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Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE)
Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE)
What are CUREs?
What are CUREs?
Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are courses in which students conduct original research in a classroom setting.
Why CUREs?
Why CUREs?
CUREs expand research opportunities for undergraduate students by engaging whole classes in discovery-based research.
CURE Challenges
CURE Challenges
Numerous studies have documented the benefits of CUREs; however for faculty, developing CUREs can be a challenge.
Where to start?
What topics could you use?
Is there a standard outline to help plan and launch your CURE?
Can CUREs be interdisciplinary and quantitative?
Interdisciplinary CURE (iCURE)
Interdisciplinary CURE (iCURE)
iCUREs
iCUREs
Interdisciplinary Course-Based Undergraduate Research (iCURE) is a unique CURE developed to engage students from many different majors including Applied Computing, Applied Math, Biology, Environmental Sciences, Forensic Science, and Statistics.
iCUREs at Arizona State University, West Campus
iCUREs at Arizona State University, West Campus
iCUREs have been developed and tested at the west campus of Arizona State University in the School of Mathematical and Natural Sciences. ASU West iCUREs have been developed and taught for a wide variety of topics including:
Wild Bees in the Sonoran Desert
Capsaicin Content in Hot Peppers
Remediation of Mine Soils using Plants
Sonoran Desert Microbiology Research
Persistence of Latent Forensic Evidence
Fruit Fly Fertility, Development, and Behavior
Fish Ecology
A CURE Embedded in a Summer Research Experience "How Metal is Your Campus"
Toxicology Methodologies using Plants
Using Digital Collections Data for Research
Yeast Cell Biology
Forensic Botany
More information regarding the iCUREs developed at ASU West can be found HERE.
Wild Bees of the Sonoran Desert
Wild Bees of the Sonoran Desert
Sonoran Desert Microbiology Research
Sonoran Desert Microbiology Research
Persistence of Latent Forensic Evidence
Persistence of Latent Forensic Evidence
Remediation of Mine Soils using Plants
Remediation of Mine Soils using Plants
Tools for CURE Development
Tools for CURE Development
Common Course Outline
Common Course Outline
We have developed a Common Course Outline that is applicable to a wide variety of research topics and standardizes teaching of common components of scientific inquiry, regardless of the research topic.
The Common Course Outline integrates all aspects of the scientific method, namely hypothesis generation, experimental execution, and data analysis.
Learning Outcomes for all iCUREs
Learning Outcomes for all iCUREs
All iCUREs have the same learning objectives, regardless of research topic.
At the end of the CURE experience, students should be able to:
Conduct a primary literature search on the research topic.
Formulate a hypothesis to test with research experimentation.
Design an experiment that will evaluate the formulated hypothesis.
Execute the experimental design.
Appropriately analyze the experiment to obtain sound conclusions regarding the outcome of the experiment.
Be able to effectively and appropriately communicate the results of the scientific research through both oral and written communication.
Be able to demonstrate awareness and adherence to the principles of general lab safety.
Lesson Plans and Student Handouts
Lesson Plans and Student Handouts
Group Formation and Study Design
How to write a Standard Operating Procedure
How to Design a Scientific Poster
Check out the recorded workshop to learn more about how to develop your course using the Common CURE Outline!
Check out the recorded workshop to learn more about how to develop your course using the Common CURE Outline!
iCURE Team
iCURE Team
This is a truly interdisciplinary team of Jennifer Broach (statistician), Jennifer Foltz-Sweat (ecologist), Jennifer Hackney (developmental biologist), Kimberly Kobojek (forensic scientist), Pamela Marshall (geneticist), and Ken Sweat (plant biologist). Anthony Falsetti (forensic scientist and anthropologist), former faculty member at ASU, and now at George Mason, remains a collaborator.
iCURE Publications
iCURE Publications
Sweat KG, Enright SC, Neill AS, Bienenstock EJ, Smith-Heisters S. 2025. Planted at the scene of the Crime: Teaching Undergraduate Forensics Students about the Uses of Pollen as Evidence in Criminal Investigations. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science. 51(1): 1-8. BioONE.
Sweat KG, Hackney JF, Marshall PA. 2025. A course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) embedded within a summer undergraduate research experience demonstrates value-added benefits. Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education. Jan 14:e0019224. doi: 10.1128/jmbe.00192-24. PubMed
Wetle R, Bensko-Tarsitano B, Johnson K, Sweat, KG, Cahill T. 2020. Uptake of uranium into desert plants in an abandoned uranium mine and its implications for phytostabilization strategies. Journal of Environmental Radioactivity. 220–221, 106293. ScienceDirect
Sweat, KG, PA Marshall, Foltz-Sweat JL, Broatch JE. 2018. Developing a Course-Based Research Experience For Undergraduates: The ASU West Experience. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science. 47(2):36-43. BioONE
Lowe AD, Foltz-Sweat JL. 2017. Effect of Floral Diversity and Urbanization on Bee Species Community Composition in Phoenix, Arizona. Journal of the Arizona-Nevada Academy of Science. 47(1):6-18. JSTOR
Sweat KG, Broatch J, Borror C, Hagan K, Cahill T. 2016. Variability in capsaicinoid content and Scoville heat ratings of commercially grown Jalapeño, Habanero and Bhut Jolokia peppers. Food Chemistry. 210: 606-612. ScienceDirect
Funding
Funding
Partial support for this work was provided by the National Science Foundation's Improving Undergraduate STEM Education (IUSE) program under Award No. 1606903. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation.
Questions? Contact Dr. Jennifer Hackney at Jennifer.Hackney.1@asu.edu
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