NSF Award
1832545
The Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions Program (HSI Program) aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and build capacity at HSIs. Projects supported by the HSI Program will also generate new knowledge on how to achieve these aims. This project at National University will advance the aims of the HSI Program by adding research experiences to undergraduate biology courses. Through a collaboration with the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, this project will incorporate course-based undergraduate research (CURE) biology courses for biology majors and for non-majors. The research topics will focus on plastic pollution in the ocean. Students taking these CURE courses will gain experiences in the scientific process, which can positively affect their persistence and graduation in biology, as well as their career goals. The project will also develop the pathway from the non-major biology course into the biology major. Thus, National University will build its ability in the biology program, increasing the number of students enrolling in and completing the biology degree program. In addition, dissemination of this CURE model could enable other institutions to achieve similar gains in biology programs, thus broadening the project's impact.<br/><br/>This project will 1) develop and implement CURE modules in undergraduate courses, 2) evaluate the effect of the modules on student perception, engagement, and persistence in biology, and 3) expand CURE modules to other institutions, particularly those with nontraditional students. Through the CURE modules, the project aims to enhance student engagement and increase student retention and completion of the Bachelor of Science in Biology. The CURE modules will use microbiology and molecular biology techniques to study microbial communities colonizing plastic waste in the ocean. Changes in bacterial composition of coastal waters due to plastic pollution could affect local ecosystems and human health in ways that have not yet been determined. Linking topics in the biology courses to a current research problem in a local environment may increase students' interest in pursuing science careers. This project will expand undergraduate biology education to informal settings with a focus on serving nontraditional students in accelerated course settings. The impact of this experience on students' career goals, as well as persistence and graduation in STEM disciplines, will be evaluated through quantitative and qualitative data. Students' personal circumstances and insights will be examined to gain insight on effective institutional policies and support mechanisms. This project will develop a model that may be implemented at other institutions seeking to enhance their biology program via regionally relevant CUREs.<br/><br/>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.
