Marine Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) Targeting Transfer Students as a Means for Building a Science Learning Community.

University Of West Florida, Pensacola FL

Investigators

Abstract

Today more than 50% of STEM students will attend more than one higher education institution to complete a bachelor's degree. Many of these students are transfer students who attend a 2-year community college and later transfer to a 4-year institution. Unfortunately, many transfer students fail to complete a bachelor's degree. A major reason for this phenomenon is that transfer students often face challenges that negatively affect their academic success, and ultimately their retention and graduation in a STEM major. Programs that increase the success of transfer students can significantly increase the STEM graduation rate, which will help meet the national goal of increasing the diversity and size of the STEM workforce. Participation in scientific research experiences involving real-world problems supports student success, increasing student retention and graduation rates. This project provides undergraduate research experiences to transfer students both during a summer bridge program and the academic year. These experiences will help establish a diverse and sustainable research community that will better support and prepare all undergraduates for STEM professions. This project will take place at the University of West Florida (UWF), a medium-sized regional state university with a high percentage of transfer students. The central goal of this project is to establish a multi-faceted course-based undergraduate research (CURE) community centered on the novel genetics and cell biology of the local coquina clam Donax variabilis. This project will also address specific challenges to the academic success of transfer students, engage faculty with research and enhance their pedagogical skill, and develop strategies for institutional transformation and sustainability. The central project activities will: 1) develop and enhance student research and laboratory skills, and 2) engage incoming transfer students and faculty through a summer bridge program that incorporates peer mentoring and a CURE training workshop series for faculty based on the coquina research project. The project will contribute to a better understanding of the biology of the coquina clam. In addition, the project will contribute to education research on factors that influence the success of transfer students in higher education and generate best practices that other institutions might implement. The project will improve understanding of current challenges encountered by transfer students that impact their success in biology, the effect of the CURE experience and bridge program on transfer students' sense of belonging and their scientific literacy and skill, and 3) best practices for implementing a CURE in a biology class and engaging faculty for institutional transformation. Findings will be communicated through a UWF Coquina CURE web page that will incorporate content created by both students and faculty to share curriculum materials. Research results will be disseminated through peer-reviewed publications and conference presentations. This project is being jointly funded by the Directorate for Biological Sciences, Division of Biological Infrastructure and the Directorate for Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education as part of their efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education: A Call to Action (http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/).