Visiting Assistant Professor Western Oregon University Monmouth, United States
Providing field-based research experiences is integral for cultivating interest in Biology outside of the lab or classroom. Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have been shown to generate enthusiasm and interest in doing science, and, when designed properly, do so in a way that is equitable. In my General Ecology Laboratory course at Western Oregon University, I brought students to a nearby stream, Ash Creek, three times throughout the term to make field collections of aquatic macroinvertebrates along with various abiotic measurements. They worked in teams of four to generate data, but use the entire class's data to investigate specific research questions in pairs. In designing this course, my goal was to guide students through the scientific process from making observations about a given ecosystem to analysis and presentation within a 10-week term. In this poster, I provide steps for bringing students from a point of curiosity to researchers who are capable of collecting data for, analyzing, and presenting their research to a general audience. Given the proper resources and instruction, students should be able to appropriately analyze and effectively communicate their research to a general audience. Their projects culminated with a poster session that was open to the department, which elicited around 50 faculty and students each term. Based on course feedback and feedback from showcase participants, students convey both enhanced understanding but also enthusiasm for the scientific process using a system (aquatic macroinvertebrates) that they may have otherwise not known, or cared, about. In conclusion, students benefitted in their understanding of the scientific process by participating in it in this CURE. Furthermore, I plan to quantify the effects of this course design on student learning (specifically the understanding of Ecological concepts and enthusiasm for research and stream ecology) in the coming academic year.
