Implementation and Assessment of Undergraduate Experiences in SOAP: An Atmospheric Science Research and Education Program

ABSTRACT

The Student Operational Aggie Doppler Radar Project (SOAP) involved 95 undergraduates in a research and education program to better understand the climatology of storms in southeast Texas from 2006–2010. This paper describes the structure, components, and implementation of the 1-credit-hour research course, comparing first-year participants' experiences and career outcomes with students who were engaged in SOAP for multiple years. Groups of five or six students, led by a senior-level undergraduate and mentored by a graduate student and faculty advisor, performed several daily research tasks, including producing precipitation forecasts, archiving observations, and operating and analyzing data from an S-band Doppler radar for precipitation events on their assigned day. Anonymous surveys given to SOAP students at the end of each semester indicated that student confidence in performing most SOAP tasks exhibited statistically significant positive correlations with their interest and experience in doing them. In addition, students participating in SOAP for multiple years were significantly more confident in performing program tasks than single-year participants (with correlations increasing an average of 19%) and were more likely to obtain meteorology or science-related employment upon graduation (94% versus 69%). First-year participants were significantly more likely to indicate that their interactions with undergraduate student leaders or peers were most beneficial, whereas interactions with the faculty advisor or graduate student mentors were equally or more important to returning students. Students were also more likely to consider research careers and matriculate to graduate programs as they participated longer in SOAP, suggesting research and education programs have a strong influence on students' career outcomes in addition to fostering positive self-efficacy.

Key words::

• undergraduate research
• meteorology
• confidence
• career outcomes
• peer mentoring

Acknowledgments

We thank Kaycee Bevers, Celina Hernandez, Elinor Martin, and Matt Mosier for serving as graduate student mentors and Karen Brugman, who was instrumental in implementing SOAP during the first 2 y. Jerry Guynes and Neil Smith provided invaluable radar expertise and technical support, respectively, that allowed SOAP participants to collect more than 1,000 h of radar data used in various research projects. Everette Joseph at Howard University graciously loaned us the radiosonde ground station used during our intensive observation periods in 2008 and 2010. Comments from Unmil Karadkar, Jeffrey Liew, Karen Kortz (who provided an initial review), and two anonymous reviewers and editors have also greatly improved this work. NSF Grant No. ATM-0449782 supported this research and the SOAP program.

FIGURE 1: Total confidence scale mean response distributions (of the items in Table III that students performed each year) for first-year and multiyear SOAP participants during 2007–2010. Mann-Whitney U-test statistics, p values calculated using SPSS software, and mean ranks, item responses, and summated scores using three items in 2007, six items in 2008 and 2009, and seven items in 2010 are also provided. Participants responded using a five-point Likert format (1 = no confidence, 3 = neutral, and 5 = very confident).

FIGURE 2: Radar tasks confidence scale mean response distributions (of Items 1 and 2 in Table III) for first-year and multiyear SOAP participants during 2007–2010. Mann-Whitney U-test statistics, p values calculated using SPSS software, and mean ranks, item responses, and summated scores fusing both items each year are also provided. Participants responded using a five-point Likert format (1 = no confidence, 3 = neutral, and 5 = very confident).

TABLE I: Number of weeks (out of 11) during which students interacted with the faculty advisor or one of the graduate student mentors during SOAP.

TABLE II: Sample course schedule given in the spring 2010 SOAP syllabus.

TABLE III: Median and mode responses for items comprising the confidence, interest, and experience Likert scales. Modes are given in parentheses when they differ from their respective medians. Items without values refer to activities not performed by students during that year's program.¹

TABLE IV: Internal consistency of survey instrument scales by year.¹

TABLE V: Confidence correlation coefficients with experience and interest for SOAP participants by year from 2008–2010.^1,2

TABLE VI: Stated career interests of SOAP participants during 2007–2010.¹

TABLE VII: Career outcomes of bachelor degree recipients as of summer 2012 that participated in SOAP during 2007–2010.¹

TABLE VIII: Most beneficial interactions stated by SOAP participants from 2007–2010.¹