Teaching Undergraduates to Plan Research

A Three-Part Blog Series

Undergraduate students often enter my research lab ready to begin making a big difference and do “real science”. They are excited to learn new techniques, work with unfamiliar equipment, and begin generating data. What they are usually less prepared to do is plan the research itself.

Following a protocol and designing an experiment are very different skills. A student may be able to perform each step of an assay correctly but still struggle to explain why the experiment is necessary, what each control demonstrates, or how the results will contribute to the larger project.

Because of this, I have worked to make research planning a deliberate part of undergraduate training in my lab. I use a structured research plan that guides students from the central question of a paper through experimental design, data analysis, documentation, and reflection.

This series describes how I use that process to help undergraduate students move from completing assigned experiments to thinking more independently as researchers.

Part 1: Teaching Students to See the Whole Research Project

When undergraduate students first join my lab, they naturally focus on the experiment immediately in front of them. Their questions are usually practical:

What do I do first? Which reagent should I use? How long should this incubate? What result am I supposed to get?

Those questions are important, but they represent only one part of conducting research. Before students can become independent researchers, they also need to understand how an individual experiment fits into the larger scientific project.

Beginning With the Paper

One way I help students see the larger project is by asking them to begin with the potential paper rather than with the first protocol.

Our research plan starts with a paper overview. Students identify the central claim the study is working toward and outline the basic progression of the introduction:

This can initially feel backward to students. They may wonder how they can plan a paper before all of the experiments have been completed. The purpose, however, is not to predetermine the results. It is to help students understand what evidence would be needed to answer the research question.

When students can articulate the gap and the hypothesis, they are better able to explain why they are performing a particular experiment.

·       What background does the reader need?

·       What is missing from the current literature?

·       What research question are we asking?

·       What is our hypothesis?

Mapping the Scientific Story

The research plan also asks students to create a tentative figure list. They identify the proposed order of the figures and consider which experiments might contribute to each one.

I emphasize that this list is not permanent. Research changes. Experiments fail, unexpected findings emerge, and the original story may need to be revised.

Even so, developing a target figure list helps students see that experiments should build on one another. One experiment may provide an initial observation, another may validate that finding, and a third may explore the underlying mechanism.

Instead of viewing their work as a collection of unrelated laboratory tasks, students begin to see the project as a developing scientific argument.

Creating a Realistic Timeline

The paper overview also includes a tentative timeline for completing figures and manuscript sections.

Working backward from a target completion date helps students recognize that research involves more than data collection. Time must also be reserved for analyzing results, preparing figures, reviewing the literature, writing manuscript sections, receiving feedback, and revising drafts.

These timelines will almost always change. That is part of the lesson.

I want students to understand that a timeline is not a prediction that everything will proceed perfectly. It is a planning tool that helps us identify priorities, dependencies, and potential bottlenecks.

For example, a student may realize that one experiment must be completed before several others can begin. Another experiment may depend on ordering a reagent or completing instrument training. Recognizing these issues early allows us to make better decisions about what should happen next.

Assigning Responsibility

For projects involving multiple students, the plan identifies who is primarily responsible for each experiment and who will take the lead on different manuscript sections.

This creates clarity, but it also gives students a greater sense of ownership. They are not simply helping with the lab's project. They can see the specific intellectual and experimental contributions for which they are responsible.

The assignments are not intended to isolate students from one another. Most projects in my lab involve collaboration, training, and shared troubleshooting. However, identifying a primary student for each part of the project helps ensure that responsibilities do not become vague or overlooked.

Moving Beyond 'What Do I Do Next?'

My goal is for students to gradually stop seeing research as a series of instructions given by the faculty advisor.

A new student may still need me to explain each step and provide a detailed protocol. With time, however, I want that student to be able to explain the research question, identify the next piece of evidence we need, and propose an experiment that could provide it.

Starting with the larger project gives students a framework for developing that independence.

Before they can design a strong experiment, students need to understand what the experiment is supposed to contribute. Teaching them to see the whole project is therefore the first step in teaching them how to plan research.

This is free, always will be — but if you want to say thanks, a chai latte tip is always appreciated ☕

Venmo @Jessica-Pullan