Examining the Effects of a Peer-Learning Research Community on the Development of Research Identity

• In Event: Learning, Community, and Relations

Abstract

While the impacts of authentic research experiences in STEM on student engagement and interest in science have been documented, less is known about the role of peer communities in fostering identity. To inform this area of research, we conducted a study of a peer community program. The program provided 20 historically underrepresented high school students per year with a research experience using a community-based participatory research model. We collected data using a survey at three time points for each of four cohorts. Comparing data generated using a unidimensional Rasch analysis, we found that the peer community played a central role in the participants’ identity as researchers.

Authors

• Ben Koo, University of California - San Francisco

• Shruti Bathia, University of California - Berkeley

• Linda Morell, University of California - Berkeley

• Perman Gochyyev, University of California, Berkeley

• Mark R. Wilson, University of California - Berkeley

• Rebecca Smith, University of California - San Francisco