Handbook for Undergraduate Research Advisors

by Faith A. Wilson, Jeffrey L. Thomas

Overview

Written for diverse academic audience, this text serves as a handbook for professors, instructors, and advisors who oversee data collection by undergraduate students for the purpose of writing a research report. Section One provides background information concerning today’s diverse undergraduate student population and the increasing emphasis placed on research in the college classroom and field settings. Section Two presents strategies for enhancing the research writing skills of undergraduate students. Finally, Section Three examines specific research contexts, including service learning projects, science lab/ fieldwork, internships, portfolios, and visual arts inquiry. Adult educational theory is woven throughout the text, along with international perspectives.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781475815573
Publisher:	Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc.
Publication date:	08/16/2016
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	200
File size:	6 MB

About the Author

Faith Agostinone-Wilson is associate professor of education at Aurora University. She is the author of Dialectical Research Methods in the Classical Marxist Tradition and Marxism and Education beyond Identity: Sexuality and Schooling and has been published in several journals and edited books. A member of the Rouge Forum educational collective, Faith lives in Waukegan, Illinois. Her research interests include education policy, copyleft movement, sexuality, and counter-hegemonic research methodologies.

Jeff Thomas works in Northwest Washington where he serves as a high school English teacher and as an instructor for the University of Washington. In 2011, he received his National Boards of Teaching Certification, and has since served with AP and College Board in test development and assessment. He has a BA from Aurora University, an MA from Fuller Theological Seminary, and has worked as a writer and editor for Random House.

Table of Contents

Introduction
Jeff Thomas

Section One: Undergraduates and Research Pedagogy

Chapter One: Today’s Undergraduate Student: Implications for Teaching Research
Faith Agostinone-Wilson

Chapter Two: Political Contexts for Undergraduate Research Pedagogies
Faith Agostinone-Wilson

Chapter Three: Economic Contexts for Undergraduate Research Pedagogies
Faith Agostinone-Wilson

Chapter Four: Academic and Social Contexts for Undergraduate Research Pedagogies
Faith Agostinone-Wilson

Chapter Five: Engaging Undergraduate Students in the Study of Research Methodology
Christina M. Bruhn and Jeffrey J. Bulanda

Chapter Six: Integrating Research Projects into Content-Based Instruction: Variations and Resources
Sara Johnson

Section Two: Providing Writing Guidance

Chapter Seven: Successful Critical Writing for Undergraduates: A Practical Approach through Scaffolding
Pam Goble

Chapter Eight: Narrative Inquiry as an Undergraduate Research Experience
Joan Flynn Fee

Chapter Nine: Introducing Undergrads to Research Writing: Experiential Approaches
Meredith Harvey

Section Three: Specific Research Contexts

Chapter Ten: Overcoming Challenges in Field Research for Non-Science Majors
Richard Boniak

Chapter Eleven: Measuring the Impact of Service Learning Projects
Christopher Wells

Chapter Twelve: Where’s Larry? or Adventures with Undergraduates in the Field
Gerald Waite

Chapter Thirteen: Visualizing Data in Educational Research: Issues, Methods, and Resources
Sheri R. Klein

Conclusion
Jeff Thomas

About the Editors

About the Contributors

Editorial Reviews

Wilson and Thomas have composed a timely and valuable resource for teaching, learning, and carrying out research at the undergraduate level. In a period in which research is becoming instrumentalized and narrowly defined, this handbook opens up the field of what research is, what it can be, and what it can do. Traversing disciplinary boundaries and covering myriad methodologies, the chapters comprehensively cover each step of the research process. Yet this is no mere "how-to" guide, for practice and theory are woven tightly together throughout the text, making this an important intervention in the overall field of academic research.

Derek Ford

Handbook for Undergraduate Research Advisorsprovides detailed information regarding not only the demographics of the population of undergraduate students today, but also gives practical examples on how to best assist students in many different research methodologies and fields. With the structure of each chapter, the text models what good research should look like, while providing functional advice on how to assist students in each context areas. I found the handbook to be very useful in being able to address multiple types of challenges that arise in the undergraduate research classroom. I recommend this book for instructors of undergraduate students in all academic fields. It is a must-have in providing classroom support.

Denise Rattigan

Finally, a much needed and well-written book for undergraduate research advisors! These multiple authors provide a wealth of information, contexts, perspectives, and ideas for assisting our increasingly diverse undergraduate students in higher education today. Chapters focusing on a variety of research methods are superbly presented and thoughtfully interwoven within the political, economic, academic, and social challenges of higher education in the brave new world of neoliberalism. Any faculty working with undergraduate students will find this book insightful, engaging, and an indispensable resource in the contemporary university.

Brian W. Dotts Ed.D