Development of a Broadly Accessible, Computationally Guided Biochemistry Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience
Ashley Vater, Jaime G. Mayoral, Janelle Nunez-Castilla, Jason W. Labonte, Laura Briggs, Jeffrey J. Gray, Irina Makarevitch, Sharif M. Rumjahn, Justin B. Siegel
Abstract
Including undergraduate research in STEM education is a well-supported and growing high-impact practice that has been made much more scalable through integrating these experiences into the classroom. Here we describe a new biochemistry Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE) that follows a design-to-data workflow with a strong connection to a worldwide community of protein modeling software developers. Analysis of psychosocial developments in association with participating in this CURE from the first set of students formally participating in the course suggest a beneficial effect on attributes associated with STEM persistence. To increase successful propagation, the design of the CURE's curriculum, supporting learning materials, and instructor resources are provided to make it facile for faculty at any institution to join this network and implement the CURE. With this foundation, we expect student participation and the data set to continue to grow.