The Role of Collaborative Student Research on the Development of 21 st Century Skills
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The Role of Collaborative Student Research on the Development of 21st Century Skills Deborah A Day1,2, Nicole Ferrari4, Christine C. Broadbridge2,3 1. Science Research Program, Amity Regional High School, Woodbridge, CT, United States. 2. Department of Physics, Southern CT State University, New Haven, CT, United States. 3. Center for Research on Interface Structures and Phenomena (CRISP), Yale University and Southern CT State University, New Haven, CT, United States. 4. Office of Assessment and Planning, Southern CT State University, New Haven, CT, United States ABSTRACT Collaborative student research takes place in educational settings where the teacher directs the laboratory (traditional class) or allows the students to research a topic (non-traditional class). This study examines the role of collaborative student research in two separate settings: in high school (grades 9-12) and in college undergraduate institutions. These experiences include college level Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) and high school level Authentic Science Research (ASR) programs. These programs promote collaboration among student peers, teachers, professors, graduate students, post-docs, community members, and industry experts. Benefits of these collaborative student research programs may include development of skills aligned with educational standards such as Common Core State Standards and the Next Generation Science Standards. This study examines the short and long-term outcome of student engagement in collaborative student research experiences, and offers new insight regarding the impact that these unique experiences have on 21st century skill development. Students in this study have participated in non-traditional, research-based experiences ranging from 8 weeks to 4 years. Pre-post and retrospective student survey data was examined qualitatively and quantitatively to better understand the role in which collaborative student research experiences play in the formation of 21st century skills. Results of the study support the notion that collaborative student research experiences offer students meaningful interdisciplinary benefits, and these experiences are more than just a means of recruiting students into science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields. INTRODUCTION Collaborative student research experiences have gained academic popularity in recent years, offering documented benefits from acquiring science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) related skills. This immersive, cooperative, experimental experience is also beneficial on the affective, social, and professional levels [1]. Factors thought to contribute to the current popular trend in collaborative student research programs include an increase in funding resources, information accessibility, and number of opportunities. An overall increase in support and encouragement on both the high school and college levels is also an important factor [2]. Only recently has data regarding the qualitative and quantitative outcomes of collaborative student research
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