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

该项目旨在通过增加STEM课程中基于课程的本科研究经验（CURES）的实施和可见性来服务于国家利益，重点是入门级STEM课程。在东北州立大学，这是一个少数民族服务机构（MSI）和美国原住民服务非部落机构（NASNTI），预计CURE将影响大量的学生历史上在他们追求的STEM研究领域，特别是NSU的美国原住民学生人口的代表性不足。NSU的这个项目将探索策略，以确保教师完全致力于使用研讨会和指导计划在他们的课程中使用CURE。该项目旨在举办一个广泛可用的研讨会，并介绍CURE在本科STEM教育中的价值，然后在NSU获得奖学金机会。STEM教师将有机会申请奖学金计划。选定的教师将与导师配对参加一系列培训研讨会，并为他们的课程之一开发新的CURE。下一个学期，他们将用新的CURE教授这门课程。在整个项目中，将收集和分析有关教师的看法，目前实施CURE的障碍和学生成绩的数据。该项目的结果可能有助于指导未来的项目，以增加在其他机构的STEM课程中使用CURE。拟议的项目将探讨战略，以确保教师充分意识到并致力于在他们的课程中使用CURE。该项目将力求实现以下五个目标。首先是将STEM课程中的CURE使用率提高200%（从4门STEM课程增加到12门）。第二是招收额外的45名学生进入STEM专业，其中包括来自代表性不足背景的额外20名学生。第三，在参与教师讲授的STEM入门课程中，提高90%学生的自我效能感。第四，在参与教师教授的STEM入门课程中，将辍学、失败或退学（DFW）的学生比例降低10%。第五，向其他方面，包括其他少数民族服务机构传播项目成果。为了实现这些目标，项目小组将设计一个讲习班，重点是增加对作为教学工具的CURE的了解，并审查将CURE成功纳入课堂教学的模式。研讨会之后，参与教师将有机会申请一个CURE奖学金，这将提供开发，实施，评估和修改每个研究员的课程负荷中至少一个CURE所需的时间。每位研究员还将被分配一名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本科生这些极具影响力的体验至关重要。(1)为什么STEM教师不愿将CURES经验纳入本科课程？(2)拟议的讲习班和研究金方案是否能有效地促进实施CURE？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。该奖项反映了NSF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.