Enhancing research skills in undergraduate students through seminars

Final year undergraduate (UG) projects are, for many students, the
first endeavour into independent research or investigation of a topic
for a sustained period of time (at least 1 academic semester). This
comes with many challenges which can include the in-depth investigation
of a topic, resilience, presentation skills and leadership
and management. Research seminars are commonly used within
research clusters/groups to inform members of novel findings or
preliminary investigations. However, the postgraduate details or
subject-specific information presented can often be too high level
for the current understanding of a UG student. This work outlines a pilot study to investigate the effectiveness of UG research seminars comprised of students across multiple computing pathways and backgrounds for enhancing the learning and personal development of students. In this study UG students present their ongoing research from their project to peers in a casual and supportive setting. This format revealed a number of benefits for the student as well as the supervising academic. The UG seminars have led to an enhancement
of research skills and generic real-world skills, such as communication and integration of ideas and concepts, which students can utilise in their future career and society.