HomeBlogUndergraduate Research Undergraduate Research and Implications for Life Developmentby Jessie Moore and Nolan SchultheisDecember 2, 2024 Share: Section NavigationSkip section navigationIn this sectionPodcasts – Home 60-Second SoTL Limed: Teaching with a Twist Making College “Worth It” Special Series First-Year Seminars Land Acknowledgement Making College “Worth It” – Season 2, Episode 4 In this episode, we consider how undergraduate research impacts a student’s inquiry, sense of belonging, and long-term career. Drawing from in-depth interviews with alumni across the disciplines, Kristine Johnson and Michael Rifenburg explored the benefits of undergraduate research: meaningful intellectual engagement, a sense of belonging in the campus community, and vocational clarity and career success after college. Our conversation highlights rich examples from their interviews and reinforces the long-term value of undergraduate research. View a transcript of this episode. Meet our Guests J. Michael Rifenburg, professor of English at the University of North Georgia, USA, serves as senior faculty fellow for scholarly writing with UNG’s Center for Teaching, Learning, and Leadership. He authored The Embodied Playbook: Writing Practices of Student-Athletes (Utah State University Press, 2018), Drilled to Write: Becoming a Cadet Writer at a Senior Military College (Utah State University Press, 2022), and, with Kristine Johnson, A Long View of Undergraduate Research: Alumni Perspectives on Inquiry, Belonging, and Vocation (Routledge/Elon 2024). He is a recipient of the University System of Georgia Regents’ Scholarship of Teaching & Learning Award and serves on the Board of the International Society for the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning. Kristine Johnson is associate professor of English and university rhetoric director at Calvin University in Grand Rapids, MI. She teaches linguistics, writing, and composition pedagogy and enjoys collaborating with undergraduate researchers. Her research has appeared in College Composition and Communication, Rhetoric Review, the Journal of Communication and Religion, WPA: Writing Program Administration, Composition Studies, and various edited collections. With J. Michael Rifenberg, she edited a special issue of Pedagogy: Critical Approaches to Teaching Literature, Language, Composition, and Culture on undergraduate research in English studies and authored A Long View of Undergraduate Research: Alumni Perspectives on Inquiry, Belonging, and Vocation (Routledge/Elon 2024). Episode Credits This episode is co-hosted by Jessie L. Moore, Director of Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning, and Nolan Schultheis, a second-year student at Elon University, studying Psychology with an interest in law. Nolan Schultheis also edited the episode. Making College “Worth It” is produced by Elon University’s Center for Engaged Learning. Episode art was created by Nolan Schultheis and Jennie Goforth. Funky Percussions is by Denys Kyshchuk (@audiocoffeemusic) - https://www.audiocoffee.net/. Soft Beat is by ComaStudio. Explore Center Resources Related to this Episode A Long View of Undergraduate Research Use discount code AFLY04 for 20% off A Long View of Undergraduate Research and other books in the Series on Engaged Learning and Teaching. The discount code is valid until the end of March 2025. Undergraduate Research The Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR) defines undergraduate research as: “An inquiry or investigation conducted by an undergraduate student that makes an original intellectual or creative contribution to the discipline.” Similarly, Kinkead (2003) notes that Undergraduate Research (UR) can include… Explore Center Blog Posts on Undergraduate Research Translating the Past: Reflections from Behind the Ledger During the summer of 2025, I had the opportunity to work on a transcription project involving historical records from the War Department about Maryland, Missouri, and the US Bureau of Colored Troops during the Civil War. These included an account… Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences in the Humanities In this episode, we explore strategies to keep students engaged in research in the humanities. We speak with Dr. Mary Isbell, an associate professor of English at the University of New Haven, and Dr. Kevin Ostoyich, a professor of history… Engaging Students in Transcribing Historical Data: About the Project In this post and a series of student contributions that follow, we describe a summer project where we engaged with students doing transcription work of historical archival documents. While the original conception of the project started off as purely oriented… Facilitating Reflection in Undergraduate Research Making College “Worth It” – Season 2, Episode 9 In this episode, Nolan and Jessie talk with Dr. Paul Miller about facilitating reflection in undergraduate research. Collaborating with colleagues in experiential learning, Paul and Jessie created the FIRE Toolkit, a free… Collaboration in Creation: A Guide for Preparing and Presenting Research Posters – Part 2, For Mentors In our previous post, we, the members of the Infant Development Lab, shared advice for students on how to prepare to present research posters. In Part 2 of this series, we will now share several ways faculty mentors can support… 1 2 … 13 14 >
