Mentored Undergraduate Research in Global Contexts
Mentored undergraduate research contributes to student success and increased learning in higher education. Through their mentoring relationships with educators, students develop and hone essential skills related to critical thinking, creativity, problem solving, and integrative global learning. Mentored undergraduate research also contributes to a culture of innovation where research methodology is embraced and utilized in real-world situations.
To help institutions develop and sustain high-quality research experiences, AAC&U launched the Mentored Undergraduate Research in Global Contexts think tank. The program and its working groups aim to curate best practices and generate new knowledge with a particular focus on broadening participation among underrepresented students and staff, addressing gaps between mentoring theory and practices, and sharing tools that support intercultural mentoring skills.
Selected Resources
This set of definitions was used to guide a convening of the Think Tank on Mentoring Undergraduate Research in Global Contexts. Learn more.
Through this exchange program of the Institute of International Education, engineering students from members of a consortium of seventy institutions in twenty countries can study, participate in internships, and conduct research internationally. Learn more.
The National Science Foundation’s International Center of Excellence facilitates and promotes student development via high-impact international research in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Learn more.
A program of the National Science Foundation, the REU supports active research participation by undergraduate students in any of the areas of research funded by the NSF. Learn more.
Following an extensive review of the literature on mentoring undergraduate research, Elon University identified ten salient practices that support effective mentoring of undergraduate researchers and that can be used to develop a mentoring pedagogy of high quality. Learn more.
The Organization for Tropical Studies offers a research experience in Costa Rica for US underrepresented minority students from institutions that are members of the National Science Foundation’s Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (NSF-LAMP) Alliance. Learn more.
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Get in touch to learn more about the work of AAC&U’s Mentored Undergraduate Research in Global Contexts think tank.