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Merkle JA, Devergne O, Kelly SM, Croonquist PA, Evans CJ, Hwalek MA, Straub VL, Hamill DR, Peister A, Puthoff DP, Saville KJ, Siders JL, Villanueva Gonzalez ZJ, Wittke-Thompson JK, Bieser KL, Stamm J, Vrailas-Mortimer AD, Kagey JD. Fly-CURE, a multi-institutional CURE using Drosophila, increases students' confidence, sense of belonging, and persistence in research. JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY & BIOLOGY EDUCATION 2023; 24:e00245-22. [PMID: 38107988 PMCID: PMC10720528 DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.00245-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/24/2023] [Accepted: 07/13/2023] [Indexed: 12/19/2023]
Abstract
The Fly-CURE is a genetics-focused multi-institutional Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that provides undergraduate students with hands-on research experiences within a course. Through the Fly-CURE, undergraduate students at diverse types of higher education institutions across the United States map and characterize novel mutants isolated from a genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster. To date, more than 20 mutants have been studied across 20 institutions, and our scientific data have led to eleven publications with more than 500 students as authors. To evaluate the impact of the Fly-CURE experience on students, we developed and validated assessment tools to identify students' perceived research self-efficacy, sense of belonging in science, and intent to pursue additional research opportunities. Our data, collected over three academic years and involving 14 institutions and 480 students, show gains in these metrics after completion of the Fly-CURE across all student subgroups analyzed, including comparisons of gender, academic status, racial and ethnic groups, and parents' educational background. Importantly, our data also show differential gains in the areas of self-efficacy and interest in seeking additional research opportunities between Fly-CURE students with and without prior research experience, illustrating the positive impact of research exposure (dosage) on student outcomes. Altogether, our data indicate that the Fly-CURE experience has a significant impact on students' efficacy with research methods, sense of belonging to the scientific research community, and interest in pursuing additional research experiences.
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | | | | | - Cory J. Evans
- Loyola Marymount University, Los Angeles, California, USA
| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | - Joyce Stamm
- University of Evansville, Evansville, Indiana, USA
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Beck CW, Cole MF, Gerardo NM. Can We Quantify If It's a CURE? JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY & BIOLOGY EDUCATION 2023; 24:00210-22. [PMID: 37089237 PMCID: PMC10117072 DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.00210-22] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/07/2022] [Accepted: 01/04/2023] [Indexed: 05/03/2023]
Abstract
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) rapidly have become more common in biology laboratory courses. The effort to implement CUREs has stimulated attempts to differentiate CUREs from other types of laboratory teaching. The Laboratory Course Assessment Survey (LCAS) was developed to measure students' perceptions of how frequently they participate in activities related to iteration, discovery, broader relevance, and collaboration in their laboratory courses. The LCAS has been proposed as an instrument that can be used to define whether a laboratory course fits the criteria for a CURE or not. However, the threshold LCAS scores needed to define a course as a CURE are unclear. As a result, we examined variation in published LCAS scores among different laboratory course types. In addition, we examined the distribution of LCAS scores for students enrolled in our research-for-credit course. Overall, we found substantial variation in scores among CUREs and broad overlap among course types in scores related to all three scales measured by the LCAS. Furthermore, the mean LCAS scores for all course types fell within the main part of the distribution of scores for our mentored research students. These results suggest that the LCAS cannot be used to easily quantify whether a course is a CURE or not. We propose that the biology education community needs to move beyond trying to quantitatively identify whether a course is a CURE. Instead, we should use tools like the LCAS to investigate what students are actually doing in their laboratory courses and how those activities impact student outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Megan F. Cole
- Department of Biology, Emory University, Atlanta, Georgia, USA
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Merkle JA, Devergne O, Kelly SM, Croonquist PA, Evans CJ, Hwalek MA, Straub VL, Hamill DR, Puthoff DP, Saville KJ, Siders JL, Gonzalez ZJV, Wittke-Thompson JK, Bieser KL, Stamm J, Vrailas-Mortimer AD, Kagey JD. Fly-CURE, a Multi-institutional CURE using Drosophila, Increases Students' Confidence, Sense of Belonging, and Persistence in Research. BIORXIV : THE PREPRINT SERVER FOR BIOLOGY 2023:2023.01.16.524319. [PMID: 36712137 PMCID: PMC9882189 DOI: 10.1101/2023.01.16.524319] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/21/2023]
Abstract
The Fly-CURE is a genetics-focused multi-institutional Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that provides undergraduate students with hands-on research experiences within a course. Through the Fly-CURE, undergraduate students at diverse types of higher education institutions across the United States map and characterize novel mutants isolated from a genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster. To evaluate the impact of the Fly-CURE experience on students, we developed and validated assessment tools to identify students' perceived research self-efficacy, sense of belonging in science, and intent to pursue additional research opportunities. Our data show gains in these metrics after completion of the Fly-CURE across all student subgroups analyzed, including comparisons of gender, academic status, racial and ethnic groups, and parents' educational background. Importantly, our data also show differential gains in the areas of self-efficacy and interest in seeking additional research opportunities between Fly-CURE students with and without prior research experience, illustrating the positive impact of research exposure (dosage) on student outcomes. Altogether, our data indicate that the Fly-CURE experience has a significant impact on students' efficacy with research methods, sense of belonging to the scientific community, and interest in pursuing additional research experiences.
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Fendos J, Cai L, Yang X, Ren G, Li L, Yan Z, Lu B, Pi Y, Ma J, Guo B, Wu X, Lu P, Zhang R, Yang J. A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience Improves Outcomes in Mentored Research. CBE LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION 2022; 21:ar49. [PMID: 35833940 PMCID: PMC9582824 DOI: 10.1187/cbe.21-03-0065] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/30/2021] [Revised: 05/30/2022] [Accepted: 06/06/2022] [Indexed: 06/15/2023]
Abstract
Infusing undergraduate curricula with authentic research training is an important contemporary challenge. Such exposure typically occurs through mentored research (MR) or course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). In Asian contexts, CURE implementation is rare, while MR is often a graduation requirement. In this study, mentor interviews and mentee focus groups were used to characterize the learning challenges associated with this requirement at a Chinese university. An intensive 6-week CURE was then implemented as an MR preparatory program to help mitigate the identified challenges. This program contained seven site-specific features not typically included in other CUREs, each designed to improve different aspects of student readiness for MR. Post-CURE surveys, focus groups, and interviews demonstrated CURE enrollment significantly improved subsequent MR outcomes. Almost 90% of all enrollees, for example, began their first MR experience in their second year, more than twice the rate of non-enrollees. Enrollees also reported greater confidence in their research skills and more frequent experiences working in multiple labs. This study reports both immediate CURE and downstream MR outcomes, using the former to help explain the latter. A comprehensive CURE implementation process is described, offering a potential model for the design of other programs with similar research enhancement goals.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin Fendos
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Liang Cai
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Xianmei Yang
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Guodong Ren
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Lin Li
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Zhiqiang Yan
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
- Institute of Molecular Physiology, Shenzen Bay Laboratory, Shenzhen 510852, China
| | - Boxun Lu
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Yan Pi
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Jinbiao Ma
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Bin Guo
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Xiaohui Wu
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
| | - Pingli Lu
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
- School of Life Sciences, Henan University, Kaifeng 475001, China
| | - Ruilin Zhang
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
- School of Basic Medical Sciences, Wuhan University, Wuhan 430072, China
| | - Ji Yang
- School of Life Sciences, Fudan University, Shanghai 200438, China
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Abstract
Auxin biology as a field has been at the forefront of advances in delineating the structures, dynamics, and control of plant growth networks. Advances have been enabled by combining the complementary fields of top-down, holistic systems biology and bottom-up, build-to-understand synthetic biology. Continued collaboration between these approaches will facilitate our understanding of and ability to engineer auxin's control of plant growth, development, and physiology. There is a need for the application of similar complementary approaches to improving equity and justice through analysis and redesign of the human systems in which this research is undertaken.
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Affiliation(s)
- R Clay Wright
- Department of Biological Systems Engineering, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University (Virginia Tech), Blacksburg, Virginia 24061, USA
| | - Britney L Moss
- Department of Biology, Whitman College, Walla Walla, Washington 99362, USA
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Jensen-Ryan D, Murren CJ, Bisner A, Rutter MT, Strand A. Engaging Undergraduates in Research Experiences at a Distance: Insights and Recommendations for Remote URE. JOURNAL OF MICROBIOLOGY & BIOLOGY EDUCATION 2021; 22:22.1.37. [PMID: 33884060 PMCID: PMC8011901 DOI: 10.1128/jmbe.v22i1.2375] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/30/2020] [Accepted: 02/17/2021] [Indexed: 06/12/2023]
Abstract
Undergraduates phenotyping Arabidopsis knockouts (unPAK) is a biology research network that has provided undergraduate research experiences (URE) since 2010. In 2019, unPAK expanded to include a summer URE that engaged undergraduate researchers from across the network in an intensive collaborative program. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, unPAK rapidly shifted to provide the summer URE program remotely. This article describes (i) the instructional and communication processes of unPAK in the remote URE; and (ii) a summative assessment of the outcomes associated with the remote summer program as compared with the 2019 in-person program. We conclude by offering timely recommendations for educators in biology that emerged from the 2020 remote summer research experience, which may be applicable to other remote UREs and course-based research experiences (CUREs).
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Affiliation(s)
| | | | - April Bisner
- Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424
| | - Matt T. Rutter
- Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424
| | - Allan Strand
- Department of Biology, College of Charleston, Charleston, SC 29424
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Jensen-Ryan D, Murren CJ, Rutter MT, Thompson JJ. Advancing Science while Training Undergraduates: Recommendations from a Collaborative Biology Research Network. CBE LIFE SCIENCES EDUCATION 2020; 19:es13. [PMID: 33215973 PMCID: PMC8693944 DOI: 10.1187/cbe.20-05-0090] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/08/2023]
Abstract
Biology research is becoming increasingly dependent on large-scale, "big data," networked research initiatives. At the same time, there has been a corresponding effort to expand undergraduate participation in research to benefit student learning and persistence in science. This essay examines the confluence of this trend through eight years of a collaboration within a successful biology research network that explicitly incorporates undergraduates into large-scale scientific research. We draw upon interviews with faculty in this network to consider the interplay of scientific and pedagogical objectives at the heart of this undergraduate-focused network research project. We identify ways that this network has expanded and diversified access to scientific knowledge production for faculty and students and examine a goal conflict that emerged around the dual objectives of mentoring emerging scientists while producing high-quality scientific data for the larger biology community. Based on lessons learned within this network, we provide three recommendations that can support institutions and faculty engaging in networked research projects with undergraduates: (1) establish rigorous protocols to ensure data and database quality, (2) protect personnel time to coordinate network and scientific processes, and (3) select appropriate partners and establish explicit expectations for specific collaborations.
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Affiliation(s)
- Danielle Jensen-Ryan
- Department of Math and Sciences, Laramie County Community College, Cheyenne, WY 82007
| | | | | | - Jennifer Jo Thompson
- Department of Crop and Soil Sciences, University of Georgia, Athens, GA 30602
- *Address correspondence to: Jennifer Jo Thompson ()
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Furrow RE, Kim HG, Abdelrazek SMR, Dahlhausen K, Yao AI, Eisen JA, Goldman MS, Albeck JG, Facciotti MT. Combining Microbial Culturing With Mathematical Modeling in an Introductory Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience. Front Microbiol 2020; 11:581903. [PMID: 33250873 PMCID: PMC7674939 DOI: 10.3389/fmicb.2020.581903] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/10/2020] [Accepted: 10/05/2020] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Quantitative techniques are a critical part of contemporary biology research, but students interested in biology enter college with widely varying quantitative skills and attitudes toward mathematics. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) may be an early way to build student competency and positive attitudes. Here we describe the design, implementation, and assessment of an introductory quantitative CURE focused on halophilic microbes. In this CURE, students culture and isolate halophilic microbes from environmental and food samples, perform growth assays, then use mathematical modeling to quantify the growth rate of strains in different salinities. To assess how the course may impact students' future academic plans and attitudes toward the use of math in biology, we used pre- and post-quarter surveys. Students who completed the course showed more positive attitudes toward science learning and an increased interest in pursuing additional quantitative biology experiences. We argue that the classroom application of microbiology methods, combined with mathematical modeling using student-generated data, provides a degree of student ownership, collaboration, iteration, and discovery that makes quantitative learning both relevant and exciting to students.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert E. Furrow
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Hyunsoo G. Kim
- Graduate Group in Microbiology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Genome Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Samah M. R. Abdelrazek
- Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | | | - Andrew I. Yao
- Genome Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Molecular Prototyping and BioInnovation Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Jonathan A. Eisen
- Genome Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Evolution and Ecology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Medical Microbiology & Immunology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Mark S. Goldman
- Department of Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior, Center for Neuroscience, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Department of Ophthalmology and Vision Science, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - John G. Albeck
- Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
| | - Marc T. Facciotti
- Genome Center, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
- Molecular Prototyping and BioInnovation Lab, Department of Biomedical Engineering, University of California, Davis, Davis, CA, United States
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