The Complex Experience of Learning to Do Research

Abstract

This article examines how student learning is a product of the experiential interaction between person and environment. We draw from the theoretical perspective of complexity to shed light on the emergent, adaptive, and unpredictable nature of students’ learning experiences. To understand the relationship between the environment and the student learning experience, we followed undergraduate college students while they conducted independent, original research during an 8-week U.S. National Science Foundation–funded Research Experience for Undergraduates. As we examined the scholars’ actions and interactions—through their daily journals and regular face-to-face interviews—we utilized the theoretical lens of complexity to understand their experiences. The students’ frustrations, challenges, failures, and successes revealed that their learning was an unpredictable and emergent experience rather than one that could be described as step-by-step and mechanistic.