Jennifer Scott
Towson University, MD·Education Research
Much of modern astronomy happens in large research collaborations. Taking part requires computing skills and the ability to work within a team, yet undergraduate courses rarely train or measure these skills directly.
- Fields
Education Research
Astronomy & Astrophysics
- Topics
astronomy education
course-based undergraduate research experience
STEM education
- Grants
- 1 known grant, through Sep 2029
What they work on
- Identify the skills undergraduates need to participate effectively in an astronomical research collaboration, and develop assessments that measure those skills.
- Map the new skill assessments onto a course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) in astronomy, and deliver it at two undergraduate-focused institutions whose faculty belong to the collaboration.
- Measure how taking the astronomy CURE affects students' computational literacy and their understanding of themselves as scientists.
- Compare how CURE and non-CURE students contribute to the astronomy research collaboration during a summer research experience, to gauge the course's medium- to long-term effects.
More about the research
One approach is the course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE), a class in which students carry out real research. CUREs are widely used in biology and chemistry and are known to draw students into research, but they are still uncommon in the physical sciences. Little is known about their medium- and long-term effects on how students apply skills in collaborative research.
Why it matters
The project could give instructors a tested, ready-to-use way to prepare undergraduates for the collaborative, computing-heavy research that now dominates astronomy and much of science. The planned CURE curriculum and general model could help other large scientific collaborations involve students. They could also help undergraduate-focused institutions expand research-based courses into the physical sciences.
Known grants
From NIH and NSF research grants. Labs often have other funding we can't see.
Closest labs
Ross Stites
Kansas City Kansas Community College, KS·Education Research
Increase the number of STEM courses at a two-year college that use course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), in which an entire class carries out authentic research as part of the course.
Scott Kreher
Dominican University, IL·Education Research
Characterize how beginning students, experienced students and expert faculty understand controlled experiments, using interviews to inform new assessment and teaching tools.
Melanie Will Cole
Central New Mexico Community College, NM·Education Research
Implement and examine a hybrid undergraduate research experience that combines a course-based research class with a stipend-supported apprenticeship, enrolling ten place-bound students per year in a year-long series of special project courses.
The school
Towson University: 2 labs on PI Pages, $19M a year on research, 12 research doctorates a year.
Reach out
A start for your email. Fill in the brackets.