CoLab: A workshop-based undergraduate research experience for entering college students

Area of Science:

• Chemistry Education
• Biochemistry
• Computational Chemistry

Background:

• Traditional undergraduate chemistry labs often fail to meet educational goals for problem-solving and connecting macroscopic observations to submicroscopic phenomena.
• Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) and non-traditional summer workshops are emerging as effective pedagogical alternatives.
• There is a need for early-college programs that build foundational research and presentation skills.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe the STEM CoLab Program, a novel summer workshop designed to enhance undergraduate chemistry students' research and presentation skills.
• To implement CUREs principles for incoming university students, focusing on foundational chemistry knowledge and laboratory techniques.
• To adapt the program for remote learning environments, incorporating both in-vitro and in-silico research components.

Main Methods:

• The STEM CoLab Program utilizes principles of CUREs for incoming freshmen.
• Students engaged in research on various chemical phenomena between 2016 and 2021.
• During 2020-2021, remote learning involved a take-home kit for in-vitro salivary amylase studies and in-silico computer-based visualizations of amylase-inhibitor interactions using PyMOL and docking tools.

Main Results:

• The program successfully provided early undergraduate students with research and presentation skill development.
• The adapted remote learning approach effectively integrated in-vitro and in-silico methodologies.
• Data from 2016-2021 demonstrate the program's sustained impact on student learning.

Conclusions:

• The STEM CoLab Program offers a successful model for integrating CUREs principles into early undergraduate chemistry education.
• The program's adaptability to remote learning, utilizing combined in-vitro and in-silico methods, provides a scalable and effective educational experience.
• This approach enhances students' ability to connect laboratory observations with molecular-level understanding and computational modeling.