title: Engaging novice researchers in the process and culture of science using a "Pass-the-Problem" case strategy.
abstract: Undergraduates having their first research experience frequently have little idea of what to expect. Institutions offering summer research experiences attempt to address this issue through programs that introduce students to the process and culture of science. However, didactic approaches frequently bore students who prefer more interactive sessions. We describe a "Pass-the-Problem" case study approach that engages groups of students in useful discussions about the research environment they are entering. The cases presented here include keeping a thorough laboratory notebook, balancing laboratory and personal time demands, anxiety about formal presentations, unexpected federal regulatory inspection, working in a lab with limited funds, being used as a technician rather than a researcher, frustration with failed experiments, effects of promotion and tenure on laboratory atmosphere, the importance of reading the research literature, and questioning a career in science. These cases alert students to different situations they might encounter and stimulate discussion about how to deal with them.
authors.affiliation: From the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 19716-2522.
authors.forename: Harold B
authors.initials: HB
authors.lastname: White
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Science, University of Delaware, Newark, Delaware, 19716.
authors.forename: David C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Usher
mesh_terms: D004493:Education / Q000379:methods*; D006801:Humans; D018794:Problem-Based Learning / Q000379:methods*; D012106:Research / Q000193:education*; D012108:Research Personnel; D012586:Science / Q000193:education*; D013334:Students
keywords: active learning; effective in-class problems; teaching and learning techniques methods and approaches; undergraduate research