Quantitative Methods in the Assessment of Undergraduate Research, Scholarship, and Creative Inquiry

The dual mission of the Council of Undergraduate Research, to both stimulate the rigorous assessment of undergraduate research programs and encourage models of undergraduate research programs, presents challenges for assessment. This commentary observes the directions taken by assessment when pursuing either a theoretical model of undergraduate research or a role model of under-graduate research. The first direction suggests the goal of generalizable findings afforded by sophisticated quantitative methods. The second direction suggests the goal of transferable programs evaluated with simpler approaches including mere description, graphical presentation, and the evaluation of ostensible confounding variables as support factors for the success of the program. The diversity of undergraduate research and creative inquiry programs points toward the use of student self-disclosures as direct measures of the student experience.