Education  August 30, 2016

UNC profs land $255,000 NSF grant to improve student retention in sciences

GREELEY — A pair of University of Northern Colorado biologists have received a $255,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study whether an introductory-level research-based class will help boost retention in science.

The three-year study, to be conducted by assistant professors Sue Ellen DeChenne-Peters and Ginger Fisher, addresses a U.S. presidential call to increase the number of scientists and engineers being produced by higher education.

In noting that half of all college students interested in science leave the discipline before graduating, the pair developed a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience, or CURE, for an introductory biology course at UNC. Initial results indicate that participation in the CURE has increased students’ content knowledge and improves their motivation to learn biology.

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The new three-year study will expand the analysis of the CURE course to three other universities: the University of Texas El Paso, Wartburg College and Mount Mary University.

“With such a diverse student population, this project will determine if this CURE improves students’ content knowledge, research skills, motivation toward learning biology, and retention in biology,” the researchers wrote in their proposal.

GREELEY — A pair of University of Northern Colorado biologists have received a $255,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to study whether an introductory-level research-based class will help boost retention in science.

The three-year study, to be conducted by assistant professors Sue Ellen DeChenne-Peters and Ginger Fisher, addresses a U.S. presidential call to increase the number of scientists and engineers being produced by higher education.

In noting that half of all college students interested in science leave the discipline before graduating, the pair developed a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience, or CURE, for an introductory biology course at UNC. Initial results indicate…

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