90-10 The Motivations and Views of Equity of Early Adopter Community College Faculty in Course-based Undergraduate Experiences

Session: Diversifying Geoscience Education Across the Academic Playing Field: Using Creative Methods to Foster the Current and Next Generations of Geoscience Professionals, Part I

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Abstract:

Course-based Research Experiences (CUREs) have demonstrated strong impacts for learning content, engaging in the process of science along with many of the skill sets desired by graduate schools and employers alike. CUREs have also been demonstrated to serve as an equity approach to teaching STEM when introduced in introductory courses, particularly for students who do not see themselves represented in these fields. These experiences provide an opportunity for ALL students to be exposed to the process of science rather than self-selecting into programs where one needs to initiate engagement in research opportunities.

At Whatcom Community College (WCC), we have implemented CUREs into courses across the spectrum for majors and non-majors in the STEM fields and beyond. Shortlidge et al., 2017 demonstrated that many faculty gained intangible benefits from engaging in CUREs in addition to some tangible benefits, but that it varies across type of CURE and faculty status. I implemented the same semi-structured interviews as Shortlidge et al. (2017) and operating under a similar conceptual framework, implemented a binning analysis method (Miles & Huberman, 1994) with these early adopters at WCC. The focus of this research differed in population demographics and focused on early adopters and also added a component specifically focusing on equity. I interviewed 17 faculty at the college who were already engaged in CUREs or were preparing to implement a CURE. Initial findings indicate that teaching CUREs can be a particularly powerful way for mid to late faculty to feel re-engaged in their teaching (intangible benefit). For earlier career faculty and many adjunct faculty, having the proper scaffolded support was critical to engage in the process, and there was some sense that there could be both benefits (both tangible and intangible) and risks to implementing CUREs. Most faculty were motivated by the idea of a CUREs as an equity-based strategy, but how they defined what that meant varied widely. These lessons can be applied to those in the geosciences interested in engaging in CUREs along with how we communicate equity-strategies to our colleagues.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Program. Vol. 57, No. 6, 2025

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