The Effects of Undergraduate Education Research on Our Lives: A Self-Study

As undergraduates, we are noticing our understanding of the teaching profession changing as we continue to engage more deeply in research. At Boise State University, it is uncommon for undergraduate education students to participate in research. We want to highlight how becoming researchers has been so influential in our preparation as future teachers and share how impactful we believe this could be for others studying to be teachers. Through our work, we hope to move towards a new definition of teaching as an intellectual profession that encompasses engagement in ongoing, meaningful research alongside the more traditional responsibilities of teachers.

In order to further explore our experience and in the interest of sharing, we engaged in reflective self-study methods (Samaras & Freese, 2006; Nelson & Sadler, 2013; Valli, 1997; Schön, 1987; Bullough & Pinnegar, 2004). We examined and compared our individual experiences conducting research as undergraduates. We will discuss our process of engaging in self-study, our current roles within undergraduate educational research, as well as our findings.