Implementation and Evaluation of Curricular Undergraduate Research Experiences in the Life Sciences

在改善本科STEM教育：西班牙裔服务机构（HSI）计划的支持下，这个第二轨道项目的重点是提高在生命科学领域代表性不足的学生的成功。代表性不足的第一代大学生在高等教育中面临许多结构性障碍，例如缺乏对如何参与高影响力实践（如本科研究经历和实习）的认识。本科生研究已被证明是学生学业成功的主要贡献者，有助于塑造学生对STEM的归属感。该项目的一个主要目标是增加基于课程的本科研究（CURE）实验室的数量，以便更多的学生，包括那些来自代表性不足的群体的学生，能够获得这种变革性的教学干预。完成CURE实验室的学生将被邀请与行业代表会面，以探索潜在的实习机会。该项目旨在确定通过CUREs体验式学习如何影响学生的成功。该项目将扩展CUREs作为一种方法，为对分子，细胞和发育生物学感兴趣的学生提供研究机会。该计划有两个组成部分。首先，该系将建立四个新的由教师领导的CURE实验室，最多可招收100名本科生。通过衔接研究和教育，该项目将为学生创造机会，与教师一起在分子、细胞和发育生物学的前沿领域进行真正的研究项目。通过将研究纳入课程，该项目将使STEM中代表性不足的群体的学生成为研究界的一员。该项目的第二部分将侧重于与硅谷的生物技术公司建立伙伴关系，为学生提供实习机会。这些合作伙伴关系将增加学院为本科生提供研究经验的能力，并为学生提供毕业后职业发展的重要网络机会。该项目将通过检查学生对实验设计的理解以及他们自我报告的科学技能方面的收获来评估学生在CURES中的学习情况。最后，该项目将通过比较参加CURE的学生与未参加CURE的学生的留校率和毕业率，来检查CURE对学生成绩的影响。HSI计划旨在加强本科STEM教育，扩大STEM参与，并在HSI进行能力建设。考虑到hsi的多样化性质和背景，实现这些目标需要创新的方法来激励机构和社区转型，并促进基础研究(i)关于参与式学生学习，（ii）关于如何有效地多样化和增加STEM参与，以及（iii）提高我们对如何在hsi建立机构能力的理解，这些都是由该计划支持的。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。

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSI) program, this Track 2 project focuses on improving the success of underrepresented students in the life sciences. Underrepresented and first-generation college students face many structural impediments in higher education such as a lack of awareness on how to become involved in high impact practices like undergraduate research experiences and internships. Undergraduate research has been shown to be a major contributor to student academic success, helping to shape students' sense of belonging in STEM. A major goal of this project is to increase the number of course-based undergraduate research (CURE) laboratories so that more students, including those from underrepresented groups have access to this transformative pedagogical intervention. Students who complete CURE labs will be invited to meet with industry representatives to explore potential internship opportunities. This project aims to determine how experiential learning through CUREs influences student success.This project will expand CUREs as an approach to provide research opportunities for students interested in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. The plan has two components. First, the department will establish four new faculty-led CURE labs that will engage up to 100 undergraduates. By bridging research and education, this program will create opportunities for students to work with faculty on authentic research projects in cutting edge fields in molecular, cellular, and developmental biology. Through embedding research into the curriculum, the project will empower students from groups underrepresented in STEM to become members of the research community. The second part of this project will focus on developing partnerships with biotechnology companies in Silicon Valley to provide student internships. These partnerships will increase the college’s capacity for providing research experiences for undergraduates as well as providing students with important networking opportunities for post-graduation careers. The project will assess student learning in the CURES by examining a student’s understanding of experimental design and their self-reported gains in scientific skills. Finally, the project will examine the impact CUREs have on student achievement by comparing the retention and graduation rates of students enrolled in the CURES to those of students who do not enroll in a CURE. The HSI Program aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and build capacity at HSIs. Achieving these aims, given the diverse nature and context of the HSIs, requires innovative approaches that incentivize institutional and community transformation and promote fundamental research (i) on engaged student learning, (ii) about what it takes to diversify and increase participation in STEM effectively, and (iii) that improves our understanding of how to build institutional capacity at HSIs are supported by this program.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.