Abstract
ABSTRACTCourse-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide students with opportunities for the same gains that apprenticed research with faculty members offers. As their popularity increases, it is important that critical elements of CUREs be supported by thoughtful design. Student experiences in CUREs can provide important insights into why CUREs are so effective. We present evidence from students who participated in CUREs at the introductory, intermediate, and advanced levels, as well as from graduate teaching assistants for an introductory lab course that included a CURE. Students and teaching assistants describe repetition as a valuable element in CUREs and other laboratory experiences. We used student work and open-ended interviews to identify which of five previously described elements of CUREs students found important. Because repetition was particularly salient, we characterized how students described repetition as they experienced it in courses that contained full-length CUREs or “micro-CUREs.” In prompted interviews, students described how repetition in CUREs provided cognitive (learning concepts) and practical (learning technical skills) value. Recent graduates who had participated in CUREs at each level of their biology education were particularly aware that they placed value on repetition and acknowledged it as motivational in their own learning. Many students described repetition in metacognitive terms, which also suggests that as students advance through laboratory and CURE curricula, their understanding of how repetition supports their learning becomes more sophisticated. Finally, we integrated student descriptions to suggest ways in which repetition can be designed into CUREs or other laboratory courses to support scientific learning and enhance students’ sense of scientific identity.
Highlights
Students who participate in biology research show important gains in science identity and are more likely to remain in biological science [1,2,3]
No (%) reporting: Student group Scientific practices Collaboration Discovery Relevant research Iteration Total codes aStudents in IntroLab gave written responses to the prompt, “How did this [laboratory] module change your understanding of how research is done?” Responses were coded using topically for five primary features of Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) [5]
IntroLab students provided written answers to the question, “How did this [laboratory] module change your understanding of how research is done?” While we had originally been interested in descriptions of metacognition, student responses consistently conveyed the benefits of repetition
Summary
Students who participate in biology research show important gains in science identity and are more likely to remain in biological science [1,2,3]. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are educational interventions that provide students with benefits to similar to those that their peers may experience when conducting independent research [5]. This coursework can be as effective as an apprenticed research experience [6,7,8]. The experiences of students who take part in biology CUREs, have been encapsulated in a conceptual framework that draws on the primary features of CUREs [23] These key features include scientific practices, collaboration, iteration, discovery, and relevant research [5]. Elements that support the primary features of CUREs should be included in CURE curricula to enhance student learning [25]
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