Increased Access to Authentic Research Through a Linked Sequence of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences in Organic and Analytical Chemistry

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The ChemCUREs project will implement a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) sequence in Chemistry that links a lower-division, organic chemistry course to an upper-division, analytical chemistry course. The goal of ChemCUREs is to transform the relationship between academic coursework and science research to enrich students' experience and enable greater research productivity for participating science faculty. The focus of student research will be the tardigrade, a microscopic extremophile, which produces sugar molecules to survive desiccation and freezing. ChemCUREs students will first create a variety of modified sugar molecules in the organic CURE, and then test the interaction properties of those molecules in the analytical CURE. The study of these modified sugar molecules should lead to insights for the development of new cell preservatives. ChemCUREs will build on documented evidence of improvement in students' perceived participation and persistence in science coursework when enrolled in CUREs. In order to ascertain the causal mechanisms underlying the effectiveness and sustainability of CUREs, a comprehensive education research design will inform the collection of evidence from faculty and students in three university laboratory contexts: CUREs, conventional laboratory courses, and research internships. Assessments of student learning will focus on experimental problem solving, laboratory skills, and writing in context for the three student cohorts. Evaluation of faculty will center on their development and implementation of ChemCURE series and their revision of the CUREs using empirical evidence. Ultimately, the project will result in a transformed and sustainable system, and the process of course transformation will provide a unique opportunity to examine the effect of a CURE sequence that links a lower-division course to an upper-division course.