Breaking confirmatory spells by implementing research-integrated CUREs

Differences in economic and social growth and academic equity, experiences, and opportunities have left an achievement gap in STEM for underprivileged students. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have attempted to answer these inequalities by leveling the playing field or by offering course-based research opportunities with minimal requirements for background knowledge. When we ask novel questions, more students get the experience of performing research, which lowers thresholds to pursue research and increases participation. Although the learning outcomes have been largely positive, there is a concern that many CUREs are still too scaffolded. In contrast, I propose to develop exploratory, hypothesis-driven CUREs that are integrated into ongoing research (riCURE). By using the opportunities created by the Tiny Earth CURE as a start, I designed exploratory courses that allow for interdisciplinary hypothesis development, yielding both improved educational outcomes as well as ongoing research dividends.