Transition from undergraduate research program participants to researchers and open source community contributors

Abstract

Experiences of three participants in an undergraduate research program who have released and continued to develop their project work as open source software are presented. This collaborative and cooperative account by the student participants, their faculty mentor, and an educational researcher presents the participants' experiences during the research program and as they begun a transition to roles as more experienced researchers and open source community members and contributors. Observations on the program participants' experiences during and after the program are discussed in the context of educational theory and literature on undergraduate research programs in the sciences as well as on collaborative learning and software development. Observations on possible causes of this team's cohesion and productivity, suggestions for improving this and similar research programs, and questions raised by the research are included. © 2011 American Society for Engineering Education.