Fostering Student to Student Collaboration Across Institutions in a Protein Centric CURE

Abstract

Collaboration is an essential component of research because it allows scientists to share expertise and tackle difficult scientific questions. While many undergraduate science courses include inquiry-based or authentic research projects, opportunities for collaboration outside of the classroom are rarely provided. To address these limitations, we developed a set of course activities and assignments to implement student-to-student collaboration between institutions in a protein-centric CURE. The activities were tested in three courses: an upper-level biochemistry class at primarily undergraduate institution, genetics and an introductory biology class at a community college. A survey was created to assess students' perceptions of collaboration and the impact of the activities on their scientific and communication skills. The results indicated that an important component of students' experiences was the assignments designed to guide participants through the collaboration activities. The survey findings suggest that student-to-student collaboration improves science communication skills and motivates students to be more careful with experimental design and data collection.