Exploring Undergraduate Research Projects Success Factors in Muni University, Uganda
Date
2021
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Interdisciplinary Journal of Education Research
Abstract
This paper presents the success factors for
undergraduate research projects (URPs) at Muni
University. The objectives of the study were to determine the
relevant skills required for the success of URPs and
investigate the roles of students, supervisors and faculty
towards the success of URPs. The study used a crosssectional
design to collect data from 70 third-year (final year)
students who belonged to the two (2) faculties of science and
technoscience. The participants were selected using the
purposive sampling technique since they belonged to the
section of the students’ population that had undergone the
execution of the URPs. SPSS-v.21 program was used to
determine the reliability of the research instrument and
analyse the collected data using the frequencies, percentages
and median of the parameters that formed the constructs of
the study. The research instrument was reliable at
Chronbach’s alpha 0.9038. Results showed that research
environment, research management, personal effectiveness,
communication, networking and teamwork skills are
paramount to the success of URPs. The study also found out
that the key stakeholders (students, supervisors and faculty)
perform their roles throughout the project period. However, there is a need to have a mechanism for project
tracking, filing complaints, and having URPs externally examined, among others.
Description
Keywords
Undergraduate students, Research projects, Success factors, Muni University, Uganda
Citation
Nkamwesiga, N., Mbabazi, P. B., & Nafuna, R. (2021). Exploring Undergraduate Research Projects Success Factors in Muni University, Uganda. Interdisciplinary Journal of Education Research, 3(2), 84-97. https://doi.org/10.51986/ijer-2021.vol3.02.09