It might seem daunting to get undergraduate students involved in your research or scholarly work, but there are many reasons and opportunities to do so. General opportunities include:

• Course-based activities that engage students in parts of the research process, like making and recording observations, learning to read the literature, conducting surveys, etc.;
• Course projects that involve original research, performance, or service learning projects;
• Capstone experiences in the major like senior projects or performances;
• Individually-mentored research projects that take place outside of regular coursework.

These different forms of involvement are inter-related: getting students engaged in parts of the research process in a course can help them make progress in a capstone or other type of individual project.

Resources to help you get started

• Pedagogy in Action has an excellent and thorough website about undergraduate research as a pedagogical strategy. 
• This 2013 article from the CUR Quarterly discusses Five Strategies for Mentoring Undergraduate.
• CWU is an institutional member of the Council on Undergraduate Research (CUR); whose mission is to support and promote high-quality undergraduate student-faculty collaborative research and scholarship. They offer a number of resources, including workshops and publications, for engaging with undergraduates in research across the disciplines.

We are here to help

Want to get started but you're not sure how? Come talk to us. The OUR has a small library of books published by the Council on Undergraduate Research that you are welcome to borrow, including:

• How To Get Started in Arts and Humanities Research with Undergraduates
• How To Get Started in STEM Research with Undergraduates
• How to Mentor Undergraduate Researchers

We can also help connect you with other faculty in your college who have been successful at mentoring undergraduates.

Get in touch!