technologies, commercial products, and development of industries that can have a significant impact on the economy. UNLV researchers are working to create such new technologies and intellectual property with commercialization potential. In addition to providing a revenue stream to the university, this could also bring business opportunities and jobs to our area.

Research is critical to the advancement of UNLV’s reputation among colleges and universities. Research success is a key indicator of the sophistication of a university; many believe it is the yardstick by which academic reputation is measured. UNLV continues to gain respect throughout the country because its research is highly regarded. If it seeks to gain even greater respect in the academic community, supporting research is the way to go about it.

UNLV has made tremendous strides in the last several years in building infrastructure that significantly advances the university’s research agenda. There are many performance measures that indicate research success, including research funding, student participation in doctoral programs, and scholarly publication productivity among faculty. One point of pride for UNLV is its inclusion in the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching category of “Research Universities (Higher Research Activity). This places UNLV in the company of many fine institutions and confirms its status as a nationally recognized research institution. However, UNLV aspires to become a “Top Tier University” and one measure of would be to earn the Carnegie Foundation’s highest distinction: “Research Universities (Highest Research Activity).” This would place UNLV among the very best universities in the U.S.

Rankings such as these demonstrate institutional research sophistication and most certainly aid the university as it endeavors to enhance its academic reputation. It is important to note, however, that these improvements are the result of strategic planning designed to build research infrastructure in recent years. The institution is just beginning to reap the benefits of this planning. Naturally, additional support of research infrastructure is necessary for the institution to continue its upward trajectory.

What Is Research, and Why Do People Do It?

• Open Access
• First Online: 03 December 2022

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• James Hiebert 6 ,
• Jinfa Cai 7 ,
• Stephen Hwang 7 ,
• Anne K Morris 6 &
• Charles Hohensee 6  

Part of the book series: Research in Mathematics Education ((RME))

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Abstractspiepr Abs1

Every day people do research as they gather information to learn about something of interest. In the scientific world, however, research means something different than simply gathering information. Scientific research is characterized by its careful planning and observing, by its relentless efforts to understand and explain, and by its commitment to learn from everyone else seriously engaged in research. We call this kind of research scientific inquiry and define it as “formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses.” By “hypotheses” we do not mean the hypotheses you encounter in statistics courses. We mean predictions about what you expect to find and rationales for why you made these predictions. Throughout this and the remaining chapters we make clear that the process of scientific inquiry applies to all kinds of research studies and data, both qualitative and quantitative.

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Part I. What Is Research?

Have you ever studied something carefully because you wanted to know more about it? Maybe you wanted to know more about your grandmother’s life when she was younger so you asked her to tell you stories from her childhood, or maybe you wanted to know more about a fertilizer you were about to use in your garden so you read the ingredients on the package and looked them up online. According to the dictionary definition, you were doing research.

Recall your high school assignments asking you to “research” a topic. The assignment likely included consulting a variety of sources that discussed the topic, perhaps including some “original” sources. Often, the teacher referred to your product as a “research paper.”

Were you conducting research when you interviewed your grandmother or wrote high school papers reviewing a particular topic? Our view is that you were engaged in part of the research process, but only a small part. In this book, we reserve the word “research” for what it means in the scientific world, that is, for scientific research or, more pointedly, for scientific inquiry .

Exercise 1.1

Before you read any further, write a definition of what you think scientific inquiry is. Keep it short—Two to three sentences. You will periodically update this definition as you read this chapter and the remainder of the book.

This book is about scientific inquiry—what it is and how to do it. For starters, scientific inquiry is a process, a particular way of finding out about something that involves a number of phases. Each phase of the process constitutes one aspect of scientific inquiry. You are doing scientific inquiry as you engage in each phase, but you have not done scientific inquiry until you complete the full process. Each phase is necessary but not sufficient.

In this chapter, we set the stage by defining scientific inquiry—describing what it is and what it is not—and by discussing what it is good for and why people do it. The remaining chapters build directly on the ideas presented in this chapter.

A first thing to know is that scientific inquiry is not all or nothing. “Scientificness” is a continuum. Inquiries can be more scientific or less scientific. What makes an inquiry more scientific? You might be surprised there is no universally agreed upon answer to this question. None of the descriptors we know of are sufficient by themselves to define scientific inquiry. But all of them give you a way of thinking about some aspects of the process of scientific inquiry. Each one gives you different insights.

Exercise 1.2

As you read about each descriptor below, think about what would make an inquiry more or less scientific. If you think a descriptor is important, use it to revise your definition of scientific inquiry.

Creating an Image of Scientific Inquiry

We will present three descriptors of scientific inquiry. Each provides a different perspective and emphasizes a different aspect of scientific inquiry. We will draw on all three descriptors to compose our definition of scientific inquiry.

Descriptor 1. Experience Carefully Planned in Advance

Sir Ronald Fisher, often called the father of modern statistical design, once referred to research as “experience carefully planned in advance” (1935, p. 8). He said that humans are always learning from experience, from interacting with the world around them. Usually, this learning is haphazard rather than the result of a deliberate process carried out over an extended period of time. Research, Fisher said, was learning from experience, but experience carefully planned in advance.

This phrase can be fully appreciated by looking at each word. The fact that scientific inquiry is based on experience means that it is based on interacting with the world. These interactions could be thought of as the stuff of scientific inquiry. In addition, it is not just any experience that counts. The experience must be carefully planned . The interactions with the world must be conducted with an explicit, describable purpose, and steps must be taken to make the intended learning as likely as possible. This planning is an integral part of scientific inquiry; it is not just a preparation phase. It is one of the things that distinguishes scientific inquiry from many everyday learning experiences. Finally, these steps must be taken beforehand and the purpose of the inquiry must be articulated in advance of the experience. Clearly, scientific inquiry does not happen by accident, by just stumbling into something. Stumbling into something unexpected and interesting can happen while engaged in scientific inquiry, but learning does not depend on it and serendipity does not make the inquiry scientific.

Descriptor 2. Observing Something and Trying to Explain Why It Is the Way It Is

When we were writing this chapter and googled “scientific inquiry,” the first entry was: “Scientific inquiry refers to the diverse ways in which scientists study the natural world and propose explanations based on the evidence derived from their work.” The emphasis is on studying, or observing, and then explaining . This descriptor takes the image of scientific inquiry beyond carefully planned experience and includes explaining what was experienced.

According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, “explain” means “(a) to make known, (b) to make plain or understandable, (c) to give the reason or cause of, and (d) to show the logical development or relations of” (Merriam-Webster, n.d. ). We will use all these definitions. Taken together, they suggest that to explain an observation means to understand it by finding reasons (or causes) for why it is as it is. In this sense of scientific inquiry, the following are synonyms: explaining why, understanding why, and reasoning about causes and effects. Our image of scientific inquiry now includes planning, observing, and explaining why.

We need to add a final note about this descriptor. We have phrased it in a way that suggests “observing something” means you are observing something in real time—observing the way things are or the way things are changing. This is often true. But, observing could mean observing data that already have been collected, maybe by someone else making the original observations (e.g., secondary analysis of NAEP data or analysis of existing video recordings of classroom instruction). We will address secondary analyses more fully in Chap. 4 . For now, what is important is that the process requires explaining why the data look like they do.

We must note that for us, the term “data” is not limited to numerical or quantitative data such as test scores. Data can also take many nonquantitative forms, including written survey responses, interview transcripts, journal entries, video recordings of students, teachers, and classrooms, text messages, and so forth.

Exercise 1.3

What are the implications of the statement that just “observing” is not enough to count as scientific inquiry? Does this mean that a detailed description of a phenomenon is not scientific inquiry?

Find sources that define research in education that differ with our position, that say description alone, without explanation, counts as scientific research. Identify the precise points where the opinions differ. What are the best arguments for each of the positions? Which do you prefer? Why?

Descriptor 3. Updating Everyone’s Thinking in Response to More and Better Information

This descriptor focuses on a third aspect of scientific inquiry: updating and advancing the field’s understanding of phenomena that are investigated. This descriptor foregrounds a powerful characteristic of scientific inquiry: the reliability (or trustworthiness) of what is learned and the ultimate inevitability of this learning to advance human understanding of phenomena. Humans might choose not to learn from scientific inquiry, but history suggests that scientific inquiry always has the potential to advance understanding and that, eventually, humans take advantage of these new understandings.

Before exploring these bold claims a bit further, note that this descriptor uses “information” in the same way the previous two descriptors used “experience” and “observations.” These are the stuff of scientific inquiry and we will use them often, sometimes interchangeably. Frequently, we will use the term “data” to stand for all these terms.

An overriding goal of scientific inquiry is for everyone to learn from what one scientist does. Much of this book is about the methods you need to use so others have faith in what you report and can learn the same things you learned. This aspect of scientific inquiry has many implications.

One implication is that scientific inquiry is not a private practice. It is a public practice available for others to see and learn from. Notice how different this is from everyday learning. When you happen to learn something from your everyday experience, often only you gain from the experience. The fact that research is a public practice means it is also a social one. It is best conducted by interacting with others along the way: soliciting feedback at each phase, taking opportunities to present work-in-progress, and benefitting from the advice of others.

A second implication is that you, as the researcher, must be committed to sharing what you are doing and what you are learning in an open and transparent way. This allows all phases of your work to be scrutinized and critiqued. This is what gives your work credibility. The reliability or trustworthiness of your findings depends on your colleagues recognizing that you have used all appropriate methods to maximize the chances that your claims are justified by the data.

A third implication of viewing scientific inquiry as a collective enterprise is the reverse of the second—you must be committed to receiving comments from others. You must treat your colleagues as fair and honest critics even though it might sometimes feel otherwise. You must appreciate their job, which is to remain skeptical while scrutinizing what you have done in considerable detail. To provide the best help to you, they must remain skeptical about your conclusions (when, for example, the data are difficult for them to interpret) until you offer a convincing logical argument based on the information you share. A rather harsh but good-to-remember statement of the role of your friendly critics was voiced by Karl Popper, a well-known twentieth century philosopher of science: “. . . if you are interested in the problem which I tried to solve by my tentative assertion, you may help me by criticizing it as severely as you can” (Popper, 1968, p. 27).

A final implication of this third descriptor is that, as someone engaged in scientific inquiry, you have no choice but to update your thinking when the data support a different conclusion. This applies to your own data as well as to those of others. When data clearly point to a specific claim, even one that is quite different than you expected, you must reconsider your position. If the outcome is replicated multiple times, you need to adjust your thinking accordingly. Scientific inquiry does not let you pick and choose which data to believe; it mandates that everyone update their thinking when the data warrant an update.

Doing Scientific Inquiry

We define scientific inquiry in an operational sense—what does it mean to do scientific inquiry? What kind of process would satisfy all three descriptors: carefully planning an experience in advance; observing and trying to explain what you see; and, contributing to updating everyone’s thinking about an important phenomenon?

We define scientific inquiry as formulating , testing , and revising hypotheses about phenomena of interest.

Of course, we are not the only ones who define it in this way. The definition for the scientific method posted by the editors of Britannica is: “a researcher develops a hypothesis, tests it through various means, and then modifies the hypothesis on the basis of the outcome of the tests and experiments” (Britannica, n.d. ).

Notice how defining scientific inquiry this way satisfies each of the descriptors. “Carefully planning an experience in advance” is exactly what happens when formulating a hypothesis about a phenomenon of interest and thinking about how to test it. “ Observing a phenomenon” occurs when testing a hypothesis, and “ explaining ” what is found is required when revising a hypothesis based on the data. Finally, “updating everyone’s thinking” comes from comparing publicly the original with the revised hypothesis.

Doing scientific inquiry, as we have defined it, underscores the value of accumulating knowledge rather than generating random bits of knowledge. Formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses is an ongoing process, with each revised hypothesis begging for another test, whether by the same researcher or by new researchers. The editors of Britannica signaled this cyclic process by adding the following phrase to their definition of the scientific method: “The modified hypothesis is then retested, further modified, and tested again.” Scientific inquiry creates a process that encourages each study to build on the studies that have gone before. Through collective engagement in this process of building study on top of study, the scientific community works together to update its thinking.

Before exploring more fully the meaning of “formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses,” we need to acknowledge that this is not the only way researchers define research. Some researchers prefer a less formal definition, one that includes more serendipity, less planning, less explanation. You might have come across more open definitions such as “research is finding out about something.” We prefer the tighter hypothesis formulation, testing, and revision definition because we believe it provides a single, coherent map for conducting research that addresses many of the thorny problems educational researchers encounter. We believe it is the most useful orientation toward research and the most helpful to learn as a beginning researcher.

A final clarification of our definition is that it applies equally to qualitative and quantitative research. This is a familiar distinction in education that has generated much discussion. You might think our definition favors quantitative methods over qualitative methods because the language of hypothesis formulation and testing is often associated with quantitative methods. In fact, we do not favor one method over another. In Chap. 4 , we will illustrate how our definition fits research using a range of quantitative and qualitative methods.

Exercise 1.4

Look for ways to extend what the field knows in an area that has already received attention by other researchers. Specifically, you can search for a program of research carried out by more experienced researchers that has some revised hypotheses that remain untested. Identify a revised hypothesis that you might like to test.

Unpacking the Terms Formulating, Testing, and Revising Hypotheses

To get a full sense of the definition of scientific inquiry we will use throughout this book, it is helpful to spend a little time with each of the key terms.

We first want to make clear that we use the term “hypothesis” as it is defined in most dictionaries and as it used in many scientific fields rather than as it is usually defined in educational statistics courses. By “hypothesis,” we do not mean a null hypothesis that is accepted or rejected by statistical analysis. Rather, we use “hypothesis” in the sense conveyed by the following definitions: “An idea or explanation for something that is based on known facts but has not yet been proved” (Cambridge University Press, n.d. ), and “An unproved theory, proposition, or supposition, tentatively accepted to explain certain facts and to provide a basis for further investigation or argument” (Agnes & Guralnik, 2008 ).

We distinguish two parts to “hypotheses.” Hypotheses consist of predictions and rationales . Predictions are statements about what you expect to find when you inquire about something. Rationales are explanations for why you made the predictions you did, why you believe your predictions are correct. So, for us “formulating hypotheses” means making explicit predictions and developing rationales for the predictions.

“Testing hypotheses” means making observations that allow you to assess in what ways your predictions were correct and in what ways they were incorrect. In education research, it is rarely useful to think of your predictions as either right or wrong. Because of the complexity of most issues you will investigate, most predictions will be right in some ways and wrong in others.

By studying the observations you make (data you collect) to test your hypotheses, you can revise your hypotheses to better align with the observations. This means revising your predictions plus revising your rationales to justify your adjusted predictions. Even though you might not run another test, formulating revised hypotheses is an essential part of conducting a research study. Comparing your original and revised hypotheses informs everyone of what you learned by conducting your study. In addition, a revised hypothesis sets the stage for you or someone else to extend your study and accumulate more knowledge of the phenomenon.

We should note that not everyone makes a clear distinction between predictions and rationales as two aspects of hypotheses. In fact, common, non-scientific uses of the word “hypothesis” may limit it to only a prediction or only an explanation (or rationale). We choose to explicitly include both prediction and rationale in our definition of hypothesis, not because we assert this should be the universal definition, but because we want to foreground the importance of both parts acting in concert. Using “hypothesis” to represent both prediction and rationale could hide the two aspects, but we make them explicit because they provide different kinds of information. It is usually easier to make predictions than develop rationales because predictions can be guesses, hunches, or gut feelings about which you have little confidence. Developing a compelling rationale requires careful thought plus reading what other researchers have found plus talking with your colleagues. Often, while you are developing your rationale you will find good reasons to change your predictions. Developing good rationales is the engine that drives scientific inquiry. Rationales are essentially descriptions of how much you know about the phenomenon you are studying. Throughout this guide, we will elaborate on how developing good rationales drives scientific inquiry. For now, we simply note that it can sharpen your predictions and help you to interpret your data as you test your hypotheses.

Hypotheses in education research take a variety of forms or types. This is because there are a variety of phenomena that can be investigated. Investigating educational phenomena is sometimes best done using qualitative methods, sometimes using quantitative methods, and most often using mixed methods (e.g., Hay, 2016 ; Weis et al. 2019a ; Weisner, 2005 ). This means that, given our definition, hypotheses are equally applicable to qualitative and quantitative investigations.

Hypotheses take different forms when they are used to investigate different kinds of phenomena. Two very different activities in education could be labeled conducting experiments and descriptions. In an experiment, a hypothesis makes a prediction about anticipated changes, say the changes that occur when a treatment or intervention is applied. You might investigate how students’ thinking changes during a particular kind of instruction.

A second type of hypothesis, relevant for descriptive research, makes a prediction about what you will find when you investigate and describe the nature of a situation. The goal is to understand a situation as it exists rather than to understand a change from one situation to another. In this case, your prediction is what you expect to observe. Your rationale is the set of reasons for making this prediction; it is your current explanation for why the situation will look like it does.

You will probably read, if you have not already, that some researchers say you do not need a prediction to conduct a descriptive study. We will discuss this point of view in Chap. 2 . For now, we simply claim that scientific inquiry, as we have defined it, applies to all kinds of research studies. Descriptive studies, like others, not only benefit from formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses, but also need hypothesis formulating, testing, and revising.

One reason we define research as formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses is that if you think of research in this way you are less likely to go wrong. It is a useful guide for the entire process, as we will describe in detail in the chapters ahead. For example, as you build the rationale for your predictions, you are constructing the theoretical framework for your study (Chap. 3 ). As you work out the methods you will use to test your hypothesis, every decision you make will be based on asking, “Will this help me formulate or test or revise my hypothesis?” (Chap. 4 ). As you interpret the results of testing your predictions, you will compare them to what you predicted and examine the differences, focusing on how you must revise your hypotheses (Chap. 5 ). By anchoring the process to formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses, you will make smart decisions that yield a coherent and well-designed study.

Exercise 1.5

Compare the concept of formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses with the descriptions of scientific inquiry contained in Scientific Research in Education (NRC, 2002 ). How are they similar or different?

Exercise 1.6

Provide an example to illustrate and emphasize the differences between everyday learning/thinking and scientific inquiry.

Learning from Doing Scientific Inquiry

We noted earlier that a measure of what you have learned by conducting a research study is found in the differences between your original hypothesis and your revised hypothesis based on the data you collected to test your hypothesis. We will elaborate this statement in later chapters, but we preview our argument here.

Even before collecting data, scientific inquiry requires cycles of making a prediction, developing a rationale, refining your predictions, reading and studying more to strengthen your rationale, refining your predictions again, and so forth. And, even if you have run through several such cycles, you still will likely find that when you test your prediction you will be partly right and partly wrong. The results will support some parts of your predictions but not others, or the results will “kind of” support your predictions. A critical part of scientific inquiry is making sense of your results by interpreting them against your predictions. Carefully describing what aspects of your data supported your predictions, what aspects did not, and what data fell outside of any predictions is not an easy task, but you cannot learn from your study without doing this analysis.

Analyzing the matches and mismatches between your predictions and your data allows you to formulate different rationales that would have accounted for more of the data. The best revised rationale is the one that accounts for the most data. Once you have revised your rationales, you can think about the predictions they best justify or explain. It is by comparing your original rationales to your new rationales that you can sort out what you learned from your study.

Suppose your study was an experiment. Maybe you were investigating the effects of a new instructional intervention on students’ learning. Your original rationale was your explanation for why the intervention would change the learning outcomes in a particular way. Your revised rationale explained why the changes that you observed occurred like they did and why your revised predictions are better. Maybe your original rationale focused on the potential of the activities if they were implemented in ideal ways and your revised rationale included the factors that are likely to affect how teachers implement them. By comparing the before and after rationales, you are describing what you learned—what you can explain now that you could not before. Another way of saying this is that you are describing how much more you understand now than before you conducted your study.

Revised predictions based on carefully planned and collected data usually exhibit some of the following features compared with the originals: more precision, more completeness, and broader scope. Revised rationales have more explanatory power and become more complete, more aligned with the new predictions, sharper, and overall more convincing.

Part II. Why Do Educators Do Research?

Doing scientific inquiry is a lot of work. Each phase of the process takes time, and you will often cycle back to improve earlier phases as you engage in later phases. Because of the significant effort required, you should make sure your study is worth it. So, from the beginning, you should think about the purpose of your study. Why do you want to do it? And, because research is a social practice, you should also think about whether the results of your study are likely to be important and significant to the education community.

If you are doing research in the way we have described—as scientific inquiry—then one purpose of your study is to understand , not just to describe or evaluate or report. As we noted earlier, when you formulate hypotheses, you are developing rationales that explain why things might be like they are. In our view, trying to understand and explain is what separates research from other kinds of activities, like evaluating or describing.

One reason understanding is so important is that it allows researchers to see how or why something works like it does. When you see how something works, you are better able to predict how it might work in other contexts, under other conditions. And, because conditions, or contextual factors, matter a lot in education, gaining insights into applying your findings to other contexts increases the contributions of your work and its importance to the broader education community.

Consequently, the purposes of research studies in education often include the more specific aim of identifying and understanding the conditions under which the phenomena being studied work like the observations suggest. A classic example of this kind of study in mathematics education was reported by William Brownell and Harold Moser in 1949 . They were trying to establish which method of subtracting whole numbers could be taught most effectively—the regrouping method or the equal additions method. However, they realized that effectiveness might depend on the conditions under which the methods were taught—“meaningfully” versus “mechanically.” So, they designed a study that crossed the two instructional approaches with the two different methods (regrouping and equal additions). Among other results, they found that these conditions did matter. The regrouping method was more effective under the meaningful condition than the mechanical condition, but the same was not true for the equal additions algorithm.

What do education researchers want to understand? In our view, the ultimate goal of education is to offer all students the best possible learning opportunities. So, we believe the ultimate purpose of scientific inquiry in education is to develop understanding that supports the improvement of learning opportunities for all students. We say “ultimate” because there are lots of issues that must be understood to improve learning opportunities for all students. Hypotheses about many aspects of education are connected, ultimately, to students’ learning. For example, formulating and testing a hypothesis that preservice teachers need to engage in particular kinds of activities in their coursework in order to teach particular topics well is, ultimately, connected to improving students’ learning opportunities. So is hypothesizing that school districts often devote relatively few resources to instructional leadership training or hypothesizing that positioning mathematics as a tool students can use to combat social injustice can help students see the relevance of mathematics to their lives.

We do not exclude the importance of research on educational issues more removed from improving students’ learning opportunities, but we do think the argument for their importance will be more difficult to make. If there is no way to imagine a connection between your hypothesis and improving learning opportunities for students, even a distant connection, we recommend you reconsider whether it is an important hypothesis within the education community.

Notice that we said the ultimate goal of education is to offer all students the best possible learning opportunities. For too long, educators have been satisfied with a goal of offering rich learning opportunities for lots of students, sometimes even for just the majority of students, but not necessarily for all students. Evaluations of success often are based on outcomes that show high averages. In other words, if many students have learned something, or even a smaller number have learned a lot, educators may have been satisfied. The problem is that there is usually a pattern in the groups of students who receive lower quality opportunities—students of color and students who live in poor areas, urban and rural. This is not acceptable. Consequently, we emphasize the premise that the purpose of education research is to offer rich learning opportunities to all students.

One way to make sure you will be able to convince others of the importance of your study is to consider investigating some aspect of teachers’ shared instructional problems. Historically, researchers in education have set their own research agendas, regardless of the problems teachers are facing in schools. It is increasingly recognized that teachers have had trouble applying to their own classrooms what researchers find. To address this problem, a researcher could partner with a teacher—better yet, a small group of teachers—and talk with them about instructional problems they all share. These discussions can create a rich pool of problems researchers can consider. If researchers pursued one of these problems (preferably alongside teachers), the connection to improving learning opportunities for all students could be direct and immediate. “Grounding a research question in instructional problems that are experienced across multiple teachers’ classrooms helps to ensure that the answer to the question will be of sufficient scope to be relevant and significant beyond the local context” (Cai et al., 2019b , p. 115).

As a beginning researcher, determining the relevance and importance of a research problem is especially challenging. We recommend talking with advisors, other experienced researchers, and peers to test the educational importance of possible research problems and topics of study. You will also learn much more about the issue of research importance when you read Chap. 5 .

Exercise 1.7

Identify a problem in education that is closely connected to improving learning opportunities and a problem that has a less close connection. For each problem, write a brief argument (like a logical sequence of if-then statements) that connects the problem to all students’ learning opportunities.

Part III. Conducting Research as a Practice of Failing Productively

Scientific inquiry involves formulating hypotheses about phenomena that are not fully understood—by you or anyone else. Even if you are able to inform your hypotheses with lots of knowledge that has already been accumulated, you are likely to find that your prediction is not entirely accurate. This is normal. Remember, scientific inquiry is a process of constantly updating your thinking. More and better information means revising your thinking, again, and again, and again. Because you never fully understand a complicated phenomenon and your hypotheses never produce completely accurate predictions, it is easy to believe you are somehow failing.

The trick is to fail upward, to fail to predict accurately in ways that inform your next hypothesis so you can make a better prediction. Some of the best-known researchers in education have been open and honest about the many times their predictions were wrong and, based on the results of their studies and those of others, they continuously updated their thinking and changed their hypotheses.

A striking example of publicly revising (actually reversing) hypotheses due to incorrect predictions is found in the work of Lee J. Cronbach, one of the most distinguished educational psychologists of the twentieth century. In 1955, Cronbach delivered his presidential address to the American Psychological Association. Titling it “Two Disciplines of Scientific Psychology,” Cronbach proposed a rapprochement between two research approaches—correlational studies that focused on individual differences and experimental studies that focused on instructional treatments controlling for individual differences. (We will examine different research approaches in Chap. 4 ). If these approaches could be brought together, reasoned Cronbach ( 1957 ), researchers could find interactions between individual characteristics and treatments (aptitude-treatment interactions or ATIs), fitting the best treatments to different individuals.

In 1975, after years of research by many researchers looking for ATIs, Cronbach acknowledged the evidence for simple, useful ATIs had not been found. Even when trying to find interactions between a few variables that could provide instructional guidance, the analysis, said Cronbach, creates “a hall of mirrors that extends to infinity, tormenting even the boldest investigators and defeating even ambitious designs” (Cronbach, 1975 , p. 119).

As he was reflecting back on his work, Cronbach ( 1986 ) recommended moving away from documenting instructional effects through statistical inference (an approach he had championed for much of his career) and toward approaches that probe the reasons for these effects, approaches that provide a “full account of events in a time, place, and context” (Cronbach, 1986 , p. 104). This is a remarkable change in hypotheses, a change based on data and made fully transparent. Cronbach understood the value of failing productively.

Closer to home, in a less dramatic example, one of us began a line of scientific inquiry into how to prepare elementary preservice teachers to teach early algebra. Teaching early algebra meant engaging elementary students in early forms of algebraic reasoning. Such reasoning should help them transition from arithmetic to algebra. To begin this line of inquiry, a set of activities for preservice teachers were developed. Even though the activities were based on well-supported hypotheses, they largely failed to engage preservice teachers as predicted because of unanticipated challenges the preservice teachers faced. To capitalize on this failure, follow-up studies were conducted, first to better understand elementary preservice teachers’ challenges with preparing to teach early algebra, and then to better support preservice teachers in navigating these challenges. In this example, the initial failure was a necessary step in the researchers’ scientific inquiry and furthered the researchers’ understanding of this issue.

We present another example of failing productively in Chap. 2 . That example emerges from recounting the history of a well-known research program in mathematics education.

Making mistakes is an inherent part of doing scientific research. Conducting a study is rarely a smooth path from beginning to end. We recommend that you keep the following things in mind as you begin a career of conducting research in education.

First, do not get discouraged when you make mistakes; do not fall into the trap of feeling like you are not capable of doing research because you make too many errors.

Second, learn from your mistakes. Do not ignore your mistakes or treat them as errors that you simply need to forget and move past. Mistakes are rich sites for learning—in research just as in other fields of study.

Third, by reflecting on your mistakes, you can learn to make better mistakes, mistakes that inform you about a productive next step. You will not be able to eliminate your mistakes, but you can set a goal of making better and better mistakes.

Exercise 1.8

How does scientific inquiry differ from everyday learning in giving you the tools to fail upward? You may find helpful perspectives on this question in other resources on science and scientific inquiry (e.g., Failure: Why Science is So Successful by Firestein, 2015).

Exercise 1.9

Use what you have learned in this chapter to write a new definition of scientific inquiry. Compare this definition with the one you wrote before reading this chapter. If you are reading this book as part of a course, compare your definition with your colleagues’ definitions. Develop a consensus definition with everyone in the course.

Part IV. Preview of Chap. 2

Now that you have a good idea of what research is, at least of what we believe research is, the next step is to think about how to actually begin doing research. This means how to begin formulating, testing, and revising hypotheses. As for all phases of scientific inquiry, there are lots of things to think about. Because it is critical to start well, we devote Chap. 2 to getting started with formulating hypotheses.

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Hiebert, J., Cai, J., Hwang, S., Morris, A.K., Hohensee, C. (2023). What Is Research, and Why Do People Do It?. In: Doing Research: A New Researcher’s Guide. Research in Mathematics Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-19078-0_1

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Learning in Research: Importance of Building Research Skills for Students

Learning in research is a fundamental aspect of academic progress, and it plays a vital role in the success of researchers. Science and technology are developing at an unprecedented rate, with new discoveries and advancements being made every day. This makes it crucial for researchers to continuously enhance their research skills and stay ahead of the curve. Lifelong learning , which refers to the ongoing pursuit of knowledge throughout one’s career, is indispensable to thrive in your field. This article explores the importance of learning in research and outlines the benefits of building research skills for students with tailormade courses for researchers .  

Table of Contents

Learning in research and academic progress  

Research is not for the faint of heart. More so when you’re starting out. PhD students need to take care of multiple things in limited time – conducting research, completing their course work, attending classes, and building your network. You also need to keep up with the new research methodologies, technologies, and paradigms as they develop. In this scenario, it’s easy to doubt yourself and wonder if you even belong on academia. Focusing on continued learning in research is one way to deal with these imposter feelings and continue on your path to success. There are many advantages in adding to and polishing research skills for students . We’ve listed the benefits of lifelong learning in research that not only help you build a solid foundation of knowledge but also enables you to explore new avenues and contribute to your specific fields of study.   

Benefits of lifelong learning in research  

Continuously honing research skills offers numerous benefits to researchers, particularly students who are embarking on their academic journeys. Here are some key advantages to restoring your focus on learning in research :  

• Professional growth: Researchers who fail to keep up with the latest trends risk being left behind. Learning in research fosters personal and professional growth, empowering researchers to expand their knowledge base and develop their expertise. By acquiring new research skills for students and researchers, you can undertake more complex projects, produce high-quality work, and gain recognition in your field. Lifelong learning ensures you stay ahead of the race in a highly competitive environment, which allows you to secure better professional opportunities to advance your career.
• Enhanced problem-solving: Research often involves tackling complex problems. Learning in research helps to expand your horizons, explore new areas of interest, and broaden your knowledge base so you can develop pioneering solutions for scientific problems. Lifelong learning also enhances critical thinking and problem-solving abilities, enabling researchers to approach challenges from multiple perspectives. By taking up courses for researchers and acquiring a diverse set of critical skills, researchers can develop innovative solutions to complex problems.

• Adaptability: In a continually evolving research landscape, being adaptable is crucial for success. Continual learning in research equips you to navigate challenges, embrace change, and quickly adapt to new methodologies, technologies, and trends to ensure your research remains relevant and impactful. Moreover, being open to exploring a broader range of resources and tools allows you to widen your options, adopt the best suited options for your research, and keep you moving ahead in your career.
• Networking opportunities: Lifelong learning also creates opportunities for researchers to connect and collaborate with peers, experts, and mentors. Through workshops, conferences, and online platforms, you get to exchange ideas, gain valuable insights, and forge connections with peers around the world. Being seen as an expert, who focuses on learning in research , makes you more sought after for research collaborations than those who lag behind in their understanding of current developments
• Confidence in knowledge : Lifelong learning keeps you aware of the latest developments, allowing you to apply new online tools, innovative technologies, and varied approaches to your own work. Those who keep learning in research are typically more confident about their work and are able to pursue topics even outside their area of expertise. Not only does this give you a sense of personal fulfilment, it increases your chances of faster career growth and advancement.

How to continue learning in research  

Researcher.Life’s R Upskill , with more than 120 courses for researchers , is a great place to start your journey of lifelong learning . You can choose from top researcher skill courses and enhance your expertise in scientific writing, data analysis, project management, peer review, and scientific communication among others. Helmed by industry and academic experts, these courses are designed to help researchers improve existing skills and develop new capabilities that will help them advance in their careers. With simple explanations of complex processes, bite-sized modules, and flexible learning options, the platform allows researchers to learn at their own pace, from anywhere in the world. So commit to lifelong learning – sign up for Researcher.Life now to get free access to 20 handpicked courses for researchers!

Editage All Access is a subscription-based platform that unifies the best AI tools and services designed to speed up, simplify, and streamline every step of a researcher’s journey. The Editage All Access Pack is a one-of-a-kind subscription that unlocks full access to an AI writing assistant, literature recommender, journal finder, scientific illustration tool, and exclusive discounts on professional publication services from Editage.  

Based on 22+ years of experience in academia, Editage All Access empowers researchers to put their best research forward and move closer to success. Explore our top AI Tools pack, AI Tools + Publication Services pack, or Build Your Own Plan. Find everything a researcher needs to succeed, all in one place –  Get All Access now starting at just $14 a month !    

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How to collaborate with students on research projects

Students and academic staff collaborating on research projects offers many benefits for everyone involved. Here’s how to do it

Louise Owusu-Kwarteng

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When academics and students collaborate on research projects, it can enhance the quality of the research and boost student success. Additionally, it can also promote a sense of student belonging . 

Students need to be ready for a real-world environment where change is the constant. Research knowledge and enterprise are often required to develop rapidly to meet these challenges, and collaborating with students is an effective way to teach them this. 

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Together with BA Hons Animation students and staff in the faculty of liberal arts and sciences at the University of Greenwich, we are undertaking a collaborative project entitled “Our Kid from the North of the South of the M1 River”. It fuses together animation and sociological autobiography as a pedagogical approach to exploring lived experience. 

The project charts my journey to professorship, as one of very few Black female professors in the UK. It also seeks to raise awareness of the leaky pipelines faced by global majority women in academia and encourage institutions to recognise the importance of our retention and progression. I also wish to highlight academia as a possible career for young global majority women. Drawing on our work so far, and other collaborative work undertaken, such as our Student Stories Project, I’ll share valuable insights on collaborating with students on research projects.

How to create opportunities to collaborate

At the University of Greenwich, we have an Office of Undergraduate Research hub, which I set up in 2018 and ran until 2021. It has gone from strength to strength, thanks to innovative work undertaken by one of our colleagues within the faculty. This has helped to enhance our research environment, because it’s fostered a culture in which staff and students can work together in scoping out research collaborations and undertaking funding applications . These transferable skills also benefit students’ employability .

Collaborative opportunities may occur through existing projects, as was the case with “Our Kid from the North of the South of the M1 River” .   While staff will need to steer the overall direction of the projects, students should be encouraged to identify and work on areas that best reflect their interests and strengths. 

Conversely, staff and students can start from scratch and develop ideas for projects together. Perhaps these ideas are in line with world issues, or affect their everyday experiences. For instance, I received funding centrally from the university to collaborate with students and my counterpart in another faculty on a Student Stories project. It centred on issues impacting student experience at our institution.  

Student co-researchers were encouraged to develop key themes and shape the overall project direction. They touched on the cost of living crisis , student poverty and balancing work and study, which affected their experiences. 

As a way of recording their stories, we co-created podcasts. This research has informed guidance around student experience at the university, and also in framing our institution’s Black and Minority Ethnic Awarding Difference theory of change. It also contributed to our access and participation plan for the Office of Students.

Mapping and matching skills to the relevant parts of the project

The skills the students are acquiring in their studies will come in useful on this research project. “Our Kid from the North of the South of the M1 River” needed animators, filming and sound producers, as well as project management, all skills that feature in their degrees. Work with students to identify and map out their particular strengths, so that they can focus on relevant areas. 

We found that some students were keen to go beyond their comfort zone and try new skills or technologies. Encourage this, and organise training if needed. 

They were then divided into subgroups based on skill sets. Although we facilitated these groups, we encouraged students’ creativity as much as possible, which they embraced fully. This has resulted in a fantastic animation of my story.

Co-creating milestones and agreeing updates

A core facet of the project management stage was setting of timelines and regular progress reviews, which took into account staff and student availability. We established the most appropriate times to meet, deciding on weekly Friday touch point meetings, and agreed task completion dates, as well as points to review. We also ensured flexibility, should issues arise – such as additional work shifts for students, urgent staff meetings, etc.

Recognising students’ work

Students should always receive full recognition for their work. Not only will this build their confidence in their abilities, but it increases their likelihood of wanting to undertake further projects. Recognition can include many forms, including identifying opportunities to showcase their work at events within and beyond the institution. “Our Kid from the North of the South of the M1 River”, for example, will be shown at various festivals externally, and at Stephen Lawrence’s 50th birthday commemoration at the University of Greenwich. If papers are produced on the back of the research, students should be named as co-producers, alongside tutors.

Since students have donated time, energy and skills to projects, we ensured that they received payment at the going rate, and extra for any additional work on the project. This is especially important, given that many are facing the brunt of the cost of living crisis. Failure to do so is exploitative, unethical and undermines their experiences.

Louise Owusu-Kwarteng is associate dean of student success and professor in applied sociology in the faculty of liberal arts and sciences at the University of Greenwich.

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Why and How does Research Matter in a Student’s Life?

The essence of student life is lost in the quest to be a class topper. Unfortunately, the world only cares about a report card and top grades. Bereft of choice, students take the easy way out  they lose interest in going above and beyond the academic curriculum. Is a degree just a means to financial independence? What about the fire, the passion for exploring unchartered territory? What about innovations that can change the world?

Only a handful of students understand that research has the power to change the world, to change the very fabric of our being, and to create something innovative and novel.

Every student should go through the journey of research, see why?

Success comes from curiosity, concentration, perseverance and self-criticism  Albert Einstein

The irresistible desire to learn and know new things is the foundation of research. A curious student will observe, question, experiment, and then learn. This will lead him to discover and uncover new things, which may change the face of the world forever.

Research is critical for improving society, sustaining the economy, propelling innovation, and tackling problems that ordinary people confront daily. Studying, analysing, experimenting and discovering teach students about our rich history and help them understand our present context and plan their future.

The research component provides a comprehensive learning experience as students can investigate the impact of implementing new thought processes through research and testing. Discoveries are being made in numerous domains daily, particularly science-related, and research is at its centre.

Research keeps you from lagging or harbouring inaccurate information about a subject. You might utilise the most recent data to expand on ideas or speak eloquently about a topic. This brings us to the second point about establishing credibility.

Research enables us to tackle global challenges and make evidence-based decisions. It sheds light on issues that have remained buried for long and allows people to discuss concerns and answer questions that society does not address.

Let us discuss why and how research matters in a students life.

Research for self-sufficiency: Importance

The benefits of scholarly research in higher education are innumerable. With a more functional deep dive into the subject matter under investigation, students improve their capacity to analyse and discuss any topic. The educational journey of research helps students learn all about current discussions. Developing essential library skills is a huge benefit to becoming self-sufficient. Thus, research aids in evaluating other writing styles and improving one’s reading and writing skills. A thoroughly explained bibliography is often an essential initial step in performing scholarly research. Reviewing, assessing, and synthesising information from multiple sources helps students improve their critical thinking power. Research takes effort and time, but it can yield enormous benefits and help students grow personally & professionally.

Find, measure & grab opportunities

Research is a way to nurture students potential and diversify opportunities and goals. This includes obtaining work, receiving scholarships or grants, project funding, beginning a business relationship, or getting other minor victories. These opportunities can help broaden one’s social network, raise awareness or start a new business or a project. Its a way to help people make the right life-changing decisions. This helps in self-growth and productive living.

Industry & research

When in need, industries inadvertently turn to academics to solve vital issues. The need to share knowledge, explore, innovate, and create is paramount to industrial and research interdependency. Without academic research, it is impossible to plan, strategise, and discover solutions. Thus, global development is dependent on research in higher education institutions .

Encourages research-based practice & knowledge production

In-depth research during higher education motivates students to publish their journals, implement research activities in studies, etc. Thus, educational institutes, colleges, and universities should also understand the significance of research and design their academic curriculum accordingly. This can be achieved if individually assigned professors encourage and mentor students in researching and writing high-impact journal publications.

Start your research journey with Shoolini Universitys elite programs

In the modern age of dynamic globalisation, research cannot be conducted in isolation. As a result, the importance and demand for research-driven universities have grown exponentially.

Shoolini, India’s No.1 Research University , has always been at the forefront of research-based education. Shoolini University is ranked first in India and 9th in Asia for citations per paper by QS World University Rankings Asia 2023 .

The institution is located in the foothills of the Himalayas and is well-known for its treasure trove of herbs. The infrastructure is designed to foster cutting-edge research in various fields such as science , engineering , yoga , management , and liberal arts .

Shoolini University is also well-known for its elite research programs. To make these programs more impactful, students are given hands-on experience with cutting-edge research and are guided to create technical articles. Personal mentoring elevates the curriculum to a new level, transforming it into a research-based Shoolini University innovation.

Shoolini has maintained an H-index (index used to assess Research Output and Quality) of 100, the highest for any university created after 2009. The FWCI is 2.22, which is equivalent to the top 10 worldwide colleges. Students and professors have submitted over 1200+ patents , making it the top research institution in India.

Artificial intelligence, bioenergy, biofuels, ageing and nutrition, drug discovery for cancer, genomics, water purification, probiotics, and other fields are being researched broadly at Shoolini university.

Shoolini has been placed third in patent filings (2019), joining the ranks of research institutions such as IITs and IIMs.

Shoolini’s dedicated research centres aid in achieving these goals. These centres offer comprehensive research facilities for producing qualitative research findings. Recognition from major institutes such as SCIMAGO and QS Rankings validate that Shoolini Research Centres have performed splendidly.

Benefits of taking part in Shoolini research programs:

• You can work closely with a faculty mentor and have the opportunity to network with academic and student researchers in your field.
• You can earn academic credit, scholarships, stipends, and/or other awards for research efforts.
• You can hone leadership and teamwork skills.
• You can acquire academic credentials to build a well-rounded resume by publishing works and collaborating with a research team.
• You can learn essential skills, such as how to use online research tools.
• You can learn vital life and classroom skills (professionalism, time management, multi-tasking).
• You can learn how to effectively communicate thoughts while analysing and criticising the work of others.
• You can better grasp scientific processes as you design research questions, form hypotheses, and test them.
• You can learn to work in a lab, plan studies, write grants, and report findings.
• You may be compensated, sometimes as an employee, sometimes as a scholarship recipient.
• You have the option to publish your work. If you assist a faculty member, they may acknowledge your work, or you may mention your work.
• This is an excellent opportunity to meet faculty members who work in your field of interest and network with fellow researchers. After developing a solid working relationship with them, you can request a letter of recommendation from a faculty mentor.

Also read: Benefits of Conducting Research at Indias No.1 Research University

Realising the need to promote research that can develop solutions to world problems and issues, Shoolini University has risen to the top. Its support for researchers and sustained research activities have resulted in ground-breaking innovation and the filing of more than 1200 patents. No wonder Shoolini researchers have featured in the World’s Top 2% Scientists List released by Stanford University.

Impactful research that can change the world is in high demand. You can join this exclusive group of scholars by enrolling in any research program at Shoolini University!

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What is Research?

What is research and scholarship.

Research and scholarship is how the academic community communicates with the world. Taking multiple forms, research includes scholarly and creative activities that can lead to new knowledge, improve our ability to solve problems, result in new theory, and/or in the creation of new art or an artistic performance. Research is a process of careful inquiry leading to the discovery of new information.

What is undergraduate research and scholarship?

Undergraduate research and scholarship is a unique opportunity for students to work with faculty on their scholarship and produce a presentation, paper, or creative work that contributes to the knowledge or activity of a particular academic discipline.

Some students will work on part of a faculty member’s current research project. Other students may develop an independent project of their own that is guided by a faculty member. Either way, students have opportunities in a variety of disciplines to engage in original hands-on research and scholarship.

Why should I do research?

Students who participate in undergraduate research benefit in the following ways:

• Greater problem solving skills
• Better understanding of research methods
• Deeper understanding of the discipline
• Greater confidence and independence
• Better understanding of career and education path

In addition, students who participate in research and scholarship:

• Are more satisfied with their college experience
• Are retained and persist at a higher rate, both at university and within their major
• Are more likely to be accepted to graduate and professional school and graduate.
• Are more competitive when searching for jobs

How can I find research opportunities at GVSU?

Whether you are a first-year student or a year from graduation, there are many research and scholarship opportunities available in any field or discipline. We advise students to engage with research or scholarship by talking with a faculty member, current research student, or an advisor in OURS. We encourage you to explore the OURS website, attend the Undergraduate Research Fair, or attend Student Scholars Day as former undergraduate research students will be available on both days to speak with students and introduce them to active research faculty.

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The Importance of Research—A Student Perspective

Rachel arena.

grid.252546.20000000122978753Department of Psychology, Auburn University, Magnolia Street and Duncan Drive and West Thatch Ave, Auburn, AL 36849 USA

Sheridan Chambers

Angelyn rhames, katherine donahoe.

As students, we will focus on the importance of an objective ranking system, research, and mentorship to an applicant. We will address points raised in the (Behavior Analysis In Practice 8(1):7–15, 2015) article as well as debate the usefulness of proposed standards of objective ranking.

A Student’s Perspective on Research

A little more than a year ago each of us was madly scrambling to negotiate the process of graduate program admissions. Like many people who go to graduate school, each of us had some history of viewing academic efforts through the lens of “too much is never enough,” and we applied our obsessive habits to the challenge of gathering information about graduate programs. We pored over Web sites and printed brochures. We stalked program faculty at conferences, via email and phone, and during campus visits. We talked to trusted mentors about the programs they respected. When in professional settings, we tried to find out where people who impressed us had attended graduate school, and we sometimes eavesdropped on strangers’ conversations for potentially valuable tidbits about the graduate programs they were considering.

Based on this chaotic and exhausting experience, we agree with Dixon et al. ( 2015 ) that consumers in our field need standardized information about the relative merits of graduate programs in applied behavior analysis (ABA). When we began the process of screening graduate programs, we knew that we were uninformed but we were less sure about what we needed to learn to become better consumers. We suspect that, like us, most college seniors find it difficult to know what aspects of a graduate program are crucial to the training of highly qualified ABA practitioners. To us, the most important contribution of Dixon et al. ( 2015 ) was to emphasize that our field should not abandon students to an uncertain process of self-education.

We agree with Dixon et al. ( 2015 ) that our field is better equipped than outside bodies (e.g., U.S. News & World Report ) to determine what constitutes top-quality graduate training. We were aware that the Behavior Analysis Certification Board publishes the rates at which graduates of various programs pass its certification exam, and we considered this information during our respective searches. Even as undergraduates, however, we knew that there is more to being a capable practitioner than simply passing the certification exam, and we would have appreciated much more guidance from our field than we received.

In the absence of standardized, objective information about graduate programs, prospective graduate students have to rely heavily on hearsay. As we gathered information on program reputations from mentors and colleagues, it occurred to us that this information sometimes says as much about the person providing it as about graduate programs themselves. We learned that some people are impressed by graduate programs that have a reputation for highly selective admissions, but we were not sure how or whether this predicted the quality of training that we could hope to receive. We learned that certain mentors thought highly of certain programs, but different people thought highly of different programs, and it was not always obvious how these opinions related to specific features of the training offered by the programs. We weren’t always sure whether the opinions were generic or had been offered with our individual needs and interests in mind.

Among the features of graduate programs that interested us was the type and degree of emphasis on research. Here, a few words of explanation will provide context for our perspective. As undergraduates, we learned to value evidence-based practices, data-based case management, and the science-based critical thinking that should guide clinical case management. But each of us decided to seek graduate training not just to apply current best practices; we also wanted to contribute to clinical innovation (e.g., Critchfield 2015 ). For various reasons, none of us wished to conduct research for a living, and we chose our program at Auburn University in part because its accelerated, 12-month, non-thesis curriculum would get us swiftly into the workplace where we knew, from past field experiences, our main reinforcers are to be found. Still, program research emphasis was important to us.

Unfortunately, far too much time and effort was required for us to understand that different programs have different types of research emphases. “Research training” comprises not a single repertoire but many. One involves conducting research. Another involves locating and consuming available research on a topic of interest. Yet, another involves translating from research findings in order to develop innovative interventions (Critchfield 2015 ; Critchfield & Reed, 2005 ). It is here that we would quibble with the position of Dixon et al. ( 2015 ), which suggests a one-size-fits-all approach to assessing the research climate at ABA graduate programs.

In order to gain insight about the research environment in graduate programs, undergraduates often compare their own research interests to those of faculty as described on program web sites and as illustrated in published articles. This comparison is most relevant to students who seek to become independent researchers. Our own goal is to become life-long consumers of research. It may not be the full-time job of Masters-level practitioners to conduct research, but in a field that is growing quickly it is pivotal that people like us not be limited to the state of our field’s knowledge at the time we take a certification exam. We need skills for tracking scholarly developments across the full breath of our careers.

We agree with Dixon et al. ( 2015 ) that it is helpful for ABA program faculty to maintain active research programs, but our concern is with what program graduates are able to do with the fruits of research, not how many articles a faculty member can publish. It has been suggested that the process of developing effective and transportable interventions from research findings requires a skill set that is independent of either conducting research or implementing existing interventions (e.g., Critchfield 2015 ; Critchfield and Reed, 2005 ). No skill set seems more relevant to our lifelong professional development.

Yes, we want to learn how to read and critically evaluate research, but we want to learn to do this from faculty who know how to translate and who care about helping us to become translators. Our ideal ABA program faculty member will have the time and inclination to focus on this. We want mentors who can conduct research, but more importantly who will discuss research with us on a regular basis and explore with us how research findings relate to the behavioral processes operating in practice settings. We want mentors whose skills and schedules allow them to provide on-site clinical supervision through which the connections between research and practice can be drawn explicitly.

While we applaud the efforts of Dixon et al. ( 2015 ) to rank ABA graduate programs in terms of program research climate, we stress that this climate has multiple facets. We represent a category of consumer who cares very much about our field’s research foundations, but we wish to harness rather than add to those foundations. Faculty publication counts may not be the best measure of a program’s ability to help us to this. Unfortunately, the program attributes that we particularly value are hard to quantify and thus will be difficult to incorporate into an objective system for ranking programs. Yet, if the purpose of rankings is to assist consumers (Dixon et al., 2015 ), then the needs of consumers like us should not be ignored.

Contributor Information

Rachel Arena, Email: ude.nrubua@0200azr .

Sheridan Chambers, Email: ude.nrubua@5400cms .

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• Critchfield TS. What counts as high-quality practitioner training in applied behavior analysis? Behavior Analysis In Practice. 2015; 8 (1):3–6. doi: 10.1007/s40617-015-0049-0. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Critchfield TS, Reed DD. Conduits of translation in behavior-science bridge research. In: Burgos JE, Ribes E, editors. Theory, basic and applied research, and technological applications in behavior science: Conceptual and methodological issues. Guadalajara, Mexico: University of Guadalajara Press; 2005. pp. 45–84. [ Google Scholar ]
• Dixon MR, Reed DD, Smith T, Belisle J, Jackson RE. Research rankings of behavior analytic graduate training programs and their faculty. Behavior Analysis In Practice. 2015; 8 (1):7–15. doi: 10.1007/s40617-015-0057-0. [ PMC free article ] [ PubMed ] [ CrossRef ] [ Google Scholar ]

Fifty reasons Why research is important to students

Research is important for students because it helps them develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills, as well as gain a deeper understanding of a subject. It also helps them become independent learners and prepares them for future academic and professional endeavors. Additionally, research can also foster creativity and innovation, and can lead to new discoveries and advancements in various fields.

• Helps students develop critical thinking and problem-solving skills
• Allows students to explore and gain a deeper understanding of a subject
• Provides students with the opportunity to make new discoveries and contributions to their field of study
• Enhances students’ ability to analyze and interpret data
• Encourages students to be curious and ask questions
• Helps students develop strong research and writing skills
• Allows students to gain practical experience in their field of study
• Helps students understand the scientific method and the process of experimentation
• Allows students to develop a sense of independence and self-motivation
• Helps students to gain confidence in their abilities
• Enables students to learn how to work in teams
• Allows students to conduct original research and contribute to the advancement of knowledge
• Helps students to develop expertise in a specific area
• Enhances students’ job and career prospects
• Allows students to participate in undergraduate research programs
• Helps students to develop a sense of responsibility and ethics
• Allows students to gain hands-on experience in their field of study
• Helps students to develop time management and organization skills
• Allows students to gain experience in data analysis and interpretation
• Helps students to understand the importance of replication and reproducibility in research
• Allows students to gain experience in statistical analysis
• Helps students to understand the importance of literature review and citation
• Allows students to gain experience in project management
• Helps students to understand the importance of research design and methodology
• Allows students to gain experience in writing scientific papers and reports
• Helps students to understand the importance of research ethics and integrity
• Allows students to gain experience in presenting research findings
• Helps students to develop a sense of scientific curiosity and wonder
• Allows students to gain experience in lab techniques and equipment
• Allows students to gain experience in data management and organization
• Helps students to develop a sense of creativity and innovation
• Allows students to gain experience in interdisciplinary research
• Helps students to understand the importance of collaboration and networking
• Allows students to gain experience in grant writing
• Helps students to understand the importance of research dissemination and communication
• Allows students to gain experience in working with human subjects
• Helps students to understand the importance of research funding and resources
• Allows students to gain experience in using technology and software for research
• Helps students to understand the importance of research impact and societal relevance
• Allows students to gain experience in working with diverse populations
• Helps students to understand the importance of research policy and advocacy
• Allows students to gain experience in working in international and global contexts
• Helps students to understand the importance of research sustainability and scalability
• Allows students to gain experience in working in industry and government
• Helps students to understand the importance of research regulation and compliance
• Allows students to gain experience in mentoring and supervising others
• Helps students to understand the importance of research evaluation and assessment
• Allows students to gain experience in working with non-academic partners
• Helps students to understand the importance of research as a lifelong learning process

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What Is the Importance of Research? 5 Reasons Why Research is Critical

by Logan Bessant | Nov 16, 2021 | Science

Most of us appreciate that research is a crucial part of medical advancement. But what exactly is the importance of research? In short, it is critical in the development of new medicines as well as ensuring that existing treatments are used to their full potential. 

Research can bridge knowledge gaps and change the way healthcare practitioners work by providing solutions to previously unknown questions.

In this post, we’ll discuss the importance of research and its impact on medical breakthroughs.  

The Importance Of Health Research

The purpose of studying is to gather information and evidence, inform actions, and contribute to the overall knowledge of a certain field. None of this is possible without research. 

Understanding how to conduct research and the importance of it may seem like a very simple idea to some, but in reality, it’s more than conducting a quick browser search and reading a few chapters in a textbook. 

No matter what career field you are in, there is always more to learn. Even for people who hold a Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) in their field of study, there is always some sort of unknown that can be researched. Delving into this unlocks the unknowns, letting you explore the world from different perspectives and fueling a deeper understanding of how the universe works.

To make things a little more specific, this concept can be clearly applied in any healthcare scenario. Health research has an incredibly high value to society as it provides important information about disease trends and risk factors, outcomes of treatments, patterns of care, and health care costs and use. All of these factors as well as many more are usually researched through a clinical trial. 

What Is The Importance Of Clinical Research?

Clinical trials are a type of research that provides information about a new test or treatment. They are usually carried out to find out what, or if, there are any effects of these procedures or drugs on the human body. 

All legitimate clinical trials are carefully designed, reviewed and completed, and need to be approved by professionals before they can begin. They also play a vital part in the advancement of medical research including:

• Providing new and good information on which types of drugs are more effective.  
• Bringing new treatments such as medicines, vaccines and devices into the field. 
• Testing the safety and efficacy of a new drug before it is brought to market and used in clinical practice.
• Giving the opportunity for more effective treatments to benefit millions of lives both now and in the future. 
• Enhancing health, lengthening life, and reducing the burdens of illness and disability. 

This all plays back to clinical research as it opens doors to advancing prevention, as well as providing treatments and cures for diseases and disabilities. Clinical trial volunteer participants are essential to this progress which further supports the need for the importance of research to be well-known amongst healthcare professionals, students and the general public. 

Five Reasons Why Research is Critical

Research is vital for almost everyone irrespective of their career field. From doctors to lawyers to students to scientists, research is the key to better work. 

• Increases quality of life

 Research is the backbone of any major scientific or medical breakthrough. None of the advanced treatments or life-saving discoveries used to treat patients today would be available if it wasn’t for the detailed and intricate work carried out by scientists, doctors and healthcare professionals over the past decade. 

This improves quality of life because it can help us find out important facts connected to the researched subject. For example, universities across the globe are now studying a wide variety of things from how technology can help breed healthier livestock, to how dance can provide long-term benefits to people living with Parkinson’s. 

For both of these studies, quality of life is improved. Farmers can use technology to breed healthier livestock which in turn provides them with a better turnover, and people who suffer from Parkinson’s disease can find a way to reduce their symptoms and ease their stress. 

Research is a catalyst for solving the world’s most pressing issues. Even though the complexity of these issues evolves over time, they always provide a glimmer of hope to improving lives and making processes simpler. 

• Builds up credibility 

People are willing to listen and trust someone with new information on one condition – it’s backed up. And that’s exactly where research comes in. Conducting studies on new and unfamiliar subjects, and achieving the desired or expected outcome, can help people accept the unknown.

However, this goes without saying that your research should be focused on the best sources. It is easy for people to poke holes in your findings if your studies have not been carried out correctly, or there is no reliable data to back them up. 

This way once you have done completed your research, you can speak with confidence about your findings within your field of study. 

• Drives progress forward 

It is with thanks to scientific research that many diseases once thought incurable, now have treatments. For example, before the 1930s, anyone who contracted a bacterial infection had a high probability of death. There simply was no treatment for even the mildest of infections as, at the time, it was thought that nothing could kill bacteria in the gut.

When antibiotics were discovered and researched in 1928, it was considered one of the biggest breakthroughs in the medical field. This goes to show how much research drives progress forward, and how it is also responsible for the evolution of technology . 

Today vaccines, diagnoses and treatments can all be simplified with the progression of medical research, making us question just what research can achieve in the future. 

• Engages curiosity 

The acts of searching for information and thinking critically serve as food for the brain, allowing our inherent creativity and logic to remain active. Aside from the fact that this curiosity plays such a huge part within research, it is also proven that exercising our minds can reduce anxiety and our chances of developing mental illnesses in the future. 

Without our natural thirst and our constant need to ask ‘why?’ and ‘how?’ many important theories would not have been put forward and life-changing discoveries would not have been made. The best part is that the research process itself rewards this curiosity. 

Research opens you up to different opinions and new ideas which can take a proposed question and turn into a real-life concept. It also builds discerning and analytical skills which are always beneficial in many career fields – not just scientific ones. 

• Increases awareness 

The main goal of any research study is to increase awareness, whether it’s contemplating new concepts with peers from work or attracting the attention of the general public surrounding a certain issue. 

Around the globe, research is used to help raise awareness of issues like climate change, racial discrimination, and gender inequality. Without consistent and reliable studies to back up these issues, it would be hard to convenience people that there is a problem that needs to be solved in the first place. 

The problem is that social media has become a place where fake news spreads like a wildfire, and with so many incorrect facts out there it can be hard to know who to trust. Assessing the integrity of the news source and checking for similar news on legitimate media outlets can help prove right from wrong. 

This can pinpoint fake research articles and raises awareness of just how important fact-checking can be. 

The Importance Of Research To Students

It is not a hidden fact that research can be mentally draining, which is why most students avoid it like the plague. But the matter of fact is that no matter which career path you choose to go down, research will inevitably be a part of it. 

But why is research so important to students ? The truth is without research, any intellectual growth is pretty much impossible. It acts as a knowledge-building tool that can guide you up to the different levels of learning. Even if you are an expert in your field, there is always more to uncover, or if you are studying an entirely new topic, research can help you build a unique perspective about it.

For example, if you are looking into a topic for the first time, it might be confusing knowing where to begin. Most of the time you have an overwhelming amount of information to sort through whether that be reading through scientific journals online or getting through a pile of textbooks. Research helps to narrow down to the most important points you need so you are able to find what you need to succeed quickly and easily. 

It can also open up great doors in the working world. Employers, especially those in the scientific and medical fields, are always looking for skilled people to hire. Undertaking research and completing studies within your academic phase can show just how multi-skilled you are and give you the resources to tackle any tasks given to you in the workplace. 

The Importance Of Research Methodology

There are many different types of research that can be done, each one with its unique methodology and features that have been designed to use in specific settings. 

When showing your research to others, they will want to be guaranteed that your proposed inquiry needs asking, and that your methodology is equipt to answer your inquiry and will convey the results you’re looking for.

That’s why it’s so important to choose the right methodology for your study. Knowing what the different types of research are and what each of them focuses on can allow you to plan your project to better utilise the most appropriate methodologies and techniques available. Here are some of the most common types:

• Theoretical Research: This attempts to answer a question based on the unknown. This could include studying phenomena or ideas whose conclusions may not have any immediate real-world application. Commonly used in physics and astronomy applications.
• Applied Research: Mainly for development purposes, this seeks to solve a practical problem that draws on theory to generate practical scientific knowledge. Commonly used in STEM and medical fields. 
• Exploratory Research: Used to investigate a problem that is not clearly defined, this type of research can be used to establish cause-and-effect relationships. It can be applied in a wide range of fields from business to literature. 
• Correlational Research: This identifies the relationship between two or more variables to see if and how they interact with each other. Very commonly used in psychological and statistical applications. 

The Importance Of Qualitative Research

This type of research is most commonly used in scientific and social applications. It collects, compares and interprets information to specifically address the “how” and “why” research questions. 

Qualitative research allows you to ask questions that cannot be easily put into numbers to understand human experience because you’re not limited by survey instruments with a fixed set of possible responses.

Information can be gathered in numerous ways including interviews, focus groups and ethnographic research which is then all reported in the language of the informant instead of statistical analyses. 

This type of research is important because they do not usually require a hypothesis to be carried out. Instead, it is an open-ended research approach that can be adapted and changed while the study is ongoing. This enhances the quality of the data and insights generated and creates a much more unique set of data to analyse. 

The Process Of Scientific Research

No matter the type of research completed, it will be shared and read by others. Whether this is with colleagues at work, peers at university, or whilst it’s being reviewed and repeated during secondary analysis.

A reliable procedure is necessary in order to obtain the best information which is why it’s important to have a plan. Here are the six basic steps that apply in any research process. 

• Observation and asking questions: Seeing a phenomenon and asking yourself ‘How, What, When, Who, Which, Why, or Where?’. It is best that these questions are measurable and answerable through experimentation. 
• Gathering information: Doing some background research to learn what is already known about the topic, and what you need to find out. 
• Forming a hypothesis: Constructing a tentative statement to study.
• Testing the hypothesis: Conducting an experiment to test the accuracy of your statement. This is a way to gather data about your predictions and should be easy to repeat. 
• Making conclusions: Analysing the data from the experiment(s) and drawing conclusions about whether they support or contradict your hypothesis. 
• Reporting: Presenting your findings in a clear way to communicate with others. This could include making a video, writing a report or giving a presentation to illustrate your findings. 

Although most scientists and researchers use this method, it may be tweaked between one study and another. Skipping or repeating steps is common within, however the core principles of the research process still apply.

By clearly explaining the steps and procedures used throughout the study, other researchers can then replicate the results. This is especially beneficial for peer reviews that try to replicate the results to ensure that the study is sound. 

What Is The Importance Of Research In Everyday Life?

Conducting a research study and comparing it to how important it is in everyday life are two very different things.

Carrying out research allows you to gain a deeper understanding of science and medicine by developing research questions and letting your curiosity blossom. You can experience what it is like to work in a lab and learn about the whole reasoning behind the scientific process. But how does that impact everyday life? 

Simply put, it allows us to disprove lies and support truths. This can help society to develop a confident attitude and not believe everything as easily, especially with the rise of fake news.

Research is the best and reliable way to understand and act on the complexities of various issues that we as humans are facing. From technology to healthcare to defence to climate change, carrying out studies is the only safe and reliable way to face our future.

Not only does research sharpen our brains, but also helps us to understand various issues of life in a much larger manner, always leaving us questioning everything and fuelling our need for answers. 

Logan Bessant is a dedicated science educator and the founder of Science Resource Online, launched in 2020. With a background in science education and a passion for accessible learning, Logan has built a platform that offers free, high-quality educational resources to learners of all ages and backgrounds.

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If/Then: Why Research Matters

In our season one wrap-up episode, Senior Associate Dean Jesper Sørensen discusses the importance of research.

July 25, 2024

To wrap up the first season of If/Then: Business, Leadership, Society , we invited Senior Associate Dean Jesper B. Sørensen into the studio to talk about the importance of research at Stanford Graduate School of Business. He shares insights on what motivates faculty to study what they do and how it impacts practitioners across industries.

“One of the challenges of being a great researcher is that you need to move away again from this kind of day-to-day reality.… I think a gift that a lot of our faculty have is to be able to both live in that very abstract kind of world and then make it relatable to somebody who’s not living in that world,” Sørensen says.

“Sometimes putting fundamental insights into practice is really hard. One of the hallmarks of research is trying to isolate particular mechanisms through various kinds of control. Scientists live in the world where it’s a vacuum, and so we just watch the leaf fall, and we can then time it and then tell you what the answer is,” Sørensen says. “And managers live in a world where the wind is blowing, and there’s all these kinds of forces getting in the way.”

In his conversation with podcast host Kevin Cool, Sørensen also shares his thoughts on three episodes from If/Then ’s first season.

Senior Editor, Stanford GSB

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If/Then is a podcast from Stanford Graduate School of Business that examines research findings that can help us navigate the complex issues we face in business, leadership, and society. Each episode features an interview with a Stanford GSB faculty member.

Full Transcript

Note: Transcripts are generated by machine and lightly edited by humans. They may contain errors.

Kevin Cool: Hi again, everyone. I’m Kevin Cool, senior editor at the GSB and the host of If Then . We’ve had an interesting and enjoyable first season of 13 episodes, and we want to wrap up the season with a bonus 14th episode. And I’m delighted to invite into the studio today Jesper Sørensen, who’s a member of the leadership at the GSB.

Jesper is going to talk to us about research, how it gets done, what it means, why it’s important.

Kevin Cool: Welcome. Jesper, it’s a pleasure to have you here. We would like to start just by asking a very basic and fundamental question, which is why is research important? What difference does it make in the lives of everyday people?

(00:54) Jesper Sørensen: That’s a great question, and for professors like me, it’s an important question. I think one of the things that we have to remember is knowledge is discovered over time. Human society has evolved over time to have a deeper and deeper understanding of how things work. And that’s really what we call research, right? Taking and asking questions and then being disciplined and systematic about how you answer them.

Kevin Cool: And how is that enterprise different at a business school or is it different from say, the university more generally?

Jesper Sørensen: I think it’s more similar than different, but I think there is a difference in the sense that a business school is a professional school. We train MBA students and what we call MSX students, as well as PhD students. And what we want both our MBA students and our MSX students, what we want them to do is change lives, change organizations, and change the world.

We want to take basic insights about how humans work and apply that in their day-to-day lives. I often think that the managers and the leaders that come through the GSB in some ways have a much harder job than we scholars do. My colleagues might not be happy to hear that, but sometimes putting these fundamental insights into practice is really hard. One of the hallmarks of research is trying to isolate particular mechanisms through various kinds of control. Scientists live in the world where it’s a vacuum: and so we just watch the leaf fall and we can then time it and then tell you what the answer is.

And managers live in the world where the wind is blowing and there’s all these kinds of forces getting in the way. And so that’s really what’s challenging about management, but that’s also what makes it so exciting to be in a business school: you interact with the people who are dealing with the real problems. Other parts of a university are oftentimes embedded deeply in scholarly communities and a little bit further removed from the day-to-day action, so to speak. And in business school, the real world interpenetrates the scientists’ world a little bit more, which is I think exciting.

(3:08) Kevin Cool: Thank you. Well, speaking of real problems, that’s a good segue into my next question, which is recently the GSB has embarked on initiative they’re calling Business, Government and Society. Can you just talk a little bit about that? What are the goals and why has that emerged as an emphasis?

Jesper Sørensen: The Business Government Society initiative? I think one way to think about this is if you were to stop somebody in the street and you were going to ask them, what do you think goes on at a business school? I think they would say, well, they’re training people how to maximize profits. That’s what a business school is about, how to make a business, make as much money as possible. And I think for a long time that has been more or less explicitly what business schools have been about. And there’s no doubt that’s a very important part of what we do because profit maximization is one of the most powerful engines society has kind of uncovered for change and for positive change. But actually what happens in a lot of business schools and certainly at the GSB is a little bit different. And so I think if you look at the kinds of people that you have interviewed in the podcast this season and in general on our faculty, what you have are people who are really experts in all facets of human behavior and really are focused on trying to understand how humans work, how societies work, how groups work, et cetera. And that leads to an incredible diversity of implications.

That’s really what feeds into this business, government and society initiative because I think the way we want to think about it is the purpose of a business school is really to make the world a better place, to think about all the complicated ways in which things interact. So how do markets and institutions interact with firms, and how do they change incentives, and how can you learn to balance between the good things that come from being profit-seeking and some of the negative externalities that sometimes go along with them. And I think the Business Government and Society Initiative is kind of a way for us to deepen the school’s ability to speak to this broad range of issues. I think we’ve always been a school that’s super strong in those dimensions, but I think it’s really about accelerating that to a much greater extent.

Kevin Cool: Well, certainly one of the biggest challenges for the world, for society, business, government, everything is climate change. And Professor Bill Barnett was one of our first guests on the show, and he has completely pivoted his research in the direction of sustainability. He’s really an expert on innovation in organizations, and he’s now applying this to sustainability.

How unusual is it for a professor who’s quite veteran, Bill’s been here since the early 1990’s, to make that kind of a switch, and what does that say about the importance of climate change more broadly?

(6:05) Jesper Sørensen: Bill’s pivot over the last couple years is really remarkable, but you’re actually seeing it among a number of our faculty. I think it’s one of the great strengths of the academic system is that you are given such freedom and you’re given the ability to really discover where your talents can best be deployed.

I think what you see with the formation of the Doerr School for Sustainability here at Stanford is really just a blossoming and a focus of interest on campus and people kind of being drawn to this. I think there’s no doubt a lot of our faculty have an individual kind of deeply personal concern for the challenges of climate change. But I think the other part of it is, it’s also intellectually a hugely stimulating kind of topic. The things that you want to challenge as a researcher are the hardest problems. And what could be a more difficult problem than climate change? And really thinking about how one can move society in the right direction in terms of addressing those challenges.

Kevin Cool: We talked to Rebecca Diamond, who’s an economist, and Rebecca uses large data sets. In the study that we talked to her about, she had used social security data to tease out information about foreign born inventors and what sort of impact they had on the US economy, on innovation and so on.

Can you talk a little bit, Jesper, about how either tools to make this data accessible or the data themselves becoming more robust has transformed research?

Jesper Sørensen: Rebecca is a great example of a real transformation that has occurred in Economics in particular over the last couple of decades, which is really a blossoming of what’s called Applied Economics, right? So essentially using empirical data in a very sophisticated kind of way to answer kind of very fundamental questions. And I think what’s really important about this is it’s easy to have ideas, but you also need facts, collect very precise data to get at a set of empirical facts.

In some way, that’s what Rebecca has been doing. She’s essentially being incredibly creative in thinking about how to combine different kinds of data sources being incredibly entrepreneurial in thinking about how to get people to agree, to allow her to combine different kinds of data sources, and then using it in a very sophisticated way to be able to make very precise statements about the contribution of immigrants to patenting behavior and so on and so forth. Anot just their individual contributions, but also to their kind of spillovers onto others.

Again, it’s only when you’re able to really be careful and be precise in that very disciplined controlled way in which great scientists go about doing research, that you’re able to kind of establish a certain set of facts. I think the policy debates around immigration at the high end, kind of a high potential high levels of education, there’s probably more consensus there than there are in other areas of the immigration debate. But nonetheless, it’s super important to be able to know, well, I don’t know that people had a clear sense of what that spillover effect was, so they might be able to say, yes, I can see how hiring or admitting the smartest people from around the world, those people are then going to stay and patent. But I think what’s beautiful about that research is then showing it’s not just that. It’s also that the people they work with become more productive, and it’s in the combination of the two that you get the real benefit.

(9:50) Kevin Cool: Deborah Grunfeld, professor Deborah Grunfeld gave us a fascinating conversation on the dynamics of power, especially as it relates to organizations. And one of her insights was that individuals may not understand or appreciate how much power they actually have. For example, in a situation where they need to call out toxic behavior by a boss, how do insights like that get into the mainstream and become, for lack of a better word, accepted wisdom?

Jesper Sørensen: Through podcasts, like If/Then I would say is certainly one channel, but a lot of this is about, I think what I love about Deb’s research is really about how she connects her insights to people’s own lived experiences,

Kevin Cool: Including her own, including as it turns out.

Jesper Sørensen: One of the challenges of being a great researcher is that you need to move away again from kind of day-to-day reality. In some sense, you need to abstract and you need to simplify. And so it’s a gift, and I think it’s a gift that a lot of our faculty have is to be able to both live in that very abstract kind of world and then make it relatable to somebody who’s not living in that world. So it’s an act of translation. And I think part of what it does is it demystifies things. And I think if you demystify things, you empower people. Then they can start to see, ‘oh, actually not just my gut. That tells me that it might make sense for us all to send in our complaints about the bad boss on the same day. It’s actually backed up by research and there’s science that suggests that I would have success in doing this’, and that instills the level of confidence that I think is really important.

Kevin Cool: Switching gears just a little bit, Mohammad Akbarpour, also an economist, talked to us about an interesting hypothesis that he is exploring, which has to do with the relative value perceived by people in different income levels, a poor person versus in his example Elon Musk.

His premise undergirding his research is that we could make markets more fair if we accounted for that. And one of his examples was using Uber as a sort of case study. If you charged less in poorer neighborhoods and more in more affluent neighborhoods, that would make the market more fair. That does have some, what I would call, political ramifications. Essentially it’s like a redistribution model. And he acknowledged that he had some pushback about that from people. My question is, is there a place for research that essentially is advocating a policy change or a market fix that could also be viewed as a political argument?

Jesper Sørensen: Mohammad podcast is probably my favorite one from this whole season. It was the one that I listened to and it just kind of blew my mind. And so I should preface this by saying I’m not an economist. I’m a sociologist by training. The reason it blew my mind is that he was willing to go somewhere in developing this model that the kind of economic orthodoxy typically does not go. And that’s part of where he is getting the pushback.

The reason it’s relevant that he’s an economist. Now, I’m a sociologist, is one of the reasons people like me become sociologists is because we have more discomfort with the assumptions that he’s challenging. And the fact that he can do it within the confines of the discipline and do it in a way that’s very hard I think to not take seriously, is super powerful. And I think yes, those ideas can be politically controversial, but is that a bad thing? No, because I think what it does is it says the truth that we have discovered is the final truth and what he’s asking us to consider, and let’s be clear, he might be wrong. I think we should all be focused on the possibility. Great ideas initially are often wrong or look wrong, and you have to be willing to take the kind of risk that Mohammad is making to have a great idea.

Hopefully it won’t be wrong because I think there’s some really powerful insights that can be drawn from that in terms of where you want to use redistribution or where you want to not rely on the market and so on and so forth. And I think that is really opening up a set of topics and kind of maybe a can of worms, but that’s good, right? That’s what people should be doing. They should be not just taking everything for granted as if we figured everything out when we wrote down a formula 300 years ago or whenever it was that was written down.

Kevin Cool: So I want to give you here in our last few minutes, is there something about the GSB that I haven’t specifically asked about that you think is important for people to know?

Jesper Sørensen: I think the one thing I would say is it’s incredibly fun. If you listen to the ideas that get mentioned in your podcast, you might agree with them, you might not agree with them, but have fun in that and enjoy it and say, ‘ah, I don’t agree with it, but I never thought about it from this perspective.’ I do think there should be something about research that is also about consumption enjoyment of the process. I think that’s why all of the people who are here keep doing it.

The reason you become a professor at the end of the day is intrinsic motivation. You shouldn’t do it if you’re looking for people to cheer, to give you praise. And it’s not always that financially rewarding of an enterprise, because being an academic is a lot of negative feedback because of the review process and seminars where people are trying to tell you in order to make your paper better, they’re trying to tell you everything that’s wrong with it. So you also have to just have this joy in it. And I think if you’re not a researcher, you could still get that joy without the slings and arrows, and so you could just consume it and say, ‘ah, okay, that’s really cool. Who would’ve thought?’

Kevin Cool: Well, it’s interesting. Mohammad actually was one of those who said he kind of lives in the 5%; 95% of either what you’re pursuing something that turns out to be a dead end or is wrong, or people disagree with it in a massive way. But he said, if there’s that 5% chance that it’s going to make a difference, that’s enough for me.

This was delightful. Great. It was fun. I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you for listening to our first season of If/Then we invite you to come back to listen to bonus episodes over the next few months as we prepare for season two.

For media inquiries, visit the Newsroom .

Explore More

12 of our favorite research stories of 2023, changing lives, organizations, the world: dean jon levin of stanford gsb, what does the word “intelligence” really mean, editor’s picks.

Making Great Strategy: Arguing for Organizational Advantage Jesper B. Sørensen Glenn R. Carroll

April 03, 2024 Is Money Really the Best Measure of Value? If we want a more equitable world, then we need to consider the different ways people value money.

March 06, 2024 The Brain Gain: The Impact of Immigration on American Innovation If the United States wants to remain a global hub of innovation, then we need to understand the role of immigrants.

February 20, 2024 So Crazy, It Might Just Work: How Foolishness Feeds Innovation If we want to seriously address the climate crisis, then we need to encourage foolish business ideas.

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15 Common Reasons: Why is Research Important for Students

Regardless of the career path a person is following or their position in society, there is always room for learning. The same is applicable for individuals going through their academic years. Research can be mentally draining at times and students want to avoid it. Yet it is an imperative part of learning and developing as a scholar. Without research any intellectual growth is quite impossible. Why exactly is it so essential? We are going to explore here some reasons behind the importance of research in education.

1. A Knowledge Building Tool The most prominent reason to engage in research is to enhance your knowledge. Even if you are an expert of your field, there is always more to uncover. If researching about a topic entirely new to you, it will help build your unique perspective about it. The whole process of research opens new doors of learning and literary growth.

2. Enables Efficient Learning Studies reveal that research helps restore and protect memory and enhances mathematic and problem-solving skills. Therefore, it prepares the mind for a better understanding of concepts and theories. A person’s learning capacity is improved and they can perform better in comparison who is reluctant to research.

3. Aids Employment Prospects Research has an undeniable role in the business industry. Successful companies have resources invested in research and development to have all the information they need of the market. Your academic phase helps you prepare for any research tasks you will have to accomplish in the future

4. Helps in Understanding Issues It sheds light on problems that have not yet come out in the open. It gives people the opportunity to address issues and answer questions that the society doesn’t respond to.

5. Provides Truthful Evidence The process of research can prove to dispel various myths that have been built up in our minds. They can either develop because of common belief or a wrong resource. Logical and fact-based knowledge is easily accessible if you only reach out to find the truth.

6. Develops a Love of Reading and Analyzing Reading and writing are the core elements of research. So, they automatically become familiar to you if you are involved in researching facts and figures. Reading helps open your mind to a never-ending horizon of knowledge. While developing writing skills gives you the ability to express in a constructive way.

7. Exercises your Mind Letting your mind frequently absorb logic and creativity allows it to become more active. It creates a healthy curiosity that fuels the brain and makes it seek new answers.

8. Keeps You Updated on Recent Information In various fields, especially ones that are related to science, there are always new discoveries to explore. Research prevents you from remaining behind or have inaccurate information about a topic. You can use the latest knowledge to build upon ideas or talk confidently about a subject if required. Which takes us to the next factor about building credibility.

9. Builds Credibility People tend to take a person’s ideas seriously when it evident he or she are well informed about them. Being involved in research helps in forming a solid foundation to build an opinion upon. It also makes it much harder for people to find fault in something you have proposed.

10. Focuses your Scope If you are delving into a topic for the first time, it might be confusing where to begin. Most of the time you have an overwhelming amount of information to sort through. Research helps in narrowing down to the most important and unique points so you are able to write meaningfully.

11. Teaches Discernment When you become adept at research you can easily identify between low- and high-quality data. You will get better at discerning accurate from false information. Any gray areas will also become clear where the facts are correct but conclusions might be questionable.

12. Introduces New Ideas It is possible that you already have ideas and opinions about a topic you are researching upon. The more research is done, the more viewpoints are unearthed. It encourages one to entertain fresh ideas and review your own perspective too. It can even change your mind about a concept or two.

13. Raises Awareness By doing research on important issues like racial injustice, climate change and gender inequality, you can reach out to people. This type of research goes beyond data collection and consists sharing of real stories that create awareness.

14. Encourages Curiosity A love for learning new things can last a lifetime if you have sources to fuel it. Even the most basic research opens up new possibilities and develops analytical skills. It is reward to the curiosity burning away inside any human being. When you have committed yourself to gaining knowledge it constantly helps you to grow.

15. Prepares you to Deal with the Future If you are a business studies student, you can discover how to form plans and strategies once you are employed in the field. You can figure out your goals for ahead. In areas like medicine, research helps you identify diseases, symptoms and reveals new ways to eradicate them. Hence you can prepare for the real world by knowing more about the challenges you have to face.

These were some of the reasons why research work is so important in education. A student is required to study and read more about different subjects from early on. Those who do honestly indulge in that, find themselves capable of understanding concepts more easily.

They develop a learned point of view that is fed by research and in-depth study of subjects. This kind of learning goes a long way in comparison to the studying that is done merely to pass an exam. Not all students have the same pace of learning though and its nothing to be ashamed about. You can take any assistance from our student’s research paper service if there is a topic you find specifically difficult.

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Greater Good Science Center • Magazine • In Action • In Education

How to Help Students Learn to Listen to Each Other’s Stories

Most people can vividly remember a moment in their life when they felt very deeply heard and understood by another—perhaps by a friend or partner, therapist or teacher, family or community member. On the other hand, most can also remember, equally vividly, a time when they felt profoundly misunderstood or unheard. Those moments leave a lasting impact on us, and can often strengthen—or break—relationships. The inability to listen can have broader societal implications: It can split groups of people who have different values and experiences, potentially turning neighbors into antagonists. It seems that too few of us are equipped with the active listening skills necessary to make others feel truly heard.

Educators around the United States are grappling with this problem—and they’re coming up with solutions. For example, Lisa Thyer and Chris Wendelin, English teachers at Amos Alonzo Stagg High School in Palos Hills, Illinois, are intentionally centering active listening skills in their classroom. In 2014, they created a yearlong project-based elective that focused on connection, empathy, and storytelling that could serve as a model for others.

In the class, students interviewed one another, their teachers, and other school community members, eventually compiling and publishing their stories in a book called 111th and Roberts: Where Our Stories Intersect . Chris and Lisa’s course was so successful that they offered it again the following year, and have been teaching the course every year since. One of the key lessons from that course is a simple one that might feel counterintuitive to some: The first step in learning to tell your own story is to learn to hear someone else’s.

Why is active listening important?

According to research, active listening is a key component in relationship building, conflict resolution, and empathy development. Contrary to the popular wisdom that empathy is built by imagining or supposing what life would be like in another person’s shoes, research suggests that interpersonal understanding comes from an ability to listen to others discussing what life is like in their shoes: Social psychologists Tal Eyal and Mary Steffel call this “ getting perspective, not simply taking perspective .”

Active listening helps people feel more heard or understood , especially when compared to other types of listening responses such as simple acknowledgement or giving advice. This is especially important when listening to understand others with different identity markers and life experiences.

Listening to others’ stories is an excellent way to challenge dominant narratives or “ single stories .” By engaging in deep listening, we can form a more complex, nuanced, and accurate perspective of any issue. One study looking at conflict resolution found that intergroup hostility was reduced if “members of the disempowered group spoke to an individual from the dominant group, and (critically) felt ‘heard.’”

Active listening in the classroom

I work with Voice of Witness (VOW), an oral history nonprofit that advances human rights by amplifying the voices of people impacted by—and fighting against—injustice.

VOW’s education program trains teachers and students to create space for deep listening and learning by harnessing the power of storytelling. Our storytelling projects help students become more active, empathic listeners as they conduct oral history interviews with peers, family, and community members. VOW’s online resource library offers free lesson plans that feature activities for building active listening, social-emotional learning, and critical thinking skills.

How could you launch a storytelling project in your own classroom? Start with these three steps, aimed at first developing your students’ ability to listen carefully to the story they are being told.

1. Introduce “safe and brave” storytelling. Start with a framing activity that sets the tone for a larger storytelling project and helps students generate their own ideas about what active listening might look like and what impact it may have on someone sharing their story. Ask students to imagine themselves in the storyteller role by presenting this prompt:

Imagine a deep, personal, or important story you have about yourself: a story about someone or something that has shaped who you are today. What would you need in order to feel safe and brave enough to tell your story?

Encourage students to answer this question as broadly as possible, considering the who, where, why, and how: Who would students feel comfortable telling their story to? Where would they tell their story, and what would the location need to feel, sound, look like? Why would students tell this story—what would they hope the listener would learn or do as a result? How would students want to feel while they were telling their story? What about afterward? How would students know their story was being truly heard and understood?

Allow each student to share a response to the prompt with the class, recording their answers on the board or a large sheet of paper. After collecting all student responses, spend time unpacking key terms in their responses.

For example, students may say they would want to tell their story to “someone who isn’t going to judge me” or “someone who is respectful.” You might pose questions such as: How do you know when someone is judging you? What does it look like or sound like when someone is listening to you respectfully?

To delve deeper into the importance of sharing and receiving personal stories, you may also choose to present the following principles for ethical storytelling for students to discuss. For each of these statements, ask: What do you think this principle means? How does this relate to sharing personal stories? How might this statement change how you would listen to another person’s story?

• To feel healed, a person needs to feel heard.
• To change minds, we need to complicate thinking.
• It takes as long as it takes.
• The end of the story is just the beginning.

These statements, which have been adapted from seven Ethical Storytelling Principles from Voice of Witness, can be explored with students more in depth using this lesson plan .

2. Practice paraphrasing and using nonverbal cues. Two fundamental active listening techniques to practice with your students are demonstrating nonverbal involvement and paraphrasing the speaker’s words in a way that accurately reflects their meaning.

As a quick warm-up activity, ask students to show you, without saying any words, that they are listening to you as you read or tell them a brief story. Halfway through the story, ask them to switch and now show you that they are not listening, noting that exaggerated or theatrical demonstrations are OK for this activity. Afterward, record students’ observations about body language—what nonverbal cues communicate interest and engagement, and which nonverbal cues communicate uninterest or lack of engagement?

Model paraphrasing with your students by asking a volunteer to tell a simple story. Use sentence starters like “What I’m hearing is…” and “It sounds like you’re saying…” to paraphrase what the student says. Remind students that the key to paraphrasing is to capture the speaker’s meaning in a way that “ demonstrates unconditional acceptance and unbiased reflection .” 

When you model paraphrasing, try to be as objective as possible, avoiding adding your own interpretation or judgment with phrases like “I think you mean…” or “It was sad/funny/inspiring when you said…” However, if the speaker expresses sadness themselves, for example, it can be an effective paraphrasing technique to say, “I can understand why it was so sad when…”

After presenting these active listening skills, give students the opportunity to practice in partner pairs with storytelling prompts like the ones on this deep conversation starter sheet . Students may choose a question to ask their partner, then practice demonstrating nonverbal engagement and paraphrasing their partner’s response. Make sure to switch roles so every student has the chance to be both speaker and listener.

Active Listening

Connect with a partner through empathy and understanding

3. Demonstrate active listening through questions. A third, perhaps counterintuitive, component to effective active listening is the ability to ask questions.

Studies have found that people find listeners who ask questions to be attentive and responsive, helping the speaker to feel heard. It is important to note here that the goal of active listening questions is to “ encourage speakers to elaborate on [their] experiences .” These questions should stay on the same topic, but ask for more detail or depth. Common question starters might include: “Can you give me an example of…?” “How did you feel about…?” “What else do you remember about…?”

You can encourage students to think about different types of questions and the types of responses they elicit with a question game. Set up the game by saying to your students: “We’re going to play a game today in which you’re going to ask me questions. The catch is that I have a secret rule that the questions need to follow—I’m looking for certain types of questions. If you ask me the type of question that follows the secret rule, you get a point. If the question doesn’t follow the rule, I get a point. I’m not going to tell you any more about what I’m looking for in the questions. You will need to guess what the secret rule is.”

You can do a warm-up round to introduce the game to your students. In the warm-up round, perhaps the rule is: “Question needs to have a yes-or-no answer” or “Question needs to be open-ended.” In the second round, the rule should be: “Question needs to stay on the same topic.” Questions that prompt for more elaboration should thus earn students a point.

As students continue their storytelling project, encourage them to continue asking these follow-up questions to demonstrate their interest and attention to the speaker.  Explicitly teaching and practicing active listening techniques will give students skills with the potential to impact their relationships, careers, and overall well-being. As strong active listeners, students can have deeper, more meaningful conversations with the people closest to them, can actively build and strengthen community, and can communicate effectively from a place of understanding.

About the Author

Jessica Fagen

Jessica Fagen, M.A. , is the education specialist and program coordinator at Voice of Witness. Jessica supports educators in developing and implementing ethics-driven oral history projects, providing direct classroom support in the San Francisco Bay Area and facilitating educator trainings across the country.

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Bidstrup Foundation and Barrett Research Undergraduate Fellowship supports honors student research with faculty

The Bidstrup Foundation and Barrett Research Undergraduate Fellowship supports Barrett Honors College students engaged in thesis or major studies research alongside any ASU faculty member. Photo courtesy of Arizona State University.

The Bidstrup Foundation and Barrett Research Undergraduate Fellowship supports the research interests, academic pursuits and professional aspirations of students in Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University.

The fellowship is tailored for Barrett students engaged in thesis or major studies research alongside any ASU faculty member.

Through the fellowship program, Barrett students with financial need who want to carry out scholarly work under the tutelage of faculty members are paid an hourly salary for their work. Funding of up to $2,000 is available.

Applications for the 2024-25 scholarship are now open and will be accepted until funding is exhausted. More information and the application are here .

Ayomide Laguda, a junior in Barrett Honors College pursuing a bachelor’s degree in electrical engineering was awarded the 2023-24 fellowship to engage in a research project focused on setting up software for simulating models of gene regulatory network dynamics, which is genes interacting with each other to control cell function.

Laguda’s research was directed by Bryan Daniels, assistant professor in the ASU College of Global Futures School of Complex Adaptive Systems.

Laguda said he was grateful for being selected to receive the fellowship and saw the support as “a catalyst on my journey to pursue my degree in electrical engineering and to focus on getting more engrossed in the honors curriculum and ASU student life.”

The fellowship also helped move Laguda closer to his goal of becoming an electrical engineer with the skills of a computer scientist, meaning he will know the art of coding with various programming languages as well as the manufacturing and design of electrical systems.

Bidstrup Foundation and Barrett Research Undergraduate Fellowship

The Bidstrup Foundation and Barrett Research Undergraduate Fellowship supports Barrett students engaged in thesis or major studies research alongside any ASU faculty member.

The fellowship program is for Barrett students with financial need who want to carry out scholarly work under the tutelage of faculty members, Students are paid an hourly salary for their work. Funding of up to $2,000 is available.

Jayden Lynch, a junior environmental engineering major in Barrett, received funds from the fellowship in 2023-24 for his research on the Martian Regolith Project with Anca Delgado, associate professor in the Ira A. Fulton School of Engineering’s School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment.

Lynch’s work, a major part of his honors thesis, focused on the properties of soil on Mars and its possible uses for future missions to the Red Planet.

“The funding from the fellowship makes a huge difference, allowing me to focus fully on this important work without financial stress. It’s encouraging to have the Bidstrup Foundation behind this project, and I believe we can make significant contributions to our understanding of Martian soil,” he said.

Another fellowship recipient, Sabrina Garcia-Arias, a Barrett Online student double majoring in neuroscience and psychology, worked with Barrett Honors College teaching professor Abby Loebenberg on creating an accessible hybrid online course setup for the Honors 171-272 class sequence for student-athletes and students with disabilities.

Garcia-Arias said that with support from the fellowship she was able to “continue my passion for research in a way that will directly affect the community at ASU, which I have grown to consider my family” and “further fortify my interest in research that also impacts students and educators within Barrett.”

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• Queen Mary University of London
• News stories

Queen Mary University of London students showcase important AI research at Google DeepMind HQ

Empowering the future of AI t alent through the Research Ready Programme.

Queen Mary University of London proudly celebrated the culmination of its six-week summer AI research placement, the Research Ready Programme , at Google DeepMind's headquarters on September 16th. The event highlighted the remarkable achievements of the programme's participants—undergraduate students selected from underrepresented groups—who presented their original research projects to industry experts and academics.  

Supported by the Google DeepMind Research Ready funding stream, this initiative seeks to increase diversity in the field of AI by fostering the growth of female, Black, Asian, and ethnic minority students, as well as those from low-income backgrounds. By providing students with hands-on experience with real-world AI challenges, the programme helps break down barriers to further study and fosters a more inclusive AI research community.   

Professor Steve Uhlig, Head of the School of Electronic Engineering and Computer Science emphasised the programme's significance: “AI holds immense potential to shape our future. However, it is crucial that we integrate diverse perspectives into its development. Through our work with Google DeepMind, we have created a space where young talents can explore, contribute, and inspire the AI innovations of tomorrow.”  

Undergraduate students worked closely with academics and PhD mentors in Artificial Intelligence throughout the six-week programme, receiving daily guidance to develop their projects. These innovative projects highlighted the diverse applications of AI, including music and story generation, face recognition technology, environmental forecasting and game-playing agents .  

Speaking of her experience, programme participant Saloni Desai said: “Working on a research project and working towards writing an actual paper is really exciting! I feel more confident in my choice of pursuing at least a master’s degree in the field of AI, and hearing the PhD students’ experiences has really helped as it made PhDs sound doable and accessible. ”    

Saloni’s research explored ways to enhance decision-making in AI, while Ogulcan Gurelli worked on improving speech clarity in multi-speaker environments by combining visual and audio cues with face recognition technology. Ogulcan reflected that: “The programme gives you all the building blocks you need to build a career in Artificial Intelligence. You get to build a great network and create a research project in your chosen field, something most people your age are not doing. Plus, you get to present your project at Google DeepMind!”  

Professor Simon Colton, a Professor of AI and academic lead for the programme at Queen Mary added: “This year's cohort has been exceptional, with all students delivering projects on the cutting edge of AI research, leading to results that the teams are writing up into research papers.”  

Google DeepMind has been a strong advocate for Queen Mary University students, providing support through Masters and PhD scholarships in AI since 2019, helping to establish Queen Mary University as a leading destination for students eager to explore the field of AI.  

With intentions for a Research Ready Programme in 2025, Queen Mary University hopes that it will once again offer valuable opportunities for undergraduate students in AI. Queen Mary University remains committed to fostering a more diverse, equitable AI community, giving students the tools they need to become the next generation of leaders in the field.  

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• UBC experiences

Undergraduate Student Research Awards (NSERC, CIHR, SSHRC)

• About the awards

The information on this page applies to both UBC Okanagan and Vancouver students.

Undergraduate Student Research Awards (USRA) are opportunities for undergraduate students to consider graduate studies and/or a research career by providing research work experience that complements their studies in an academic setting. Through these awards, eligible professors receive a subsidy to hire students to work on interesting research-related jobs and projects. These awards are administered by Canada’s 3 research granting agencies:

• Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC)
• Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR)
• Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC)

All UBC Vancouver and Okanagan undergraduate students who are Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents can apply to the NSERC awards. CIHR and SSHRC USRA are exclusively offered to Canadian Black students only through the Black student researchers pathway .

Learn more about the research areas for each of the above agencies on the Government of Canada website . Be sure your research proposal follows the application guidelines of the agency you are applying to.

Where to hold your award

An Undergraduate Student Research Award can be held at any eligible Canadian university and can allow you to expand your background training at other universities. You must apply online at the institution where you would like to hold the USRA and must comply with the internal selection criteria of that institution and be selected by that university to hold one of their quotas of awards. Once NSERC has approved your award for tenure at one particular institution, you may not transfer to another institution.

Selected applications are submitted to NSERC by institutions through NSERC’s online system. You cannot submit your USRA application directly to the agencies. Currently, CIHR and SSHRC are exclusively for Black student researchers.

• Pathways to USRA

All undergraduate students who are Canadian Citizens or Permanent Residents can apply to the NSERC awards. If you are a domestic student who self-identifies as Black or Indigenous, please apply through the specific pathways to USRA:

• Black Student Researchers Pathway to USRA
• Indigenous Student Researchers Pathway to USRA
• Before you apply

First, check if you’re eligible to apply for an award and learn about the program restrictions.

• Review the eligibility requirements .
• Check the application deadlines for each Faculty/School/Department.
• How to apply
• Review the Information for Students Handout (pdf) to understand the application process.
• The NSERC USRA program is administered and coordinated through the Faculty/School USRA Coordinators. Each faculty establishes procedures for identifying and ranking applicants and setting deadlines. Make sure you are aware of your faculty’s deadlines before applying.
• Online Application Portal for Faculty Supervisors and Student Applicants
• NSERC USRA Instructions for Completing Form 202
• NSERC USRA Program Application Tutorial
• If you’re a first-time user, register an account .
• Forward your reference number to your supervisor so they can include it in their part of the application.
• Your supervisor must submit Part II in the online application system with your reference number.
• You must also upload a copy of your official transcript with the back page legend as part of your application. 
• Your Faculty, School, or Department USRA Coordinator will be in touch with your proposed project supervisor about the outcome of the application.
• NSERC will not accept hardcopy forms so the official application must be completed and submitted electronically. The copies sent to the Faculty, School, or Department USRA Coordinator are only necessary for the internal review process.

You can watch a video tutorial for the NSERC application process. If you experience any technical issues with the NSERC online portal, please contact NSERC .

• Important dates

NSERC USRA application period

In January, students and supervisors must register or log into the NSERC online system to complete Form 202 Part I (student application) and Form 202 Part II (supervisor application). Find internal application deadlines for your faculty, school, or department.

UBC holds one annual competition a year for Summer 2024, Fall 2024, and Winter 2025 terms. Applications for all terms (from May 2024 to April 2025) must be submitted during this period.

USRA placements

NSERC award notification

Award letters will be available to students in the following months:

For NSERC and SSHRC award holders, award letters will be available on NSERC’s SharePoint platform, while CIHR award holders will receive their award letters by email. Since NSERC emails may go to your junk email folder, please check it regularly.

• Summer term : July
• Fall term : November
• Winter term : February 
• Award details

The minimum normal duration of the award is 14 to 16 consecutive weeks of full-time work. Learn more about work hours, the value of an award, and the work payments and benefits that come with a research position.

Get details

• Undergraduate Research Awards office hours

From Jan 8 to Feb 29, 2024, drop into the Career Centre at Brock Hall from 11:00 am to 1:00 pm every Monday and Tuesday to talk to a Career Educator about the award or how to apply.

Let the front desk know you’re there for USRA office hours when you arrive.  

• How to contact professors

You are encouraged to create your own research opportunity by contacting eligible professors you would like to work with and tell them about this program. Many professors will be happy to talk to you about the opportunity to hire you at a subsidized wage. If you find an interested professor, ask them to contact their USRA Coordinator for more information.

Below are some tips for contacting professors:

• Keep your emails short and to-the-point. Read helpful tips (pdf) on approaching a professor, and browse the list of faculty supervisors and research areas.
• Know what you are going to say. Be prepared to talk about your interests, knowledge areas, and lab or volunteer experience. Familiarize yourself with the professor's research subject so you can ask informed questions about it. This will show that you are genuinely interested in helping with the research.
• Bring a copy of your resume.
• Read the NSERC program rules for supervisors. Make sure you understand these rules and application procedures.
• Regardless of whether you get the position or not, thank the professor for their time with a thank-you email.
• If you have questions

For questions about the application process or general inquiries, contact your faculty or school USRA Coordinator .

As a second resource, you can also contact the NSERC USRA Liaison Officer at the UBC Career Centre at [email protected] .

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University Counseling Service

Myths and misconceptions about suicide risk and prevention for college students

Suicide is a real issue among college-age students due to multiple stressors and challenges they face. Despite increased awareness, many misconceptions about suicide persist, hindering effective prevention and support. Debunking these myths is essential for fostering a safer campus environment. Here are five common myths about suicide and the truths that counter them.

Myth 1: Talking about suicide increases the risk

A common myth is that discussing suicide with someone might increase their risk of attempting it. Having open conversations about suicide is crucial. Research indicates that directly asking about suicidal thoughts does not increase risk but provides a chance for individuals to seek help. Students trained to talk about suicide are more likely to assist peers in crisis, demonstrating the power of open dialogue and peer support. Breaking the silence reduces stigma and encourages help-seeking behaviors. Even if you fear not having the "right words," showing compassion and a willingness to listen is more important than saying the perfect thing.

Myth 2: People who talk about suicide are just seeking attention

Another misconception is that individuals who talk about suicide are merely seeking attention. This belief can prevent them from receiving necessary help. Any mention of suicidal thoughts should be taken seriously as it often indicates significant distress. Research suggests that attention-seeking behaviors around suicide reflect a need for support rather than manipulation. Recognizing and addressing these behaviors is crucial for timely intervention and risk reduction.

Myth 3: Suicide happens without warning

Many people believe suicide happens without warning, but individuals often show signs of suicidal ideation before an attempt. These signs include talking about wanting to die, withdrawing from social activities, extreme mood swings, or risky behaviors. Recognizing these warning signs can save livesand empowers friends and family to intervene effectively. 

Check out the Suicide Prevention Coalition webpage to learn more about suicide signs and resources. You may also enroll in programs like Kognito provide interactive training to recognize and respond to signs of mental distress. Additionally, the "R UOK?" peer support program equips students to ask important questions and support others, fostering a culture of care on campus.

Myth 4: Only people with mental health concerns consider suicide

While mental health concerns like depression and anxiety increase suicide risk, they are not the only factors. Life events, stressors, trauma, and substance abuse can also contribute to suicidal thoughts. It's important to consider the broader context of an individual's life, not just diagnosed conditions.

Myth 5: Suicidal thoughts will never go away

A persistent myth is that once someone experiences suicidal thoughts, they will always struggle with them. However, these thoughts are often temporary and linked to specific situations. With appropriate care and support, individuals can move past suicidal ideation and lead fulfilling lives.

Dispelling myths about suicide is crucial to creating a supportive campus environment where students feel safe seeking help. By educating ourselves and others, we can better recognize signs of distress and provide effective support and intervention. Services such as University Counseling Service and Student Care and Assistance provide individualized support, connecting students to resources for academic, financial, or personal challenges. For emergencies, the 988 crisis line offers immediate assistance, ensuring help is always available when needed.

References:

Batterham, P. J., Calear, A. L., & Christensen, H. (2020). The Stigma of Suicide Scale: Psychometric properties and correlates of the stigma of suicide. *BMC Psychiatry, 20*(1), 342. https://doi.org/10.1186/s12888-020-02715-9

Brown, G. K., Ten Have, T. R., Henriques, G. R., Xie, S. X., Hollander, J. E., & Beck, A. T. (2005). Cognitive therapy for the prevention of suicide attempts: A randomized controlled trial. *Journal of the American Medical Association*, 294(5), 563–570. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC11036193/

Chiles, J. A., & Strosahl, K. D. (2005). Clinical manual for assessment and treatment of suicidal patients. American Psychiatric Publishing.

Gatto, A., Rizvi, S. L., & Reynolds, M. (2020). Suicide prevention for college students: A campus-wide approach. *Journal of American College Health*, 68(8), 797-805. https://doi.org/10.1080/07448481.2020.1739053

Hill, R. M., & Petit, J. W. (2016). The role of lethal means restriction in suicide prevention. Crisis: The Journal of Crisis Intervention and Suicide Prevention, 37*(5), 331–340. https://doi.org/10.1027/0227-5910/a000516

Mayo Clinic Health System. (2023). 8 common myths about suicide. Mayo Clinic Health System. Retrieved from [https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/8-common-myths-about-suicide](https://www.mayoclinichealthsystem.org/hometown-health/speaking-of-health/8-common-myths-about-suicide)

Current enrolled students can call University Counseling Service at 319-335-7294 to schedule an appointment. Initial Consultation appointments can also be scheduled online. Students must be in the state of Iowa to attend virtual/Zoom appointments.