Virtual Conference: The Humanities Edge Undergraduate Research Program

Purpose 
The Humanities Edge Undergraduate Research Program (HEURP) at Miami Dade College is the  result of a collaboration between Learning Resources and the Humanities Edge, which provides  undergraduate students the opportunity to complete independent student-led research under the  guidance of a faculty mentor and a librarian. Students apply for this competitive program with  their faculty mentors and upon selection, the research teams are paired with a librarian and embark on the 10-week research journey together. In this intensive program, students select a  research topic, complete the research process, and create a project based on the findings of their  research. These projects could include academic papers, dance performances, original art, digital  portfolios, or any other form of creative expression. Students meet with their faculty mentors  every week and are supported on their research journey by their assigned librarians. In addition  to the research process and final projects, students must present their research at the Humanities  Edge Undergraduate Research Symposium. 
 

Exemplary Criteria 
The first iteration of HEURP debuted in the summer semester of 2020. Due to the unique  challenges brought by the pandemic, Learning Resources librarians worked to create a virtual  space where student research projects would be showcased.  
A LibGuide was created (https://libraryguides.mdc.edu/HURPsymposium) to host all of the  student works as well as instructions, suggested timelines, and other resources to help guide  students. Throughout the 10-week process, 25 students (5 of which were FIU fellows), 25 faculty mentors, and 7 librarians met online in groups and collaborated via Microsoft Teams, email, and  other virtual spaces to work on the projects. Blackboard Collaborate Ultra was selected as the  platform for the culminating live virtual symposium held on June 27th, 2020. During the day of  the symposium, students presented to 192 unique participants that attended the session. Each  presentation was recorded and uploaded to YouTube, which aggregately received over 1,151  views and 38 likes, and, subsequently, embedded in the students’ pages in the LibGuide. 
The second iteration of HEURP took place in the fall semester of 2020 and another LibGuide  was created to showcase student projects (https://libraryguides.mdc.edu/HEURP). Similarly, a  virtual symposium was held via Blackboard Collaborate Ultra on December 11th, 2020. The live  virtual session was recorded and posted in the LibGuide along with a recording of student  presentations. During the 10-week process, 20 students worked under the guidance of 20 faculty  mentors, now with the increased support of 10 librarians.
 

Adaptability 
One of the reasons for the project’s success in both semesters is attributed to the scalability and  ease of adaptability to fit other similar projects and is already being adapted by other initiatives  and grants, which can be seen replicated throughout various collections in our Digital Commons.  Additionally, librarians are now being included as part of the process and planning of many grant  programs and initiatives, such as the Student Interdisciplinary Symposium and the STEM  Research Symposium, among others. An upcoming HEURP symposium is also planned for  Spring 2021. 
 

Innovation & Originality of Idea 
This project uses a unique blend of academic support that features one-on-one faculty  collaborations with students as well as research and technical support from librarians to help  students create a project that exemplifies many crucial information literacy skills needed in the  21st century while providing students the outlet of creative expression via the humanities. From  concept to completion, as can be seen from the artifacts created by students in the HEURP  LibGuides, a wide array of cross-curricular skills were employed by students during a  particularly challenging time where, despite the lack of physical communication with peers (or  perhaps in spite of), online virtual technology served as the main vehicle of simultaneous delivery of the projects to hundreds of participants. 
During the second iteration, librarians also leveraged the popularity and familiarity of social  media tools by embedding a commenting tool in the LibGuide. This allowed students to receive feedback on their work as well as interact with viewers online by fostering academic discourse  on the themes they touch upon. An example of this can be seen in the project titled Dis connected at All Times, which, ironically, is a direct response to the damaging effects and  isolation caused by social media. At the bottom of the page, students and site visitors can leave  comments, as well as react to the project. This innovative approach of engaging the college  community proved to be remarkably successful, as can be seen in the various other projects that  received comments and reactions. 
 

Illustrative Quality of Support Materials 
• A workshop series was developed and presented by librarians on a variety of information  literacy skills specifically for this program. 
• Various other resources were curated by librarians to help students with challenging  technical portions of the project, ranging from recording a video to captioning content to  make it accessible and ADA compliant. 
 

Accountability & Assessment of Practice 
• Surveys were administered to all students who took part in both iterations of the program  that gauged the student’s reasons for participating, what they enjoyed most about the  program, the skills they obtained that they could apply to a career, the top lessons they  learned, their philosophy of the humanities, their understanding of research, and their  appreciation for mentorship in an academic setting.
• The surveys attached are broken down into 4 parts: 
o Part 1: Quantitative Data 
o Part 2: Summary of Qualitative Data (Responses to Open-Ended Questions) o Part 3: Raw Qualitative Data (Responses to Open-Ended Questions) 
o Part 4: Spring 2021 Recommendations Based on Survey Data 
Recommendations by Students, Faculty, and Librarians of Practice 
• Aside from the student surveys, faculty and librarians were also surveyed (see attached  surveys) on the effectiveness of the program, such as what they learned about their  students throughout the process, how they would implement different undergraduate  research strategies in the classroom, and suggestions for improvement. 
• These surveys also included a section for faculty to comment on what they would say if  they were to recommend this program to another faculty member or a student.