REU Site: Interdisciplinary Research in Undergraduate STEM Education

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This project is engaging 10 undergraduate students per year in summer research experiences at North Dakota State University in the area of STEM education. The students are conducting research under the guidance of a faculty mentor while learning from each other. The students are learning qualitative and quantitative research methods, scientific communication skills, and becoming familiar with career paths in STEM Education Research. These students are being uniquely prepared for PhD-level training in STEM education research at this institution and others with programs in this rapidly growing area. The institution is building on its strengths in discipline-based education research in biochemistry education, biology education, chemistry education, physics education and math education. The research projects that students are engaging in are integrating across STEM disciplines, and they include: studying how undergraduate students learn quantitative reasoning skills, develop systems thinking, and learn visualization skills, as well as how to close achievement gaps between various groups in science and mathematics. This project is advancing knowledge and understanding of effective teaching and learning in STEM while providing an authentic research experience to undergraduates. Students from groups underrepresented in STEM are being targeted for recruitment in this program, including undergraduates at Sitting Bull College, a Tribal College.