A Call to Develop Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) for Nonmajors Courses

Ballen, Cissy J.; Blum, Jessamina E.; Brownell, Sara E.; Hebert, Sadie L.; Hewlett, James; Klein, Joanna R.; McDonald, Erik A.; Monti, Denise L.; Nold, Stephen C.; Slemmons, Krista E. H.; Soneral, Paula A. G.; Cotner, Sehoya

doi:10.1187/cbe.16-12-0352

Cited by 75 publications

(75 citation statements)

References 50 publications

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“…In this article, we demonstrate that the BM&C course, as implemented, provides students with many of the key positive affective outcomes associated with CUREs, including increased science identity, greater opportunity for advancement in technical skills, and increased research acculturation versus their non-CURE counterparts (Badalà et al, 2013;Hanauer and Hatfull, 2015;Jeffery et al, 2016;Olimpo et al, 2016;Ballen et al, 2017;Frantz et al, 2017). Moreover, these metrics are achieved in a crowd-training environment wherein students can perform highquality research that can be readily disseminated in traditional circles of professional scientific communication (e.g., scientific conferences; peer-reviewed publications).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Briefly, through a collaborative and iterative process, CUREs engage students in scientific practices that promote discovery of novel findings that are of broader relevance to the scientific community (Auchincloss et al, 2014). The resulting shifts in course enjoyment, research skills development, autonomy, and retention observed for CURE students versus their non-CURE counterparts have motivated interest in developing CURE curricula across the STEM fields (Badalà et al, 2013;Auchincloss et al, 2014;Jeffery et al, 2016;Olimpo et al, 2016;Rodenbusch et al, 2016;Ballen et al, 2017;Dolan, 2017;Frantz et al, 2017). In neuroscience, while problem-and research-based courses within the subdisciplines of medicine (medical neuroanatomy), psychology, and cell/molecular biology are represented in the literature, a brief review of published curricula indicates a gap in CURE offerings designed for entry-level students (please refer to Supplemental Materials I for a description of such approaches).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes associated with student engagement in a novel brain chemoarchitecture mapping course-based undergraduate research experience

D’Arcy

Martínez

Khan

et al. 2019

Preprint

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Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) engage emerging scholars in the authentic process of scientific discovery, and foster their development of content knowledge, motivation, and persistence in the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. Importantly, authentic research courses simultaneously offer investigators unique access to an extended population of students who receive education and mentoring in conducting scientifically relevant investigations and who are thus able to contribute effort toward big-data projects. While this paradigm benefits fields in neuroscience, such as atlas-based brain mapping of nerve cells at the tissue level, there are few documented cases of such laboratory courses offered in the domain.Here, we describe a curriculum designed to address this deficit, evaluate the scientific merit of novel student-produced brainatlasmapsofimmunohistochemically-identifiednervecellpopulations for the rat brain, and assess shifts in science identity, attitudes, and science communication skills of students engaged in the introductory-level Brain Mapping and Connectomics (BM&C) CURE. BM&C students reported gains in research and science process skills following participation in the course. Furthermore, BM&C students experienced a greater sense of science identity, including a greater likelihood to discuss course activities with non-class members compared to their non-CURE counterparts. Importantly, evaluation of student-generated brain atlas maps indicated that the course enabled students to produce scientifically valid products and make new discoveries to advance the field of neuroanatomy. Together, these findings support the efficacy of the BM&C course in addressing the relatively esoteric demands of chemoarchitectural brain mapping.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes associated with student engagement in a novel brain chemoarchitecture mapping course-based undergraduate research experience

D’Arcy

Martínez

Khan

et al. 2019

Preprint

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Students display higher positive attitudes and lower negative attitudes towards science, both pre-and post-course. Another possible effect of CURE participation is improved student attitudes towards science [13,40]. In the CURE survey, students were asked to rate the degree to which they agree or disagree with various statements that reflect positive or negative attitudes towards science [13,30].…”

Section: Plos Onementioning

confidence: 99%

A course-based undergraduate research experience examining neurodegeneration in Drosophila melanogaster teaches students to think, communicate, and perform like scientists

Delventhal

Steinhauer

2020

PLoS ONE

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As educators strive to incorporate more active learning and inquiry-driven exercises into STEM curricula, Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are becoming more common in undergraduate laboratory courses. Here we detail a CURE developed in an upper-level undergraduate genetics course at Yeshiva University, centered on the Drosophila melanogaster ortholog of the human neurodegeneration locus PLA2G6/PARK14. Drosophila PLA2G6 mutants exhibit symptoms of neurodegeneration, such as attenuated lifespan and decreased climbing ability with age, which can be replicated by neuron-specific knockdown of PLA2G6. To ask whether the neurodegeneration phenotype could be caused by loss of PLA2G6 in specific neuronal subtypes, students used GAL4-UAS to perform RNAi knockdown of PLA2G6 in subsets of neurons in the Drosophila central nervous system and measured age-dependent climbing ability. We organized our learning objectives for the CURE into three broad goals of having students think, communicate, and perform like scientists. To assess how well students achieved these goals, we developed a detailed rubric to analyze written lab reports, administered pre-and post-course surveys, and solicited written feedback. We observed striking gains related to all three learning goals, and students reported a high degree of satisfaction. We also observed significantly improved understanding of the scientific method by students in the CURE as compared to the prior year's non-CURE genetics lab students. Thus, this CURE can serve as a template to successfully engage students in novel research, improve understanding of the scientific process, and expose students to the use of Drosophila as a model for human neurodegenerative disease.

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“…1) Authentic problems that are of broad relevance (Ballen et al, 2017) to the scientific community and where the answer is unknown to everyone. 2) Authentic physical environments when working in research laboratories rather than student laboratories 1 .…”

Section: Study Context and Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

The potential of complex challenges in undergraduate research to stimulate transformative learning

Wallin¹

2017

NJSTEME

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In the present study, I describe and evaluate the transformative learning potential of authentic research projects that engage students in a course on tissue engineering at Chalmers University of Technology. Through the use of weekly reflective diaries and interviews, I explore how students change their perspective on what learning means to them and the purpose of higher education. Based on the empirical data and scientific literature, I discuss complex challenges as one emerging and deciding factor that helps students to have transformative learning experiences. At the end, some general advice will be provided on how educators can approach the integration of complex challenges into their own courses and settings.

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A Call to Develop Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) for Nonmajors Courses

Cited by 75 publications

References 50 publications

Cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes associated with student engagement in a novel brain chemoarchitecture mapping course-based undergraduate research experience

Cognitive and non-cognitive outcomes associated with student engagement in a novel brain chemoarchitecture mapping course-based undergraduate research experience

A course-based undergraduate research experience examining neurodegeneration in Drosophila melanogaster teaches students to think, communicate, and perform like scientists

The potential of complex challenges in undergraduate research to stimulate transformative learning

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