Longitudinal Investigation of the Decision Process in Adoption of Course-based Undergraduate Research

Tufts University, Medford MA

Investigators

Abstract

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by investigating the motivators and barriers that influence instructors' adoption and implementation of research in undergraduate courses. The value of early opportunities for undergraduates to engage in research is widely recognized. In fact, national reports have recommended replacing standard laboratory courses with discovery-based research courses as an inclusive way to engage students in compelling experiments. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are particularly valuable because they can reach students at institutions in which out-of-classroom research is limited or unavailable (e.g., high enrollment institutions; community colleges). However, development of a successful CURE requires an initial investment of time and the willingness to take a risk in the classroom. Many instructors do not have the autonomy, time, or resources to develop their own CUREs. As a result, nationally disseminated "network CUREs" have been a successful alternative. In network CUREs, students at different institutions work in parallel using the same methods, but in different contexts. Although network CURES have expanded accessibility of research experiences, much work remains since non-research activities still take up the bulk of most undergraduate laboratories. If widespread dissemination of CUREs is to reach all institution types, the undergraduate STEM education community needs a better understanding of the institutional and contextual challenges that instructors face in implementing CURES. This project aims to investigate the "undergraduate research mindset" of instructors representing a diversity of undergraduate populations. The study intends to identify the characteristics of CURE programs that influence instructors' decisions to implement and persist in implementing them, and whether these characteristics differ depending on institutional context. Guided by Rogers' Diffusion of Innovations theory, this study will use qualitative and quantitative methods to assess what programmatic characteristics of two conceptually related, but structurally different network CUREs factor into instructors' decisions to implement and then persist in implementing or exit from each program. In the first phase of the study, longitudinal tracking will be employed through interviews of instructors who are ready to implement one of these two CUREs. In the second phase, results from longitudinal tracking will be used to create and administer a national survey to gain similar information from a broader group of instructors. This understanding could guide future CURE developers to target institutional contexts that are currently underrepresented in CURE networks. In addition, it can provide a framework to help future CURE developers create research experiences that are likely to be successfully implemented at diverse institution types. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Institutional and Community Transformation track, the program will support efforts to transform and improve STEM education across institutions of higher education and disciplinary communities. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.