Virtually the Same? Evaluating the Effectiveness of Remote Undergraduate Research Experiences

Hess, Riley A; Erickson, Olivia; Cole, Rebecca B; Isaacs, Jared M; Alvarez‐Clare, Silvia; Arnold, Jonathan; Augustus‐Wallace, Allison; Ayoob, Joseph C.; Berkowitz, Alan; Branchaw, Janet; Burgio, Kevin R.; Cannon, Charles H.; Ceballos, Ruben Michael; Cohen, C. Sarah; Coller, Hilary A.; Disney, Jane; Doze, Van A.; Eggers, Margaret J.; Ferguson, Edwin L.; Gray, Jeffrey J.; Greenberg, Jean T.; Hoffmann, Alexander; Jensen-Ryan, Danielle; Kao, Robert M.; Keene, Alex C.; Kowalko, Johanna E.; Lopez, Steven A.; Mathis, Camille; Minkara, Mona S.; Murren, Courtney J.; Ondrechen, Mary Jo; Ordóñez, Patricia; Osano, Anne; Padilla-Crespo, Elizabeth; Palchoudhury, Soubantika; Qin, Hong; Ramírez-Lugo, Juan S.; Reithel, Jennifer; Shaw, Colin A.; Smith, Amber; Smith, Rosemary J.; Tsien, Fern; Dolan, Erin L.

doi:10.1187/cbe.22-01-0001

Cited by 6 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 36 publications

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“…Virtual Summer Program project topics included bioinformatics, protein modeling, and data analytics research, and workshops were held via Zoom. Despite the lack of on-campus research activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, students and mentors readily adapted to the virtual model (Erickson et al, 2022;Sims et al, 2022;Hess et al, 2023).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Formative and summative evaluations were used. Detailed results of these evaluations have been previously published (Seymour et al, 2000;Gunaldo et al, 2018Gunaldo et al, , 2020Harrison-Bernard et al, 2020;Slater et al, 2021;Eller et al, 2022;Erickson et al, 2022;Sims et al, 2022;Hess et al, 2023).…”

Section: High School Undergraduate and Medical Student Internshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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How can academic health science centers help to increase diversity in the STEM professions?

Moore,

Cuccia,

Edwards

et al. 2024

Front. Educ.

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In the United States, great inequities exist within the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) fields in individuals who self-identify as belonging to underrepresented groups (e.g., from socioeconomically disadvantaged backgrounds, people with disabilities, and Black/African American, Hispanic/Latino, American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander). Underrepresentation in STEM careers has been documented to be due to a lack of qualified and diverse teaching personnel, limited access to resources in disadvantaged schools, and implicit bias within US institutions. In recognition of these inequities, an interprofessional team of biomedical faculty members and diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) educators from the Louisiana State University Health Science Center (LSUHSC) in New Orleans developed and implemented a STEM educational training pipeline for elementary, middle, and high school (K-12), undergraduate, and medical students, with accompanying DEI training for LSUHSC mentors and staff to mitigate implicit bias and promote a welcoming environment for participants from different backgrounds. Our findings focus on one social determinant of health: access and quality of education. Other institutions can implement a program as described in the present study to address the educational and health inequities in their own communities.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: High School Undergraduate and Medical Student Internshipsmentioning

confidence: 99%

How can academic health science centers help to increase diversity in the STEM professions?

Moore,

Cuccia,

Edwards

et al. 2024

Front. Educ.

Self Cite

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“…In at least one study, existing measures of science identity fall short of passing tests of measurement invariance over time (Hess et al, 2023). That is, as students report more research training experience, they respond differently to survey items about their science identity (Hess et al, 2023). Our findings could be used to further develop or refine measures of science identity to better capture this range and inform research on science identity development and its antecedents, correlates, and outcomes during this important phase of research career development.…”

Section: Clarifying Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 92%

“…Measures created for studying science identity among high school or undergraduate students with limited previous exposure to research may not be well-suited to understand science identity among ECRs who are still in training but have engaged more in research (Lockhart et al, 2022). In at least one study, existing measures of science identity fall short of passing tests of measurement invariance over time (Hess et al, 2023). That is, as students report more research training experience, they respond differently to survey items about their science identity (Hess et al, 2023).…”

Section: Clarifying Definitionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Beyond performance, competence, and recognition: forging a science researcher identity in the context of research training

Pfeifer,

Zajic,

Isaacs

et al. 2024

IJ STEM Ed

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Background Studying science identity has been useful for understanding students’ continuation in science-related education and career paths. Yet knowledge and theory related to science identity among students on the path to becoming a professional science researcher, such as students engaged in research at the undergraduate, postbaccalaureate, and graduate level, is still developing. It is not yet clear from existing science identity theory how particular science contexts, such as research training experiences, influence students’ science identities. Here we leverage existing science identity and professional identity theories to investigate how research training shapes science identity. We conducted a qualitative investigation of 30 early career researchers—undergraduates, postbaccalaureates, and doctoral students in a variety of natural science fields—to characterize how they recognized themselves as science researchers. Results Early career researchers (ECRs) recognized themselves as either science students or science researchers, which they distinguished from being a career researcher. ECRs made judgments, which we refer to as “science identity assessments”, in the context of interconnected work-learning and identity-learning cycles. Work-learning cycles referred to ECRs’ conceptions of the work they did in their research training experience. ECRs weighed the extent to which they perceived the work they did in their research training to show authenticity, offer room for autonomy, and afford opportunities for epistemic involvement. Identity-learning cycles encompassed ECRs’ conceptions of science researchers. ECRs considered the roles they fill in their research training experiences and if these roles aligned with their perceptions of the tasks and traits of perceived researchers. ECRs’ identity-learning cycles were further shaped by recognition from others. ECRs spoke of how recognition from others embedded within their research training experiences and from others removed from their research training experiences influenced how they see themselves as science researchers. Conclusions We synthesized our findings to form a revised conceptual model of science researcher identity, which offers enhanced theoretical precision to study science identity in the future. We hypothesize relationships among constructs related to science identity and professional identity development that can be tested in further research. Our results also offer practical implications to foster the science researcher identity of ECRs.

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“…While the model was developed based on Undergraduate Research Experiences of minoritized students, it has been used to assess the influence of other pedagogical innovations in a broader population of students. Some of the pedagogical innovations of interventions in which this model has been used include career development courses ( 16 ), mentoring ( 15 ), science communication ( 17 ), remote undergraduate research experiences ( 18 ), and CUREs ( 19 – 22 ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Upper-level inter-disciplinary microbiology CUREs increase student’s scientific self-efficacy, scientific identity, and self-assessed skills

Borlee,

Kinkel,

Broeckling

et al. 2024

J Microbiol Biol Educ.

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Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide opportunities for undergraduate students to engage in authentic research and generally increase the participation rate of students in research. Students’ participation in research has a positive impact on their science identity and self-efficacy, both of which can predict integration of students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM), especially for underrepresented students. The main goal of this study was to investigate instructor-initiated CUREs implemented as upper-level elective courses in the Biomedical Sciences major. We hypothesized that these CUREs would (i) have a positive impact on students’ scientific identity and self-efficacy and (ii) result in gains in students’ self-assessed skills in laboratory science, research, and science communication. We used Likert-type surveys developed by Estrada et al. (14) under the Tripartite Integration Model of Social Influence to measure scientific identity, self-efficacy, and scientific value orientation. When data from all CUREs were combined, our results indicate that students’ self-efficacy and science identity significantly increased after completion. Students’ self-assessment of research and lab-related skills was significantly higher after completion of the CUREs. We also observed that prior to participation in the CUREs, students’ self-assessment of molecular and bioinformatic skills was low, when compared with microbiological skills. This may indicate strengths and gaps in our curriculum that could be explored further.

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Virtually the Same? Evaluating the Effectiveness of Remote Undergraduate Research Experiences

Cited by 6 publications

References 36 publications

How can academic health science centers help to increase diversity in the STEM professions?

How can academic health science centers help to increase diversity in the STEM professions?

Beyond performance, competence, and recognition: forging a science researcher identity in the context of research training

Upper-level inter-disciplinary microbiology CUREs increase student’s scientific self-efficacy, scientific identity, and self-assessed skills

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