Collaborative Research: Expanding and Evaluating Ecological Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences Supported by a National Network of Scientists and Educators

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This project aims to serve the national interest by evaluating evidence-based practices for engaging students in authentic ecological research across the undergraduate curriculum. Research opportunities enable students to engage in the scientific process, as well as help them to develop workforce readiness and to evaluate potential careers. By embedding research within instruction, Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) provide research opportunities to large numbers of students. This project will evaluate a set of community-based CURE modules intended to help students build scientific skills throughout their undergraduate experience. The modules provide students with repeated opportunities to conduct authentic research on the behavioral ecology of squirrels. These animals are intrinsically interesting to many people and can be studied across a wide range of environments. These CURES are supported by a national network (Squirrel-Net) that provides tools and training for instructors who seek to increase CURE adoption. The Network also provides opportunities for students and faculty to communicate and collaborate across courses and institutions. This project seeks to enhance understanding of evidence-based approaches to STEM instruction and to improve the education of a diverse scientific workforce through broad implementation of the CURE modules.The project aims to assess the impacts of scaffolding CURE modules within curricula and supporting students and instructors through a network. The project goals are twofold: (1) disseminate and support a set of broadly transferable teaching modules and toolkits to allow instructors to easily embed field-based, behavioral ecology CUREs within courses; and (2) assess how networked CURE modules impact student gains in content knowledge, skills, and self-identification as a scientist across multiple and varied institutions. Participating instructors will be trained in the use of open-access teaching modules and supported through digital resources (e.g., instructional materials; an online database of student-collected data) and field equipment loans. By scaffolding modules among multiple courses at diverse institutions, this project will examine how specific features of CURE module implementation affect student outcomes across a variety of contexts and student demographics. Student outcomes will be evaluated with assessments derived from validated survey instruments focused on scientific skills, sense of belonging to a community, and self-identity as a scientist. Structural equation modeling will be used to evaluate the impacts of CURE participation on student content knowledge, analytical skills, and engagement following a theory of change framework. This project will guide the implementation and improvement of evidence-based practices in STEM teaching and learning by empirically testing whether repeated CUREs and belonging to a nationwide research network improves student outcomes. 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.