XLabs: Cross Disciplinary Practice Focused Undergraduate Laboratory Transformation Grant uri icon

abstract

  • This X-Labs project is focused on transformation of the introductory laboratory courses in biology, chemistry and physics at East Carolina University. This transformation provides a unique opportunity to conduct research on undergraduate laboratory outcomes by examining the efficacy of transformed laboratory curricula across three disciplines as a way to improve undergraduates? understanding of important science practices. The laboratory transformation will require development of expertise for faculty, adjunct instructors, and teaching assistants (future faculty) in the delivery of high quality lab instruction. The research findings and the instructional materials will be actively and broadly disseminated in a manner that will facilitate transformation of lab courses at other institutions. The project will be led by the STEM Collaborative for Research in Education (STEM CoRE), a multidisciplinary team of Disciplined Based Education Research (DBER) scholars representing a cross-college nucleus of faculty with the unique combination of a deep knowledge of discipline-specific science as well as expert knowledge of teaching and learning. The transformation of the lab courses will provide a common structure that will provide coherence which will increase the impact as students are able to build on their experiences across disciplines. In addition, this project will lead to new research findings about student learning in laboratory settings that will influence theoretical perspectives about STEM education in the future.

date/time interval

  • August 2017 - July 2020