A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience in Biofluid Mechanics

Area of Science:

• Biofluid Mechanics
• Undergraduate Education
• Scientific Research Training

Background:

• Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CURE) are vital for exposing large student groups to research.
• A senior-level biofluid mechanics course utilized a flipped classroom model for CURE implementation.
• Large class sizes necessitated the use of publicly available data for student analysis.

Purpose of the Study:

• To assess the effectiveness of a biofluid mechanics CURE in developing undergraduate research skills.
• To compare student gains in a CURE with those in a traditional undergraduate research experience.
• To identify potential improvements for CURE implementation in engineering education.

Main Methods:

• Students analyzed publicly available biofluid mechanics data.
• Teams developed hypotheses and designed in vitro/in vivo experiments.
• Class-selected hypotheses/experiments were tested in the lab.
• Student self-reported gains were compared to a traditional research experience group.

Main Results:

• Students in the CURE reported moderate gains in research skills.
• These self-reported gains were statistically significantly lower than those from a traditional research experience.
• The CURE provided research exposure, particularly for engineering students.

Conclusions:

• The biofluid mechanics CURE is an innovative approach to expand undergraduate research opportunities.
• Improvements may include earlier implementation, direct observation of experiments, and enhanced feedback.
• CUREs can increase hypothesis-driven research participation among engineering undergraduates.