Building a Sustainable Community College CURE Program

Johnson County Community College, Overland Park KS

Investigators

Abstract

This award is funded in whole or in part under the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 (Public Law 117-2). This project will serve the national interest by developing course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) for students attending Johnson County Community College (JCCC) through a faculty-team approach aimed at creating a culture of research at a two-year college. CUREs provide opportunities for students to participate in scientific research and the dissemination of results that have the potential to be of interest to a broad community of scientists, researchers, and ultimately the public. The project team will develop and support CUREs for students across STEM disciplines including astronomy, cell and microbiology, chemistry, environmental science, geology, horticulture, human biology, organismal biology, and physics). A developmental approach to enhance students’ deeper knowledge of research will guide the creation and enhancement of CUREs that are aligned with the sequence of courses offered in the programs of study in science. The project will leverage and investigate the power of faculty professional development, faculty learning communities, and an institutional change framework to engage faculty in the ever-changing priorities of community colleges in their mission to educate and train the nation’s future scientists and technicians. At JCCC, CUREs will become components of the regular requirements for the programs of study in the sciences. Building on current work in professional development, the CUREs will also become the cornerstone of a faculty-team approach to institutional change and to sustaining CUREs at JCCC. This project will address common barriers to the implementation of CUREs at community colleges as the CUREs are designed by creating an institutional culture that combines teaching and learning with research and a robust program assessment of expected outcomes at the institution. Faculty teams will develop, pilot, and revise curriculum to ensure that current and future faculty have resources and support to tackle potential barriers. Based on an institutional change framework, the project team will investigate the implementation of CUREs and create a model for sustaining CUREs at community colleges. The framework focuses and builds on (a) creating institutional accountability, (b) creating strategic partnerships, and (c) expanding CUREs by leveraging the curriculum. In addition, the effort draws on current work by an established faculty learning community that is fostering STEM discipline-based education research at the community college level. A mixed methods evaluation study supported by a targeted investigation of CUREs will generate knowledge about critical factors associated with successful CUREs and a shift in the culture of teaching and learning. To disseminate the approach and resources, the project team will host two workshops and a conference for faculty at the institution and science faculty who are teaching at colleges in the Midwest. Speakers with expertise in CUREs, faculty, and community college administrators will present and discuss CUREs, focusing on opportunities and challenges associated with implementing them at community colleges. The NSF program description on Advancing Innovation and Impact in Undergraduate STEM Education at Two-year Institutions of Higher Education supports projects that advance STEM education initiatives at two-year colleges. The project description promotes innovative and evidence-based practices in undergraduate STEM education at two-year colleges. 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.