About
Field work serves as both a valuable learning opportunity, but also a barrier to being engaged in disciplines with a strong field component. Fostering inclusive fieldwork that benefits all students demands that we change how we think about field experiences for undergraduates. Please join us on January 27th and 28th, for the 2022 UFERN Virtual Network Meeting to:
- Showcase and celebrate accomplishments of UFERN.
- Inspire future directions and encourage new ideas and collaborations.
- Provide opportunities for network participants to share and facilitate discussions about their work related to UFERN.
- Identify and foster next steps for the UFERN community.
During the meeting, we will especially focus on the theme of “meeting students where they are: creating student-centered undergraduate field experiences.” The theme emerged from many UFERN discussions and the UFERN model, which is one of the major products to emerge from the UFERN network.
The UFERN Model describes the impact of intended student outcomes, student context factors (e.g., identity, motivation) and program design factors (e.g., setting, social interactions) on undergraduate field experiences (UFE) student outcomes and in particular highlights how paying attention to student context factors (e.g., identity, motivation, prior knowledge and skills, personal needs) and considering a diversity of UFE formats (e.g., short field labs to months-long research experiences) meets students where they are to foster student-centered accessible, and inclusive undergraduate field experiences.
Stay tuned for more details!
Thank you to our wonderful organizing committee members who made this network meeting possible!
- Alec Aitken
- Amanda Robin
- Bridget Mulvey
- Carol Colaninno
- Deborah Lichti
- Mallory Rice
- Meghan Cook
- Samuel Nyarko
