What is an Undergraduate Student Research Assistant?
A sit down question and answer interview with students and faculty to take a look into what being an Undergraduate Student Research Assistant is really like.
Are you an undergraduate nursing student looking for an opportunity to work on campus? Does research interest you? Did you know faculty members look for undergraduate students to participate in their programs of research?
Today we are sitting down with College of Nursing Associate Professor Dr. Jill Bally, Research Associate Dr. Meridith Burles and nursing undergraduate students Kyra Murray and Jeness Murrin to learn about the Undergraduate Student Research Assistantships they recently participated in.
Q: What is an Undergraduate Student Research Assistantship?
Dr. Burles: An Undergraduate Student Research Assistantship (USRA) gives an undergraduate student an opportunity to work with a faculty member, where the student gains hands-on experience and learns what it’s really like to do research.
Q: Why did you want to become a Research Assistant (RA)?
Kyra: I wanted to gain more in-depth knowledge and a greater understanding of the research process. I am interested in graduate school in the future and this seemed like a good opportunity to push my education further.
Jeness: I, too, am interested in attending graduate school and felt becoming an RA would give me a better understanding of the research process and provide me with an opportunity to collaborate with other professionals. I have also learned more about pediatric nursing, which I am applying in my nursing practicum this semester.
Q: Can you provide some examples of the type of work you did?
Jeness: Every day as an RA was different. Kyra and I worked collaboratively with the research team, learnt how to locate and synthesize valid and reputable literature for research, transcribe qualitative interviews and code and analyze transcripts.
Kyra: We also learned how to conduct a scoping review with guidance from a Library Information Scientist and we had the opportunity to create and present a research poster for the USask USRA poster competition.
Q: When did you work as an RA?
Kyra: I worked as an RA over summer. I think it’s most common that undergraduate student research assistantships take place during the summer months in most colleges.
Q: What is the benefit for a student to participate in a Undergraduate Student Research Assistantship?
Dr. Bally: Students who participate in a USRA have the opportunity to get involved with a faculty member’s program of research and obtain experience in many different aspects of research. Some of these opportunities include data collection, data analysis, field work, networking, working within a research team, co-authoring an article, developing a research poster and presenting research. Spending a summer working on research with a faculty member is an excellent way to determine if this is a future career path that may be of interest to a student.
Q: If given another opportunity, would you participate in a USRA again?
Jeness: Yes! Absolutely. I had an idea of what I thought graduate studies would be like, but it wasn’t until I actually got to work on research on my own that I discovered my passion for research, which confirmed my desire to definitely enrol in graduate studies when I complete my undergrad nursing program.
Q: What are the top 3 highlights from your experience?
Kyra & Jeness:
- This experience allowed us to apply what we have learned about research in our nursing program and actually see it in action. Transcribing interviews conducted with parents of children with serious illnesses helped us form a deeper connection with participants and the research topic. Hearing the passion in participants’ voices motivated us to strive to ignite change for them and got us really excited about our research work.
- Having the opportunity to present the findings of the research study at the undergraduate research poster competition gave us experience putting together an academic poster and speaking to invigilators.
- Engaging with faculty members and learning from them directly is a valuable experience that we will always be grateful for. Plus, we have been continuing our work on a part-time basis this Fall.
Q: How does a student become an RA in the USRA program?
Dr. Bally: Undergraduate Student Research Assistantships are awarded to faculty members at the University of Saskatchewan who successfully apply. The College of Nursing begins the process early in the winter term, so students can reach out to faculty members starting in January to determine if participating in an assistantship is possible. Students should start by visiting the College of Nursing website to view faculty research areas and then approach the faculty member they are interested in working with to find out more.