Student Perceptions of Undergraduate Research-Infused Courses

Colleges and universities nationwide have attempted to address the persistent demographic disparities in the health-related research workforce - particularly the lack of Black/African-American and Hispanic/Latinx researchers - by engaging traditionally underrepresented minority students in research early in their undergraduate academic careers. Previous efforts have focused on formal research training programs or course-based undergraduate research training, which commonly serve small student populations and are narrow in scope. With support from the NIH Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) grant, California State University, Long Beach (CSULB) developed research-infused courses that introduce students to methods and skills for biomedical and behavioral research as well as enhance students' understanding of health disparities and the value of interdisciplinary approaches to solving problems. This study aims to identify promising pedagogical strategies and understand the extent to which students' ethnic minority status and formalized research training experience are associated with their perceptions of personal development gains and research and technical skills. Based on student survey data (N = 410) across three academic years, findings from this study indicate that research-infused courses have the potential to equitably engage students, regardless of their race/ethnicity and participation in formal research training. In addition, research-infused courses could potentially serve as a mechanism for colleges and universities to institutionalize opportunities for a broad range of students to be exposed to research methods and skills-building.