Research Experience For Undergraduates Program Research Articles

A Mixed-Methods Study of How a Critical Race Theory-Informed Undergraduate Research Experience Program Provides Equitable Support for Aspiring Graduate Students

Numerous studies document the benefits of participating in undergraduate research experiences (UREs), including greater odds of enrolling in graduate school. However, there is a lack of understanding about how UREs support student success. This study examines survey and interview data from a multi-year program evaluation of a National Institutes of Health-funded biomedical training program to consider whether and how participating in a URE fosters students’ sense of belonging, which is an important predictor of retention and graduation. Analyzing the quantitative survey data revealed that participating in the URE was positively associated with a sense of belonging even after controlling for students’ background characteristics, including gender, race or ethnicity, first-generation status, commuting burden, and age. Additionally, there was a positive relationship between a sense of belonging and odds of applying to graduate school. Path analysis suggests that the URE has an indirect relationship with applying to a graduate program that operates through the URE’s direct relationship with sense of belonging. Interview data offered insights into how the URE supported an increased sense of belonging. Specifically, we found that the URE fostered a sense of belonging when (1) faculty research mentors develop authentic, personal, and caring relationships with mentees, (2) the URE program welcomes, cultivates, and supports women and racially diverse students, and (3) the URE is embedded within a university environment that allows for faculty and peer engagement.

A systemic transformation of an arts and sciences curriculum to nurture inclusive excellence of all students through course-based research experiences

IntroductionWe describe herein a large-scale, multidisciplinary course-based undergraduate research experience program (CRE) developed at Lawrence Technological University (LTU). In our program, all students enrolled in CRE classes participate in authentic research experiences within the framework of the curriculum, eliminating self-selection processes and other barriers to traditional extracurricular research experiences.MethodsSince 2014, we have designed and implemented more than 40 CRE courses in our College of Arts and Sciences involving more than 30 instructors from computer science, mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry, English composition, literature, philosophy, media communication, nursing, and psychology.ResultsAssessment survey data indicates that students who participate in CRE courses have an enhanced attitude towards research and discovery, as well as increased self-efficacy. This intervention is particularly relevant for non-traditional students, such as students who commute and/or have significant work or childcare commitments, who often experience limited access to research activities.DiscussionHerein we highlight the importance of a systemic institutional change that has made this intervention sustainable and likely to outlast the external funding phase. Systemic change can emerge from a combination of conditions, including: (1) developing a critical mass of CRE courses by providing instructors with both incentives and training; (2) developing general principles on which instructors can base their CRE activities; (3) securing and maintaining institutional support to promote policy changes towards a more inclusive institution; and (4) diversifying the range of the intervention, both in terms of initiatives and disciplines involved.

NSF REU entrepreneurially minded applied energy program evaluation: traditional delivery versus alternative delivery (implemented during COVID-19)

PurposeThe National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) programs are traditionally delivered in-person and full-time (40 h per week) for 10 weeks during the summer. However, this type of format has the potential to limit broader student participation. This study aims to compare learning assessment data between a traditional NSF REU (10 weeks of summer, full-time, in-person) to an alternative NSF REU delivered virtually, part-time and over 10 months as a result of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.Design/methodology/approachA retrospective pre-then-post survey was completed to assess perceived learning gains for each REU program. Three learning gains categories were assessed: entrepreneurial competencies, career goals and research skill development. T-tests were used to evaluate a difference in means between pre and post.FindingsFindings show the greatest quantity of learning gains within the alternative program delivery. Moreover, a larger quantity of learning gains was perceived within the first semester of the alternative program delivery compared to the second semester.Practical implicationsThe authors propose the NSF should be intentional about trying new approaches to REU programs delivery, including duration and format, as a way to broaden participation in engineering.Originality/valueThis study is original in that it is the first of its kind to assess an alternative REU program delivery (allowed only because of the COVID-19 pandemic) in comparison to traditional REU program delivery.

MSFP: undergraduate 'collaborate-from-home' research in macromolecular structure and function.

When the COVID-19 crisis shut down most undergraduate research opportunities, the Macromolecular Structure and Function Research Experiences for Undergraduates Program provided a mentored research experience on the topic of Macromolecular Structure and Function and training in professional skills to assist the participants in pursuing a degree and a future career in STEM. The fully online, remote, computer-based program was funded by the USA National Science Foundation. It involved faculty at four geographically distributed institutions specializing in diverse but complementary approaches to study macromolecular structure and function. Importantly, its online 'collaborate-from-home' format made it accessible to students during the pandemic to participate fully in the research, professional development and other activities of the program. This project can also serve as an example for future remote, online projects that would especially be helpful for students who do not have access to similar programs at their universities, cannot travel to attend a summer program, have physical challenges that make it difficult for them to work in a lab or students whose research opportunities are limited due to the war in Ukraine. The lessons learned with the Macromolecular Structure and Function REU program can provide helpful information for ISCB members to set up similar programs to serve additional students. More information and resources are available on the project web site http://jefferylab.moonlightingproteins.org. Supplementary data are available at Bioinformatics Advances online.

NSF GEO REU Program Coordinators Show Adaptability and Resiliency During the Pandemic

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many undergraduate internships, including the National Science Foundation (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) programs, were canceled or moved online. Although several studies have examined student success during the online transition, less research has examined how REU programs have changed from this experience, the ongoing and novel challenges, and strategies that program coordinators employed to overcome them. To investigate this gap, REU site programs were surveyed in the NSF Geosciences (GEO) Directorate, with findings that many students declined participation after having been accepted into programs, and that there were difficulties accessing institutional support services and meeting changing student needs. Despite these challenges, nearly all respondents reported program satisfaction, with several indicating the importance of GEO REU community support. Overall, REU coordinator resilience appears to be a major factor in program success.

Developing, Analyzing, and Evaluating Vehicular Lane Keeping Algorithms Using Electric Vehicles

Robust lane-following algorithms are one of the main challenges in developing effective automated vehicles. In this work, a team of four undergraduate students designed and evaluated several automated lane-following algorithms using computer vision as part of a Research Experience for Undergraduates program funded by the National Science Foundation. The developed algorithms use the Robot Operating System (ROS) and the OpenCV library in Python to detect lanes and implement the lane-following logic on the road. The algorithms were tested on a real-world test course using a street-legal vehicle with a high-definition camera as input and a drive-by-wire system for output. Driving data were recorded to compare the performance of human driving to that of the self-driving algorithms on the basis of three criteria: lap completion time, lane positioning infractions, and speed limit infractions. The evaluation of the data showed that the human drivers successfully completed every lap with zero infractions at a 100% success rate in varied weather conditions, whereas, our most reliable algorithms had a success rate of at least 70% with some lane positioning infractions and at lower speeds.

How Participation in a Research Experiences for Undergraduate Program Transforms Chemistry and Biochemistry Majors’ Understanding of Research and Scientific Inquiry

Little is known concerning chemistry and biochemistry majors’ understanding of research and scientific inquiry. In this three-year qualitative research study, chemistry and biochemistry majors were interviewed before and after participating in a National Science Foundation-sponsored Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program at a private urban research university in the Northeastern United States to learn about their conceptions of research, its purpose, and process. Participation in undergraduate research was found to inform students’ understanding of the structure and practice of research, promote the resolution of several well-known misconceptions (theory vs hypothesis and proof), and understanding of research as an inherently social human endeavor. Nonetheless, evidence was also found that their understanding of some research elements, including the role of publication and the ethical and sociocultural dimensions of research, may be limited. This gap may be due to the students’ limited opportunities for active engagement in these areas during the relatively short 10 week REU time frame. These findings can potentially impact the practice of undergraduate research as they relate to student researchers’ epistemic development and call for further investigations into how undergraduate research informs students’ understanding of research and scientific inquiry.

Blood and breath alcohol concentration from transdermal alcohol biosensor data: estimation and uncertainty quantification via forward and inverse filtering for a covariate-dependent, physics-informed, hidden Markov model* *This research supported in part by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA) Grant No. R01AA026368. Shao was supported in part by a Grant from USC’s Women in Science and Engineering (WiSE)

Transdermal alcohol biosensors that do not require active participation of the subject and yield near continuous measurements have the potential to significantly enhance the data collection abilities of alcohol researchers and clinicians who currently rely exclusively on breathalyzers and drinking diaries. Making these devices accessible and practical requires that transdermal alcohol concentration (TAC) be accurately and consistently transformable into the well-accepted measures of intoxication, blood alcohol concentration/breath alcohol concentration (BrAC). A novel approach to estimating BrAC from TAC based on covariate-dependent physics-informed hidden Markov models (HMMs) with two emissions is developed. The hidden Markov chain serves as a forward full-body alcohol model with BrAC and TAC, the two emissions, assumed to be described by a bivariate normal which depends on the hidden Markovian states and person-level and session-level covariates via built-in regression models. An innovative extension of hidden Markov modeling is developed wherein the HMM framework is regularized by a first-principles PDE model to yield a hybrid that combines prior knowledge of the physics of transdermal ethanol transport with data-based learning. Training, or inverse filtering, is effected via the Baum–Welch algorithm and 256 sets of BrAC and TAC signals and covariate measurements collected in the laboratory. Forward filtering of TAC to obtain estimated BrAC is achieved via a new physics-informed regularized Viterbi algorithm which determines the most likely path through the hidden Markov chain using TAC alone. The Markovian states are decoded and used to yield estimates of BrAC and to quantify the uncertainty in the estimates. Numerical studies are presented and discussed. Overall good agreement between BrAC data and estimates was observed with a median relative peak error of 22% and a median relative area under the curve error of 25% on the test set. We also demonstrate that the physics-informed Viterbi algorithm eliminates non-physical artifacts in the BrAC estimates.

An Analysis of Virtual Research Experiences for Undergraduates Programs in Light of the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract With the continued social distancing requirements of the novel COVID-19 pandemic, many in-person educational programs were halted in 2020, including specialty education and research experiences for undergraduates. However, some Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REUs) progressed in summer 2020 in a fully virtual format. The importance of understanding how these practical STEM skills translated in a virtual REU format, in addition to areas of improvement going forward, are critical to the development of effective online STEM learning through REUs. Two survey instruments were designed to capture data from both the REU mentors (including the PIs) and the students in the programs. Questions included information on the REU they participated in, their perceptions of the best and worst aspects, their overall satisfaction with the experience, and their likelihood to seek out virtual REUs in the future. Overall, both students and faculty involved in virtual REUs were glad to have had the experience and were satisfied with it. The benefits of flexibility, the ease of communication and scheduling, and the increased access to online resources were echoed as the strengths of the virtual format. However, many believe that an in-person REU had benefits that could not be replicated in a virtual environment, including community building and hands-on experiences. Several were bogged down by technical difficulties. With more effort made to include community building to a greater extent, as well as considerations and planning for technical demands, the future of widely accessible online REU experiences is a bright one.

A model for an undergraduate research experience program in quantitative sciences

We developed a summer research experience program within a freestanding comprehensive cancer center to cultivate undergraduate students with an interest in and an aptitude for quantitative sciences focused on oncology. This unconventional location for an undergraduate program is an ideal setting for interdisciplinary training in the intersection of oncology, statistics, and epidemiology. This paper describes the development and implementation of a hands-on research experience program in this unique environment. Core components of the program include faculty-mentored projects, instructional programs to improve research skills and domain knowledge, and professional development activities. We discuss key considerations such as effective partnership between research and administrative units, recruiting students, and identifying faculty mentors with quantitative projects. We describe evaluation approaches and discuss post-program outcomes and lessons learned. In its initial two years, the program successfully improved students’ perception of competence gained in research skills and statistical knowledge across several knowledge domains. The majority of students also went on to pursue graduate degrees in a quantitative field or work in oncology-centric academic research roles. Our research-based training model can be adapted by a variety of organizations motivated to develop a summer research experience program in quantitative sciences for undergraduate students.

The undergraduate research experience as a vehicle for employability development-The student participants speak.

The employability of science graduates if of key concern. Employers report that STEM graduates lack appropriate employability skills and work experience, and science graduates take longer to find full-time work than graduates from many other programs. Undergraduate research experience (URE) is an important pedagogy that involves student immersion in a professional research environment-as such it provides an opportunity for science students to develop their understanding of the world of work, and of their own developing employability. In this study, we examine students' reflections on their URE learnings and their resultant perceived employability. We ask whether students understand the value of the URE as an employability development vehicle and consider what can be done to improve the employability learnings from the URE. The results show that students articulate multiple learnings from their UREs, but they struggle to translate these learnings into an employability or non-research-work context. We conclude that UREs are important opportunities to learn about work in science, but that URE students would benefit from URE curriculum components that foreground the way UREs can help develop students' employability. The insights from this study can help inform and refine future URE programs to improve their efficacy as vehicles to benefit graduate employability.

Lessons Learned from a Virtual Summer Undergraduate Research Program

In summer 2020, North Carolina A&T State University and Elon University were poised to debut their Research Experiences for Undergraduates program in mathematical biology funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). The directors decided to hold the program virtually so that students would have the opportunity. Although the directors did not have experience running a virtual program, they learned from the experience and have recommendations for program directors in similar situations.

Wheat Germ Acid Phosphatase Activity in High Percentages of Organic Solvents

While enzymes canonically operate in aqueous environments, several have been shown to also function in non‐aqueous solvents and/or solvent mixes. Phosphatases, for example, have been previously shown to hydrolyze phosphates in mixtures containing modest amounts of certain organic solvents. Here, detecting the fluorescent dephosphorylation product naphthol AS‐MX with fluorescence spectroscopy (ex: 388 nm, em: 512 nm) has shown commercial wheat germ acid phosphatase to be active in high amounts (up to ~70% by volume) of 1,4‐dioxane, 1,2‐ dimethoxyethane, 2‐methoxyethanol, dimethyl sulfoxide, and acetonitrile when the aqueous component was comprised of Tris buffer (pH 7). These solvent mixtures were also physically characterized to better understand differences in both relative naphthol AS‐MX fluorescence and wheat germ acid phosphatase activity across the different solvent mixtures investigated. These results suggest that phosphatase activity can be detected with less water that previously published.Support or Funding InformationAcknowledgment is made to the Donors of the American Chemical Society Petroleum Research Fund and to the National Science Foundation’s Research Experience for Undergraduates program for partial support of this research.

Lessons and recommendations from three decades as an NSF REU site: A call for systems-based assessment.

For more than 30 years, the US National Science Foundation's Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program has supported thousands of undergraduate researchers annually and provides many students with their first research experiences in field ecology or evolution. REUs embed students in scientific communities where they apprentice with experienced researchers, build networks with their peers, and help students understand research cultures and how to work within them. REUs are thought to provide formative experiences for developing researchers that differ from experiences in a college classrooms, laboratories, or field trips. REU assessments have improved through time but they are largely ungrounded in educational theory. Thus, evaluation of long‐term impacts of REUs remains limited and best practices for using REUs to enhance student learning are repeatedly re‐invented. We describe how one sociocultural learning framework, cultural–historical activity theory (CHAT), could be used to guide data collection to characterize the effects of REU programs on participant's learning in an educationally meaningful context. CHAT embodies a systems approach to assessment that accounts for social and cultural factors that influence learning. We illustrate how CHAT has guided assessment of the Harvard Forest Summer Research Program in Ecology (HF‐SRPE), one of the longest‐running REU sites in the United States. Characterizing HF‐SRPE using CHAT helped formalize thoughts and language for the program evaluation, reflect on potential barriers to success, identify assessment priorities, and revealed important oversights in data collection.

Role of Research Educator in sequential course-based undergraduate research experience program.

In our First-Year Research Immersion (FRI) program, students take a sequence of three CUREs (course-based undergraduate research experiences). Each Research Educator (Research Assistant Professor, aka RE) oversees the day-to-day work of about 30 first-year and 25 second-year students in a dedicated research-training lab. Instead of the typical work-load division for faculty between their teaching responsibilities (typically lecture) and research programs, REs combine these two responsibilities into one endeavour that better engages and teaches beginning students intending to major in science or engineering. Although more challenging for REs, their work in FRI expands their professional development substantially. Examples from the microbiology research track (specifically, Microbial Biofilms in Human Health) illustrate both the challenges and rewards for the REs.

The Summer Undergraduate Research Experience as a Work-Integrated Learning Opportunity and Potential Pathway to Publication in Psychology.

Unlike disciplines which focus on skill development from year one of a bachelor’s degree, training in psychology in Australia follows the scientist-practitioner model. According to this model, an undergraduate psychology degree should focus on the scientific principles underpinning the discipline and provide a foundation for the development of professional skills in graduate school. However, most Australian psychology undergraduates do not continue into graduate school, and concerns have been raised about their lack of applied skills and work-readiness. Work-integrated learning (WIL) refers to strategies aimed at providing students with practical experiences (e.g., fieldwork, placements, and internships) directly related to their course of study. The objective of WIL is to increase work-readiness. Accreditation standards coupled with the norms of the discipline have historically prevented the inclusion of typical WIL experiences in Australian undergraduate psychology degrees. However, one particular type of WIL activity—the undergraduate research experience (URE)—is particularly suited to psychology. In a typical URE, students collaborate with faculty to conduct research designed to make an original contribution to their field. The current study is a qualitative investigation of stakeholder perceptions of a competitive summer URE program ran from 2012 to 2016. Six faculty members and seven undergraduate students were engaged in semi-structured interviews about their URE experiences. Constructed themes broadly reflected the benefits and challenges of the program and included work-readiness and additional research experience, networking and teamwork, publication, quality of experience and equity of opportunities. Faculty members and students spoke favorably of their UREs in most cases, although issues of administration and financial concerns were mentioned consistently, as were concerns about the length, timing, and nature of projects. Students reported skill development and networking as two of the key benefits of their participation in the program, and article publication was seen as particularly beneficial to career prospects. Our findings suggest that student co-authored publications resulting from UREs are possible, but careful thought is required to optimize their likelihood. Overall, this research adds to a growing literature suggesting that UREs can confer a range of benefits to Australian psychology schools related to increased research capacity and student satisfaction.

Model for improved undergraduate training in translational conservation science

The “Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) in Biodiversity Conservation” project models transdisciplinary training in conservation science, and particularly in the emerging field of conservation paleobiology (CPB), which applies geohistorical records (e.g., sediments, fossils) and approaches to solve conservation problems. We analyzed recent funding patterns in the National Science Foundation REU program (Biological Sciences and Geosciences directorates) and found that, at most REU sites, undergraduates conduct individual projects supervised by a mentor. In contrast, at the REU in Biodiversity Conservation Site, students from geology, biology, archaeology, and environmental sciences worked in transdisciplinary teams on conservation‐related research using fossil, archaeological, and modern samples. The project successfully incorporated CPB approaches and taught research and soft skills useful in conservation; 85% of students subsequently pursued STEM graduate study or employment. However, because translational science partnerships with conservation practitioners were not sought, the research‐implementation gap remained. We propose a new model for REU sites involving conservation practitioners and stakeholders as partners in research that includes the human dimension and meets community needs, resulting in transdisciplinary, team‐focused training that yields actionable results. We recommend that the National Science Foundation encourage researchers to think beyond typical one‐on‐one mentorship when planning an REU, especially for conservation science projects.

Pseudophosphatase MK‐STYX regulates neurite outgrowth and alters the morphology of primary neurons

Mitogen‐activated protein kinases (MAPKs) are essential players in important neuronal signaling pathways including neuronal development, plasticity, survival, learning, and memory. The inactivation of MAPKs is tightly controlled by MAPK phosphatases (MKPs), which also are important regulators of these neuronal processes. There is compelling evidence that a unique catalytically inactive member of the MKP family, MK‐STYX (mitogen activated kinase phosphoserine/threonine/tyrosine binding protein), is a regulator in neuronal processes such as neurite outgrowth. We previously reported that the MK‐STYX dramatically increases the number of primary neurites in rat pheochromocytoma (PC‐12) cells through the RhoA signaling pathway. MK‐STYX decreases RhoA activation, whereas knockdown of MK‐STYX increases RhoA activation. Furthermore, MK‐STYX increases phosphorylation of cofilin, a RhoA downstream effector, whereas phosphorylated cofilin decreases when MK‐STYX is knocked down with shRNA. Throughout the course of these experiments, we noticed that cells overexpressing MK‐STYX developed more neurites, which often branched. Here, we report that microtubules and microfilaments, components of the cytoskeleton that are involved in the formation of neurites, are present in MK‐STYX‐induced outgrowths. In addition, in response to nerve growth factor (NGF), MK‐STYX‐producing cells produced more actin growth cones than non‐MK‐STYX‐expressing cells. Transmission electron microscopy confirmed that MK‐STYX‐induced neurites form synapses. Furthermore, the expression of Tau‐1 and MAP2 (microtubule associated protein 2) in MK‐STYX‐induced neurites suggests that they have both axonal and dendritic properties. Further studies in hippocampal primary neurons demonstrated that MK‐STYX altered their morphology. A significant number of primary neurons expressing MK‐STYX had more than the normal number of primary neurites. Taken together these data provide evidence that MK‐STYX causes cytoskeletal rearrangement. It also highlights that this unique member of the MKP subfamily has the potential to have a major role in neuronal signaling.Support or Funding InformationThis work was supported by the National Science Foundation Grant MCB1113167 to S.D.H.; Coco Award to S.D.H.; Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute grant through the Undergraduate Science Education Program to the College of William and Mary; a DuPont Fund Student‐Faculty Research Team Stipend awarded to A.D. and S.D.H. through a grant by the Jessie Ball Grant Fund to the William and Mary Scholars for Undergraduate Research Experience program; Ferguson Awards to D.A.B., A.D., and C.S., and the Dintersmith Honors Fellowship to A.D.This abstract is from the Experimental Biology 2018 Meeting. There is no full text article associated with this abstract published in The FASEB Journal.

Using a Summer REU to Help Develop the Next Generation of Mathematical Ecologists.

Understanding the complexities of environmental issues requires individuals to bring together ideas and data from different disciplines, including ecology and mathematics. With funding from the national science foundation (NSF), scientists from the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse and the US geological survey held a research experience for undergraduates (REU) program in the summer of 2016. The goals of the program were to expose students to open problems in the area of mathematical ecology, motivate students to pursue STEM-related positions, and to prepare students for research within interdisciplinary, collaborative settings. Based on backgrounds and interests, eight students were selected to participate in one of two research projects: wind energy and wildlife conservation or the establishment and spread of waterfowl diseases. Each research program was overseen by a mathematician and a biologist. Regardless of the research focus, the program first began with formal lectures to provide students with foundational knowledge followed by student-driven research projects. Throughout this period, student teams worked in close association with their mentors to create, parameterize and evaluate ecological models to better understand their systems of interest. Students then disseminated their results at local, regional, and international meetings and through publications (one in press and one in progress). Direct and indirect measures of student development revealed that our REU program fostered a deep appreciation for and understanding of mathematical ecology. Finally, the program allowed students to gain experiences working with individuals with different backgrounds and perspectives. Taken together, this REU program allowed us to successfully excite, motivate and prepare students for future positions in the area of mathematical biology, and because of this it can be used as a model for interdisciplinary programs at other institutions.

Effects of course‐based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) on wildlife students

ABSTRACTA new movement to develop course‐based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) is emerging, although the benefits of such programs have not yet been fully evaluated. We examined effects of a field‐based CURE project on science attitudes, career choice, and perceived knowledge of undergraduate wildlife students (n = 32) at the University of Wyoming in 2012. In this project, junior and senior students gained practical experience, used their own data to learn various modeling approaches, and disseminated results orally and in written form. We used a mixed‐method study with pre‐ and postactivity surveys and focus group interviews to evaluate the change in student perceptions. Our results illustrate that participation in the CURE project resulted in benefits similar to those reported from traditional undergraduate research experience programs. Participants reported increased understanding of the scientific method, clarification of their career choices, and greater confidence in their perceived knowledge of science. These changes were more pronounced among male participants. Concurrently students gained valuable skills that are required by practicing wildlife biologists. Based on these results it appears that adoption of CURE projects in similar natural resources programs could provide a large number of undergraduate students with equivalent opportunities to those currently experienced by a select few through traditional undergraduate research experience programs. © 2017 The Wildlife Society.