Board 256: Development and Evolution of Workshops to Support Online Undergraduate Research

Under a National Science Foundation (NSF) Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) grant, the Research Scholars Program was developed at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University — Worldwide. The objective of the Research Scholars Program is to promote undergraduate research for the online students at the Worldwide campus and to formalize the process in which the students can participate in research. A significant aspect of the project was to create a support network for the students that incorporated existing services provided by the university and established new services to aid students throughout their mentored research experience. One of the new services was the development and delivery of starting in the second year of the grant and continuing through the third year. The purpose of the workshops is to introduce students to different aspects of research. The first series of workshops (offered in the 2021-2022 academic year) were mostly informational and provided initial support for undergraduate researchers. From the experience of developing and hosting the first series, the style of the second series (offered in the 2022-2023 academic year) was modified to try to promote more audience participation.