The course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) approach is increasingly being used in undergraduate experimental courses. Here, we describe the implementation of CURE in an upper-level inorganic chemistry course, in which students were assigned different current themes to study. This paper focuses on the theme of quantum dots,…

Community college transfer students face numerous challenges, including gaining access to undergraduate research experiences. In this Perspectives piece, we articulate the benefits of undergraduate research experiences for community college transfer students, some of the common barriers for engaging transfer students in undergraduate research, and…

The purpose of this study was to assess and describe the status of program evaluation within the National Science Foundation's (NSF) Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) sites. The National Science Foundation's REU program supports thousands of undergraduates annually in hands-on, immersive research experiences under the mentorship of…

In a typical citizen science scenario different groups of people take on various roles in a research process that is often coupled with educational, social or personal objectives. A widely accepted viewpoint asserts that such an endeavor should bring benefits to all involved parties and that no participating individuals should act "in…

The employability of science graduates if of key concern. Employers report that STEM graduates lack appropriate employability skills and work experience, and science graduates take longer to find full-time work than graduates from many other programs. Undergraduate research experience (URE) is an important pedagogy that involves student immersion…

The development and implementation of varied assessment practices is a major focus in higher education. Assessment benefits both students and teachers; it informs teachers about students' learning and misconceptions, thereby helping teachers improve teaching practices and students assess their current state of understanding. In general, the field…

The current study investigated science identity development among Latinx university students selected for a critical race theory (CRT)-informed undergraduate research experience. Twenty students (12 female, 8 male; M[subscript age] = 22.00; SD = 2.77) enrolled in biomedical-related majors at a 4-year university responded to open-ended questions…

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have become more commonly incorporated in laboratory courses in undergraduate education. Because CUREs incorporate research within the context of a course, the benefits of mentored research (self-efficacy, science identity, persistence, and more) are extended to each student enrolled. CUREs…

CACAO (Chocolate Across the Curriculum and Outreach) is a vertical curriculum augmentation designed to help students across the ChE undergraduate program. The students use a chocolate-based food engineering lab to make connections between core chemical engineering topics using hands-on and project-based learning. Costs to create this component are…

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) provide students with valuable opportunities to engage in research in a classroom setting, expanding access to research opportunities for undergraduates, fostering inclusive research and learning environments, and bridging the gap between the research and education communities. While…

While undergraduate research has been shown to be a high-impact educational practice, it is logistically impossible for all undergraduate biology majors to have long-term faculty-mentored research experience. Therefore, biology educators and researchers must devise opportunities to engage more students in undergraduate research outside of working…

While several studies have investigated gender inequities in the social learning environment of biology lecture courses, that same phenomenon remains largely unexplored in biology laboratory contexts. We conducted a mixed methods study to understand the influence of gender on student perceptions of their peers' research aptitude in introductory…

The interdisciplinary nature of food makes it an effective teaching vehicle in many fields. This article shows specifically how flavor and food fermentation, two topics not usually featured in the undergraduate STEM curriculum, can inspire a powerful interdisciplinary learning experience. Importantly, because of their accessible nature and…

The essence of university courses lies in their scientific rigor, while the enjoyment of learning serves as a motivation. In this regard, we have developed a comprehensive experiment project by incorporating dithienylethene-based photochromic units into sensitizers for renewable energy, specifically dye-sensitized solar cells, through organic…

In today's science classes, where standards are shifting toward engaging in scientific practices, a shift in science assessments to better reflect the skills and knowledge achieved in modern science classrooms is needed. If science is a discipline to be practiced rather than memorized, then science assessments should be designed to gauge a…