Re: Definition of Undergraduate Research

["Michael N. Monce" <mnmon@CONNCOLL.EDU>]

On Mon, 15 Mar 1999, Spagna Jr., George wrote:

> At the risk of rehashing an old subject  -  does anybody have a good,
> concise definition of "undergraduate research".
>
> We're looking for something which is applicable across disciplines, and our
> internal discussions have devolved into the usual "I can't define it, but I
> know it when I see it."  Everybody seems to agree that it's a good thing,
> though there are some disciplines which claim that research cannot be done
> by undergraduates.  Obviously, such a stance becomes divisive rather than
> helpful.

        As a practical definition, you could use a copy of any the recent
NCUR abstracts.  A few years back I sent a copy to the provost and some
people in the humanities who claimed undergraduates could not do research
in their disicplines.  The breadth of the projects presented at NCUR
helped convince many of the "non-believers" that such work isn't only for
the sciences.

                        Mike Monce
                        Connecticut College