Build Your Research Community: Evaluation of an Online Course to Build Strong Mentoring Relationships and Networks

Build Your Research Community (BYRC) is an asynchronous, free online course that guides research students to build effective relationships with their primary research advisors as well as build mentoring networks that provide holistic support as they navigate their research training experiences and careers. Preliminary evaluation evidence of the effectiveness of BYRC was collected from undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, and graduate students in 22 biomedical research training programs, as well as students who enrolled in the course independently from across the country. Students valued the course components, module topics, and structure, and the majority indicated they would recommend it to others. Students self-reported learning gains for all course modules, identified several specific course elements that positively impacted their learning and development, and indicated that the course positively impacted their current and future training experiences and mentoring relationships. Students at earlier training stages reported the greatest impacts. In addition, training program directors reported satisfaction with the course and their ability to integrate the course into their existing programs. Overall, these results indicate that the BYRC course may be an effective addition to research training programs. All course materials are freely available online (https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/WR6KP), and the modules may be implemented independently.