Meeting Abstract
There is an increasing realization that traditional “cookbook” labs may not expose students to the reality of conducting research. Instead of handing students a set of experiments with known conclusions, more educators are implementing authentic research experiences within the classroom, where the results are often unknown, even to the instructor. These courses, called Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences, or C.U.R.E.s, allow students to learn laboratory techniques and scientific methods while enabling them to actively participate in research. C.U.R.E.s allow more students to participate in authentic research, and may lead to students presenting their research, becoming co-authors, or continuing in STEM related fields. However, most C.U.R.E. biology courses developed to date have focused on cellular and molecular topics, with few engaging students in other biological disciplines, such as organismal biology, functional biology, or ecology and evolution. As part of TU-REP, funded by Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence Initiative, I developed a C.U.R.E. on organismal form and function, which was offered for the first time in the fall 2018. Using a scaffolding approach, students were instructed on form, function and performance relationships in the context of ecology, evolution and biomechanics. Students were also instructed on filming with high-speed cameras, digitizing, and analyzing their data to answer questions related to movement. Then, using guided inquiry and locally collected invertebrate species, students developed their own hypotheses on animal movement, collected, analyzed, and presented their data. I will present the course structure and application, student hypotheses and results, the benefits and challenges of teaching an organismal C.U.R.E., and results of student assessment.
