Enhancing Student Access to Research Equipment for a Respiratory Physiology Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Educational Instrumentation project at the University of Nevada Las Vegas will strengthen undergraduate learning in the biological sciences. Specifically, this project will secure four complete respirometry systems, which will allow students to collect respiratory data from thousands of invertebrate species in the Mojave Desert. Students will collect and analyze data as part of a course-based undergraduate research experience. In addition to the field experience embedded in the course, students will craft literature reviews, design experiments, build expertise in data analysis techniques, and generally expand their scientific skills. The goals of this project are to enrich the learning and experiences of undergraduate students by providing critical equipment that will be utilized in a course-based research experience. There are over 1.2 million invertebrate species, representing nearly 95% of all animal diversity, yet little is known about the biology of many of these species. The project-funded equipment will allow students to participate in authentic research at the intersection of physiology and ecology as part of their upper-level coursework. The project will assess the impact of the project CURE and respirometry systems using the already established EvaluateUR-CURE tool and by gathering student outcome data from CURE participants. Course materials and other outcomes will be disseminated to the wider community. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education, broaden participation in STEM, and increase capacity to engage in the development and implementation of innovations to improve STEM learning at HSIs. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.