Three Decades as an NSF REU Site: Lessons and Recommendations

For the past 30 years, the NSF9s Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program has supported thousands of undergraduate researchers annually. Each REU site operates independently with regards to their research mission and structure, leading to a complex educational milieu distinct from traditional classrooms and labs. Overall, REU sites are perceived as highly formative experiences for developing researchers. However, even with improved assessment practices over the past decade, best practices for student learning and long-term impact are limited. To address this limitation, we recommend the use of cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) as a unifying framework to study these diverse programs. CHAT provides guidance for the collection of qualitative information which can help characterize REU programs in an educationally meaningful context. Adoption of CHAT by REU sites would improve dialogue among interdisciplinary programs. Such networks could further incentivize collaboration with discipline based education researchers and result in improved evidence-based practices.