Substantiation and Validation of the Benefits of CUREs in STEM using a Combination of Self-Reported Gains and Alignment with Learning Objectives

The implementation of the Biochemistry Authentic Scientific Inquiry Lab (BASIL) Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) is an important resource that grants students the opportunity to develop research experience while working to earn their bachelor’s degree. Pre and post Participant Perception Indicator (PPI) surveys were made available to students to measure student improvement after taking the course. Growth in knowledge, experience, and confidence (KEC) was measured by comparing the pre-semester and post-semester PPI survey data. In addition to the self-reported data, the student learning objective mastery quantitatively using Anticipated Learning Outcomes (ALOs) designed specifically for the BASIL CURE curriculum. Likert scale-based analysis is employed to evaluate the level of content mastery student responses demonstrate. Assignment questions were designed to correspond to the most critical learning objectives. The COVID-19 pandemic caused a shift to online learning halfway through the Winter semester and undergraduate universities transitioned to a fully online curriculum. This affected those students taking the course remotely because they were unable to complete the biochemical experiments associated with the BASIL course curriculum. Recently, students have returned to in-person learning and results between semesters have reflected an increase in KEC in biochemical and computational ALOs. Overall, significant growth and improvement was reported by the participants of the course, and analysis shows greater mastery of bioinformatic ALOs during remote learning. The student’s mastery of wet-lab ALOs coincided with our findings that lab courses need enhanced strategies to teach critical STEM lab-research skills in an online setting. Novel assessment and instruction strategies targeted to learning mastery gaps identified as part of this work will pave the way for wider CURE adoption. Ultimately, this serves as a platform to expose every undergraduate student to vital STEM research experiences.