We analyze how participating in undergraduate research experiences (UREs) influenced physics students' trajectories of participation within the community of practice of physics researchers. Students in the study participated in an elective seminar in which they were paired with graduate student and faculty mentors on physics research projects and…

The focus of this Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU) project was on RNA secondary structure prediction by using a lattice walk approach. The lattice walk approach is a combinatorial and computational biology method used to enumerate possible secondary structures and predict RNA secondary structure from RNA sequences. The method uses…

A new, integrated laboratory curriculum was recently developed at the U.S. Naval Academy in response to the 1999 ACS Committee on Professional Training guidelines that required inclusion of biochemistry and a stronger emphasis on student research. To meet these ACS requirements and to introduce more student choice in the major, we embarked on a…