Multiplexing projects: supervising undergraduate research projects with larger cohorts

Nisbet, Ellen; Scott, Dave; Campeotto, Ivan

Abstract

Almost all undergraduate students in the UK complete a final year research project or dissertation. In the molecular biosciences field, these projects are often based in individual research laboratory. However, with increasing student numbers, falling staff/student ratios and decreased funding for consumables, these projects are becoming unstainable. At the University of Nottingham, we have developed a new model for cohort-based projects. These projects allow students to be taught key skills as a group, and then to apply their knowledge to individual projects. By streamlining communications, we are able to involve multiple members of staff and cover for staff absences. Feedback from these new-style projects has been extremely positive, and student engagement is high. Here, we share our experience of running multiplexed projects, and discuss the adaptations we have made to enhance the student and staff experience. Main Text For many students, the final year project is the most important part of their honours degree. In most British universities, undergraduate students spend a substantial period of time embedded inside an active research group, conducting their own research, culminating in a dissertation and often an oral presentation. The project is a student's first experience of real scientific research, and a successful outcome affects greatly the final degree grade. The project consequently it has huge importance for future employability. When these projects go well, it is an enjoyable experience, and can easily pull a student up a degree class. When projects do not go as expected, it can be a challenging experience for all concerned. In recent years, financial pressures in the higher education sector have led to increasing class sizes, falling staff/student ratios, and decreasing funding for consumables available to supervisors. Student numbers have doubled in the past two decades, while the sector has been grappling with issues of equity, funding, and student support. As such, this crucially important career stage for undergraduates is rapidly becoming no longer sustainable in its present form. Supervising and training three or more students in a large well-funded research lab, where several post-docs and PhD students are available to provide constant advice, is easily manageable. However, supervising higher numbers of students where there may only be the assistance of only one PhD student (or in some cases, no research staff) is neither feasible nor productive for either the group leader or to the graduate students involved. In our department, we have ten research-active academics, who run various sizes of research group, subject to the uncertainty of the UK research funding landscape. Each year we supervise

Citation

Nisbet, E., Scott, D., & Campeotto, I. (in press). Multiplexing projects: supervising undergraduate research projects with larger cohorts. The Biochemist,

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Oct 8, 2024
• Deposit Date: Oct 23, 2024
• Publicly Available Date: Oct 23, 2024
• Journal: The Biochemist
• Print ISSN: 0954-982X
• Electronic ISSN: 1740-1194
• Publisher: Portland Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/40862625