Evolution of Teaching Independent Undergraduate Chemistry Research Courses and Student Skills Developed through the COVID-19 Pandemic and Forward

Undergraduate research enriches students' learning experiences and skills development. While undergraduate research courses were affected significantly because of the lack of hands-on, lab-setting environment with the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the courses came to value the experiences and insights gained through the pandemic and retain certain adaptations still favorable to the courses after the pandemic. The desirable balance of students' skills was impeded by the pandemic, and the teaching and engagement of instructors with the research students experienced continuous adaptations. Utilizing cluster analysis to identify the relative strengths of developed skills, relevant interventions can be staged with personalized/targeted research projects. The skills with disproportionate strength can be enhanced by the intervention without face-to-face instructions such as asynchronous collaborations, online lab safety training, and professional oral and written communications. Assessment of students' research skills in the course of the pandemic sheds light into the lasting changes and adaptations that further help create reproducible archival of materials and enhance the efficiency of the research courses, which contribute to leveraging the experiences from the pandemic. The adjustment of research objectives and detailed tasks necessitated by the pandemic was conducive to the enhancement of alternative skill sets and can be tailored to the goals of individual institutions, programs, and courses.