Opportunities associated with course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) Sara E. Brownell Assistant Professor School of Life Sciences Arizona State University

What is a CURE? Why teach a CURE?

What is a CURE? Why teach a CURE? You might think – I’m at the CURE SI – of course I know what a CURE is. But I’d like to possibly challenge some of your assumptions and get you to really think about what makes CUREs different from other types of lab courses

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs): Research embedded in a lab course We define these research based courses to be….

Five proposed dimensions of CUREs Collaboration Iteration Discovery Broader Impact/Relevance Scientific practices We define these research based courses to be…. Corwin Auchincloss et al., 2014

What makes CUREs distinct from other types of lab courses? Collaboration Iteration Discovery Broader Impact/Relevance Scientific practices We define these research based courses to be….

Most traditional “cookbook” lab courses Collaboration Iteration Discovery Broader Impact/Relevance Scientific practices X X X We define these research based courses to be….

Most 1-2 week inquiry-based activities Collaboration Iteration Discovery Broader Impact/Relevance Scientific practices X We define these research based courses to be….

What really makes CUREs distinct from other types of lab courses Collaboration Iteration Discovery Broader Impact/Relevance Scientific practices We define these research based courses to be….

What really makes CUREs distinct from other types of lab courses Collaboration Iteration Discovery Broader Impact/Relevance Scientific practices We define these research based courses to be…. Novel findings that have potential for an impact beyond the course Brownell and Kloser 2015

What really makes CUREs distinct from other types of lab courses Collaboration Iteration Novel findings that have broader relevance Scientific practices We define these research based courses to be…. “real research” “authentic research”

Novel findings that have potential for an impact beyond the course: Publications We define these research based courses to be….

Novel findings that have potential for an impact beyond the course: Database Community report We define these research based courses to be….

Find someone at your table and discuss which of the following scenarios would classify as a CURE

Is it a CURE? Scenario #1: If the answer to the research question is unknown to the student, but the scientific community knows the answer Scenario #2: If students use primary literature to come up with only “thought experiments” that are novel Scenario #3: If students identify whether Maria or Kate has more bacteria on her shoes Scenario #4: If students try to characterize a novel mutant version of a protein, but they get negative results

Failed experiments and negative results are part of science Is it a CURE? What matters is that someone outside of the course would care about the results Failed experiments and negative results are part of science The distinction of a CURE is the potential for someone to build on to the findings

What is a CURE? Why teach a CURE? We need to determine what a CURE is before we can begin to explore what a CURE can lead to…

What is a CURE? Why teach a CURE?

Student outcomes Faculty outcomes Equity-related outcomes

Student outcomes Faculty outcomes Equity-related outcomes

Brainstorm with your neighbor about possible student outcomes of a CURE

Student outcomes Conceptual knowledge gains: Understanding of cell cycle Knowledge of steps of PCR What is research? Student outcomes Technical skills: Run specific equipment Pipet “Think and work like scientists” Process skills gains: Ability to design an experiment Ability to analyze data Oral and written communication Non-cognitive gains: Science identity Sense of belonging Self-efficacy Interest in future research experiences

Student outcomes Faculty outcomes Equity-related outcomes While most of the published CURE literature focuses on student outcomes – faculty can also benefit from CUREs Equity-related outcomes

Brainstorm with your neighbor about possible faculty outcomes of a CURE

Faculty perceptions of faculty benefits of CUREs CUREs connect teaching and research: 76% Faculty enjoy teaching CUREs: 74% CUREs contribute positively towards promotion/tenure: 68% CUREs can/do result in publications: 61% Students collect data for faculty research: 61% Shortlidge, Bangera, and Brownell. BioScience 2016

Faculty perceptions of faculty benefits of CUREs CUREs connect teaching and research: 76% Faculty enjoy teaching CUREs: 74% CUREs contribute positively towards promotion/tenure: 68% CUREs can/do result in publications: 61% Students collect data for faculty research: 61% The finding of CUREs connecting teaching and research is potentially a solution for the balancing act of many faculty… Shortlidge, Bangera, and Brownell. BioScience 2016

Equity-related outcomes Student outcomes Faculty outcomes Most courses just focus on students – student outcomes. CUREs are new in that they can benefit students AND faculty. But I want you to think even more broadly – because CUREs can not only change students and faculty in the short-term of a course – but have potential long-term impacts on who gets to participate in scientic research and ultimately leads to a more diverse scienticic community Equity-related outcomes

The training path to become a science faculty member Independent undergraduate research experiences Ph.D. research experiences Postdoctoral research experiences Academic faculty

Problem: There are a limited number of independent research experiences Solution: High enrollment CUREs (or many low enrollment CUREs) increase the number of these opportunities, increasing access

Increase access to scientific research Problem: There are a limited number of independent research experiences Solution: High enrollment CUREs (or many low enrollment CUREs) increase the number of these opportunities, increasing access

Problem: Some students don’t know how to get a research experience, lack confidence to apply, or don’t have the time Solution: Require students to enroll in a CURE as part of their normal curriculum, decreases these student-level barriers

Decrease barriers to scientific research Problem: Some students don’t know how to get a research experience, lack confidence to apply, or don’t have the time Solution: Require students to enroll in a CURE as part of their normal curriculum, decreases these student-level barriers

Problem: There is a selection process where faculty members choose who gets to do an independent research experience -Incentives for faculty to pick the “best” students -Implicit biases against certain groups of students Solution: Require students to enroll in a CURE as part of their normal curriculum, eliminates these selection-level barriers

Decrease barriers to scientific research Problem: There is a selection process where faculty members choose who gets to do an independent research experience -Incentives for faculty to pick the “best” students -Implicit biases against certain groups of students Solution: Require students to enroll in a CURE as part of their normal curriculum, eliminates these selection-level barriers

The training path to become a science faculty member Independent undergraduate research experiences CUREs Broaden participation in scientific research Ph.D. research experiences Decrease barriers to students getting involved in independent undergraduate research Postdoctoral research experiences Diversify who goes on in scientific research Academic faculty

Equity-related outcomes Student outcomes Faculty outcomes Most courses just focus on students – student outcomes. CUREs are new in that they can benefit students AND faculty. But I want you to think even more broadly – because CUREs can not only change students and faculty in the short-term of a course – but have potential long-term impacts on who gets to participate in scientic research and ultimately leads to a more diverse scienticic community Equity-related outcomes

Brainstorm with your neighbor how you would go about designing a CURE. What would be your first step? What do you think you would need to be successful? How would you measure success?

A backward design approach to CUREs Cooper, Soneral, Brownell. Under re-review. JMBE.

What is a CURE? Why teach a CURE? Questions? sara.brownell@asu.edu