CURENET : FACULTY NETWORK FOR DESIGNING, TEACHING AND EVALUATING CURES

Research experiences can be pivotal in the education and professional development of undergraduate science majors, including students from groups historically underrepresented in STEM fields. Course-based projects that engage whole classes of students in addressing a research question is one approach to meeting the high demand for undergraduate research experience. However, designing a new CURE that meets both pedagogical and research goals can be daunting, especially in the context of high teaching loads and/or limited institutional resources. CUREnet was established in 2012 to support faculty developing, teaching, and assessing CUREs, to share CURE projects and resources, and to develop new tools and strategies for CURE instruction and assessment. Since then CUREnet has built significant capacity for undergraduate instructors to design and teach CUREs and for evaluators and researchers to study the effectiveness of CUREs with increased rigor and sophistication.

Using a template-guided approach, CUREnet is currently hosting a series of 8 regional institutes to help faculty members develop, teach, and evaluate their CURE ideas at a wide variety of institution types with an emphasis on minority serving institutions. The template is a web-based form that encourages participants to include elements that a committee of experienced CURE instructors have identified as the critical components of a successful CURE. These include a focus on CURE as a pedagogical approach, including student learning goals and assessments, and CURE as a mechanism to accomplish publishable research such as project iteration and data management. As CURE examples are taught and tested, they become part of a growing collection, freely available online. Originally focused on life sciences, CUREnet welcomes contributions to the collection from other STEM disciplines. More information about the project, how to join the community or submit your CURE is available at: https://serc.carleton.edu/curenet