Evaluating the Impact of CURE Course Design Characteristics on Student Interest, Engagement, and Persistence

在NSF改善本科生STEM教育计划：教育和人力资源(IUSE：EHR)的支持下，该项目旨在通过研究学生如何从基于课程的本科生研究经历(CURE)中受益来服务于国家利益。有证据表明，早期、真实的研究经历比传统的学习环境对大学生的STEM学习、动机和学业计划有更积极的影响。不幸的是，相对较少的学生可以获得本科生研究的机会。尽管传统的本科实验室课程可以支持大量的学生，但它们通常不会让学生参与发现和迭代，这是真正研究的特点。一个为更多的学生提供更多机会获得“真实”研究体验的解决方案才是解决之道。CURES将教员研究实验室的许多真实特征与课程环境的更大容量结合在一起。这种可扩展性和真实性导致了CURE项目的增长和学院和大学的扩张。然而，随着治疗方案的普及，人们对它们的热情并没有得到一致的评估方法或教育理论的支持。因此，需要研究来帮助教师了解治疗是如何起作用的，什么时候治疗最有效，以及谁治疗受益。通过提供证据和工具来改善课程设置中经历的研究机会的质量，解决文献中的这一差距将有助于改善美国的本科生STEM教育。反过来，获得这些改进的研究机会可以增加潜在的STEM专业的留住，他们很容易在学术生涯早期退出该专业，包括那些来自STEM领域代表性不足的群体的学生。尽管已经对一些治愈前/治愈后的学生结果进行了评估，但尚未记录学生如何体验各种治愈课程设计特征并对其做出反应，例如迭代实验和处理定义不明确的复杂任务。此外，在长达一学期的经历中，学生对治疗的反应仍是未知的。最后，尚不清楚整个学期不同特色的治疗课程的实例和重点如何与学生的兴趣相互作用，以增加(或减少)学生坚持学习过程的动机。该项目将通过以下方式解决文献中的这些空白：1)建立一个“真实研究”特征的分类法，用于对不同部门和机构的治疗进行系统分类；2)测量学生的兴趣(基于动机理论)如何因这些课程特征而在给定的治疗过程中发生变化；3)探索课程特征、学生兴趣、长期STEM持久力和职业目标之间的相互作用。该项目旨在通过在三所大学的本科治疗课程中自然抽样研究课程设计和学生结果来完成这些任务：一所以研究为重点的私立大学，一所以研究为重点的公共大学，以及一所以本科生为重点的公共大学。数据收集将包括定量(教学大纲分析和学生兴趣调查)和定性(学生访谈)研究方法的结合。这项研究的结果将扩大实践者对STEM参与的基于课程的方法的知识。它还将通知那些在STEM教育研究社区中有兴趣研究带有新的研究问题的治疗方法的人。NSF IUSE：EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生的STEM教育的有效性。通过参与的学生学习路径，该计划支持有前景的实践和工具的创建、探索和实施。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

With support from the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources (IUSE: EHR), this project aims to serve the national interest by examining how students benefit from Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). Evidence suggests that early, authentic research experiences have a more positive affect than traditional learning contexts on college students' STEM learning, motivation, and academic plans. Unfortunately, opportunities for undergraduate research are available to relatively few students. Although traditional undergraduate laboratory classes can support a large number of students, they do not typically engage students in discovery and iteration, which are characteristics of authentic research. A solution that provides more students with greater access to an "authentic" research experience is the CURE. CUREs combine many of the authentic features of a faculty member's research lab with the larger capacity of a course environment. This scalability and authenticity have led to growth of CURE programs and expansion across colleges and universities. As CURE offerings spread, however, the enthusiasm for them has not been matched by a consistent approach to evaluation or educational theory grounding. Therefore, research is needed to assist instructors in understanding how CUREs work, when CUREs are most effective, and who CUREs benefit. Addressing this gap in the literature will contribute to improving undergraduate STEM education in the United States by providing evidence and tools to improve the quality of research opportunities experienced in course settings. In turn, access to these improved research opportunities can increase the retention of potential STEM majors who are vulnerable to exiting the major early in their academic careers, including those from groups underrepresented in STEM fields.Although assessment of some pre-/post-CURE student outcomes has been conducted, it is not yet documented how students experience and react to various CURE course design features, such as iterative experimentation and dealing with ill-defined, complex tasks. In addition, it remains unknown how students react to CURES over a semester-long experience. Finally, it is not known how the instance and emphasis of different features of CURE courses throughout a semester interact with student interest to increase (or decrease) students' motivation to persist in a course of study. This project will address these gaps in the literature by: 1) Developing a taxonomy of "authentic research" characteristics for systematic classification of CUREs across departments and institutions; 2) Measuring how student interest (based on motivation theory) varies over the course of a given CURE as a result of these course characteristics; and 3) Exploring interactions between course characteristics, student interest, and longer-term STEM persistence and career goals. The project aims to complete these tasks by studying course design and student outcomes in a natural sample of undergraduate CURE courses at three universities: a research-focused private, a research-focused public, and an undergraduate-focused public. Data collection will include a combination of quantitative (syllabus analysis and student interest surveys) and qualitative (student interviews) research methods. The results of this study will expand practitioners' knowledge of course-based approaches to STEM engagement. It will also inform those in the STEM education research community who are interested in studying CUREs with new research questions to explore. The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the 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.