Increasing Programming and Science Communication Skills in a Team-Based, Interdisciplinary Undergraduate Course-Based Research Experience

• In Event: Research on Undergraduate Science Teaching and Learning

Abstract

This work describes the design, implementation, and assessment of an interdisciplinary course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), and reports on student gains in skills and attitudes around programming, communication, and collaboration. 63 students from diverse gender, racial, socio-economic, and academic backgrounds collaborated in groups of 8-10 over an academic term to produce novel research results on the physics of human brain and behavior. Student learning was structured by regular lectures, video tutorials, scheduled office hours, and a website that organized course materials using google drive. Students validated prior lab results in the first half of the term, and modified their methods to pursue a novel research question in the second half of the term, generating novel results of publishable quality.

Authors

• Elizabeth Mills, University of San Diego

• Casey Shapiro, University of California - Los Angeles

• Salwa Zahid, Nova Southeastern University

• Katsushi Arisaka, University of California - Los Angeles