Development of the PeeR Investigators Mentoring Experiences in Research (PRIMER) program: a peer mentoring initiative to increase mentoring in CUREs

Abstract

The PeeR Investigators Mentoring Experiences in Research (PRIMER) program was developed to enhance mentorship and support in Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) at our institution. This program leverages PRIMER's prior research experience in computational biology courses to mentor students in our bioinformatics-focused CUREs. PRIMERs guide students through research projects and provide tailored support in technical research tasks and scientific writing. They also provide mentoring to students through the research process and help them navigate the next steps in seeking out additional research experiences. PRIMERs, who consist of current undergraduates and recent graduates of our program, undergo training on engaging students in research, peer mentoring, and providing constructive feedback on written assignments. This study reports on the first iteration of the PRIMER program, evaluating its design and impact on the professional development of PRIMERs through focus groups and its effectiveness within our CUREs through student surveys. Findings indicate that PRIMERs developed valuable transferable skills, particularly in scientific communication, providing feedback, and peer mentoring. Students involved in the CUREs aligned with the PRIMER program reported that PRIMERs played an integral role in enhancing their learning experience, offering research support, and fostering a positive research environment.

Keywords: Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE); bioinformatics; peer mentoring; professional development; undergraduate research.

Fig 1

Roles associated with LA and WA. The LA and WA roles are merged to create our novel peer-mentoring program, PRIMER. At our institution, LAs serve approximately 25 or more students for each class, whereas WAs serve approximately 12 students; PRIMERs serve approximately 12 students per CURE.

Fig 2

Distribution of responses to questions about the impact of PRIMERs on students' understanding and experiences in CURIE. Each bar represents the percentage of students who selected each response option (from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree") on a five-point Likert scale for one of eight questions related to the PRIMER program, while the numbers inside the bars indicate the count of participants who chose that response. The research team network was defined as ”individuals (e.g., your classmates, PRIMERs, TAs, etc.) who helped and assisted you with your research. You may have reciprocated by helping your classmates with their research, which makes you an integral member of the research team network.”

Fig 3

Distribution of responses regarding PRIMER assistance and mentoring. (A) Helpfulness of PRIMER assistance/mentoring for participants’ learning in this course; (B) helpfulness of writing feedback for participants’ learning in this course; (C) amount of PRIMER assistance/mentoring participants would have liked in this course. For (A) and (B), the responses were categorized into five levels: “not helpful at all,” “somewhat helpful,” “neutral,” “helpful,” and “very helpful.” For (C), the responses were categorized into four levels: “much less,” “the same,” “slightly more,” and “much more.” The numbers within each slice of each pie chart indicate the count of participants who chose that response.

Fig 4

The 14 positive student responses to “please describe your experience with PRIMERs in the internship” visualized as a word cloud.