Longitudinal study of grant funded undergraduate research lab experiences

Providing long term mentorship for undergraduate students is an overlapping goal of two current grants at an R1 institution. One grant involves students working in a number of different research labs to explore how biological processes can be used to create mechanical structures. For the second grant, the goal is to build a satellite that will look at features of the Sun. A longitudinal study is underway with both grants, with the goal of understanding what practices, mentoring styles, and lab skills best situate undergraduate students to successfully earn STEM degrees. Each grant is recruiting four to five students per year, with the goal of maintaining each cohort for two to three years. Another core goal is to study how professional development workshops differ in both research projects, and to explore how STEM identity and persistence change over time. Both projects have had a cohort for over a year, and in this work we present initial comparative findings.