2026 ASM Conference for Undergraduate Educators

UC Davis has a rich history of plant pathology research. The research has had remarkable societal outcomes, such as producing stress- and disease-resistant plant varieties and providing comprehensive disease management support to California farmers. However, it is unclear how familiar first-year and transfer students are with the academic research model and if they know how to become involved in research at UC Davis. Undergraduate student involvement in research largely depends on a student’s independent efforts to seek out research. First-Year Seminar courses can be developed at UC Davis that are designed to be small (around 10-15 students) and marketed towards first-year and transfer students. A First-Year Seminar course was designed to determine first-year and transfer student familiarity with the structure of academic research at UC Davis. Furthermore, the course used plant pathology curriculum, and the department’s research as a model to teach students about how research is conducted on campus, the different roles of the scientists who conduct the research, and the outcomes of the research in society. At the beginning and end of the course, students were surveyed to assess their familiarity with the curriculum of the course, and how well the course helped students achieve the six learning outcomes listed in the syllabus. Survey questions allowed students to provide answers on a 0-to-5 scale. Survey data shows that only 1 out of 12 students in the seminar course had high familiarity with the university research structures, with most students scoring that have little-to-moderate familiarity. By the end of the course 13 out of 14 students scored high scores (4-5) for how well the course helped them become familiar with university research. Overall, this exploratory research shows that First-Year Seminar courses can help reduce the barrier between undergraduate students and academic research.