Cultivating Student Project Ownership: Recommendations for VIP Instructors

A key component of authentic undergraduate research experiences is supporting students in recognizing their agency to shape a research project and develop project ownership. Previous research has suggested design elements that could foster project ownership in course-based research experiences. However, research is needed to examine how these elements can be implemented into a Vertically Integrated Projects (VIP) course. This qualitative case study examined design features of a VIP course that were important for undergraduate students’ project ownership. Findings suggest that vertical structure, designing and presenting research posters, and flexibility were important for undergraduate students’ project ownership in this case. This study has implications for best practices of design and implementation of the VIP model to foster undergraduate students’ feelings of project ownership toward research.