Investigation of Faculty Perceptions of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences and Barriers to their Implementation

本项目旨在通过提高基于课程的本科研究经验（CUREs）在STEM课程中的实施和可见性来服务于国家利益，重点是入门级STEM课程。东北州立大学既是一所少数民族服务机构（MSI），也是一所为美国原住民服务的非部落机构（NASNTI），预计CUREs将影响大量在追求STEM研究领域历史上代表性不足的学生，特别是NSU的美国原住民学生群体。新国立大学的这个项目将通过研讨会和指导计划探索策略，以确保教师在他们的课程中充分致力于使用CUREs。该项目旨在举办一个广泛的研讨会，并介绍cure在本科STEM教育中的价值，随后在新大获得奖学金机会。STEM教师将有机会申请奖学金项目。被选中的教师将与一名导师配对，参加一系列培训研讨会，并为他们的一门课程开发一种新的CURE。下个学期，他们将用新的CURE来教授这门课程。在整个项目中，将收集和分析有关教师观念、当前实施CUREs的障碍和学生成果的数据。该项目的结果可能有助于指导未来的项目，以增加其他机构在STEM课程中使用CUREs。拟议中的项目将探索确保教师充分意识到并致力于在其课程中使用cure的策略。该项目将力求达到以下五个目标。首先是将cure在STEM课程中的使用增加200%（从4门STEM课程增加到12门）。第二是招收45名STEM专业的学生，其中包括20名来自代表性不足背景的学生。第三，提高90%的学生在参与教师讲授的STEM入门课程中的自我效能感。第四，在参与教师讲授的STEM入门课程中，将退学、不及格或退学（DFW）的学生比例降低10%。五是向包括其他少数民族服务机构在内的其他机构宣传项目成果。为了实现这些目标，项目团队将设计一个研讨会，重点是增加作为教学工具的治愈知识，并检查成功地将治愈整合到课堂教学中的模型。研讨会结束后，参与的教师将有机会申请CURE奖学金，该奖学金将提供所需的时间来开发、实施、评估和修改每位研究员的课程负担中至少一个CURE。每个学员还将被分配一名CURE导师，他将在整个过程中提供持续的反馈和支持。该项目的另一个关键目标是探索两个问题，这两个问题对于促进这些对本科生具有高度影响力的体验至关重要。(1)为什么STEM教师不愿将CUREs的经验融入他们的本科课程？(2)拟议的研讨会和奖学金项目是否能有效促进《治愈方案》的实施？NSF IUSE: EHR计划支持研究和开发项目，以提高所有学生STEM教育的有效性。通过其参与学生学习轨道，该计划支持有前途的实践和工具的创建，探索和实施。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to serve the national interest by increasing the implementation and visibility of Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in STEM courses, with a focus on introductory level STEM courses. At Northeastern State University, which is both a Minority Serving Institution (MSI) and a Native American Serving Non-Tribal Institution (NASNTI), CUREs are expected to impact a significant number of students historically underrepresented in their pursuit of STEM fields of study, especially NSU’s Native American student population. This project at NSU will explore strategies to ensure faculty are fully committed to the use of CUREs in their courses using a workshop and mentoring program. The project is designed to host a broadly available workshop and presentation about the value of CUREs in undergraduate STEM education followed by a fellowship opportunity at NSU. STEM faculty will have the opportunity to apply for the fellowship program. The selected faculty will be paired with a mentor to participate in a series of training workshops, and develop a new CURE for one of their courses. The following semester, they will teach the course with the new CURE. Throughout the project, data regarding faculty perceptions, current barriers to implementation of CUREs, and student outcomes will be collected and analyzed. The results from this project may help guide future projects to increase use of CUREs in STEM courses at other institutions. The proposed project will explore strategies to ensure faculty are fully aware of and committed to the use of CUREs in their courses. The project will seek to meet the following five objectives. First is to increase the use of CUREs in STEM courses by 200% (from 4 to 12 STEM courses). Second is to recruit an additional 45 students into STEM majors, including an additional 20 students from underrepresented backgrounds. Third is to improve the sense of self-efficacy among 90% of students in introductory STEM courses taught by participating faculty. Fourth is to decrease the rate of students who drop, fail or withdraw (DFW) by 10% in introductory STEM courses taught by participating faculty. Fifth is to disseminate the results of the project to others including other minority serving institutions. To accomplish these objectives, the project team will design a workshop focused on increasing knowledge of CUREs as a pedagogical tool, and on examining models for successfully integrating CUREs into classroom teaching. Following the workshop, the participating faculty will have the opportunity to apply for one of the CURE fellowships that will provide the time needed to develop, implement, assess, and revise at least one CURE in each fellow’s course load. Each fellow will also be assigned a CURE mentor who will provide ongoing feedback and support through the process. Another key goal of this project is to explore two questions that are essential to promoting these highly impactful experiences for undergraduates. (1) Why are STEM faculty hesitant to incorporate CUREs experiences into their undergraduate classes? (2) Will the proposed workshop and fellowship program be effective in promoting implementation of CUREs? The NSF IUSE: EHR Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through its 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.