Graduate students become effective researchers through research group participation

What is it about?

This study examines graduate students’ research group experiences. Our findings show that graduate students in engineering learn how to be effective researchers while participating in research groups. Graduate students develop four primary competencies - presenting research, receiving and responding to feedback, developing practical knowledge of problem solving, and troubleshooting the day-to-day problems emerging in ongoing research projects - by participating in weekly large group and subgroup meetings.

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Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Photo by Annie Spratt on Unsplash

Why is it important?

Although it is widely accepted that research group experiences play an important role in graduate students’ development of research competencies, career aspirations, and professional identities, little is known about the details of what and how students learn from their participation in research groups. Using an ethnographic approach, this study draws a nuanced picture of graduate students’ learning experiences in a research group and describes specific practices and activities of a research group that facilitates graduate student learning.