Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are courses in which students conduct original research in a classroom setting.
CUREs expand research opportunities for undergraduate students by engaging whole classes in discovery-based research.
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 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 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
More information regarding the iCUREs developed at ASU West can be found HERE.
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.
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.
Group Formation and Study Design
How to write a Standard Operating Procedure
How to Design a Scientific Poster
This is a truly interdisciplinary team of Jennifer Broach (statistician), Jennifer Foltz-Sweat (ecologist), Jennifer Hackney Price (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.
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 Price at Jennifer.Hackney.1@asu.edu