Expanding your research team: learning gains when a laboratory partners with a classroom (original) (raw)
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PLOS ONE, 2021
As part of a wider reform to scaffold quantitative and research skills throughout the biology major, we introduced course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) in sections of a large-enrollment introductory biology laboratory course in a mid-level, public, minority-serving institution. This initiative was undertaken as part of the in the National Science Foundation / Council for Undergraduate Research Transformations Project. Student teams performed two or three experiments, depending on semester. They designed, implemented, analyzed, revised and iterated, wrote scientific paper-style reports, and gave oral presentations. We tested the impact of CURE on student proficiency in experimental design and statistical reasoning, and student research confidence and attitudes over two semesters. We found that students in the CURE sections met the reformed learning objectives for experimental design and statistical reasoning. CURE students also showed higher levels of experimental d...
Transforming Laboratory Education in the Life Sciences
Microbe Magazine, 2016
Throughout college, students encounter experiences that influence their decisions to continue or leave their intended science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors. All STEM faculty share in a responsibility to encourage undergraduates to persist in these studies. Evidence continues to support active learning as an equitable teaching practice that benefıts diverse student populations, including women and underrepresented minority students most at risk for leaving STEM. The hope is that more STEM instructors will move away from the traditional lecture format as the primary mode of teaching undergraduates and that institutional leaders will reward those faculty who use inclusive, student-centered teaching practices effectively.
2001
Full engagement in science includes observation and asking questions, the development of a hypothesis, designing and conducting an appropriate experiment to test that hypothesis, data acquisition, appropriate analysis, revisiting initial questions, and dissemination of results. Here, I report on efforts to engage undergraduate students in all of these elements of science by integrating inquiry, investigation, and research in four intermediate biology courses for all majors. The project-based courses include Plant Ecology, Scanning Electron Microscopy, Molecular Genetics, and Physiological Ecology. Students conduct semester-long, experimental research projects and present their results at a public poster session on campus. Using computers, peripherals, and software funded by an award from the National Science Foundation, efforts were made to enhance the data acquisition, analysis, and presentation aspects of student research. The quality of the student research was improved, and student pride and ownership over the work increased. Students exhibited a greater understanding of science and quantitative analysis. One student project was published in a peer-reviewed journal, and many others were presented at regional and national meetings. The number of students taking elective courses in related areas, continuing research and senior honors projects, and applying and being accepted to related graduate programs significantly increased. Student poster sessions served to create a campuswide culture of science.
Teaming Introductory Biology and Research Labs in Support of Undergraduate Education
DNA and Cell Biology, 2010
Numerous studies have indicated the need to improve the general level of science literacy among students and to increase the number of students electing science as a career. One mechanism for doing this is to involve undergraduates in research. This article reports how our Introductory Biology 152 course has worked synergistically with mentors in research labs on the University of Wisconsin-Madison campus to increase undergraduate retention in research and at the same time improve their higher order inquiry and communication skills.
Prepping Students for Authentic Science
Science teacher (Normal, Ill.), 2008
You can probably think of a time when your students conducted an experiment with a predictable outcome that yielded an unexpected result. When this happens, discussion often centers on, "What did we do wrong?" instead of "How do these data address our scientific question?" or "What alternative explanations could account for our findings?" (Hart et al. 2000). Unexpected results can serve as an excellent teaching tool and "authentic science" can be used as a learning context for developing students' understanding of the process and nature of science (AAAS 1990; Bencze and Hodson 1999; Hanauer et al. 2007; Means 1998; NRC 1996). Making discoveries is fun and exciting, and may be the impetus that propels young learners to pursue challenging course-work, further education, and careers in science (Markowitz 2004; Roberts and Wassersug 2008). Yet, scientific research usually happens in research laboratories or at field sites, and requires access to knowledge, supplies, and equipment not typically available in precollege classrooms. Research internships provide an excellent way for high school students to participate in authentic research (Barab and Hay 2001; Knox, Moynihan, and Markowitz 2003; Markowitz 2004). However, such opportunities are often limited in scope and scale and involve only a handful of students. Yet, three factors are opening doors between classrooms and research labs: publicly available databases that contain massive amounts of biological information; stock centers that house and distribute inexpensive organisms with different genotypes; and the internet, which serves as conduit for dialogue and knowledge sharing. In this article, we describe a large-scale research collaboration, the Partnership for Research and Education in Plants (PREP; see "On the web" at the end of this article), that has capitalized on these resources in response to interest from students. Through PREP, entire classes of students, with mentorship from teachers and scientists, are currently designing and conducting their own investigations while adding to the body of knowledge about genes and their functions. Germination of a collaboration A few years ago, the first author met with several teacher colleagues who noted that their students wanted opportunities to collect "real" data. Students were interested in moving beyond demonstration labs, with their predictable outcomes, and in a different direction than science fairs, where findings may only be shared with other students and their families, rather than the broader scientific community. The group brainstormed what experiments students could do in classrooms, keeping in mind their interests, district regulations, and required course content.
School Science and Mathematics, 2017
This study examines what students enrolled in the honors and general sections of a high school biology course offered at the same school learn when they have an opportunity to participate in a broad or narrow range of science practices during their laboratory experiences. The results of our analysis suggest that the students enrolled in the general sections of the course made similar or larger gains than the students enrolled in the honors section of the course in their abilities to plan and carry out an investigation, argue from evidence, and write a science-specific persuasive essay when these students had an opportunity to participate in a broad range of science practices. These findings suggest that laboratory experiences that give students an opportunity to participate in a broad range of science practices, although considered challenging by many teachers, have the potential to help all students become more proficient in science. The article concludes with a discussion of the implications of this study for classroom instruction and educational policy.