Dissertation Defense Announcement Ed.D. Program: Candice M. Haigler “Designing and Examining a Research Readiness Micro-Certification: A First- Cycle Design-Based Research Study of Undergraduate Research Preparation”

Undergraduate research experiences (UREs) are widely recognized as high-impact educational practices that support student learning, persistence, and scholarly identity development. However, access to research opportunities does not ensure that students enter faculty-mentored placements with a shared baseline of foundational research competencies. Prior research documents substantial variability in students’ preparation in areas such as research question development, literature evaluation, scholarly communication, and self-regulation, which can affect early engagement and increase mentoring demands.

This study addresses this gap through the design and pilot implementation of a Research Readiness Micro-Certification within Rutgers University’s Aresty Research Center. Grounded in Self-Directed Learning theory and informed by social constructivist perspectives, the intervention is conceptualized as a self-paced, performance-based preparation model that scaffolds foundational research competencies and research self-efficacy prior to research placement.

Research readiness is operationalized as a multidimensional construct comprising: (1) conceptual and procedural research skills, (2) information literacy and scholarly communication, (3) self-regulatory capacity, and (4) research self-efficacy. Using a first-cycle Design-Based Research (DBR) methodology, this study examines how the micro-certification functions in practice, how students experience its usability and relevance, and what forms of artifact-based evidence of developing competency emerge.

Data sources include pre- and post-intervention self-assessments, reflective journals, rubric-based artifact evaluations, mentor feedback, and engagement analytics. A convergent mixed-methods approach supports triangulation across quantitative and qualitative data.

Consistent with early-cycle DBR priorities, this study does not seek to establish causal effectiveness. Rather, it examines implementation processes, explores alignment between design features and mediating learning processes, and generates design insights to inform iterative refinement and future pre-placement deployment. By operationalizing and empirically examining research readiness, this study contributes to emerging scholarship on structured undergraduate research preparation and micro-credentialing in co-curricular higher education contexts.