Let's talk posters: a novel role-playing activity to prepare undergraduate researchers for poster presentations

Calls to increase undergraduate involvement in research have led to a significant increase in student participation via course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). These CUREs provide students an authentic research experience, which often involves dissemination of research by public speaking. For instance, the First-year Research Immersion (FRI) program at Binghamton University is a three-semester CURE sequence that prepares students for scientific research and effective communication of their findings. After one semester of research, students from the FRI program are tasked with presenting their research to hundreds of faculty members, staff, friends, and family at the annual FRI poster session. However, our students, and undergraduates in general, report high anxiety and fear around public speaking such as this. To better prepare our students for public speaking at a research poster session, we developed a workshop that includes a novel role-play activity to mimic a fast-paced poster session or conference in order to address students' fears and increase confidence levels. The role-play activity gives students iterative practice such that they are prepared for the realities of a poster session including variation of poster attendees. During the activity, students switch roles between presenter and audience member. In the role of an audience member, students are given Pokèmon-like role-playing cards that explain the traits and abilities of various types of poster-goers that students might come across (faculty in and out of discipline, staff, family, friends, etc.). Students improvise and enact their card-assigned role as they engage with their classmates who are practicing their poster presentations. To assess student outcomes, students were given three surveys: pre-activity, post-activity, and post-poster presentation. Immediately following the activity, 64% of students reported the highest level of confidence, and following the poster session, 93% of students reported extreme confidence in their poster presentation abilities. These data show that this role-play activity can help address student confidence and better prepare students to communicate their research.

Research Experiences via Integrating Simulations and Experiments (REVISE): A Model Collaborative Research Project for Undergraduate Students in CO2 Sorbent Design

Undergraduate research experiences are an instrumental component of student development, increasing conceptual understanding, promoting inquiry-based learning, and guiding potential career aspirations. Moving one step further, as research continues to become more interdisciplinary, there exists potential to accelerate student growth by granting additional perspectives through collaborative research. This study demonstrates the utilization of a model collaborative research project, specifically investigating the development of sorbent technologies for efficient CO2 capture, which is an important research area for improving environmental sustainability. A model CO2 sorbent system of heteroatom-doped porous carbon is utilized to enable students to gain knowledge of adsorption processes, through combined experimental and computational investigations and learnings. A particular emphasis is placed on creating interdisciplinary learning experiences, exemplified by using density functional theory (DFT) to understand molecular interactions between doped carbon surfaces and CO2 molecules as well as explain underlying physical mechanisms that govern experimental results. The experimental observations about CO2 sorption performance of doped ordered mesoporous carbons (OMCs) can be correlated with simulation results, which can explain how the presence of heteroatom functional groups impact the ability of porous carbon to selectively adsorb CO2 molecules. Through an inquiry-focused approach, students were observed to couple interdisciplinary results to construct holistic explanations, while developing skills in independent research and scientific communications. This collaborative research project allows students to obtain a deeper understanding of sustainability challenges, cultivate confidence in independent research, prepare for future career paths, and most importantly, be exposed to strategies employing interdisciplinary research approaches to address scientific challenges.

An online research immersion program to increase introductory science student confidence and science identity

The number of undergraduate students from underrepresented backgrounds enrolled in science and technology-related courses has increased over the past 20 years, but these students' persistence in STEM majors until graduation still lags behind the overall college population. Interventions like exposure to independent research, instruction using active learning, and connection within a scientific community have been shown to increase persistence and the development of science identity, especially for underrepresented minority students (URM), students with high financial need, and first-generation college students. However, exposure to research for introductory students can be expensive or challenging for an institution to provide and for some students to access. We designed Wintersession Research Week as a remotely taught, collaborative introduction to independent research for beginning undergraduate students, prioritizing those traditionally underrepresented in STEM (low income, first generation, and URM students). Because this program utilized graduate students as research mentors, we also provided training and mentoring to develop the next generation of science faculty. We found that the program helped undergraduate student participants to develop a scientific identity and increase confidence in their skills, and that graduate students found the experience valuable for their future teaching. We believe that elements of this program are adaptable to both virtual and in-person settings as an introduction to research, mentorship, and teaching for students and mentors.

Assessing microbial diversity in soil samples along the Potomac River: implications for environmental health

IMPORTANCE

This study integrates microbial analysis into an undergraduate chemistry class, offering students a hands-on approach to environmental research. We examined the soil along the urbanized Potomac River, discovering a mix of common marine microbes and others that are indicators of urban waste and pollution. Our findings provide valuable insights into the environmental impacts of urbanization on soil health and reveal the effectiveness of using modern genetic tools to teach students about real-world issues. This innovative educational approach not only deepens students' understanding of chemistry and ecology but also prepares them to be thoughtful, informed participants in addressing contemporary environmental challenges while shedding light on the state of the soil microbiome near and around the DC metro area.

Fly-CURE, a multi-institutional CURE using Drosophila, increases students' confidence, sense of belonging, and persistence in research

The Fly-CURE is a genetics-focused multi-institutional Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that provides undergraduate students with hands-on research experiences within a course. Through the Fly-CURE, undergraduate students at diverse types of higher education institutions across the United States map and characterize novel mutants isolated from a genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster. To date, more than 20 mutants have been studied across 20 institutions, and our scientific data have led to eleven publications with more than 500 students as authors. To evaluate the impact of the Fly-CURE experience on students, we developed and validated assessment tools to identify students' perceived research self-efficacy, sense of belonging in science, and intent to pursue additional research opportunities. Our data, collected over three academic years and involving 14 institutions and 480 students, show gains in these metrics after completion of the Fly-CURE across all student subgroups analyzed, including comparisons of gender, academic status, racial and ethnic groups, and parents' educational background. Importantly, our data also show differential gains in the areas of self-efficacy and interest in seeking additional research opportunities between Fly-CURE students with and without prior research experience, illustrating the positive impact of research exposure (dosage) on student outcomes. Altogether, our data indicate that the Fly-CURE experience has a significant impact on students' efficacy with research methods, sense of belonging to the scientific research community, and interest in pursuing additional research experiences.

A cost-free CURE: using bioinformatics to identify DNA-binding factors at a specific genomic locus

Research experiences provide diverse benefits for undergraduates. Many academic institutions have adopted course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) to improve student access to research opportunities. However, potential instructors of a CURE might still face financial or practical hurdles that prevent implementation. Bioinformatics research offers an alternative that is free, safe, compatible with remote learning, and may be more accessible for students with disabilities. Here, we describe a bioinformatics CURE that leverages publicly available datasets to discover novel proteins that target an instructor-determined genomic locus of interest. We use the free, user-friendly bioinformatics platform Galaxy to map ChIP-seq datasets to a genome, which removes the computing burden from students. Both faculty and students directly benefit from this CURE, as faculty can perform candidate screens and publish CURE results. Students gain not only basic bioinformatics knowledge, but also transferable skills, including scientific communication, database navigation, and primary literature experience. The CURE is flexible and can be expanded to analyze different types of high-throughput data or to investigate different genomic loci in any species.

Influence of CUREs on STEM retention depends on demographic identities

Research has shown that undergraduate research experiences can have substantive effects on retaining students in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM). However, it is impossible to provide individual research experiences for every undergraduate student, especially at large universities. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have become a common approach to introduce large numbers of students to research. We investigated whether a one-semester CURE that replaced a traditional introductory biology laboratory course could increase retention in STEM as well as intention to remain in STEM, if the results differed according to demography, and investigated the possible motivational factors that might mediate such an effect. Under the umbrella of the Authentic Research Connection (ARC) program, we used institutional and survey data from nine semesters and compared ARC participants to non-participants, who applied to ARC but either were not randomly selected or were selected but chose not to enroll in an ARC section. We found that ARC had significant effects on demographic groups historically less likely to be retained in STEM: ARC participation resulted in narrowing the gaps in graduation rates in STEM (first vs continuing-generation college students) and in intention to major in STEM [females vs males, Persons Excluded because of Ethnicity or Race (PEERs) vs non-PEERs]. These disproportionate boosts in intending STEM majors among ARC students coincide with their reporting a greater sense of student cohesiveness, retaining more interest in biology, and commenting more frequently that the course provided a useful/valuable learning experience. Our results indicate that CUREs can be a valuable tool for eliminating inequities in STEM participation, and we make several recommendations for further research.

Generating Publishable Data from Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences in Chemistry

Embedding Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) into chemistry curricula has become a best practice due to the overwhelming evidence that these experiences deepen students' content comprehension, improve students' problem-solving skills, and increase retention within the major. For these reasons, faculty are often encouraged to develop CUREs for their courses, which typically take a substantial amount of effort and administrative/financial support. To justify these efforts, one of the most cited benefits of CURE development for faculty specifically is that they can pilot research projects and publish data produced during CUREs in scientific publications. However, there is less evidence in the literature that these benefits commonly occur. Based on direct upper-level, interdisciplinary CURE development experience and a national survey of faculty across institution types, it is clear that translating CURE data into publishable science is quite challenging due to several common barriers. Barriers identified include the need for follow up data that must be generated by either the faculty or a research student, the lack of reproducibility of data generated by novice students, and the lack of faculty time to write the manuscripts. Additionally, institution type (private vs public non-PhD granting; non-PhD granting vs PhD granting), faculty rank, and CURE level (lower vs upper-level courses), among other factors, impacted the likelihood of publication of CURE data. Based on these results and experiences, best practices for maximizing positive outcomes for both students and faculty with regard to CURE design and implementation have been developed.

"Important enough to show the world": Using Authentic Research Opportunities and Micropublications to Build Students' Science Identities

Primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs) often struggle to provide authentic research opportunities that culminate in peer-reviewed publications due to "recipe-driven" lab courses and the comprehensive body of work necessary for traditional scientific publication. However, the advent of short-form, single-figure "micropublications" has created novel opportunities for early-career scientists to make and publish authentic scientific contributions on a scale and in a timespan compatible with their training periods. The purpose of this qualitative case study is to explore the benefits accrued by eight undergraduate and master's students who participated in authentic, small-scale research projects and disseminated their work as coauthors of peer-reviewed micropublications at a PUI. In these interviews, students reported that through the process of conducting and publishing their research, they developed specific competencies: reading scientific literature, proposing experiments, and collecting/interpreting publication-worthy data. Further, they reported this process enabled them to identify as contributing members of the greater scientific community.

Trails to Research: an Inquiry-Based Course Using Zebrafish To Provide Research Experience to Tribal College Students

Embryonic development is fascinating to follow and highly engaging and, therefore, lends itself for undergraduate students' first steps in experimental science. We developed the "Trails to Research" inquiry-based course, which exposes students to life science research using zebrafish as model organism. Zebrafish are ideal in the classroom: they are easy to maintain, their embryos develop rapidly, and they are easily manipulated. Further, they lend themselves to teach about embryo development and experimental design. We developed the course for undergraduates at 2-year colleges and, therefore, for students with little or no research experience. In this 5-day intensive course (which is taught during summers as a stand-alone course), students design treatment experiments for zebrafish embryos with known teratogens and with substances they select. The course comprises three modules that overlap over the 5 days: (i) introduction to developmental biology, model organisms, toxicology, and experimental design, (ii) zebrafish embryo experimental setup, and (iii) collecting, analyzing, and presenting data. Student learning was significant in the areas of experimental design, working with model systems, working with zebrafish embryos, using laboratory equipment, and presenting the results of their experiments using effective methods.

Combining iCn3D and NextStrain to create a novel undergraduate research experience around SARS-CoV-2 variants and commercial antibodies

Undergraduate research experiences are increasingly important in biology education with efforts underway to provide more projects by embedded them in a course. The shift to online learning at the beginning of the pandemic presented a challenge. How could biology instructors provide research experiences to students who were unable to attend in-person labs? During the 2021 ISMB (Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology) iCn3D Hackathon-Collaborative Tools for Protein Analysis-we learned about new capabilities in iCn3D for analyzing the interactions between amino acids in the paratopes of antibodies with amino acids in the epitopes of antigens and predicting the effects of mutations on binding. Additionally, new sequence alignment tools in iCn3D support aligning protein sequences with sequences in structure models. We used these methods to create a new undergraduate research project, that students could perform online as part of a course, by combining the use of new features in iCn3D with analysis tools in NextStrain, and a data set of anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibodies. We present results from an example project to illustrate how students would investigate the likelihood of SARS-CoV-2 variants escaping from commercial antibodies and use chemical interaction data to support their hypotheses. We also demonstrate that online tools (iCn3D, NextStrain, and the NCBI databases) can be used to carry out the necessary steps and that this work satisfies the requirements for course-based undergraduate research. This project reinforces major concepts in undergraduate biology-evolution and the relationship between the sequence of a protein, its three-dimensional structure, and its function.

Postgraduate perspectives on mentoring undergraduate researchers for talent development

Undergraduate research experiences are critical for the talent development of the STEM research workforce, and research mentors play an influential role in this process. Given the many life science majors seeking research experiences at universities, graduate and postdoctoral researchers (i.e., postgraduates) provide much of the daily mentoring of undergraduate researchers. Yet, there remains little research on how postgraduates contribute to talent development among undergraduate researchers. To begin to address this knowledge gap, we conducted an exploratory study of the experiences of 32 postgraduates who mentored life science undergraduate researchers. We identified four factors that they perceived as enabling undergraduate researcher talent development: undergraduate researcher characteristics, research project characteristics, and mentoring implementation as well as outcomes for both the postgraduate and undergraduate. We then describe a team-based approach to postgraduate mentoring of undergraduate researchers that attends to these factors to provide an example that practitioners can adapt or adopt for their own research groups.

Fly-CURE, a Multi-institutional CURE using Drosophila, Increases Students' Confidence, Sense of Belonging, and Persistence in Research

The Fly-CURE is a genetics-focused multi-institutional Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that provides undergraduate students with hands-on research experiences within a course. Through the Fly-CURE, undergraduate students at diverse types of higher education institutions across the United States map and characterize novel mutants isolated from a genetic screen in Drosophila melanogaster. To evaluate the impact of the Fly-CURE experience on students, we developed and validated assessment tools to identify students' perceived research self-efficacy, sense of belonging in science, and intent to pursue additional research opportunities. Our data show gains in these metrics after completion of the Fly-CURE across all student subgroups analyzed, including comparisons of gender, academic status, racial and ethnic groups, and parents' educational background. Importantly, our data also show differential gains in the areas of self-efficacy and interest in seeking additional research opportunities between Fly-CURE students with and without prior research experience, illustrating the positive impact of research exposure (dosage) on student outcomes. Altogether, our data indicate that the Fly-CURE experience has a significant impact on students' efficacy with research methods, sense of belonging to the scientific community, and interest in pursuing additional research experiences.

A Pilot Graduate Student-Led Near-Peer Mentorship Program for Transfer Students Provides a Supportive Network at an R1 Institution

The undergraduate transfer process has well-documented challenges, especially for those who identify with groups historically excluded from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) programs. Because transfer students gain later access to university networking and research opportunities than first-time-in-college students, transfer students interested in pursuing postbaccalaureate degrees in chemistry have a significantly shortened timeline in which to conduct research, a crucial component in graduate school applications. Mentorship programs have previously been instituted as effective platforms for the transfer of community cultural wealth within large institutions. We report here the design, institution, and assessment of a near-peer mentorship program for transfer students, the Transfer Student Mentorship Program (TSMP). Founded in 2020 by graduate students, the TSMP pairs incoming undergraduate transfer students with current graduate students for personalized mentorship and conducts discussion-based seminars to foster peer relationships. The transfer student participants have access to a fast-tracked networking method during their first transfer semester that can serve as a route for acquiring undergraduate research positions. Program efficacy was assessed via surveys investigating the rates of research participation and sense of belonging of transfer students. We observed that respondents that participated in the program experienced an overall improvement in these measures compared to respondents who did not. Having been entirely designed, instituted, and led by graduate students, we anticipate that this program will be highly tractable to other universities looking for actionable methods to improve their students' persistence in pursuing STEM degrees.

A national intercalated medical student research program - student perceptions, satisfaction, and factors associated with pursuing a PhD

BACKGROUND

To counteract a decreasing number of physician-scientists, a national intercalated Medical Student Research Programme (MSRP) was launched in Norway in 2002. We aimed to assess whether the students' favourable perceptions and satisfaction with the program had prevailed since the inception in 2002 and until 2015, and to identify factors associated with pursuing a PhD.

METHODS

The study was an incorporation of data from two previous national evaluations of the MSRP performed in 2007 and 2015. We used electronic questionnaires to explore demographic characteristics, area and type of research, student satisfaction, and future scientific goals. In 2007, questionnaires were sent to all 208 students, and 183 (88%) replied. In 2015, the corresponding numbers were 279, and 240 (86%). Categorical data were analysed using either Kruskal-Wallis or Pearson's chi square test. Differences between sample means were assessed with Student`s t-test while logistic regression was used to test associations between selected covariates and the students' ambitions to pursue a PhD degree.

RESULTS

Overall, the student satisfaction was 79%. However, more students in 2015 received less regular and less supervision time and expressed a need for more of it. Seventy-seven per cent expressed an ambition to pursue a PhD. Students were more likely to have a PhD ambition if they were satisfied with the program, had a supervisor with high expectations for them, or had already published some of their results. At both time points, students (86% vs. 89%) responded that the MSRP had a positive impact on their regular curriculum achievements.

CONCLUSIONS

The high degree of satisfaction with the national MSRP among undergraduate students has prevailed since the inception in 2002. By far, the program has also met its goal to increase the number of aspiring physician-scientists. However, to maintain that goal over time, adequate and personal supervision is a prerequisite.

Broadening and Diversifying the Behavioral and Biomedical Research Workforce through Early Access to an Undergraduate Research Training Program

There is a broad need to support the early educational trajectories of underrepresented students pursuing behavioral and biomedical research, particularly at large, comprehensive institutions. The Building Infrastructure Leading to Diversity (BUILD) initiative at California State University Long Beach (CSULB) created an Associates Program designed to provide undergraduates with early exposure to research and foster a sense of belonging and interest in a research career during their sophomore year. Our Associates Program had high retention rates (> 90%) and served as a pathway to other research opportunities on campus, with over half of the students entering an intensive, upper-division research training program at CSULB upon completion. Analysis of evaluation data gathered at multiple points throughout the training program provided preliminary evidence that our early intervention program resulted in student trainees' growth in a number of key areas, including their sense of belong to the BUILD Program, interests in science and research, and understanding of what research entails and of the skills necessary for conducting research (e.g., scientific writing, oral presentation, data analysis). More importantly, comparisons of the students who continued on to an upper-division research training program to those who did not continue revealed that students who continued reported generally higher levels of science/research interests regardless of the time points of the survey, and a greater increase in their perception of gains made in some areas of research during the second half of the training program. Lastly, our results also showed that the Associates Program is similarly effective for trainees across behavioral and biomedical disciplines, underrepresented minority status, and gender. Based on these findings, we conclude that an early intervention program for undergraduate students results in development of research skills for students exploring research and serves as an effective pipeline for diverse students into more intensive upper-division training programs.

An Innovative Biomedical Research Training Model: Rationale, Design, and Evaluation

Much is told regarding the need for greater diversity in the biomedical research workforce in terms of race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status. However, there are few evidence-based models that are tested and can have significant effects in this regard. Thus, there is a need for development and evaluation of innovative models that may help train a more diverse biomedical research workforce. In this study, we provided the rationale, conceptual model, and preliminary evaluation of a program called "A Student-Centered Entrepreneurship Development (ASCEND)". This training program was designed, implemented, and evaluated between 2017 and 2020 at Morgan State University, Baltimore, Maryland, United States. The program's conceptual model is based on four stages: Attraction and Inspiration, Ideation and Innovation, Research Implementation, and Career Growth. Results of the comparative survey between 50 students who participated in ASCEND and 86 non-member controls showed an increase in science identity, academic self-concept, science self-efficacy, and peer support. The only domain that did not show a larger increase in participants in our program compared to controls was social self-concept. In addition, a total of 59 students submitted 48 research concepts, and 16 undergraduate student projects were funded. Of participants in the Health Research Concepts Competition, 39 students graduated, and 13 were pursuing graduate programs in STEM fields at the time of evaluation. The number of research projects and trainees who started a graduate degree were also reported. The ASCEND training model fosters an entrepreneurial mindset among undergraduate students. Such a program might be effective in diversifying the biomedical research workforce. While this preliminary evaluation indicates the efficacy of the ASCEND model, there is a need for further long-term and multi-center evaluations with the trainees' research productivity and receipt of independent funding as outcomes.

Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholars program: adapting a summer scholars program to the virtual world amidst the COVID-19 pandemic

The Mississippi IDeA Networks of Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) supported by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences (Grant P20GM103476) launched the new Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholars (MIOS) summer research program in 2019. The program was designed to offer students community outreach and research experiences related to the study of behavioral and health disparities life sciences. The program was adapted in early 2020 to offer the program in a fully online format in the summer of 2020. This article details the program adaptations and discusses program evaluation data related to scholars' perceptions of program benefits and expectations and their confidence in research-related skills. The program evaluation was a mixed-method approach that included a qualitative postprogram survey and a pre-post quantitative survey. Scholars identified technical and communication skill building and resilience as areas of personal growth. Overall, the program met scholars' expectations for the program and significantly improved their confidence on 8 of the 19 (with confidence interval estimated differences from 0.3 to 2.56, where a difference of 1 is an improvement across 1 anchor on a Likert-type scale) various research-related tasks/skills after completion of the program. The analyses presented demonstrated that a combined qualitative and quantitative analysis approach is useful for examining the extent to which programs such as Mississippi INBRE are meeting goals of providing a rich research experience in health disparities for a diverse student body. Future longitudinal data may be examined to explore the long-term impact of MIOS on career preparation and choices and graduate education.NEW & NOTEWORTHY The Mississippi INBRE Outreach Scholars program is a summer research program for Mississippi college students that was successfully adapted to a fully online environment amidst the coronavirus-19 pandemic.

Continuous improvement of a bioengineering CURE: Preparing students for a changing world

Based on recent education reform guidelines to prepare professionals who are able to handle new technological, economic, social, and environmental challenges, pedagogical modifications are deemed necessary by the educators. Specifically, in biology, the rapid changes in the content and biological products demand changes in the curriculum. We aim to address this current need by providing an example of a course that was redesigned to meet the current trends of biological engineering education. In this course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), learning objectives and possible outcomes were developed and assessment mapping was performed to align the course objectives with the Accreditation Board for Engineering and Technology (ABET) recommendations. A description of how one can assess authentic inquiry courses while adhering to the recommendations are discussed. For example, in this particular course, students completed weekly reflection assignments, maintained lab notebooks that were graded every week, presented their research to their peers at the end of the semester, and submitted a final paper to be graded. "Holistic" engineering is crucial for the all-around development of a 21st century engineer. Altering the traditional lecturing with more hands-on learning is crucial for the development of professional and communication skills of students. Such alterations could lead to the production of well-rounded life-long learners to serve the upcoming world.

An undergraduate genome research course using "big data"

The ability to analyze large data sets ("Big Data") is an increasingly important skill in modern science. In Biochemistry, the increased volume and velocity of data is particularly evident in the rapid expansion of biological databases. We present a modular bioinformatics course to survey the analysis of genomic data for advanced undergraduates. Research activities include genome scanning for endogenous retroviruses, annotating genomic sequences and a brief exploration of programming in R. A summative poster session was used to disseminate their work. This course is amenable to remote or online instruction. Supplemental materials provided include a schedule and outline. This article reports a session from the virtual international 2021 IUBMB/ASBMB workshop, "Teaching Science on Big Data."

A CURE for Physiological Characterization of Bacterioplankton in Liquid Culture

Bacterial characterization is an important aspect of microbiology that includes experimentally determining growth rates, environmental conditions conducive to growth, and the types of energy sources microorganisms can use. Researchers use this information to help understand and predict an organism's ecological distribution and environmental functions. Microbiology students generally conduct bacterial characterization experiments in their coursework; however, they are frequently restricted to model organisms without ecological relevance and already well-studied physiologies. We present a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) curriculum to involve students in characterization of previously untested, ecologically relevant aquatic free-living bacteria (bacterioplankton) cultures to identify the usable nutrient substrates, as well as the temperature and salinity ranges conducive to growth. Students use these results to connect their organism's physiology to the isolation environment. This curriculum also exposes students to advanced microbiology methods such as flow cytometry for measuring cell concentrations, teaches them to use the programming language R for data plotting, and emphasizes scientific communication through writing, speaking, poster creation/presentation, and social media. This CURE is an attractive introduction to scientific research and was successfully tested with 187 students in three semesters at two different universities. Students generated reproducible growth data for multiple strains across these different deployments, demonstrating the utility of the curriculum for research support.

Training for Responsible and Ethical Management of Lab Notebooks in a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) represent an innovative educational strategy to engage more science, technology, engineering, and math undergraduates in authentic research experiences. Research shows that student participation in CUREs results in positive student outcomes similar to those for traditional research experiences. However, less is known about how the research focus of a CURE or the varied emphasis on certain CURE design elements can impact student outcomes. CUREs provide a unique opportunity to infuse training essential for future researchers. Although responsible and ethical conduct is an important component of research and scientific practice, limited attention has been paid to incorporation and assessment of responsible and ethical conduct of research (RECR) in CUREs. Here, we address the gap in CURE RECR training by presenting an activity that can be easily built into any CURE or inquiry-based lab to train students in RECR relative to data management, specifically, the lab notebook. In this activity, students are asked to replicate or execute an experiment with only the records of a previous student's lab notebook. This previous student's notebook is purposefully designed by the instructor to miss important information that might not seem obvious to students but would prevent a future researcher from replicating the experiment. The idea is to create an early understanding of delayed gratification for students when it comes to responsible and ethical maintenance of lab notebooks. This activity is paired with a pre- and postactivity lecture and debriefing to instruct, guide, and reflect with students on RECR surrounding lab notebooks as well as iterative practice and assessment of lab notebooks throughout the semester.

The Impact of Undergraduate Tutor System in Chinese 8-Year Medical Students in Scientific Research

Purpose

This study aimed to evaluate the effect and influence of the undergraduate tutor system on the undergraduate stage of Chinese 8-year medical program students in scientific research.

Methods

We collected related data from 194 medical students in the Xiangya Medical School of Central South University. The questionnaire was composed of three parts, namely, eight questions for basic information about individual and undergraduate tutor system, five questions for the subjective feeling impact of the undergraduate tutor system, and 22 questions for accessing the scientific research ability and academic results. The students were mainly divided into three groups to compare different kinds of undergraduate tutor systems, namely, single tutor for multiple students' system (group A), multiple tutors for multiple students' system (group B), and no tutor system for comparison (group C).

Results

The type of tutorial system, the frequency of guidance, and the way of guidance were independent influence factors of the view of 8-year medical students on scientific research. Group B behaved better than group C in literature processing (P = 0.012), experimental operation (P < 0.001), statistical analysis (P < 0.001), and manuscript producing (P = 0.019). Group A and B joined in more National college students' innovation and entrepreneurship training programs (P = 0.003, P < 0.001). The most popular types of articles published by students were bioinformatics, meta-analysis, and reviews.

Conclusion

Undergraduate tutor system has made tremendous achievements in cultivating students' scientific research capacity; however, implement improvement should be considered to better educate students.

Preparing Students for the Public Health Workforce: The Role of Effective High-Impact Educational Practices in Undergraduate Public Health Program Curricula

There are several institutions of higher learning in the United States that award degrees in public health to undergraduate students. While these institutions serve as potential pipelines for the public health workforce, it is unclear if the curricula and training students receive from these institutions, really prepare them for the public health workforce or higher education. The questions sometimes asked are whether the programs offered by these institutions exist to provide students with a good understanding of public health issues so they can become good citizens for building a responsible society, or if it is to prepare students for graduate school. Regardless of what the goals are, students in undergraduate public health programs need to be exposed to curricula that adequately prepare them to enter well-defined careers in public health. Thus, institutions of higher learning offering degrees in public health to undergraduate students need to understand the market, assess, and understand the needs of public health agencies, and tailor course curricula to match those needs. Georgia State University established its undergraduate public health program in 2016. Since then, over 200 students have graduated from the program. The purpose of the study was to assess student perception of the role of high impact educational practices such as study abroad, signature experience, and undergraduate research curricula in preparing them for careers in public health.

Increasing Diversity in Developmental Biology

The demographic profile of the scientific and biomedical workforce in the United States does not reflect the population at large (https://ncses.nsf.gov/pubs/nsf21321/data-tables; www.census.gov), raising concerns that there will be too few trained researchers in the future, the scope of research interests will not be broad enough, gaps in equity and social justice will continue to increase, and the safeguards to the integrity of the scientific enterprise could be jeopardized. To diversify the pool of scientists, the Society for Developmental Biology (SDB) developed the Choose Development! Program-a two-summer immersion for undergraduate students belonging to underrepresented (UR) populations in STEM to join the research laboratory of an established SDB member. This research-intensive experience was augmented by a multi-tier mentoring plan for each student, society-wide recognition, professional development activities and networking at national meetings. The strengths of the Choose Development! Program were leveraged to expand inclusion and outreach at the Society's leadership level, the Board of Directors (BOD), which then led to significant changes that impacted the SDB community. The cumulative outcomes of the Choose Development! Program provides evidence that community-based, long-term advocacy, and mentoring of young UR scientists is successful in retaining UR students in scientific career paths and making a scientific society more inclusive.

Institution-Wide Analysis of Academic Outcomes Associated with Participation in UGR: Comparison of Different Research Modalities at a Hispanic-Serving Institution

Most studies on the benefits of participation in undergraduate research (UGR) use data from student participants in undergraduate research programs (URPs), which offer a limited number of positions. In reality, however, the majority of UGR students participate in undergraduate research not in programs (URNPs). The authors conducted an institution-wide study at a Hispanic-serving institution to examine the relationship between academic success and participation in these two UGR modalities. Although there were some differences between URPs and URNPs, participation in research at this institution was largely equitable and inclusive, with UGR demographics that reflected those of the institution, and it was positively associated with increased benefits along multiple academic metrics, regardless of UGR modality. Importantly, these increases were observed for both first time in college and transfer students.

Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in General Education Courses

While much of the promotion for undergraduate research (UR) originates from the natural sciences, this high-impact practice should also occur in social science to prepare students for graduate school/ the workforce and should be integrated into lower-division general education courses. Our study examines content and skills gained by students from two course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in Introduction to Sociology courses. Pre- and post-course survey analyses, post-survey student outcomes of a CURE class compared against students enrolled in three non-CURE Introduction to Sociology classes, and a content analysis of end-of-semester papers indicate student knowledge gain in specific topical areas, methodological skills, and major sociology theoretical perspectives. We conclude that UR enhances research- and sociology-related knowledge.

Building a biomedical pipeline: the impact of the Idaho IDeA INBRE summer research experience at a primarily undergraduate institution

Idaho Institutional Development Award (IDeA) Network for Biomedical Research Excellence (INBRE) aims to build biomedical research capacity and enhance the scientific and technology knowledge of the Idaho workforce. A key INBRE Program at The College of Idaho, a primarily undergraduate institution of 1,100 students, is a 10-wk summer fellows research experience. This report documents outcomes from 2005 to present, including demographic trends, faculty and student research productivity, self-reported gains, educational attainment, and career outcomes. Of 103 participants, 83.7% were from Idaho, 26.7% from rural areas, and 23.9% first-generation college students. Faculty and student research productivity (conference presentations and peer-reviewed publications) increased threefold. We found that 91.4% of fellows entered a scientific- or healthcare-related career and that 70.7% completed or are currently enrolled in postgraduate training (51.7% doctoral and 19.0% master's level). Anonymous surveys were uniformly positive, with gains in self-confidence and independent laboratory work. Open-ended responses indicated students valued mentoring efforts and improved awareness of scientific opportunities and competitive preparation for postgraduate training. Lastly, we observed that student research involvement increased college-wide during the award period. These data suggest that the summer fellows program is successfully meeting National Institutes of Health IDeA goals and serving as a pipeline to future health research careers and a scientifically trained Idaho workforce.

Increasing student involvement in research: a collaborative approach between faculty and students

Baccalaureate nursing curriculum generally include a research or evidence-based practice course, but students may have little opportunity for specific application of the research process during their nursing education. Using Modeling and Role-modeling as a theoretical framework, a scholarly collaboration between faculty and student was developed to promote a unique and engaging undergraduate research endeavor. Faculty researchers developed an exploratory community-based research study to survey the local population about the immediate and lingering physical, financial, psychological, and emotional effects of Hurricane Harvey on the community. The project allowed students to gain invaluable knowledge about the research process, time management techniques, application of theory to the practice setting, community health assessment, collaboration among team members, and achieve student learning outcomes. Student participation in this research project provided necessary collaboration and leadership experiences that will benefit students during school and in their professional practice.

Portuguese Medical Students' Interest for Science and Research Declines after Freshman Year

The integration of scientific research into medical curricula remains insufficient despite its advantages for medical students' professional development and the advancement of medicine. This study aimed to evaluate the impact of first-year medical course attendance on medical students' attitudes and perceptions towards scientific research and clinical practice, while also assessing the contribution of sociodemographic and academic factors. Two hundred and thirteen medical students self-administrated a questionnaire at the beginning and at the end of the first school year. Their responses were compared and two regression models were calculated to assess factors influencing students' attitudes and perceptions. After freshman year, students displayed significantly lower positive attitudes towards science and research. Their motivation to perform research and to integrate it into the curriculum also decreased, while the importance attributed to research skills for clinical practice increased. Motivation to perform research and negative attitudes were positively and negatively associated with grade point average (GPA), respectively. Female students and those who attended public secondary schools attributed greater importance to communication skills. This study reinforces the need to early develop research skills and positive attitudes in medical students, motivating them to become physician-scientists. Additional follow-up studies may offer further contributions to the integration of research into medical curricula.

Mentoring to enhance diversity in STEM and STEM-intensive health professions

PURPOSE

This manuscript is a scholarly perspective on the crucially important topic of mentoring in STEM and the STEM-intensive health professions (STEM+). Our purpose is to share our understanding of this subject as a means to mitigate the persistent underrepresentation in these fields and to offer our recommendations.

MATERIALS & METHODS

This manuscript draws on the literature and our experiences to develop recommendations for improving outcomes for diverse populations of undergraduate students who are pursuing majors in the STEM fields and aspire to careers in the biomedical sciences and/or STEM-intensive health professions.

RESULTS

Undergraduate learning communities and mentored research activities promote continued engagement in STEM and also provide a competitive foundation for careers in these fields.

CONCLUSIONS

(1) Mentoring must be brought to scale through clearly articulated institutional and disciplinary prioritization of learning communities, with attendant assessment to monitor the impact of creating an environment that supports diverse students from underrepresented backgrounds. (2) Individual faculty members and principal investigators affiliated with academic institutions and stand-alone research facilities can enhance their mentoring role by welcoming underrepresented undergraduates into their laboratories. (3) Faculty members, administrators, and staff members must commit themselves to the success of each student who enrolls in a STEM + program, rather than accepting high rates of failure as inevitable. (4) Increased interactions between first-year students and faculty members through experiences in mentored learning communities that promote authentic engagement and discovery are key to promoting the retention of diverse populations of students who are underrepresented in the STEM + fields. (5) Learning communities can amplify the impact of an individual mentor. (6) Barriers to student success, such as weak preparation from high school courses, must be proactively and effectively addressed.

U-Hack Med Gap Year-A Virtual Undergraduate Internship Program in Computer-Assisted Healthcare and Biomedical Research

The COVID-19 healthcare crisis dramatically changed educational opportunities for undergraduate students. To overcome the lack of exposure to lab research and provide an alternative to cancelled classes and online lectures, the Lyda Hill Department of Bioinformatics at UT Southwestern Medical Center established an innovative, fully remote and paid "U-Hack Med Gap Year" internship program. At the core of the internship program were dedicated biomedical research projects spanning nine months in fields as diverse as computational microscopy, bioimage analysis, genome sequence analysis and establishment of a surgical skill analysis platform. To complement the project work, a biweekly Gap Year lab meeting was devised with opportunities to develop important skills in presenting, data sharing and analysis of new research. Despite a challenging year, all selected students completed the full internship period and over 30% will continue their project remotely after the end of the program.

Introducing ATR-FTIR Spectroscopy through Analysis of Acetaminophen Drugs: Practical Lessons for Interdisciplinary and Progressive Learning for Undergraduate Students

Infrared (IR) spectroscopy is a vibrational spectroscopic technique useful in chemical, pharmaceutical, and forensic sciences. It is essential to identify chemicals for reasons spanning from scientific research and academic practices to quality control in companies. However, in some university degrees, graduate students do not get the proficiency to optimize the experimental parameters to obtain the best IR spectra; to correlate the IR spectral bands with the molecular vibrations (chemical elucidation); to have some criteria for any substance identification (especially relevant in quality control to recognize counterfeit); and to apply chemometrics for comparing, visualizing, and classifying the IR spectra. This work presents an experimental laboratory practice for an introductory teaching of the IR instrumental conditions in the identification of substances based on visual spectra comparison and statistical analysis and matching. Then, the selected IR conditions are applied to different commercial drugs, in the solid state or in solution, mostly composed of acetaminophen. Finally, the students apply chemometrics analysis to the IR data. This practice was designed for the training in a chemistry subject for undergraduate students of the chemistry, pharmacy, or forensics degrees, among others related to science, medical, food, or technological sciences.

Academic Success Experiences: Promoting Research Motivation andSelf-Efficacy Beliefs among Medical Students

THEORY

Medicine is facing a physician-scientist shortage. Medical training could contribute to developing physician-scientists by stimulating student research involvement, as previous studies showed this is related to research involvement in professional practice. Motivation for research and research self-efficacy beliefs are related to student research involvement. Based on social cognitive theory, success experiences in doing research may enhance research motivation and self-efficacy beliefs. However, the role and type of success experiences in promoting research self-efficacy beliefs and motivation especially early in medical training has not yet been investigated. Therefore, we examined if academic success experiences within an undergraduate course in academic and scientific skills increased research motivation and self-efficacy beliefs among medical students. Furthermore, type of success experience was taken into account by looking at the effects of academic success experiences within standard (i.e., exam) versus authentic (i.e., research report and oral presentation) assessments.

HYPOTHESES

It was hypothesized that academic success experiences increase intrinsic motivation for research and self-efficacy beliefs. Furthermore, we hypothesized that authentic assessments influence intrinsic motivation for research and self-efficacy beliefs to a larger degree than standard assessments, as the authentic assessments mirror real-world practices of researchers.

METHOD

First-year undergraduate medicine students followed a course in academic and scientific skills in which they conducted research individually. Their academic success experiences were operationalized as their grades on two authentic research assessments (written report and oral presentation) and one less authentic assessment (written exam). We surveyed students before the course when entering medical school (i.e., baseline measure) and 1 year after the course in their 2nd year (i.e., postmeasure). Both the baseline and postmeasure surveys measured intrinsic motivation for research, extrinsic motivation for research, and research self-efficacy beliefs. Linear regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between academic success experiences and intrinsic motivation for research, extrinsic motivation for research, and research self-efficacy beliefs on the postmeasure. We adjusted for prior research motivation and self-efficacy beliefs at baseline. Therefore, this adjusted effect can be interpreted as an increase or decrease in motivation. In addition, we adjusted for age, gender, and grade point average (GPA) of the first 4 months, as these variables were seen as possible confounders.

RESULTS

In total, 243 of 275 students participated (88.4%). Academic success experiences in writing and presenting research were related to a significant increase in intrinsic motivation for research. After adjusting for prior GPA, only the effect of presenting remained. Experiencing success in presenting enhanced research self-efficacy beliefs, also after adjusting for prior GPA. Higher grades on the exam did not affect intrinsic motivation for research or research self-efficacy significantly. Also, none of the success experiences influenced extrinsic motivation for research.

CONCLUSIONS

Academic success experiences on authentic research tasks, especially presenting research, may be a good way to enhance intrinsic motivation for research and research self-efficacy beliefs. In turn, research motivation and self-efficacy beliefs promote research involvement, which is a first step in the physician-scientist pipeline. Furthermore, this study established the applicability of the social cognitive theory in a research context within the medical domain.

Bridging Trade-Offs between Traditional and Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences by Building Student Communication Skills, Identity, and Interest

Undergraduate research plays an important role in the development of science students. The two most common forms of undergraduate research are those in traditional settings (such as internships and research-for-credit in academic research labs) and course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). Both of these settings offer many benefits to students, yet they have unique strengths and weaknesses that lead to trade-offs. Traditional undergraduate research experiences (UREs) offer the benefits of personalized mentorship and experience in a professional setting, which help build students' professional communication skills, interest, and scientific identity. However, UREs can reach only a limited number of students. On the other end of the trade-off, CUREs offer research authenticity in a many-to-one classroom research environment that reaches more students. CUREs provide real research experience in a collaborative context, but CUREs are not yet necessarily equipping students with all of the experiences needed to transition into a research lab environment outside the classroom. We propose that CURE instructors can bridge trade-offs between UREs and CUREs by deliberately including learning goals and activities in CUREs that recreate the benefits of UREs, specifically in the areas of professional communication, scientific identify, and student interest. To help instructors implement this approach, we provide experience- and evidence-based guidance for student-centered, collaborative learning opportunities.

Short-term research projects in cognitive neuroscience for undergraduate students: a contingency plan to maintain quality teaching during COVID-19 pandemic

The Corona Virus Disease 19 (COVID-19) pandemic has imposed serious restrictions for academic institutions to maintain their research and teaching practical subjects. Universities have implemented adaptive measures to maintain educational activities and achieve the learning objectives for undergraduate and postgraduate students by shifting to online teaching and learning. Although such approaches have enabled delivering the theoretical content of courses during the pandemic, universities have faced serious difficulties in running practicals with actual research experiments and teaching hand-on skills because such activities potentially override the required safety guidelines. Here, we report an adaptive measure, implemented at Monash University, to run home-based studies in cognitive neuroscience and achieve learning objectives, which are normally delivered in face-to-face practicals. We introduce two specifically designed short-term research projects and describe how different aspects of these projects, such as tutorials, experiments, and assessments, were modified to meet the required social distancing. The results of cognitive tests were closely comparable between the laboratory-based and home-based experiments indicating that students followed the guidelines and the required procedures for a reliable data collection. Our assessments of students' performance and feedback indicate that the majority of our educational goals were achieved, while all safety guidelines and distancing requirements were also met.

Engaging Undergraduate Students in Substance Use and Related Mental Health Disorders Research within South Dakota: A Review of the Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in Addiction (SPURA)

BACKGROUND

The Summer Program for Undergraduate Research in Addiction (SPURA) at the University of South Dakota provides research opportunities to better understand substance use and related mental health disorders. The program was initiated in 2014 from funding from the National Institute on Drug Abuse with a mission to provide high-quality mentorship and research experiences for undergraduate students, including those underrepresented in science, technology, engineering, and math.

METHODS

Students from the University of South Dakota were recruited to participate in this program. Survey responses and demographic information were collected from the students.

RESULTS

During the first five years, 37 students completed the program. Many of these students were underrepresented in science. Of the students that had completed their undergraduate degree at the time of the last survey, most students either continued their education in a health professional or graduate program, or were employed in a career related to mental health or substance use.

CONCLUSIONS

The current report reflects upon the outcomes of the program and future directions. With continued effort, SPURA will provide critical education for future leaders and health care professionals on topics related to substance use and mental health disorders, resulting in a greater number of advocates for those afflicted by substance use.

Undergraduate research programs build skills for diverse students

While many professional societies, colleges, and universities offer undergraduate summer research experience (URE) programs for students, few have systematically evaluated their programs for impacts on the fellows. The American Physiological Society (APS) developed and administered multiple UREs with varying target groups: students with and without prior research experiences and students from disadvantaged groups, including underrepresented racial/ethnic minorities (URM), persons with disabilities, first generation college students, and persons with financial or social disadvantages. Each program had specific goals and measurable objectives. To assess the impact of these programs, APS both documented student completion of program tasks (e.g., designing experiments, analyzing data, writing abstracts) and developed reliable and valid survey instruments to quantify students' self-ratings on a variety of research and career planning skills related to the program objectives. Results indicate that fellows as a whole and for most individual programs gained skills and knowledge in numerous areas: experimental design, data management, lab safety, statistical analysis, data presentation, scientific writing, scientific presentation, professional networking, professional networking at scientific meetings, authorship attribution, animal use in research, human subjects in research, roles of lab mates and mentors, and research career training and planning. Furthermore, there were few differences within the diversity comparison groups (women vs. men, URM fellows vs. non-URM fellows, etc.). Suggestions for improvement of URE programs are proposed.

Symposium Article: University experiences of marine science research and outreach beyond the classroom

Climate and ocean literacy are two of the most important challenges facing society today. However, many students lack exposure to these topics upon entering college. As a result, these students must rely on learning climate literacy and ocean conservation through experiences outside of those provided in the traditional undergraduate classroom. To fill this gap, we initiated a marine science professional development program to expose undergraduate students to ocean literacy principles and climate change concepts through marine ecology research and educational outreach. This study evaluates the effects of our undergraduate experiential learning for individuals involved in our research team, our educational outreach team, or both. Clemson University alumni that participated in our program were surveyed to determine educational and professional gains in three areas related to: (1) knowledge; (2) careers; and (3) attitudes. Multiple linear and logistic regressions were used to understand the relationships between gains and program type, mentor experience, and duration of program enrollment. In addition, we evaluated demographic covariates including age, ideology, and gender. Our study found that perceived knowledge of marine science and science communication skills increased with positive mentor experience. Alumni that rated their experience with their mentors highly also indicated that the program was important to their careers after graduation. Students who participated in any program for a prolonged period were more likely to indicate that marine science was important to their careers. These students were also more likely to continue their education. Additionally, we saw that a sense of belonging and identity in science, as well as the understanding of climate change threat on the marine environment, all increased with longer program involvement, more than the type of experience (research versus outreach). Overall, we found that both the research and outreach programs offered opportunities for advancements in knowledge, careers, and attitudes. These results provide evidence that experiential learning has the potential to increase student engagement and understanding of climate change and ocean literacy communication as well as a sense of belonging in science-oriented fields.

Narratives of Undergraduate Research, Mentorship, and Teaching at UCLA

This work describes select narratives pertaining to undergraduate teaching and mentorship at UCLA Chemistry and Biochemistry by Alex Spokoyny and his junior colleagues. Specifically, we discuss how individual undergraduate researchers contributed and jump-started multiple research themes since the conception of our research laboratory. This work also describes several recent innovations in the inorganic and general chemistry courses taught by Spokoyny at UCLA with a focus of nurturing appreciation for research and creative process in sciences including the use of social media platforms.

Classroom undergraduate research experiences are a "CURE" that increases engagement by students and teachers

It is widely acknowledged that having experience conducting research is invaluable for undergraduate science students. Most undergraduate research is undertaken by students in a mentor's laboratory, but this limits the number of opportunities for students, as each laboratory can only take on a certain number of undergraduate researchers each semester. Additionally, it is also widely acknowledged that it is difficult for teachers to meet research goals while providing the best possible coursework for undergraduate students. Both of these bottlenecks can be circumvented via Classroom Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs), which integrate research into the curricula of structured undergraduate classes. Students enrolled in classes that include CUREs conduct research to address open-ended questions as part of their coursework. In this commentary, I describe the many ways in which CUREs are helpful for students and teachers, as well as considerations for designing successful CUREs. I provide several examples of CUREs from Microbial Physiology laboratory classes and Genomics classes that I have taught. Results from these CUREs have been successfully integrated into many peer-reviewed publications in which the students are co-authors, which has been a boon both to students' post-baccalaureate opportunities, as well as my research agenda.

Analysis of Microbial Water Contamination, Soil Microbial Community Structure, and Soil Respiration in a Collaborative First-Year Students as Scholars Program (SAS)

The persistence of college students in STEM majors after their first-year of college is approximately 50%, with underrepresented populations displaying even higher rates of departure. For many undergraduates, their first-year in college is defined by large class sizes, poor access to research faculty, and minimal standing in communities of scholars. Pepperdine University and Whittier College, funded by a National Science Foundation award to Improve Undergraduate Stem Education (NSF IUSE), partnered in the development of first-year classes specifically geared to improve student persistence in STEM and academic success. This Students as Scholars Program (SAS) engaged first-year undergraduates in scholarly efforts during their first semester in college with a careful approach to original research design and mentoring by both faculty and upperclassmen experienced in research. Courses began by introducing hypothesis formulation and experimental design partnered with the scientific focus of each course (ecological, biochemical, microbiological). Students split into research teams, explored the primary literature, designed research projects, and executed experiments over a 6–7 week period, collecting, analyzing, and interpreting data. Microbiology-specific projects included partnerships with local park managers to assess water quality and microbial coliform contamination at specified locations in a coastal watershed. In addition, students explored the impact of soil salinity on microbial community structure. Analysis of these samples included next-generation sequencing and microbiome compositional analysis via collaboration with students from an upper division microbiology course. This cross-course collaboration facilitated additional student mentoring opportunities between upperclassmen and first-year students. This approach provided first-year students an introduction to the analysis of complex data sets using bioinformatics and statistically reliable gas-exchange replicates. Assessment of the impact of this program revealed students to view the research as challenging, but confidence building as they take their first steps as biology majors. In addition, the direct mentorship of first-year students by upperclassmen and faculty was viewed positively by students. Ongoing assessments have revealed SAS participants to display a 15% increased persistence rate in STEM fields when compared to non-SAS biology majors.

Integrating Research into the Undergraduate Curriculum: 2. Scaffolding Research Skills and Transitioning toward Independent Research

Undergraduate research experiences are widely regarded as high-impact practices that foster meaningful mentoring relationships, enhance retention and graduation, and stimulate postbaccalaureate enrollment in STEM graduate and professional programs. Through immersion in a mentored original research project, student develop and apply their skills in critical thinking, problem solving, intellectual independence, communication, collaboration, project ownership, innovation, and leadership. These skills are readily transferable to a wide array of future careers in and beyond STEM that are well-served by evidence-based approaches. The 2019 Society for Neuroscience meeting included a well-attended workshop on integrating research into the curriculum at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs). This article is the second of three articles that summarize, analyze, and expand the workshop discussions. In this second article, we specifically describe approaches to transitional research courses that prepare students for independent research experiences such as undergraduate research theses. Educators can intentionally scaffold research experience and skills across the curriculum, to foster participation in scientific research and enhance diversity, equity, and inclusivity in research training. This article provides an overview of important goals and considerations for intermediate undergraduate research experiences, specific examples from several institutions of transitional courses that scaffold research preparation using different structures, and a summary of lessons learned from these experiences.

Integrating Research into the Undergraduate Curriculum: 1. Early Research Experiences and Training

Undergraduate research experiences have emerged as some of the most beneficial high-impact practices in education, providing clear benefits to students that include improved critical thinking and scientific reasoning, increased academic performance, and enhanced retention both within STEM majors and in college overall. These benefits extend to faculty members as well. Several disciplines, including neuroscience, have implemented research as part of their curriculum, yet many research opportunities target late stage undergraduates, despite evidence that early engagement can maximize the beneficial nature of such work. A 2019 Society for Neuroscience professional development workshop provided multiple examples of integrating research into an undergraduate curriculum, including early engagement (Fernandes, 2020). This article is the first in a series of three that expands upon the information presented in those workshop discussions, focusing on ways to promote early research opportunities. The benefits and challenges associated with early research engagement suggest thoughtful consideration of the best mechanisms for implementation are warranted; some options might include apprenticeship models or course-based approaches. Regardless of mechanism, early research can serve to initiate more prolonged, progressive, scaffolded experiences that span the academic undergraduate career.

Integrating Research into the Undergraduate Curriculum: 3. Research Training in the Upper-level Neuroscience Curriculum

The benefits of undergraduate training in research are significant. Integration of such training into the undergraduate experience, however, can be challenging at institutions without extensive research programs, and may inadvertently exclude some populations of students. Therefore, inclusion of research into the academic curriculum ensures all students can access this important training. The 2019 annual meeting of the Society for Neuroscience included a workshop on integrating research into the curriculum at primarily undergraduate institutions (PUIs). In this last article of a three-part series, we describe models for integrating research into advanced stages of the undergraduate curriculum, specifically for juniors and seniors. First, we describe multiple models of faculty-mentored group-based research. Second, we detail a peer-mentored research system, in which seniors mentor groups of first through third year students. Third, we describe multiple examples of integrating research into "capstone" courses for seniors. Fourth, we describe models in which a senior thesis is a graduation requirement for all students. Lastly, we describe several models of implementing an optional honors thesis for students. Although similarities exist across these programs, their differences allow for specific secondary objectives to be met, which are often unique to institutions and/or departments. Therefore, for each of these examples, we describe the context, specific design, and required student assessments. We conclude by discussing some of the key successes and challenges of developing programs that facilitate undergraduate research by upper-level students, and suggest a number of concepts that should be considered by individuals developing and assessing new programs.

The Human Microbiome as a Focus of Antibiotic Discovery: Neisseria mucosa Displays Activity Against Neisseria gonorrhoeae

Neisseria gonorrhoeae infections are a serious global health problem. This organism has developed disturbing levels of antibiotic resistance, resulting in the need for new approaches to prevent and treat gonorrhea. The genus Neisseria also includes several members of the human microbiome that live in close association with an array of microbial partners in a variety of niches. We designed an undergraduate antibiotic discovery project to examine a panel of nonpathogenic Neisseria species for their ability to produce antimicrobial secondary metabolites. Five strains belonging to the N. mucosa species group displayed activity against other Neisseria in delayed antagonism assays; three of these were active against N. gonorrhoeae. The antimicrobial compound secreted by N. mucosa NRL 9300 remained active in the presence of catalase, trypsin, and HEPES buffer, and effectively inhibited a DNA uptake mutant of N. gonorrhoeae. Antimicrobial activity was also retained in an ethyl acetate extract of plate grown N. mucosa NRL 9300. These data suggest N. mucosa produces an antimicrobial secondary metabolite that is distinct from previously described antigonococcal agents. This work also serves as a demonstration project that could easily be adapted to studying other members of the human microbiome in undergraduate settings. We offer the perspective that both introductory and more advanced course-based and apprentice-style antibiotic discovery projects focused on the microbiome have the potential to enrich undergraduate curricula and we describe transferrable techniques and strategies to facilitate project design.

Moving student research forward during the COVID-19 pandemic

The COVID--19 pandemic has impacted undergraduate and graduate student research. With the uncertainty right now, it is a challenge for faculty to offer clear guidance for how students can proceed with their research and capstone projects. In this brief editorial, we offer suggestions for moving student research forward during the COVID-19 pandemic.