Location

Equitable access and participation - Field, laboratory or classroom? Online, hybrid or in person?

Typical UREs have some mixture of data collection in the field or laboratory, and data analysis on campus. The travel associated with data collection can be a large barrier to participation for those with caretaking or work responsibilities, as well as those with physical disabilities and other marginalized identities. Many students are not able to participate in undergraduate research experiences for this reason. There is also a surplus of rich polar data, including satellite-based observations of ocean conditions and high-resolution imaging of coastal erosion, that needs to be processed and analyzed.

How we did it:

The ARC-Learn program did not have a field or laboratory component and was conducted entirely on campus and online, using existing datasets and promoting data literacy skills. With the COVID-19 pandemic and two cohorts, we had the opportunity to try out several models of remote and hybrid learning in our program over the course of three years. Models we tried out included:

Exclusively online: Students and mentors met in cohort and team meetings via Zoom to allow the program to move forward during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Casual hybrid: Students and mentors attended in person as much as they were able, and one student participated remotely.
Intentional hybrid with remote team: One of the four research teams was made up entirely of Ecampus students. This team met remotely as a group, and coordinated their research activities with their mentors and colleagues entirely online. Our cohort meetings were intentionally designed to be hybrid, with opportunities for remote students to engage with each other as well as those in the classroom. On-campus students and mentors were asked to attend in person, with the option of attending remotely or watching the recording of any missed sessions.

We found that the casual hybrid approach did not support team cohesion, student accountability or inclusion of our one remote member. However, our intentional hybrid approach was quite successful—our online team absolutely thrived using this model, though there was still limited interaction between online and in person students.

Considerations for your program:

Reduce barriers to participation by adding opportunities for students to engage in real, meaningful research without the need to travel for extended periods, and tackle pressing Arctic challenges using the surplus of existing polar data while promoting data literacy skills.

Make a choice if your program is in person, remote, or hybrid, and manage the chosen learning environment using best practices. Consider hosting an entirely remote program. Students enrolled in online university programs are particularly prepared for a more open model like this, because they are already managing their course load in a similar, self-directed manner. Many online learners also fall in the category of the non-traditional students the program is designed to serve. Intentionally recruit mentors who have the tools and resources to support students in an online environment.

One of the benefits of field experiences is the building of camaraderie amongst a group. This was a drawback of our model, as the students had no formative experience from which to build bonds at the beginning of the program. If funding allows, consider a several-day (as opposed to multi-week), accessibly designed outing to collect data or to tour a facility that collects data similar to what you’ll be working with. However, be thoughtful in balancing the interest to provide a formative field experience with the imperative to reduce barriers for, and address the accessibility needs of, the students you are trying to reach.

Some students are extremely interested in gaining field experience. The relationships students and mentors build through your campus-based program can serve as a jumping-off point for future field research collaborations with mentors and their networks.