Supporting Undergraduate Engineering Researchers 

NSF Collaborative Research: Students Perspectives on Researcher Identity and Transformed Epistemologies  (2016 to 2020)

This project was a collaboration across researchers at Clemson University (Dr. Lisa Benson, Dr. Marian Kennedy, and Dr. Penelope Vargas), the Ohio State University (Dr. Rachel Kajfez), and University of Tennessee, Knoxville (Dr. Courtney Faber). "This project aimed to understand how undergraduate engineering students conceptualize and construct what it means to be a researcher, and to identify what these students perceive to be the factors that affect their view of themselves as researchers. At the same time, the project aimed to understand how these students conceptualize and interpret the nature of knowledge and knowing in their field, and how those beliefs develop within the contexts of UREs. The main outcome of this project was the Dynamics of Researcher Identity and Epistemic Thinking  Model (DRIEM), which visualized our project findings." (Text is from NSF Project Outcomes Report; see #1531607 for more details.)

Learn more about our work NSF Grant Numbers  # 1531607/1531641 

The Dynamics of Researcher Identity and Epistemic Thinking Model 

"DRIEM incorporates four main take-aways about researcher identity: 1) Students' dispositions and beliefs about who a researcher is influences their perceptions of researchers and themselves as a researcher (researcher identity), 2) Researcher identity can dissolve or solidify, 3) Researcher identity affects and is affected by reflection on research practices, and 4) Social interactions and context shape knowledge of research and researchers, researcher identity, and interest in research. Epistemic thinking is embedded throughout the reflective pathways in which students process knowledge and their research experiences. Reflection itself is a skill that is essential for forming student knowledge about how research works and about how knowledge is constructed in research." (Text is from NSF Project Outcomes Report; see #1531607 for more details.)