Abstract
This article describes the tiered mentoring approach to undergraduate research at a regional comprehensive university. In addition to mentorship of undergraduate student researchers by faculty and graduate students, tiered mentoring includes high school student researchers. The high-impact practice of student research is particularly impactful at this institution, where 40% of first-year students are first-generation college students, and the campus houses a residential science, technology, engineering, and mathematics high school. The wide variety of opportunities for student research involvement, including opportunities for students to serve in both mentee and mentor roles, has contributed to tiered mentorship becoming a prominent component of our university culture. Strategies for beginning and expanding the involvement of high school students as researchers in postsecondary settings are discussed.
Highlights
Undergraduate research is categorized as a high-impact practice because of its effect on academic performance (Bhattacharyya, Chan, & Waraczynski, 2018; Fechheimer, Webber, & Kleiber, 2011; Kuh, 2008), scientific skills, pursuit of scientific careers (Lopatto, 2010), and retention of students who are female or members of minority racial or ethnic groups (Nagda, Gregerman, Lerner, Von Hippel, & Jonides, 1998)
We profile the tiered-mentorship approach at a regional comprehensive university, including an intensive focus on how high school students from an on-campus specialized, residential high school academy at the university are involved in mentored research
High school students who seek out additional research opportunities are highly motivated and can often be described as self-starters. owever, barriers to access may discourage some high school students who would otherwise be inclined to seek out research opportunities at a college or university
Summary
High school students who seek research opportunities at local universities are often hungry for challenge and seek a supportive environment to grow their own skills quickly. Students who take on research projects are motivated by faculty who take an interest in and encourage them to think in new and more complex ways, resulting in students who become “hooked on learning” (Atkinson, Hugo, Lundgren, Shapiro, & Thomas, 2007) and who work harder as a result Another advantage of bringing younger students into a research group is the ability to create a tiered, team mentorship model. Taking classes within the major helps students understand if the choice is a good fit for them individually This is a slow, trial-and-error process leading to many students changing majors as they learn more about their own fit within a discipline and resultant career options. High school student involvement in mentored research can serve as an even earlier strategy to help students find clarity when choosing a major and assessing career options (Roberts, 2013). A substantial number of the students who have reached these impressive stages conducted their work at a local university with mentorship from university faculty
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