IRLI Summer Scholars
Through the IRLI Summer Scholars program, IRLI provides funding and resources for Tufts undergraduate students to collaborate with Tufts faculty or staff on research into learning and instruction in postsecondary settings. The undergraduate student and faculty or staff member apply as a team, proposing a summer project that addresses a research question about undergraduate education. Typically, the team will have already collected data (e.g. from a Tufts course), and will spend the summer analyzing them. However, some teams may plan summer data collection efforts, such as interviews, focus groups, or curriculum or assessment trials.
IRLI Summer Scholars receive mentorship throughout the summer from a postdoctoral researcher or advanced PhD student from the IRLI community. Teams share the results of their summer work in a poster session in September.
Students interested in applying for IRLI Summer Scholars should talk with Tufts faculty or staff about potential research projects on undergraduate learning and instruction and contact an IRLI steering committee member for feedback on the idea.
IRLI Summer Scholars applications are open. IRLI invites applications for the 2025 IRLI Summer Scholars program, due by March 15, 2025. Apply Now
Learning Assistant Program
Undergraduate students can also connect with IRLI faculty members by applying to the Learning Assistant program run by IRLI faculty currently serving courses in Physics, Chemistry, Biology, Mechanical Engineering, and Chemical and Biological Engineering. Learning Assistants engage in three primary activities: attending a weekly preparation meeting with the instructional team, enrolling in a pedagogy seminar with LAs from other courses (most take the pedagogy course taught by IRLI faculty, ED 20: Seminar for Learning Assistants in STEM), and facilitating learning in the classroom.