[Nhcoll-l] Undergraduate Experience in Natural History Collections

[Monfils, Anna Kirsten]

Dear Colleagues,
Undergraduate students experience natural history collections in many different capacities ranging from non-majors doing work study hours to undergraduate researchers participating in mentored collections based research projects. The students working with natural history collections are potentially learning more than we realize about the nature of science and the value or specimens in documenting diversity through time and space. Yet, we have no specific data on the number of students working in collections or the value of that experience for either the students or the collections community.
Shari Ellis (University of Florida/iDigBio) and I have developed the following two questionnaires to ascertain:

*       Who are the students working in collections?

*       What impact are these collections-based experiences having on the students' understanding of the nature of science?

*       Is collection- based employment or research impacting the students' undergraduate experience, and/or future career plans?
This survey has IRB approval from the University of Florida (Protocol #2013-U-0656). Questions in the student survey are derived from two vetted student learning assessments:
URSSA: Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment developed at the University of Colorado at Boulder and funded by the NSF http://www.colorado.edu/eer/research/undergradtools.html
SURE III: Survey of Undergraduate Research Experiences developed at Grinnell College and funded by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute http://www.grinnell.edu/academic/csla/assessment/sure
Participating is easy and quick. For curators click the link below (or copy and paste in your browser), take the 5 minute survey and then forward the student survey to any students who have worked in your collection in the last five years. The student survey is a bit more extensive and should take approximately 20-30 minutes. Please encourage your students to participate.
Curator Survey:
https://ufl.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_bI5fe0U5S0VIhHT
Undergraduate Student Survey:
https://ufl.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_2rElzowKFGIHDkV
Thank you for your consideration,
Anna K. Monfils
Associate Professor and Director, CMU Herbarium
Central Michigan University

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