Collaborative Research: Examining the Nature and Impacts of Instructors' Communication with Students in Classroom-based Undergraduate Research Experiences

University Of Georgia Research Foundation Inc, Athens GA

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by helping to define the elements that lead to student success in STEM courses. Research has shown that undergraduate science courses that engage students in research, called Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences or CUREs, improve students’ graduation rates and retention in science. However, this research has only just begun to yield insight into how and why CUREs are more effective for students than traditional lab courses that do not include a research component. This project intends to investigate whether and how the research environment of CUREs influences how instructors talk with students. If so, it will also examine whether different ways of talking influence students’ scientific development and motivation. For this analysis, audio recordings will be made of instructors teaching CURE and traditional components of the same course or pairs of instructors teaching CURE and traditional lab courses. These recordings will be analyzed to identify differences in the types of questions instructors ask and the types of support instructors provide to students. The results of this analysis will then be tested statistically to determine whether the ways instructors communicate relates to student outcomes in the two course types. It is anticipated that the project results will help determine features of CUREs that make them effective for students, which could then be used to inform the design of future CUREs and improvement of existing CUREs, thus maximizing their effectiveness. CUREs are championed for broadening access to research opportunities and promoting students’ development as scientists, especially among students from backgrounds historically excluded from science. Several studies have also shown the potential for CUREs to influence the persistence and success of all students in science, improving graduation rates and retention of STEM majors with diverse personal characteristics. However, the features of CUREs that influence students’ persistence and success in science remain largely unknown. This mixed methods project will explore instructor talk as a potential mechanism through which CUREs exert their influence. The project will specifically investigate whether and to what extent CURE instructors ask students more substantive questions, provide more mentoring support to students, and use more non-content talk than traditional lab course instructors. The project will also investigate the extent to which these forms of instructor talk relate to several psychosocial and motivational factors that predict students’ continuation and success in science. The research analysis will be accomplished by collecting audio recordings of instructors as they teach CUREs or traditional lab courses; conducting content analysis of the recordings using a deductive approach informed by research on instructor talk, classroom discourse, and research mentoring as well as an inductive approach to identify novel types of instructor talk; collecting pre/post data from students enrolled in the recorded courses on their science self-efficacy, scientific identity, and perceptions of the values and costs of continuing in science; and conducting quantitative analysis using mixed effects regression models to explore which, if any, forms of instructor talk are related to student outcomes. The project results are designed to yield insight into the theoretical underpinnings of CURE effectiveness, such as whether CUREs are effective primarily by affording students opportunities to see the value that research can offer, by building students’ confidence in their abilities to be successful in research, by helping them see their potential to contribute to science and their place in the science community, or some combination thereof. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. 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.