Enhancing research skills in undergraduate students through seminars

Final year undergraduate (UG) projects are, for many students, the first endeavour into independent research or investigation of a topic for a sustained period of time (at least 1 academic semester). This comes with many challenges which can include the in-depth investigation of a topic, resilience, presentation skills and leadership and management. Research seminars are commonly used within research clusters/groups to inform members of novel findings or preliminary investigations. However, the postgraduate details or subject-specific information presented can often be too high level for the current understanding of a UG student. This work outlines a pilot study to investigate the effectiveness of UG research seminars comprised of students across multiple computing pathways and backgrounds for enhancing the learning and personal development of students. In this study UG students present their ongoing research from their project to peers in a casual and supportive setting. This format revealed a number of benefits for the student as well as the supervising academic. The UG seminars have led to an enhancement of research skills and generic real-world skills, such as communication and integration of ideas and concepts, which students can utilise in their future career and society.