A participatory study of college students' mental health during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted college students' mental health and wellbeing. Even before the pandemic, young adults reported high mental health morbidity. During the pandemic, young adult college students faced unprecedented challenges, including campus closure and a pivot to fully online education. Methods: This study employed a novel participatory approach to a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) in an introductory epidemiology course to examine factors students considered important regarding their experience during the pandemic. Two groups of undergraduate students enrolled in this course (one in Fall 2020 and another in Spring 2021) and participated in the CURE. A sub-group of these students continued after the class and are authors of this article. Through repeated cross-sectional surveys of college students' peer groups in northern California in October 2020 and March 2021, this student/faculty collaborative research team evaluated depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation and several other topics related to mental health among the students' young adult community. Results: There was a high prevalence of anxiety (38.07% in October 2020 and 40.65% in March 2021), depression (29.85% in October 2020 and 27.57% in March 2021), and suicidal ideation (15.94% in October 2020 and 16.04% in March 2021). In addition, we identified the significant burden of loneliness for college students, with 58.06% of students reporting feeling lonely at least several days in the past two weeks. Strategies that students used to cope with the pandemic included watching shows, listening to music, or playing video games (69.01%), sleeping (56.70%), taking breaks (51.65%), and connecting with friends (52.31%) or family (51.21%). Many reported distressing household experiences: more than a third reporting loss of a job or income (34.27%) in the first year of the pandemic. We explain the participatory research approach and share empirical results of these studies. Discussion: We found this participatory CURE approach led to novel, experience-based research questions; increased student motivation; real-world benefits such as combatting imposter syndrome and supporting graduate school intentions; integration of teaching, research, and service; and development of stronger student-faculty relationships. We close with recommendations to support student wellbeing and promote student engagement in research.

Online Teaching of an Undergraduate Research Module amid COVID-19 Lockdowns: Reflections of an Academic at a University of Technology in South Africa

With the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, the transition from face-to-face teaching to online teaching was enforced in higher education institutions. The study illuminates the lecturer's reflections on practices adopted whilst embarking on the trajectory to move teaching an undergraduate research module to online platforms amid COVID-19 lockdowns at a South African University of Technology. An auto-ethnographic qualitative approach was adopted, with personal reflections as data sets. Using a Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to analyse data, findings indicate that cognitive, teaching, and social presence are crucial in an online undergraduate research module. Significant during the lockdowns was the need for communication;the lecturer had to be present as a real person;show compassion towards students;and treat students as real people online, thus adopting humanistic pedagogy. Furthermore, the findings indicate various factors enhancing or impeding the quality of online undergraduate research pedagogical practices. Hence, the study recommends the addition of "policy presence" focusing on staff development, provision of online related resources, and ensuring a conducive environment in pursuit of inspiring and enabling both staff and students to participate in impactful research.

Instruction Modality and Writing Intensive Undergraduate Research Success: A Case Study

This paper explores if, and to what extent, shifting instruction modality influenced student learning outcome success in a writing intensive undergraduate course when COVID-19 shifted the method of the course's delivery. With consistency in the instructor of record and writing prompt, the present study isolated and evaluated variability across student performance as assessed by final research project grades produced by the instructor, and assessment scores by two independent evaluators. Results show that instruction modality is associated with student performance. Students enrolled during the transitioning 2020 period earned lower grades on their final project as assessed by the instructor of record than students did in other course modalities. Additionally, these students performed lower in the areas of comprehension and citation. Students enrolled in 2021 hybrid class performed objectively lower, with lower scores on their final project and in the domains of clarity, comprehension, courtesy, cleverness, and citation in comparison to their pre-COVID-19 2019 face-to-face peers. Writing intensive capstone courses require faculty to work closely with students;students are more focused and attentive to improving the quality of their research papers and perfect their writing when faculty provide individualized attention to students in a face-to-face teaching modality. © 2023 Academy of Criminal Justice Sciences.

Interaction among Undergraduate Students in Graduation Research Seminars in Japan during the COVID-19 Pandemic

Did the COVID-19 pandemic hinder free communication among undergraduate students in seminars and isolate them? In this study, we examine the effects of "online interaction” and "face-to-face interaction” among undergraduate students in seminar activities on their research activities of writing an individual graduation thesis through an interview survey. Using qualitative research methods, we found that the seminar tasks and the seminar system avoided the excessive isolation of the undergraduate students, and that "learning in a community” was established. In addition, while receiving direct advice from senior students facilitated individual research in online interactions, face-to-face interactions strengthened the upward social comparison, that is, the comparisons among peers. © ICCE 2022.All rights reserved.

A CURE for the COVID-19 Era: A Vaccine-Focused Online Immunology Laboratory.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities across the globe quickly shifted to online education. Laboratory courses faced unique challenges and were forced to reevaluate learning objectives and identify creative projects to engage students online. This study describes a newly developed online immunology laboratory curriculum focused on vaccine development. The course incorporated learning objectives to teach the scientific process, key experimental design components, and immunology techniques to evaluate vaccine efficacy. The curriculum, a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), asked students to engage in the research literature, propose a vaccine design and assessment, and interpret mock results. Instructor evaluation of student work as well as student self-evaluations demonstrated that students met the curriculum's learning objectives. Additionally, results from the laboratory course assessment survey (LCAS) indicate that this curriculum incorporated the CURE elements of collaboration, discovery and relevance, and iteration.

Integrating remote international experience and community engagement into course-based animal behavior research.

Human-centered, active-learning approaches can help students develop core competencies in biology and other STEM fields, including the ability to conduct research, use quantitative reasoning, communicate across disciplinary boundaries, and connect science education to pressing social and environmental challenges. Promising approaches for incorporating active learning into biology courses include the use of course-based research, community engagement, and international experiences. Disruption to higher education due to the COVID-19 pandemic made each of these approaches more challenging or impossible to execute. Here, we describe a scalable course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) for an animal behavior course that integrates research and community engagement in a remote international experience. Students in courses at two U.S. universities worked with community partners to analyze the behavior of African goats grazing near informal settlements in Western Cape, South Africa. Partners established a relationship with goat herders, and then created 2-min videos of individual goats that differed in criteria (goat sex and time of day) specified by students. Students worked in small groups to choose dependent variables, and then compared goat behavior across criteria using a factorial design. In postcourse surveys, students from both universities indicated overall enthusiasm for the experience. In general, students indicated that the laboratory provided them with "somewhat more" of a research-based experience compared with biology laboratories they had taken of similar length, and "somewhat more" to "much more" of a community-engagement and international experience. Educational benefits were complemented by the fact that international educational partners facing economic hardship due to the pandemic received payment for services. Future iterations of the CURE can focus on goat behavior differences across ecological conditions to help herders increase production in the face of continued environmental and social challenges. More generally, applying the structure of this CURE could facilitate mutually beneficial collaborations with residents of under-resourced areas around the world.

Converting a face-to-face neuroanatomy course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) to an online environment: Lessons learned from remote teaching.

Previously, we described a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) for first-year students that featured a unique approach to brain mapping in a model organism (rat). In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we adapted this course for an online learning environment, emphasizing image analysis (identifying immunoreactive signal in an immunohistochemical stain, making neuroanatomical distinctions in a cytoarchitectural stain) and translation of image data to the brain atlas. Using a quasi-experimental mixed methods approach, we evaluated aspects of student engagement, perceived gains in student confidence with respect to the nature and process of science, and student science identity development. Additionally, we examined the dynamics of mentorship and student connectedness experienced in the online-only context. We found that the majority of students reported positive affective outcomes for the course in domains such as project ownership and project engagement in addition to positive responses toward perceived mentorship received during the course. Unsurprisingly, students expressed frustration in not being able to freely communicate with members of the course in an organic face-to-face environment. Furthermore, we found that students encountered greater difficulty in mastering image software skills causing delay in producing consistent-quality data maps. From our analysis of the course, we have identified both useful approaches and areas for course improvement in any future iterations of the online research course.

Faculty Perspectives on how to Reimagine International Research for Students in a Virtual World

International research programs for students offer an important opportunity to support students in developing skills in both research and intercultural competence. During the COVID-19 pandemic, many of these programs made the shift to operating virtually, with likely impacts on program outcomes. The purpose of this study was to identify the approaches that program leaders used in adapting international research programs to the virtual environment and explore how these innovations could inform the design of these programs going forward. We conducted eight focus groups with over 40 U.S.-based faculty who had experience running these programs to understand the benefits, challenges, and future potential of incorporating virtual elements into international research programs for students. This paper reports the results of these focus groups and provides suggestions for future program design based on best practices and innovations identified through the development of virtual programs. © 2022 IEEE.

A Framework for Managing the Transition from Second Level to Higher Education in Response to the COVID19 Emergency Restrictions

This Research-to-Practice Full Paper looks at the transition from second level education to higher education and the challenges this presents in terms of students getting to know a new learning environment, identifying supports to assist with their learning and even getting to know new friends. This challenge is even more complicated with the move to an online learning environment in response to the COVID19 emergency restrictions. This research introduces a higher education transition framework (called S³F) that provides support and intervention activities to manage students transition from second level education to higher education, to reduce the impact of the online environment on students learning experience and to help to improve student mental health. The S³F framework uses ongoing student Feedback to inform activities across three pillars: Learning Environment Support, Academic Subject Support and Social Support. The research presented in this paper was conducted over the 2020/2021 academic year when 1st year undergraduate Computing students from National College of Ireland, School of Computing participated in an innovative induction programme that consisted of a number of activities and support actions for the entire duration of the academic year that were part of the S³F framework. Students were surveyed during each induction session for live feedback to adapt the activities for the following sessions and to inform staff of other interventions required. Students initially have expressed feelings of nervousness at the start of the first semester however this changed to feelings of excitement midway through the induction programme. Results of the case study demonstrates that the activities and innovative actions introduced as part of S³F framework had a positive impact on student's transition to higher education, especially around mental health, seen in the retention figures for those students. This paper discusses the results only in terms of students mental health This research is of benefit to higher education management and course directors involved in first year orientation that would like to reduce the impact of the online environment on student's transition from second level to higher education. © 2022 IEEE.

U-Hack Med Gap Year-A Virtual Undergraduate Internship Program in Computer-Assisted Healthcare and Biomedical Research.

The COVID-19 healthcare crisis dramatically changed educational opportunities for undergraduate students. To overcome the lack of exposure to lab research and provide an alternative to cancelled classes and online lectures, the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics at UT Southwestern Medical Center established an innovative, fully remote and paid "U-Hack Med Gap Year" internship program. At the core of the internship program were dedicated biomedical research projects spanning nine months in fields as diverse as computational microscopy, bioimage analysis, genome sequence analysis and establishment of a surgical skill analysis platform. To complement the project work, a biweekly Gap Year lab meeting was devised with opportunities to develop important skills in presenting, data sharing and analysis of new research. Despite a challenging year, all selected students completed the full internship period and over 30% will continue their project remotely after the end of the program.

Remote Research for Undergraduate Students: Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE)

This evidence-based paper will review the outcomes of a recently developed summer research program for undergraduate students. The Center of Transportation Research & Implementation (CTRI) at Minnesota State University, Mankato (MSUM) created a remote research program for Summer 2020. Along with others across the United States, MSUM went under COVID-19 lockdown for the unforeseen future during the Spring 2020 semester. The university cancelled access to most campus laboratories and brought a halt to all experimental research conducted in these facilities. Moreover, a significant number of undergraduate students lost their internships for Summer 2020. With these two substantial changes, CTRI created the Summer Undergraduate Research Experience (SURE) program. CTRI contacted a donor who donated a funding for a single undergraduate research project (pre-COVID) and asked to make changes in the funding process to benefit multiple students. With the adaptation approved by the donor, the research center asked the faculty to submit proposals for undergraduate research projects that the researchers can conduct at their homes. The proposals requested projects to employ 1 - 4 undergraduate students with a limited, supplies-only budget (<$500). The supplies of the approved proposals were mailed to the students mid-May. The students worked on their projects throughout the summer at their homes with online guidance from their project advisor. In Summer 2020, five research projects that were related to transportation, utility, and energy infrastructure were funded. Each project had a unique theoretical background. An important selection criterion was the potential for the project to be expanded upon into a full undergraduate research project in the 2020-21 Academic Year and that may lead students presenting at the virtual National Conference on Undergraduate Research (NCUR) 2021. The initial findings of the project were presented to the research center via a Zoom conference call at the end of Summer 2020. Moreover, the groups that concluded their projects on time also presented in national platforms, including NCUR. The impact of the SURE program on undergraduate researchers were assessed via follow-up survey and meetings. This paper focusses on the impact of the SURE program on the students' technical ability, communication skills, educational experience, and future professional experiences. Additionally, the advisors provided positive feedback on their experience with the projects and undergraduate researchers. The initial success of the first SURE program caught the attention of the Undergraduate Research Center (URC) of the MSUM. URC adopted SURE as a permanent program and funds summer research projects, especially from disciplines that typically receive limited financial support. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Transitioning Sustainable Manufacturing Undergraduate Research Experiences from an In-Person to a Virtual Format

The Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing is an NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) Site that offers unique summer undergraduate research experiences in the challenging field of sustainable manufacturing to national undergraduate students from two and four-year institutions. The objective of the REU Site is to introduce undergraduate students to the forefront of sustainable manufacturing research and to provide participants with the skills and pathways to pursue advanced degrees or careers in sustainable manufacturing. The intensive ten-week summer research and professional development experience hosts ten students per summer and addresses National Science Foundation priority areas such as advanced manufacturing and sustainability. Undergraduate research projects in the REU site address manufacturing process, manufacturing system, and fundamental sustainable manufacturing principles within continuous (e.g. chemical manufacturing) and discrete (e.g. automotive manufacturing) manufacturing systems. Projects are further associated with topics that cross cut the aforementioned thrust areas such as, emerging and environmentally benign materials manufacturing, sustainable process design and control, and life-cycle engineering and value recovery. Traditionally, this REU Site hosts in-person undergraduate researchers to undertake their research projects in a faculty mentor laboratory during the program. However, the COVID-19 pandemic necessitated that the REU Site program be held virtually during the summer of 2021. This poster and summary paper detail the steps taken to transition REU Site program activities to a virtual environment and post-program evaluation results of participant experiences. Evaluation results of the virtual program are compared to evaluation results of prior in-person Summer Academy in Sustainable Manufacturing programs. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

The Evolution of Multi-Site Combined REU/RET Program: From In-Person to Virtual to Hybrid

In 2018, the Smart City Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) and Research Experience for Teachers (RET) (SCR2) Mega-Site program was launched, aiming to improve the participation and graduation rates of post-secondary students of underrepresented and minority groups in the field of Engineering. Funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF), the SCR2 program has been successfully conducted for the last three years, engaging a consortium of 14 Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and 1 Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI). Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, is the lead institution for this program. The SCR2 program is designed to engage underperforming REU students in research opportunities demonstrated to improve students' retention and graduation rates. In addition, teachers from local community colleges and high schools are recruited in this program as RET participants. The experience of RET participants in hands-on engineering research projects helps them encourage their students to pursue engineering as a career. The SCR2 program offers summer research experience (eight weeks for students and six weeks for teachers) focusing on smart and connected cities. In this paper, we present our learnings from the last three years of the SCR2 program, which will inform the progress of engineering education and training in the United States. While the 2019 SCR2 program was able to offer on-campus research experience and mentorship for the REU/RETs, the 2020 program had to go virtual to accommodate the extraneous circumstances posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite this transition, the 2020 program engaged 32 undergraduates and 12 teachers, who successfully participated in 12 research projects across three host sites. Learning from the experience of the summer 2020 virtual program, the 2021 SCR2 program was redesigned as a hybrid program and was able to bring six host sites together, offering 18 projects in which 47 undergraduates and 23 teachers participated. One major success of the program was the positive impact of remote learning on both students and teachers. Despite the hybrid nature of the program, students excelled in their technical skills due to the effective collaboration using video conferencing tools. However, during the post-program survey, one primary concern was reported regarding the reduced participation of women students in the program. Simultaneously, the women participants reported less satisfaction and reduced confidence and knowledge gain than men. The transition of the SCR2 program from on-site to online and finally hybrid model exemplifies how innovation in engineering education can overcome the challenges posed by the health crisis. However, it is evident from the assessment results that more attention is needed concerning the experience of women in the program to improve their sense of belongingness in the field of engineering. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Increasing Global Competencies through International Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Research on Big Data in Energy and Related Infrastructure

This paper describes the first year of the implementation of a three-year long NSF-funded International Experience for Students (IRES) Site Track-1 project. As a part of the IRES Site Track-1 project, three engineering programs at three U.S. universities have collaborated on a project to increase the global competencies of undergraduate engineering/computer science students through a summer international research training program in big data in energy and related infrastructure in partnership with the Universiti Teknologi Petronas in Perak, Malaysia. The U.S. Universities included Texas A&M University, North Dakota State University, and University of Nevada at Las Vegas. The IRES program includes two-week pre-visit trainings on cultural and global aspects and six-week team-based research experience at the partner Malaysian university. However, due to COVID-19 restriction, all activities in the first year was conducted virtually in Summer 2021. A total of 9 participants were selected, three each from the three US Universities. The IRES participants were divided into three teams. Each project team consisted of one member from four participating institutions (3 U.S. and one Malaysian) thus providing students with a global team environment. Furthermore, of those 4 student members in a team, they represented multiple engineering disciplines. A survey conducted before and after the program showed net overall improvement in the research aptitude of the participants and their understanding on research methods, professional presentation skills, and global teamwork. Furthermore, the IRES students also attended a month-long training on global culture and received a certificate on global competency issues by the Halliburton Global Engineering Program at Texas A&M University. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022

Virtual REU Program: Engineering Education Research

This paper describes a National Science Foundation-funded Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site program conducted through virtual working environment. Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, REU 2021 activities were conducted online through Canvas and Zoom communication platforms. The major aim of this program is to provide undergraduate students with experiences in engineering education research (i.e., education research in the context of engineering). This paper provides an overview of the program, and briefly describes the virtual working environment, and students' research experiences during the 10-week program. A total of 11 undergraduate students, seven graduate mentors, and seven faculty mentors have actively participated in the program. The program is conducted in two phases: Phases 1 (i.e., Weeks 1-2) and 2 (i.e., Weeks 3-10). Phase 1 consists of preparatory and foundational work that is delivered to participants and will allow them to begin Phase 2 with some educational research foundation already established. The results of the project evaluation show that the program has made a positive impact on increasing education research skills and communication skills of the participating REU students. The participating REU students reported that the research projects they worked on increased their motivation and confidence for continuing to engage in engineering education research. Four participants (i.e., 36.4% of the total participants) suggested that, if available, they would prefer face-to-face over a virtual REU program. Another four participants (i.e., 36.4%) felt that both face-to-face and virtual would offer the same quality of research experiences, and 3 participants (i.e., 27.2% of the total participants) voiced their preference of virtual over face-to-face REU program. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.

Development of Bioderived Alternatives to N95 Face Masks in a Remote Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience

The high demand for N95 and surgical masks made of nonbiodegradable petroleum-based materials due to SARS-CoV-2 challenges the recycling industry and is proving to be unsustainable. Although woven fabric masks present a longer lifetime, they are less effective in protecting against viral particulates. Here, through an at-home course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), we demonstrate that alginate and soy-based materials are attractive alternatives for mask fabrication: stacking calcium ion-cross-linked alginate films with soy protein isolate sheets enables electrostatic and size-exclusion filtration. State-of-the-art aerosol testing confirmed this conclusion. Furthermore, because our synthetic and at-home analytical approach relies on cheap, abundant, and food-grade materials, and requires no equipment beyond kitchenware, it has the potential to be broadly adopted for practical and educational purposes. © 2022 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Remote Supergroup for Chemistry Undergraduates: An Inclusive Scientific Community for Primarily Undergraduate Institutions

The Remote Supergroup for Chemistry Undergraduates (RSCU) is a community of students and faculty from primarily undergraduate institutions that aims to (1) engage students in discussions of chemical research, (2) inform students of further educational and career pathways, (3) increase awareness and discourse of equity issues in science, and (4) foster scientific community across institutions. RSCU engaged participants in impactful virtual activities during the summer of 2020 when the COVID-19 pandemic precluded in-person undergraduate research experiences, and the program continued in 2021 as in-person research resumed. Results from self-reported surveys show that RSCU successfully achieved its aims both years, and both students and faculty research mentors benefited from participation. The diverse activities and scientific network cultivated by RSCU complement undergraduate research experiences and could be adapted to other disciplines. © 2022 American Chemical Society and Division of Chemical Education, Inc.

Supervised Internship in the Distance Leaning Bachelor's Degree in Theology: challenges and possibilities during the pandemic

The present work addresses the topic of Supervised Internships held within the scope of the Bachelor's Degree in Theology in the distance learning modality, during the COVID-19 pandemic. For this purpose, the following inquiry guides the reflections: to what extent has the COVID-19 pandemic affected the performance of internships in Theology courses? Based on this questioning, the general objective of this work is to analyze the impact of the pandemic on the organization of internships, through an experience report of the actions adopted regarding the internship offer in a distance learning Theology course. Initially, the article discusses the internship legislation, highlighting the recommendations of the National Curricular Guidelines for Theology courses. Next, a case study of an internship conducted as an undergraduate research project in the context of the pandemic is presented. Finally, based on the aspects of legislation discussed and the case study presented, the impact of the pandemic on the performance of internships and the current challenges and possibilities are analyzed, with emphasis on undergraduate research as an innovative proposal.

The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Undergraduate Research for Engineering Students and Possible Strategies to Promote Research

The COVID-19 pandemic has affected undergraduate research activities for college students. The purpose of this study is to assess the effect of the pandemic on undergraduate research for engineering students at a teaching-focused university. Data for research grants were obtained before, during, and after the pandemic. The results showed a gradual increase in funding opportunities and awarded grants for faculty members. On the other hand, there was a reduction in the number of undergraduate students involved in these research activities. The study also discussed potential strategies and solutions that enable engineering students at the undergraduate level to conduct research. Most of these strategies focus on gathering and analyzing data without the need for fieldwork, laboratory work, or in-person interactions. © 2022 IEEE.