Curriculum Reform Enhanced by Course-Based Experiences

With support from the Improving Undergraduate STEM Education: Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSI Program), this Level 2 IEP project at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez aims to provide undergraduate biology students with opportunities to engage in course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). Core biology laboratory courses will be redesigned to support greater opportunities for students to learn through exploration. Upper-level courses will be transformed so that students can generate data from independent projects and gain important communication skills as they share their conclusions. A total of 15 faculty will receive training through the project to develop and implement research modules across these courses. Overall, the project will better prepare participating students for the modern STEM workforce and provide faculty with the skills needed to develop engaging CUREs. The primary goals of this project are as follows: (1) develop and implement new curricula to broaden research experiences for life science majors; (2) provide faculty professional development with an emphasis on inquiry-based projects and course-based research experiences; (3) introduce modern research techniques and approaches in undergraduate courses; (4) prepare students for the STEM workforce by emphasizing relevant skills; and (5) increase recruitment and retention in life-science degree programs. The project will generate new knowledge about the impact of the project-supported courses and professional development on students and faculty. Data sources include surveys, focus groups, institutional data, and analyses of student research outputs in the transformed courses. This project is funded by the HSI Program, which aims to enhance undergraduate STEM education and increase capacity to engage in the development and implementation of innovations to improve STEM teaching and 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.