Collaborative Research: Level II Preparing Undergraduates for Research in STEM-related fields Using Electrophysiology (PURSUE)

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This project aims to serve the national interest in high-quality STEM education by increasing the number of college students who participate in cognitive neuroscience research. Based on survey data, few undergraduates are currently involved in cognitive neuroscience research projects at colleges and universities. In addition, those undergraduates who are working in these laboratories are involved at a basic, data-collecting level. With the necessary knowledge and hands-on experience with data analysis, more undergraduate researchers could contribute more substantially to cognitive neuroscience research. This project aims to achieve this goal by building upon a set of open-access teaching and learning resources that were developed by the principle investigators with previous NSF support. These resources include stand-alone modules that can be incorporated into existing courses, as well as an entire undergraduate course. The project will evaluate and improve these resources to make them easier to use by different faculty and at different institutions. In addition, the project will train and support faculty in effective use of the resources. This training will include support provided through a faculty learning community. This project has the potential to improve undergraduate STEM learning by increasing the use of evidence-based teaching resources, to broaden institutional capacity for STEM learning by supporting improvements to courses, and to prepare the STEM workforce by engaging students in high-quality research experiences. The specific objectives of this project are to: 1) refine, assess, and revise a set of cognitive electrophysiology training materials; 2) facilitate course implementation and broaden the cognitive electrophysiology teaching/research community through course-design workshops, especially for faculty serving populations that are under-represented in STEM; and 3) increase dissemination and accessibility of course materials through development of a website and database of electrophysiology data. Efficacy of course materials will be assessed via faculty surveys and student learning outcomes (pretest-posttest design with cohort comparison group). Workshop success and impact will be evaluated via faculty participant surveys and annual surveys tracking teaching, mentoring, and research activities. Results will be disseminated at conferences and in neuroscience and education journals. This project has the potential to improve the training of thousands of undergraduate and graduate students. The online accessibility of materials allows faculty from diverse colleges and universities worldwide, particularly those with limited resources, to increase training and research opportunities for underrepresented populations without the need to purchase or maintain electrophysiology equipment. Additionally, it can increase opportunities for undergraduates to engage in authentic research experiences that lead to faculty-student co-authored publications, better training students for graduate school and the STEM workforce. This project is supported by the NSF Improving Undergraduate STEM Education Program: Education and Human Resources, which 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.