Expanding Undergraduate Research Experience: Opportunities, Challenges, and Lessons for the Future

In efforts to increase scientific literacy and enhance the preparation of learners to pursue careers in science, there are growing opportunities for students and teachers to engage in scientific research experiences, including course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), undergraduate research experiences (UREs), and teacher research experiences (TREs). Prior literature reviews detail a variety of models, benefits, and challenges and call for the continued examination of program elements and associated impacts. This paper reports a comprehensive review of 307 papers published between 2007 and 2017 that include CURE, URE, and TRE programs, with a special focus on research experiences for K–12 teachers. A research-supported conceptual model of science research experiences was used to develop a coding scheme, including participant demographics, theoretical frameworks, methodology, and reported outcomes. We summarize recent reports on program impacts and identify gaps or misalignments between goals and measured outcomes. The field of biology was the predominant scientific disciplinary focus. Findings suggest a lack of studies explicitly targeting 1) participation and outcomes related to learners from underrepresented populations, 2) a theoretical framework that guides program design and analysis, and, for TREs, 3) methods for translation of research experiences into K–12 instructional practices, and 4) measurement of impact on K–12 instructional practices.

Navigating the clinical trial pathway: Conception, design, execution, and results dissemination

This chapter discusses the importance of an undergraduate research experience in science, technology, engineering, mathematics, or medicine (STEMM) and how it differs from lecture-based or “active” classroom learning, and “independent study” for credit. Different types of research experiences and internships can range from the traditional one-student-one-mentor experiences to participation in larger, more structured undergraduate research programs that may have teams of multiple students and mentors. Guidance is provided on the range of available resources that students can use to find a research experience that matches their needs and expectations.

The executive summary provides an overview of some of V&C's key recommendations regarding next steps in the effort to mobilize the biology community. It is, in essence, a call for national service. A publication discussing these recommendations and action items in more depth will be available later this year. Meanwhile, we highly recommend reading the Executive Summary of V&C, the NAS report (NAS, 2010), and a seminal article by Labov et al. (2010) summarizing the synergy created by these several reports on the changing nature of studies in biology and concomitant need to change biology education. Then, take action! Our hope is to see the formation of a community of biologists, similar to that forming in geology (Manduca et al., 2010): one that will advance biology undergraduate education so it truly reflects the discipline it serves.

Актуальность. При разработке инструмента для бурения скважин различного назначения основными критериями оптимизации являются повышение механической скорости и его ресурса. Особенно это актуально для породоразрушающего инструмента, предназначенного для бурения в изменяющихся горно-геологических условиях глубоких и наклонных скважин. В последнее время все чаще поднимается вопрос повышения универсальности и проходки бурового инструмента. Возможности в области создания искусственных материалов позволили создать современные буровые инструменты, обладающие выдающимися характеристиками. А опыт научных исследований закономерностей работы бурового инструмента показал, что конструктивные параметры инструмента оказывают влияние на его производительность. Разработка нового бурового инструмента ведется с учетом возможностей производства и опыта последних научных исследований. В настоящее время наиболее востребованным является инструмент, армированный резцами PDC. Аномальный износ режущей кромки резцов PDC является причиной преждевременной отработки инструмента. Возможность вращения резцов PDC вокруг своей оси создает условия их равномерного износа и как следствие приводит к увеличению ресурса бурового инструмента. Цель: разработка высоко ресурсного породоразрушающего инструмента. Объекты: причины повышения износа инструмента; конструктивные параметры инструмента с вращающимися при бурении резцами. Методы: аналитические исследования, анализ. Результаты. Повышение ресурса породоразрушающего инструмента возможно при обеспечении вращения резцов PDC. Возможность размещения максимального числа вращающихся резцов достигается углом наклона торцевой поверхности долота в 45°. При этом достигается максимальное значение усилия прижатия и максимальное совпадение плоскости действия углубления долота в скважине. Для обеспечения активного вращения резцов при бурении следует повышать фрикционные характеристиками их боковой поверхности.

Participating in undergraduate research has been shown to lead to numerous benefits including increased persistence in science. However, there are still many undergraduate researchers who choose not to pursue a science‐related research career. While studies have shown that the increased length of a student’s research experience and a student’s positive relationship with their mentor are predictors of a student’s persistence in science, it is unclear what other elements of a student’s research experience influence their choice to pursue a science‐related research career.In this study, we explored to what extent student research anxiety influences undergraduate biology students’ intentions to pursue a science‐related research career. Specifically, our research questions were whether students’ demographics predicted their research anxiety and whether student/mentor rapport moderated the relationship between research anxiety and student intention to pursue scientific research. We used Yerkes‐Dodson Law which suggests that student performance in undergraduate research should increase with mental arousal, but only up to a certain level; high levels of anxiety negatively impact students. We designed a survey with closed and open‐ended questions. Questions were vetted using think aloud interviews and piloted with 126 biology students at a single R1 institution in Fall 2017. We revised the survey and sampled from 26 public R1 universities in Fall 2018. We measured student research anxiety using an adapted version of the Revised Attitudes Toward Research Scale and we measured student‐mentor rapport using the Advisory Working Alliance Inventory mentorship scale. Students also answered open‐ended questions about what elements of their research experience increased and decreased their anxiety.Our final dataset included 750 biology majors from 26 R1 institutions who had participated in an academic year research experience. Using structural equation modeling, we explored relationships between student demographics, student research anxiety, student/mentor rapport, research productivity, student‐perceived difficulty of the research project, and students’ current intentions to pursue a science‐related research career. We found that, compared to students with low research anxiety, students with high research anxiety were less likely to publish or expect to publish a paper from their undergraduate research experience and were less likely to report intentions to pursue a science‐related research career. We also identified that student/mentor rapport moderated the relationship between research anxiety and student intention to persist in a science‐related research career. Finally, using open‐coding methods, we coded students’ responses about what increased and decreased their research‐anxiety. We found that student confidence, perceived ability, mentorship, and relationships with others in the lab impacted their anxiety. Overall, this work identified research anxiety as important for biology students’ intentions to pursue a science‐related research career and identified ways in which research mentors can decrease research anxiety to create a more inclusive scientific community.Support or Funding InformationNSF LEAP Scholars Program

Expect the unexpected: private‐sector careers

The Importance of Scientific Publishing: Teaching an Undergraduate How to Swim the Entire Length of the Pool

Understanding how cultural values influence undergraduate students' science research experiences and career interest is important in efforts to broaden participation and to diversify the biomedical research workforce. The results from our prospective longitudinal study demonstrated that underrepresented minority student (URM) research assistants who see the altruistic value of conducting biomedical research feel more psychologically involved with their research over time, which, in turn, enhances their interest in pursuing a scientific research career. These altruistic motives are uniquely influential to URM students and appear to play an important role in influencing their interest in scientific research careers. Furthermore, seeing how research can potentially affect society and help one's community does not replace typical motives for scientific discovery (e.g., passion, curiosity, achievement), which are important for all students. These findings point to simple strategies for educators, training directors, and faculty mentors to improve retention among undergraduate URM students in biomedicine and the related sciences.

There is mounting evidence to support that students who participate in scientific research experiences are more likely to continue on to advanced degrees and careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). To introduce more students to the benefits of research, we have drawn on an ongoing project aimed at understanding how the Caribbean staghorn coral Acropora cervicornis responds to environmental fluctuations to develop a semester-long course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), entitled CREARE (Coral Response to Environment Authentic Research Experience). The main mode of instruction in CREARE is through topic modules, and course evaluation is achieved through writing assignments. Students in CREARE perform experiments in the laboratory to measure the abundance of photo-protective proteins in coral tissue from samples collected at different depths and at different times of the year and analyze environmental data using the R programming language. CREARE participants have contributed to the progress of the research project by generating novel data and making improvements to experimental protocols. Furthermore, pre- and post-course assessment of content knowledge revealed that students perform significantly better on a written exam after participating in CREARE, while also displaying appreciable shifts in attitudes towards science in student perception surveys. In addition, through qualitative analysis of focus group interviews, we gathered evidence to suggest that mediating variables that predict students’ persistence in science are bolstered through our application of the CURE modality. Overall, CREARE can serve as a model for developing more research-based courses that successfully engage students in scientific research.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) aim to improve students' research skills, disciplinary knowledge, and career confidence. However, faculty mentors often lack formal training in effective mentoring practices. This study investigates the impact of professional development (PD) on faculty mentors in a physics REU program, focusing on communication and setting expectations, using a modified “Entering Mentoring” PD curriculum. A mixed-methods design explored three research questions: (1) What expectations do mentors establish, and how might they differ? (2) What realities do mentors experience, and how do expectations evolve? (3) What effect did PD have on mentoring, and how do interview and survey data converge to explain REU participant growth? Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight faculty mentors, post-program CIMER mentor surveys, and student surveys measuring their confidence in research abilities. Qualitative data were analyzed using constant comparative methods, while quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-tests to assess growth among two REU cohorts: one with mentor PD and one without. Results revealed that mentors faced challenges such as affording independence to mentees and selecting achievable research projects, regardless of experience. Despite these challenges, mentors focused on the research process, rather than the product, providing students with an authentic research experience. This approach led to significant perceived growth in students' general research skills, as reported by both mentors and mentees. Synthesis of qualitative and quantitative data showed that the PD program positively influenced mentoring practices and student outcomes. The 2024 PD-trained cohort showed statistically significant growth in research independence (Q24: d=0.86) and career confidence (Q49: d=0.62) compared to the non-PD 2023 cohort. This study emphasizes the importance of PD in improving mentoring practices and enhancing student growth, offering valuable insights for future REU programs.

The biology workforce has a need for undergraduate students trained in bioinformatics. Although bioinformatics is a critical sub-discipline of biology, it is not required in all biology degree programs. In parallel, there is a need to increase student access to research experiences. To address these needs, we offer a one-credit bioinformatics-focused and computational biology course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), here called the CB-CURE. Preliminary data suggest the CB-CURE increased student interest, knowledge, and self-efficacy, but also reveal a shortage of access to undergraduate research experiences (UREs) in faculty labs at our large institution. To provide a more URE-like experience for a class setting, we developed a one-semester extension to the CB-CURE, called CURE+. In CURE+, students execute individual bioinformatics-driven research projects and obtain additional career development and mentoring. To evaluate CURE+, we measured students' bioinformatics and research self-efficacy, interest in bioinformatics and research, and emotions toward their project. Additionally, we evaluated student mastery of the CURE+ learning outcomes to determine if the experience successfully enabled students to develop their research skills. Our data show significant increases in (i) student self-efficacy in various bioinformatics and research skills and (ii) student interest in bioinformatics-related activities and in biomedical research. Students had positive emotions toward their research project, and a majority of students mastered the CURE+ learning outcomes. Our data suggest that an intensive CURE extension can provide a potentially transformative research experience that helps fill a void in access to research at institutions with a high student-to-faculty ratio.

Undergraduate research involves experiential learning methods that helps animal science students gain critical thinking skills. There is high demand for these opportunities. For example, 77.9% of incoming freshmen in the Department of Animal Sciences & Industry at Kansas State University in Fall 2017 and Fall 2018 planned to conduct research sometime during their undergraduate career (422 of 542 students). Conventional, one-on-one mentoring methods in the department were only serving 1.7% of the undergraduate population (21 of 1,212 students). This creates a unique challenge of increasing the number of undergraduate research opportunities, while maintaining the impact of individualized experiential learning. One method to address this challenge is the incorporation of a course-based research program. In this model, research projects are conducted during a conventional semester during scheduled classroom hours, with project components divided into 3 sections: (1) research preparation, including compliance requirements, hypothesis testing, experimental design, and protocol development; (2) data collection; and (3) data interpretation and dissemination. Students collect data as a team, but individually develop their own research abstract and poster to maintain a high level of experiential learning. By teaching multiple sections of this course per semester and incorporating the concepts into existing laboratories, 13.5% of students in the department completed undergraduate research in the 2018–2019 academic year (162 of 1,197 students). To monitor the quality of these experiences, student critical thinking ability was assessed using the online Critical Thinking Basic Concepts & Understanding Test (Foundation for Critical Thinking, Tomales, CA). Undergraduate research experiences increased (P = 0.028) the growth in student critical thinking score, but the type of research experience did not influence assessed skills (P > 0.281). Thus, course-based undergraduate research experiences may be an option for growing the quantity and quality of undergraduate research experience in animal science.

Science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) undergraduate research experiences improve success, persistence, and promote a feeling of belonging to a community. Like their hearing peers, deaf STEM majors often participate in undergraduate research experiences. However, deaf students typically interact with hearing faculty lacking experience with deaf students and awareness of Deaf culture, which unintentionally impacts their research experiences. This interview study sought to understand deaf students’ research experiences and their relationships with hearing mentors. Findings indicate that lack of awareness of Deaf culture and lack of communication access impact students’ experiences. We make recommendations on improving deaf students’ research experiences.

With growing evidence demonstrating the impact of undergraduate research experiences on educational persistence, efforts are currently being made to expand these opportunities within universities and research institutions throughout the United States. Recruiting underrepresented students into these programs has become an increasingly popular method of promoting diversity in science. Given the low matriculation into postsecondary education and completion rates among Native Americans, there is a great need for Native American undergraduate research internships. Although research has shown that Western education models tend to be less effective with Native populations, the implementation of indigenous epistemologies and pedagogies within higher education, including research experiences, is rare. This study explores the applicability of a cognitive apprenticeship merged with an indigenous approach, the Circle of Courage, to build a scientific learning environment and enhance the academic and professional development of Native students engaged in an undergraduate research experience in the health sciences. Data were drawn from focus groups with 20 students who participated in this program in 2012–2014. Questions explored the extent to which relational bonds between students and mentors were cultivated as well as the impact of this experience on the development of research skills, intellectual growth, academic and professional self-determination, and the attachment of meaning to their research experiences. Data were analyzed via deductive content analysis, allowing for an assessment of how the theoretical constructs inherent to this model (belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity) impacted students. Findings suggest that engaging Native students in research experiences that prioritize the needs of belonging, mastery, independence, and generosity can be a successful means of fostering a positive learning environment, in which students felt like significant members of a research team, developed a greater understanding and appreciation for the role of science in education and its various applications to socially relevant health issues, made more informed decisions about a career in research and the health sciences, and worked toward improving the health and well-being of others while also inspiring hope among their people back home. This study represents an extension of the application of the Circle of Courage to an undergraduate research experience and provides evidence of its ability to be used as a framework for cultivating Native scientists.