Using Hissing Cockroaches to Teach Animal Physiology: Course Based Undergraduate Research Experiences

Abstract

Early student engagement in research has been shown to improve several student outcomes such as critical thinking, problem-solving and increased confidence in scientific aptitude. However, providing every student with access to traditional research experiences is diffcult. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are a good alternative to traditional research experiences since they are designed to provide students with hands-on research opportunities in scientific inquiry. CUREs have been shown to be a more inclusive entry point to scientific research as they break down barriers faced by many students, especially those faced by underrepresented first generation college students. Student's that participate in CUREs have shown gains similar to those obtained from traditional research experiences including improved research skills, self-effcacy, and an intent to persist in science. In this study, we developed a CURE in an Animal Physiology course at the University of La Verne, a small HSI liberal arts college in Southern California. As part of this CURE, students were trained on handling hissing cockroaches, and worked on this model systems to answer a question on the effects of different environmental factors on the metabolic rates of these ectotherms. Students developed their own hypothesis, designed an experiment, collected and analyzed data, drew conclusions, and presented their findings through an oral presentation. We measured student learning outcomes and affective student gains. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2024 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.