A framework for leveraging network course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) faculty to develop,...

Area of Science:

• Biology Education Research
• Environmental Science
• Microbiology

Background:

• Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are valuable but developing novel assessments is resource-intensive.
• Nationally disseminated CUREs offer an alternative, yet assessing their effectiveness across diverse institutions presents challenges.
• Differences in student populations, instructor fidelity, and implementation styles complicate objective evaluation of network CUREs.

Purpose of the Study:

• To describe a co-design process for developing a validated assessment instrument for a network CURE.
• To evaluate the efficacy of a low-cost, low-time-commitment assessment tool for the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment (PARE) network CURE.
• To demonstrate the usability of the assessment across diverse institutional contexts and implementation variations.

Main Methods:

• A collaborative co-design approach was employed to develop an assessment instrument for the PARE network CURE.
• Data were collected from over 1,300 pre-/post-matched records across more than two dozen institutions and 42 course offerings.
• The assessment instrument was validated for use across diverse institution types and implementation styles within the PARE network.

Main Results:

• The co-designed assessment required no external funding and minimal instructor time.
• The validated instrument proved usable across various PARE network institution types and implementation styles.
• Significant student learning gains were observed in both content knowledge and science process skills, albeit with small effect sizes.

Conclusions:

• Short-duration CUREs, like the PARE module, show promise for student learning.
• Leveraging CURE networks for assessment tool development can lower adoption barriers for instructors.
• This study highlights the potential of collaborative assessment design in biology education research and environmental science initiatives.