title: A high-enrollment course-based undergraduate research experience improves student conceptions of scientific thinking and ability to interpret data.
abstract: We present an innovative course-based undergraduate research experience curriculum focused on the characterization of single point mutations in p53, a tumor suppressor gene that is mutated in more than 50% of human cancers. This course is required of all introductory biology students, so all biology majors engage in a research project as part of their training. Using a set of open-ended written prompts, we found that the course shifts student conceptions of what it means to think like a scientist from novice to more expert-like. Students at the end of the course identified experimental repetition, data analysis, and collaboration as important elements of thinking like a scientist. Course exams revealed that students showed gains in their ability to analyze and interpret data. These data indicate that this course-embedded research experience has a positive impact on the development of students' conceptions and practice of scientific thinking.
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020 sara.brownell@asu.edu.
authors.forename: Sara E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Brownell
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020.
authors.forename: Daria S
authors.initials: DS
authors.lastname: Hekmat-Scafe
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020.
authors.forename: Veena
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Singla
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020.
authors.forename: Patricia
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Chandler Seawell
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020.
authors.forename: Jamie F
authors.initials: JF
authors.lastname: Conklin Imam
authors.affiliation: Department of Biology, University of Washington, Seattle, WA 98195.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Eddy
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020.
authors.forename: Tim
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Stearns
authors.affiliation: *Department of Biology, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305-5020.
authors.forename: Martha S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Cyert
mesh_terms: D003210:Concept Formation; D003479:Curriculum; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007753:Laboratories; D008297:Male; D015397:Program Evaluation; D012106:Research / Q000193:education*; D012586:Science / Q000193:education*; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013334:Students; D013850:Thinking; D014495:Universities