Bringing Research to the Introductory Biology Lecture through a Study of Seasonal Change in Local Campus Trees

About This Grant

This project aims to serve the national interest by expanding undergraduates' access to research experience by embedding a long-term ecological research study in a large-enrollment introductory biology lecture course. Mentored research experiences are fundamental for training future science professionals and have been linked to students' persistence in STEM. However, access to research mentors is limiting and mechanisms for recruiting students into research favor those with exemplary academic records. As a result, many students may not benefit from the training and skills development that comes with research experience, and students are likely to be overlooked who have enormous creative potential despite grades or standardized test scores that suggest otherwise. Research is increasingly becoming a feature of undergraduate biology laboratory courses, but these require significant resource inputs (staffing, supplies, safety equipment) and serve far fewer students than their 'lecture-based' counterparts. This Level 2 Engaged Student Learning project seeks to study the effectiveness of embedding research in a large-enrollment introductory biology lecture course. Students will test hypotheses by collecting and analyzing data as part of a multi-year ecological study that documents seasonal change in local campus trees. The timing of autumn change in plants is highly consequential for both natural and human-centered systems, including seasonally dependent economic sectors such as agriculture and tourism. This project plans to develop technological tools and instructional materials to support both instructors and students in implementing the project in diverse contexts and proposes to develop a digital platform for integrating local campus data with a national database accessible to anyone with internet access. Student learning outcomes will be evaluated to inform the development and revision of tools and materials, and to identify specific features and conditions of the research experience that maximize student learning and affinity for science. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have been linked to multiple positive STEM outcomes. Mechanisms underlying CURE outcomes are not well understood but are hypothesized to be mediated through students' development of core science skills and concomitant gains in science self-efficacy and affect. This project adapts a CURE framework to a large lecture context and evaluates student outcomes resulting from participation in a long-term study of autumn phenology in local campus trees. Phenology (the study of recurrent natural phenomena) in plants is a high-priority research focus. Minor shifts in the timing of plant processes (e.g., leaf color change, leaf fall) can disrupt species interactions that regulate large-scale ecosystem processes, such as biogeochemical nutrient cycling and carbon sequestration. This project seeks to develop technological infrastructure to support students in collecting high-resolution data using their mobile devices and visualizing data through an interactive app that enables comparisons among tree species, over different scales of space and time, and in relation to local weather variables (e.g., precipitation, temperature, etc.). Students have the opportunity to develop analytical and systems thinking skills by interacting with complex real-world data and asking questions for which the answer has not been pre-determined. Instructors receive support through the development of instructional materials and technological tools that facilitate project implementation. A partnership with USA-National Phenology Network has the potential to establish a long-term and sustainable solution for maintaining a secure and accessible data infrastructure that expands the reach and impact of student-collected data by linking it to a repository of phenology data used by scientists, economists, and policymakers globally. This project enhances STEM education by leveraging evidence-based and high-impact practices, providing a rich context for teaching and learning about complex systems, and engaging students in authentic inquiry that is relevant at local and global scales and in natural and managed ecosystems. Proposed research tests hypotheses about student learning and specifically explores the role of original data collection as a contributor to CURE outcomes. An evidence-driven design approach will inform development and revision of instructional materials and a digital infrastructure that together, will support broad dissemination in diverse educational contexts including under-resourced institutions. The NSF IUSE: EDU Program supports research and development projects to improve the effectiveness of STEM education for all students. Through the Engaged Student Learning track, the program supports the creation, exploration, and implementation of promising practices and tools. This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.