Implementing Undergraduate Research in an Online Gateway Political Science Course

Abstract

Introductory political science courses are considered Gateway courses to student success in college, yet those courses rarely use high impact practices. This study investigated student-led research projects based on the idea of a Coursebased Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) as a means to increase students’ self-assessed learning gains and motivation to acquire critical thinking skills. This study used a quasi-experiment across two online sections of American Government taught at a large public university. The experimental section made use of a CURE project, and the control section did not. Pre- and post- surveys indicated significant differences in self-assessed learning gains. The section with the CURE project showed more confidence and a better understanding of political science. No difference was found in motivation for acquiring critical thinking skills.