RCN-UBE: Bridging the divide between research and education with authentic research experiences in introductory biology

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This RCN-UBE network project seeks to increase the opportunities for students to participate in authentic research experiences in undergraduate biology laboratory courses, especially at the introductory level. These research experiences allow students to better understand course content by applying that material to a research question and to gain first hand experience in the scientific process. This network is building on an RCN-UBE incubator project that surveyed instructors of introductory biology laboratories to help define the important elements of authentic research experiences and identify barriers to implementing authentic research experiences. The network team will use a series of workshop meetings to bridge the divide between the biology education community and disciplinary researchers in biology. By bridging this divide, new models for authentic research in introductory laboratory courses will be developed and new faculty will become engaged in implementing these experiences. In each year, one workshop will be hosted in association with an annual meeting of the biology education community (e.g., either Association for Biology Laboratory Education [ABLE], Council on Undergraduate Research [CUR], National Association of Biology Teachers [NABT], or Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minority Students [ABRCMS]) and disciplinary researchers in biology will be actively recruited to attend. A second workshop will be hosted in association with a biology disciplinary society and members of the biology education community will be actively recruited to attend. Finally, to advance the field of biology education research in relation to authentic research experiences in laboratory courses, a meeting among disciplinary biology researchers, biology education researchers, and biology education practitioners will be held in association with the Society for the Advancement of Biology Education Research.This project is funded jointly by the Directorate for Biological Sciences and the Directorate of Education and Human Resources, Division of Undergraduate Education in support of efforts to address the challenges posed in Vision and Change in Undergraduate Education: A Call to Action http://visionandchange.org/finalreport/.