Investigation of Faculty Perceptions of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences and Barriers to their Implementation

Northeastern State University, Tahlequah OK

Investigators

Abstract

This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing the implementation and visibility of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in STEM courses, with a focus on introductory level STEM courses. At Northeastern State University, which is both a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) and a Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution (NASNTI), CUREs are expected to impact a significant number of students historically underrepresented in their pursuit of STEM fields of study, especially NSU’s Native American student population. This project at NSU will explore strategies to ensure faculty are fully committed to the use of CUREs in their courses using a workshop and mentoring program. The project is designed to host a broadly available workshop and presentation about the value of CUREs in undergraduate STEM education followed by a fellowship opportunity at NSU. STEM faculty will have the opportunity to apply for the fellowship program. The selected faculty will be paired with a mentor to participate in a series of training workshops, and develop a new CURE for one of their courses. The following semester, they will teach the course with the new CURE. Throughout the project, data regarding faculty perceptions, current barriers to implementation of CUREs, and student outcomes will be collected and analyzed. The results from this project may help guide future projects to increase use of CUREs in STEM courses at other institutions. The proposed project will explore strategies to ensure faculty are fully aware of and committed to the use of CUREs in their courses. The project will seek to meet the following five objectives. First is to increase the use of CUREs in STEM courses by 200% (from 4 to 12 STEM courses). Second is to recruit an additional 45 students into STEM majors, including an additional 20 students from underrepresented backgrounds. Third is to improve the sense of self-efficacy among 90% of students in introductory STEM courses taught by participating faculty. Fourth is to decrease the rate of students who drop, fail or withdraw (DFW) by 10% in introductory STEM courses taught by participating faculty. Fifth is to disseminate the results of the project to others including other minority serving institutions. To accomplish these objectives, the project team will design a workshop focused on increasing knowledge of CUREs as a pedagogical tool, and on examining models for successfully integrating CUREs into classroom teaching. Following the workshop, the participating faculty will have the opportunity to apply for one of the CURE fellowships that will provide the time needed to develop, implement, assess, and revise at least one CURE in each fellow’s course load. Each fellow will also be assigned a CURE mentor who will provide ongoing feedback and support through the process. Another key goal of this project is to explore two questions that are essential to promoting these highly impactful experiences for undergraduates. (1) Why are STEM faculty hesitant to incorporate CUREs experiences into their undergraduate classes? (2) Will the proposed workshop and fellowship program be effective in promoting implementation of CUREs? The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its 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.