Implementing & evaluating Undergraduate Research in renewable energy at Colorado School of Mines

In 2011 Colorado School of Mines hosted 20 students in a Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in renewable energy. Students participated in weekly technical seminars, professional development sessions, laboratory tours, social activities, and an end-of-summer poster session with other nearby students in the National Nanotechnology Infrastructure Network program at the University of Colorado, Boulder. The REU also joined the 2011 cohort of the Cornell Office for Research on Evaluation (CORE) Evaluation Partnership program, which stressed intensive modeling centered on stakeholder interviews. A CSM faculty member led this modeling effort and determined that diversity and integration of community members were as important as an individual´s research experience. Moreover, it was thought that successfully controlling these REU parameters would lead to a better understanding of what role community plays in student attitudes and could inform a set of best practices for arbitrary REU communities. From this perspective, a set of mixed-method measures was constructed leading to an introductory evaluation of program aspects. This paper provides an overview of the Colorado School of Mines´ renewable energy REU, the evaluation protocols applied to the program, and their implications that will be integrated into the second year of the project.