Adapting Software, Hardware, and Programming Support in a Virtual Environment for the Boulder Solar Alliance Research Experience for Undergraduates Program
Conference Proceeding
With the COVID-19 pandemic still active, the Boulder Solar Alliance; Research Experience for Undergraduates (BSA REU) decided to keep the; program remote for a second consecutive year. Our coordination team took; lessons learned from the 2020 virtual BSA REU program and adapted the; research experience to suit a virtual environment, especially with; respect to increased technological support. The primary changes, as well; as the reasons for implementing them, are outlined below. Due to the; virtual nature of the program, all of the projects relied more heavily; on coding. In response, the BSA REU team invested more time and; resources in programming tutorials and weekly programming help sessions; in Python, IDL, and MATLAB. The participants also faced unequal access; to high-quality hardware resources in a remote environment. As a result,; students received a technology stipend to help them upgrade their; computer and internet resources. Additionally, with an increase in the; focus on programming, a higher number of projects in 2021 involved; machine learning and data science techniques compared to previous years.; However, many of the students were unfamiliar with machine learning (ML); concepts. The coordination team provided an introductory ML lecture and; tutorial during boot camp and hosted a weekly ML sub-group meeting to; provide support and resources for students involved in ML projects.; Finally, without being able to present results in person, it was; important to provide an interactive online experience for the poster; presentation session. To make the final poster presentation more; engaging in a virtual environment, we used Gather Town, an online; service where participants create avatars that can interact with the; virtual environment. In this presentation, we will discuss how the; adjustments to the BSA REU program in a virtual environment, including; those listed above, and how we think REU programs can adapt to future; remote and hybrid options. We will also discuss what elements of a; remote program can be carried forward into an on-site program to enhance; the on-site experience.
