Abstract

Laboratory or field research experience offers us an alternative pedagogical model to classroom instruction. Generally, research experience is reserved for graduate students who have mastered much of their subject and are prepared to embark on self-guided learning. However, undergraduates can also participate in research and in some cases can gain a great deal from it. Research experiences are widely believed to be an important mechanism for recruiting undergraduates into science careers and for giving students an opportunity to test their interest in research (NSF, 1996; Mervis, 2001). Student learning in a research experience is different from a classroom experience many ways. The content knowledge that that student must master is generally more in depth than typical course work but much more limited in scope because it must be highly focussed on the research project. In addition, students must master a particular set of research skills that usually are in some ways independent of the content knowledge that they are learning. Research experiences tend to be highly personalized and unstructured compared to the classroom environment; expectations regarding the final outcome (poster presentation, paper, data, samples etc.) are particular to each program. Therefore, assessing in some

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