Running a Virtual Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) Site in Computing Systems

ABSTRACT

This paper summarizes our experiences in running the REU site in a virtual environment at the University of Louisville. This is our first year to run the REU site. While our original plan when we proposed this project was to have a traditional in-person program, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the concerns about safety for both faculty mentors and students involved made us decide to run it virtually. While we had to cancel some in-person activities such as face-to-face meetings, tours, and social events, we also added virtual events such as private and group MS Team meeting, Slack chat rooms (channels), and online movie nights and discussions. Nine out of the ten research projects were conducted entirely virtually. For one project that involves hardware component, we managed to mail a hardware kit to the student so that she could still work on her project remotely. Student evaluations indicate that this virtual REU site program, though in its first year, was quite successful and satisfactory. © American Society for Engineering Education, 2022.