Undergraduate Research Experiences Research Articles

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience on the Design of Conductive Biopolymeric Nanocomposites for Enhanced Microbial Fuel Cells Performance

Microbial fuel cells (MFCs) have emerged as renewable energy sources due to their intrinsic properties to directly convert organic substrates into electrical energy. However, sub-optimal power density, limited long-term stability, and high operational costs have stunted integration at the industrial scale. These systems function through the exploitation of catalytic events of microbes under anaerobic conditions. The bacterial interactions at the electrode interface and associated electron transfer mechanisms directly impact fuel cell performance. The prominent issue is the formation of non-productive biofilms at the anode. This work focuses on the strategic design of a conductive polysaccharide-based (i.e., cellulose, agar, alginate, pectin) nanocomposite material to increase productive interactions at the anode-microbe interface. Results have shown that upon exposure to E. coli, the conducting polymer nanocomposite demonstrates enhanced current flow. Furthermore, the electrode surface was modified via non-covalent linkages of organic fuels, such as glucose, with TiO2 nanoparticles to decrease bacteria-substrate repulsions. The sugar-functionalized nanoparticle electrodes also exhibited an increased electrical response with enhanced photochemical activity. This phenomenon was observed through decreased fluorescence intensity without a decrease in cell viability and open circuit potential in the presence of light. Lastly, the “blurred” disciplinary boundaries were exploited as a model for developing an active Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE). This experience emphasized the importance of interdisciplinary problem-solving, experimental design, and the development of essential critical thinking skills.

Teaching Scientific Literature Analysis: A Systematic Adoption of Skill-Building Methods to Enrich Research Training for Undergraduate Students.

Teaching scientific literature analysis skills is a critical step in research training. Here I describe a 6-week skill-building module on understanding scientific literature, incorporated into a 10-week undergraduate honors research practice course in Neuroscience. Key pedagogical components include: 1) student-centered active-learning, skill-building and community-building activities; 2) persistent adoption of a proven CREATE method and a novel curate scientific summary (CSS) method for teaching scientific literature analysis skills; 3) collaborative class organization consisting of persistent learning pods (PLPs) to facilitate student-driven participation and peer learning; and, 4) role play of a real research lab. Skill development was assessed using a self-assessment survey (SAS) and longitudinal evaluation of the CREATE and CSS methods application by the PLPs to analyze primary research articles (PRAs) over four weeks. Outcomes demonstrate alleviation of pre-existing student anxiety to read complex scientific literature and advancement of critical-thinking and collaborative skills. Specifically, the SAS responses indicate that student perception about reading scientific literature transformed from being a daunting task to an enjoyable activity; this enhanced their confidence in evaluating scientific literature. PLPs fostered student engagement, peer instruction, and community building, and contributed to skill development. Weekly assessment of CREATE and CSS application highlighted marked improvements in students' abilities to analyze and critique complicated scientific material. Role playing a research lab setting with a focused research theme facilitated integrative understanding of a frontier topic in Neuroscience. The outlined innovative approach can be adopted in Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) and should help contribute to systematizing didactic practices to train neuroscientists.

Characterization of the Structural Requirements for the NADase Activity of Bacterial Toll/IL-1R domains in a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience.

TLRs initiate innate immune signaling pathways via Toll/IL-1R (TIR) domains on their cytoplasmic tails. Various bacterial species also express TIR domain-containing proteins that contribute to bacterial evasion of the innate immune system. Bacterial TIR domains, along with the mammalian sterile α and TIR motif-containing protein 1 and TIRs from plants, also have been found to exhibit NADase activity. Initial X-ray crystallographic studies of the bacterial TIR from Acinetobacter baumannii provided insight into bacterial TIR structure but were unsuccessful in cocrystallization with the NAD+ ligand, leading to further questions about the TIR NAD binding site. In this study, we designed a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) involving 16-20 students per year to identify amino acids crucial for NADase activity of A. baumannii TIR domain protein and the TIR from Escherichia coli (TIR domain-containing protein C). Students used structural data to identify amino acids that they hypothesized would play a role in TIR NADase activity, and created plasmids to express mutated TIRs through site-directed mutagenesis. Mutant TIRs were expressed, purified, and tested for NADase activity. The results from these studies provide evidence for a conformational change upon NAD binding, as was predicted by recent cryogenic electron microscopy and hydrogen-deuterium exchange mass spectrometry studies. Along with corroborating recent characterization of TIR NADases that could contribute to drug development for diseases associated with dysregulated TIR activity, this work also highlights the value of CURE-based projects for inclusion of a diverse group of students in authentic research experiences.

Research Experiences for Undergraduates Are Necessary for an Equitable Research Community

Dek : Encouraging expanding undergraduate research programs.

Promoting inclusivity in ecology, evolution, and behavioral biology education through course-based undergraduate research experiences.

Access to independent research experiences is a persistent barrier that stifles the recruitment and retention of students from diverse backgrounds in ecology, evolution, and behavioral biology. The benefits of field experiences are not equitably available to historically excluded and minoritized students. In this article, we summarize evidence that indicates course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide a solution to ensure equitable access to independent research experiences in the life sciences. We draw from our own experiences of teaching CUREs in ecology, evolution, and behavioral biology and provide the complete curriculum for our effective and largely materials-free CURE in behavioral ecology (CURE-BxEco). We advocate for greater access to and synthesize the benefits of CUREs to promote inclusivity in education. The proliferation of such innovative pedagogical practices benefits science because these classroom methods are critical in recruiting and retaining historically excluded and minoritized students, who offer diverse perspectives in research.

Examining a Critical Race Theory-Informed Undergraduate Research Experience: Proposing a Conceptual Model of the Benefits of Anti-Racist Programs on Student Development

Examining a Critical Race Theory-Informed Undergraduate Research Experience: Proposing a Conceptual Model of the Benefits of Anti-Racist Programs on Student Development

An effective Caenorhabditis elegans CRISPR training module for high school and undergraduate summer research experiences in molecular biology.

Engaging in research experiences as a high school or undergraduate student interested in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) is pivotal for their academic and professional development. A structured teaching framework can help cultivate a student's curiosity and passion for learning and research. In this study, an eight-week training program was created to encompass fundamental molecular biology principles and hands-on laboratory activities. This curriculum focuses on using clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) gene editing in the Caenorhabditis elegans model organism. Through pre- and post-program assessments, enhancements in students' molecular biology proficiency and enthusiasm for scientific exploration were observed. Overall, this training module demonstrated its accessibility and ability to engage inexperienced students in molecular biology and gene editing methodologies.

Innovate and empower: the malate dehydrogenase course-based undergraduate research experiences and community of practice.

College science programs exhibit high rates of student attrition, especially among Students of Color, women, members of the LGBTQ+ community, and those with disabilities. Many of the reasons students choose to leave or feel pushed out of science can be mitigated through participation in faculty-mentored research. However, faculty resources are limited, and not every student has access to faculty mentoring due to systemic or structural barriers. By bringing authentic scientific research into the classroom context, course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) expand the number of students who participate in research and provide benefits similar to faculty-mentored research. Instructors also benefit from teaching CUREs. Using a systematic review of 14 manuscripts concerning the Malate Dehydrogenase CUREs Community (MCC) and malate dehydrogenase (MDH) CUREs, we demonstrate that CUREs can be implemented flexibly, are authentic research experiences, generate new scientific discoveries, and improve student outcomes. Additionally, CURE communities offer substantial advantages to faculty wishing to implement CUREs.

Inadequate mentoring in undergraduate research experiences: Exploring protective factors.

This study examines instances of negative mentoring among undergraduate researchers within STEM education, and specifically, the common yet subtle issue of inadequate mentoring characterized by a faculty mentor's failure to provide their mentee with adequate research, educational, career-related, or emotional support. Using data from the Mentor-Relate survey of 514 participants in the National Science Foundation Research Experiences for Undergraduates program, we identify prevalent patterns of inadequate mentoring and examine protective factors against it. Results indicate that inadequate research support is the least prevalent form, while inadequate educational and career guidance is more common, and inadequate emotional support is the most prevalent. Enhanced faculty mentoring skills emerge as a protective factor, with culturally responsive mentoring and gender concordance also playing significant protective roles. Less hierarchical mentoring structures, such as multiple faculty mentors, offer better emotional support. These findings underscore the importance of comprehensive mentor training and culturally sensitive practices to mitigate inadequate mentoring in undergraduate research experiences. By promoting inclusive and supportive mentoring environments, institutions can maximize the transformative potential of undergraduate research experiences for all participants.

Biophysics Concept Inventory Survey: An Assessment in Biophysical Undergraduate Education

ABSTRACT Since the Force Concept Inventory in 1992, many concept inventories have been developed to cover classical scientific fields. However, there is a lack of concept inventories for interdisciplinary fields, such as biophysics. We introduce a Biophysics Concept Inventory Survey (BCIS), a 20-question, multiple-choice survey to measure student gains in biophysical concepts. The BCIS contains 5 question classifications: remember, understand, apply, analyze, and create, as well as question concepts divided into primarily physics or primarily biology questions. We administered the BCIS to 3 cohorts of students over 4 years. Each cohort participated in a 10-week summer Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) in biophysics. We compared the presurvey (before REU) and postsurvey (after REU) scores to determine the fraction of the maximum possible gain or loss realized. Our analysis of the results suggests that the BCIS shows no biases based on sex or ethnicity. Further, we used the BCIS to show that 69% of the REU participants showed gains in biophysics concepts, with most of the total participant mean of gain occurring at higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy: create and analyze. Overall, participants obtain slightly higher scores in physics (8% increase) than biology (5% increase) when comparing the pre- and postscores. The coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic allows a splitting of prepandemic and postpandemic cohorts, with the postpandemic cohort showing significantly larger gains than the prepandemic students. These results show that the BCIS, with question classifications and concepts, probes the students’ ability to apply knowledge to various biophysical science topics without underlying biases and enables instructors to obtain answers to important questions about the effectiveness of the educational programs. The BCIS fills a gap for interdisciplinary concept inventories.

Activity for CUREs to increase student understanding and application of responsible authorship and publication practices.

Professional development of scientists is enhanced by training students in responsible conduct of research earlier in their careers. One aspect of responsible conduct of research is authorship ethics, which concerns granting of credit to those who make intellectual contributions to the research. The activity discussed in this article emphasizes how authorship ethics can be integrated with Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) and includes an adaption that could also be used for independent research students. The activity allows students to reflect upon inequalities and problems seen in scientific authorship, including gender bias, failure to credit effort (ghostwriters), and inclusion of authors that did not meaningfully contribute to the work (honorary/gift authorship). Themes seen in student reflections on how they could demonstrate ethics in authorship included: determining authorship by contribution, appropriate attributions on curriculum vitas (CV) and posters, different credit levels, understanding authorship criteria, and tracking contributions. Themes seen in student reflections on the importance of authorship were proper authorship credit distribution, authorship impacting career opportunities, and accountability in research. In the activity, students also created attributions for a poster to be presented from their research. We found that most students were able to create attributions that were correctly formatted, included the same authors, and positioned authors in the same order as other group members, matching what was presented on the finalized poster. We found that students' reflection on authorship and this professionalization of their activities in their CURE led to modest increases in their view of themselves as scientists.

Research collaboration: Cross-disciplinary training in sustainable chemistry and chemical processes

Research collaboration: Cross-disciplinary training in sustainable chemistry and chemical processes Greg M. Swain, Professor of Chemistry in the Department of Chemistry at Michigan State University, is researching cross-disciplinary training in sustainable chemistry and chemical processes. Here, he emphasizes the importance of teamwork for effective research collaborations. The Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) program in the Department of Chemistry at Michigan State University aims to educate students majoring in chemistry, biochemistry, and chemical engineering about significant societal sustainability challenges. The program provides graduate-level interdisciplinary research experiences that address various aspects of these challenges.

The West African lungfish secretes a living cocoon during aestivation with uncertain antimicrobial function.

One of the most exceptional adaptations to extreme drought is found in the sister group to tetrapods, the lungfishes (Dipnoi), which can aestivate inside a mucus cocoon for multiple years at reduced metabolic rates with complete cessation of ingestion and excretion. However, the function of the cocoon tissue is not fully understood. Here we developed a new more natural laboratory protocol for inducing aestivation in the West African lungfish, Protopterus annectens, and investigated the structure and function of the cocoon. We used electron microscopy and imaging of live tissue-stains to confirm that the inner and outer layers of the paper-thin cocoon are composed primarily of living cells. However, we also repeatedly observed extensive bacterial and fungal growth covering the cocoon and found no evidence of anti-microbial activity in vitro against E. coli for the cocoon tissue in this species. This classroom discovery-based research, performed during a course-based undergraduate research experience course (CURE), provides a robust laboratory protocol for investigating aestivation and calls into the question the function of this bizarre vertebrate adaptation.

Changing Attitudes Towards Research Through a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience

Changing Attitudes Towards Research Through a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience

Critical Mentorship in Undergraduate Research Experience BUILDs Science Identity and Self-Efficacy

Critical Mentorship in Undergraduate Research Experience BUILDs Science Identity and Self-Efficacy

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) and student interest development: a longitudinal study investigating the roles of challenge, frustration, and meaning making

ABSTRACT Course-based research experiences (CUREs) are shown to be more engaging for college students, lead to better academic performance, and increase students’ intent to persist in science. This especially holds true when compared to lecture-based science courses with standard lab assignments. Less attention has been given, however, to the nuanced week-by-week experiences of students participating in CURE courses over a semester. This study addresses why it is crucial to understand how student interest is sustained throughout the CURE course, despite potential challenges and frustrations. Conducted over a 15-week period, this longitudinal study examines enrolled students (N = 170) who had one of 13 instructors from six institutions. The results indicate that students’ high frustration with participation in CUREs moderates the relationship between perceived challenge and interest. In addition, higher levels of the variable ‘meaning making’ among students have significant associations with week-by-week interest maintenance throughout the semester. Findings suggest that to sustain high levels of student interest over a semester, CURE instructors should focus more on reducing student frustration within CURE course operations. To further support student interest, these findings also suggest that instructors need to foster and emphasize the connections of CURE course content to students’ own lives and personal goals to sustain their interest.

Undergraduate Economics Program Enhancements to Increase Doctoral Program Participation by Under-Represented Students

The economics profession as with STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) disciplines has recognized that it faces a “pipeline” problem of low numbers of under-represented minorities (URM) completing PhDs. The ancillary described in this article addresses the economics pipeline problem by using strategies modeled after University of Maryland Baltimore County’s (UMBC’s) STEM focused Meyerhoff Scholars program. These strategies include identifying URM students in early stages of their undergraduate careers with the ability and motivation to pursue graduate work, providing information about career opportunities for those completing PhDs, guidance on course selection and on undergraduate research opportunities. UMBC’s Predoctoral Fellows in Economics Program prepares students for successful admission into well-regarded PhD programs by enhancing their likelihood of successful applications to predoctoral programs in economics. URM undergraduates who maintain strong grades in mathematics, statistics, and economics and who engage in productive undergraduate research experiences and produce high-quality research output should find exciting predoctoral, doctoral and career opportunities.

“Two Sides of the Same Coin”: Benefits of Science–Art Collaboration and Field Immersion for Undergraduate Research Experiences

This study examined how incorporating art into an upper-level undergraduate field-based ecology research course influenced students’ communication and collaboration skills, their career goals, and how they conceptualized the scientific method. Student pairs designed an independent research study that used artwork and a scientific research poster to disseminate their findings at an end-of-term exhibit. Students enrolled in either a local or a (subsidized) travel abroad section of the course. Students in both sections found new or deeper connections between art and science, developed a more sophisticated understanding of the science method, became more confident with their science skills, and reported an expanded perspective on their future careers (often including field work and a wider geographic job search). Science–art student teams indicated they wanted more opportunities for collaborative work in the future, and that their final products were more professional due to their collaborations, as compared to science–science teams. Additionally, the travel abroad students benefitted from experiencing new ecosystems and cultures, from working with science and art professionals from other countries, and from working in an isolated field station without distractions.

Voices from Graduate School and the Workforce: Identified Student Outcomes from Completing a Multi-Semester Undergraduate Research Experience Capstone

Recent reforms in undergraduate science education have highlighted the need for student-centered learning that challenges students to take ownership of the scientific process through conducting authentic research. As such, Undergraduate Research Experiences (UREs) have become more prevalent in higher education. However, extensive variations in the structures, durations, and contexts of UREs exist and long-term implications are not well documented. We used the Social Cognitive Career Theory to guide our exploration of student outcomes from completing a required three-semester capstone URE at a predominantly undergraduate institution located in the Midwest, United States. We sought to answer two central research questions: (1) What skills and competencies do alumni perceive to have gained from completing the URE capstone, and (2) What is the impact of the URE capstone on alumni success in the workforce and/or graduate school? We conducted in-depth, one-on-one interviews with 16 alumni who recently completed their undergraduate research capstone and who were currently in a science-based career or attending graduate school. Results indicate long-term benefits from URE capstones and are described through three primary themes: technical skill acquisition and future application, soft skill acquisition and future application, and scientific pursuits.

Who is Represented in the Research on Undergraduate Research Experiences in the Natural Sciences? A Review of Literature.

Positive outcomes from undergraduate research experiences (UREs) have resulted in calls to broaden and diversify participation in research. However, we have little understanding of what demographics are reported and considered in the analyses of student outcomes from UREs. Without this information, it is impossible to assess whether participation in UREs has been diversified and how outcomes may vary by participant identity. Through a comprehensive literature search, we systematically identified 147 peer-reviewed research articles on student participation in UREs in the natural sciences, published between 2014 and 2020. We coded each paper to document which student demographic variables are reported and considered in analyses. The majority (88%) of articles on UREs reported at least one demographic variable and 62% incorporate demographics into their analyses, but demographics beyond gender and race/ethnicity were infrequently considered. Articles on independent research apprenticeships included demographics in their analyses more frequently than studies on course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). Trends in reporting and analyzing demographics did not change from 2014 to 2020. Future efforts to collect these data will help assess whether goals to diversify UREs are being met and inform how to design UREs to meet the needs of diverse student groups.