title: Early Engagement in Course-Based Research Increases Graduation Rates and Completion of Science, Engineering, and Mathematics Degrees.
abstract: National efforts to transform undergraduate biology education call for research experiences to be an integral component of learning for all students. Course-based undergraduate research experiences, or CUREs, have been championed for engaging students in research at a scale that is not possible through apprenticeships in faculty research laboratories. Yet there are few if any studies that examine the long-term effects of participating in CUREs on desired student outcomes, such as graduating from college and completing a science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) major. One CURE program, the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI), has engaged thousands of first-year undergraduates over the past decade. Using propensity score-matching to control for student-level differences, we tested the effect of participating in FRI on students' probability of graduating with a STEM degree, probability of graduating within 6 yr, and grade point average (GPA) at graduation. Students who completed all three semesters of FRI were significantly more likely than their non-FRI peers to earn a STEM degree and graduate within 6 yr. FRI had no significant effect on students' GPAs at graduation. The effects were similar for diverse students. These results provide the most robust and best-controlled evidence to date to support calls for early involvement of undergraduates in research.
authors.affiliation: Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science, College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712.
authors.forename: Stacia E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Rodenbusch
authors.affiliation: Department of Learning Sciences and Human Development, College of Education and Human Services, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV 26506.
authors.forename: Paul R
authors.initials: PR
authors.lastname: Hernandez
authors.affiliation: Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Chevy Chase, MD 20815-6789.
authors.forename: Sarah L
authors.initials: SL
authors.lastname: Simmons
authors.affiliation: Texas Institute for Discovery Education in Science, College of Natural Sciences, University of Texas at Austin, Austin, TX 78712 edolan@austin.utexas.edu.
authors.forename: Erin L
authors.initials: EL
authors.lastname: Dolan
mesh_terms: D003479:Curriculum; D004521:Educational Measurement; D004738:Engineering / Q000193:education*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008433:Mathematics / Q000193:education*; D044469:Racial Groups; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012106:Research / Q000193:education*; D012586:Science / Q000193:education*; D014495:Universities