  In the Summer of 2020, as COVID-19 limited in-person research opportunities
and created additional barriers for many students, institutions either canceled
or remotely hosted their Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs.
The present longitudinal qualitative phenomenographic study was designed to
explore some of the tools, communities, norms, and division of labor that make
up the remote research program and some of the possible limitations,
challenges, and outcomes of this remote experience. Within the context of the
undergraduate research program, the paper makes a comparison between outcomes
of the remote and in-person research experience. Overall, 94 interviews were
conducted with paired participants; mentees (N=10) and mentors (N=8) from six
different REU programs. By drawing on Cultural-Historical Activity Theory as a
framework, our study has explained the remote format has not opened a gap
between mentees' research and academic objectives from the REU program and what
they got at the end. All mentees reported that this experience was highly
beneficial. Comparisons between the outcomes of the remote REU and the
published outcomes of in-person UREs revealed many similar benefits of
undergraduate research. Our study suggests that remote research programs could
be considered as a means to expand access to research experiences for some
students even after COVID-19 restrictions are lifted.
