An update of recent CURE-related research, opportunities, and resources.
Open this newsletter on the CUREnet website.
CUREnet Quarterly - June 2021
Recent Publications
Is This Science? Students' Experiences of Failure Make a Research-Based Course Feel Authentic
In this study of students in CURE and inquiry courses, student perceptions of authentic research elements in their courses were measured and compared. The findings suggest that experiencing failure can enhance perceived research authenticity, which can be especially impactful for CURE students in the context of relevant discovery.
Science Identity among Latinx Students in the Biomedical Sciences: The Role of a Critical Race Theory–Informed Undergraduate Research Experience
This article explores the role of science identity and intention to pursue a science-related career among three groups of undergraduate Latinx biomedical science majors. Students who participated in an undergraduate research program (NIH BUILD PODER), which is guided by critical race theory, reported the highest levels of science identity and intention to pursue a science-related career upon graduation.
CREARE: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience To Study the Responses of the Endangered Coral Acropora cervicornis to a Changing Environment
The Coral Response to Environment Authentic Research Experience (CREARE) allows students to perform laboratory experiments to measure and analyze the abundance of photo-protective proteins in coral tissue from samples collected at different depths and at different times of the year. In this mixed-methods study, students performed significantly better on a written exam after participating in CREARE, while also showing positive shifts in attitudes towards science and intentions to persist in science during focus group interviews conducted with CREARE participants.
Special Announcements from CUREnet
Applications invited for CURE Author Fellowships!
Over the past three years, more than 200 educators and researchers have joined the CUREnet community through CURE Institutes, during which designs and implementation plans for CUREs were drafted. CUREnet seeks to make all of this great work available to the undergraduate STEM education community. To encourage members of the CUREnet community to complete their CURE entries, CUREnet is offering up to 100 CURE Author Fellowships of $500 each during summer 2021. For more information and to apply, please visit the CURE Author Fellowship page on the CUREnet site. Application review will begin on June 16, 2021 but applications will be accepted until all fellowships are committed.
CUREnet is seeking reviewers for the CUREnet collection!
Are you interested in participating in peer review of entries in the CURE collection? CUREnet runs periodic events to provide peer review to all finished CURE entries. Please use this form to indicate your interest in serving as a CURE peer reviewer as well as any information about the expertise you bring to the CURE review process.
CUREs from the Collection
Get the Lead Out: Impacts of Toxins from SuperFund Sites on Human Health, Ecology, and Socioeconomic Conditions, with an Evaluation of Environmental Racism in Regional Communities
Students in a community college introductory Environmental Studies course extract soil samples from a SuperFund site. They analyze toxins through reagent chemical tests and read peer-reviewed articles to enhance and promote scientific literacy. The overarching goal of the CURE is to examine impacts of environmental toxins on human health and development while also discussing equity and environmental racism.
Population and Community Ecology CURE
Students in a Population and Community Ecology class participate in coastal marine research focused on understanding factors determining population sizes and community interactions, particularly in the context of species that appear to be shifting their ranges with climate change. Students participate in all aspects of the research from making observations and collecting data in the field to defining questions, stating hypothesis, designing and completing statistical analysis, and interpreting and presenting results. The outcomes are a research proposal, research paper, and poster presentation. All are intended to be at a level appropriate for use as a writing sample or presentation at undergraduate conferences. Results are incorporated into the ongoing research project led by the course instructor and graduate student teaching assistant.
Announcements and Opportunities
Cell Biology Education Consortium (CBEC) Virtual CURE Workshop
The Cell Biology Education Consortium (CBEC) has created the Arkansas (AR) Course embedded Undergraduate Research Experience (AR-CURE) Synthetic Biology virtual workshop on how to create a CURE centered around synthetic biology. The CBEC also recently hosted a virtual poster session on Twitter that can be found using the hashtag #CellBioEd.
Georgia State University CURE-focused Academic Professional
The Neuroscience Institute at Georgia State University invites applications for the position of a full-time Academic Professional to begin August 2021. The Neuroscience Institute anticipates recruiting a broadly trained faculty member whose primary responsibilities will be to (1) manage and teach a required laboratory course for Junior and Senior-level majors in Neuroscience; (2) provide service, such as managing facilities and laboratory equipment, applying for internal and external funding for further development of STEM research experiences for undergraduate students, and maintaining social media representation of the Neuroscience Institute. For more information, visit the link here.
University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Teaching Faculty Position in Genetics
The Department of Biology/College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) seeks candidates for non tenure-track Teaching Faculty Position in Genetics. The primary responsibility of the successful candidate will be to teach a sophomore-level Genetics course for biology majors. Additional teaching responsibilities could include undergraduate Microbiology courses using evidence-based pedagogies including the design and implementation of CUREs.
Funding your own CURE
Please visit the CUREnet site to learn more about how others have funded their CUREs and share your own experiences!
Voices from the CURE community
We are interested in collecting narratives from individuals who have implemented CUREs and are willing to share their experience and advice with the rest of the CUREnet community. If you are interested in being featured in an upcoming issue of CUREnet Quarterly, email Logan Gin.
Have news to share?
Use this page on the CUREnet website to submit publications, announcements, and job posts to be featured in the next CUREnet Quarterly newsletter. For additional news and announcements, follow CUREnet on Twitter (@CUREnet1).