TESTING THE IMPACT OF A MULTI-YEAR, CURRICULUM-BASED UNDERGRADUATE RESEARCH EXPERIENCE (MY-CURE): OBSERVATIONS FROM A 5-SEMESTER COHORT

Short-term undergraduate research experiences (URE’s) provide skill and confidence enhancement to students, but it is unclear how effective they are in comparison to a dedicated, longer-term URE. This study examines the impact of a long-term URE embedded in a sequence of five courses in the geology curriculum. It begins with a sophomore course in environmental geology, and continues through mineralogy, structural geology, and petrology, before concluding at our field camp. In this sequence, they build upon individual URE’s related to the structure and petrology of fault rocks from a mid-crustal shear zone in the Colorado Rockies, a culminating focus of our field camp. Students retain and develop their research for five consecutive semesters so that we can assess when and how different gains begin to emerge and mature. These include development of: (a) A realistic self-assessment of scientific competence, (b) their personal identity as a geoscientist, (c) an understanding of how to conduct scientific research, (d) an increased interest in science as a career, and (e) an increased understanding about how to communicate scientific research.

In this presentation, we describe observations from a cohort (n=8) who completed the URE across five consecutive semesters. We compare these to a smaller group of students who took the same five courses out-of-sequence at an accelerated pace resulting in a shorter-term, 3-semester URE. Student gains were measured through replicated, in-person and Facebook chats, and Qualtrics surveys designed to measure confidence in ability. Key findings are preliminary, but there is support for two principal assumptions underlying the 5-semester cohort model and the embedded nature of the URE: (1) Students completing the URE over 5 semesters are better able to detect patterns and processes within the broader context of geological time during field camp, and (2) the 5-semester cohort students report field camp as having refined their interest in geoscience careers and graduate school. Off-sequence, 3-semester URE students did not experience these two gains. These preliminary findings reinforce the notion that skills and attitudes are accumulated over time through repeated exposure across courses. Replicate analysis of student gains in a second 5-semester cohort is currently underway.