Change is difficult and it can be exciting. Research illuminates how change is difficult when addressing health-behaviors (Kelly & Barker, 2016) and theories on organizational change show that people can be resistant to it (Erwin & Garman, 2010), the ultimate cause of the failures of change – resistance (Pardo del Val and Martínez, 2003). Newton’s laws of motion learned by some in high school physics, reminds us about resistance to change where every object in motion or at rest, will remain in that constant velocity (at rest or in motion) unless acted upon by an external force. In consideration of this, it takes something outside of the object to create a change. To change me, you, institutions, or societies, it takes an act beyond us (sometimes).

Change is so much a part of research and can be transformative – research changes societies by solving problems, individuals learn to adapt as research challenges or innovations compel them to change. Change in research can lead to transmutations in questions, perceptions, and knowledge circulated. Consider the three-body problem posed to Newton’s laws of motion (Hayles, 1990) – the moon complicated calculations for earth’s rotation around the sun. And more contemporary, as scary as COVID-19 was, the innovations of tele-health and normalizing of robot deliveries are part of that change (Politico Staff, 2021). Then considering these examples, is change a form of chaos? Why not? Chaos is merely complex systems that have “deep structures of order” (Hayles, 1990, p. 10).

For this issue, I invite readers to embrace change through what is witnessed occurring in undergraduates who participate in the research enterprise. That change, as scary, difficult, and as much as communities resist it, can be good. And that the very nature of research solving societal problems, creating change through solutions, is a public good.

This 2024 issue 2 of RANGE: Undergraduate Research Journal seemingly brings together a range of differing contributions – one may even describe it as chaotic. Yet, the umbrella that coheres the contributions in this issue includes the dynamic research occurring at the University of Utah under the mentorship of our faculty. Additionally multiple student submissions included in this issue are those who participated in summer undergraduate research at the University of Utah. For summer 2024, these students represented 94 different institutions across the United States. Numerous students literally changed institutions for a summer to experience research at the U.

Transformation by participating in research was discussed in multiple student end-of-semester reflections, where students opined about how they changed because of research, evolved their perception of research, adapted their views about their skills and competencies, changed research itself by solving problems, and transformed in what they believed was next. Participating in research was transformative.

As conveyed by one of OUR’s Summer Program for Undergraduate Research participants,

“This summer experience has significantly impacted my professional and academic aspirations. Before the research experience, I needed to be more confident in my ability to compete in the MD/PhD process. However, at the end of the program, I gained self-efficacy, confidence, and the knowledge needed to pursue my goals. Through creating an IDP [individual development plan] and constant conversation with my PI and graduate student mentor, I could clarify my weaknesses, strengths, and values. I identified how I can lean into my strengths: writing, leading, and presenting, while also minimizing my weaknesses through learning poster design, working in large teams, and ignorance of research. I firmly believe that this experience has changed how I view my educational journey by affirming my ability to become a successful first-generation, traditionally underserved student.”

As the world buzzes with change, and as higher education institutions are criticized for “failures to change,” (Sternberg, 2012), changing is happening. It is the dynamic research occurring at the hands of multiple individuals, the scholars, the researchers, research teams, solo researcher, that suggest – change is possible, and a vital part of our future. As described by Clayton Christensen (1997), “when the organization’s capabilities reside primarily in its people, changing to address new problems is relatively simple.” Research and solving problems to facilitate in the hands of multiple researchers, faculty, student alike, means that changing our future, communities, and societies could be, “relatively simple.”

This introduction is an invitation to our readers to dive in, read this issue, and see how our students who participate in research at the University of Utah are at the forefront of transforming our society under the mentorship of faculty and graduate students across the disciplines. Change means our students are part of transformative futures.

Annie Isabel Fukushima, Associate Dean, Undergraduate Studies
University of Utah

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to our student editors and undergraduate research leaders for the Office, Kishan Thambu and America Cox. And thank you to OUR staff: Cindy Greaves (Associate Director), Shelly Parker (Events Manager), Angie Leiva (Academic Program Coordinator and leadership for Summer Program for Undergraduate Research), Sara Cody (Academic Program Coordinator and Staff Editor for RANGE), and Bradley DeBoer (Outreach Coordinator). The Office is also appreciative of our other undergraduate leaders who serve as ambassadors for the Office:  Sofia Flowers, Ali Nopper, Kalista Leggitt, Isabella Scalise, and Abigail Stringfellow. And, on behalf of Undergraduate Studies many thanks to our partners at the University of Utah J. Willard Marriott Library and Utah Education Network (UEN).

Bibliography

Kelly MP, Barker M. (2016). Why is changing health-related behaviour so difficult? Public Health 136:109-16. doi: 10.1016/j.puhe.2016.03.030.

Erwin, D.G. and Garman, A.N. (2010), “Resistance to organizational change: linking research and practice”, Leadership & Organization Development Journal, Vol. 31 No. 1, pp. 39-56. https://doi.org/10.1108/01437731011010371

Pardo del Val, M. and Martínez Fuentes, C. (2003), “Resistance to change: a literature review and empirical study”, Management Decision, Vol. 41 No. 2, pp. 148-155. https://doi.org/10.1108/00251740310457597

Politico Staff (2021, December 10). 17 pandemic innovations that are here to stay. Politico. https://www.politico.com/news/2021/12/10/17-ways-covid-hit-fast-forward-on-the-future-523845 Retrieved on December 3, 2024.

Hayles, K.N. (1990). Chaos Bound: Orderly Disorder in Contemporary Literature and Science. Cornell University Press.

Sternberg, R.J. (2012, April 2). Failure to Change. Insider Higher Ed, https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2012/04/03/essay-why-some-colleges-cant-change. Retrieved on December 3, 2024.

Christensen, C.M. (1997). The Innovator’s Dilemma: When New Technologies Cause Great Firms to Fail.  Harvard Business Review Press [Perseus]_Legacy.