Author ORCID Identifier

Jan A. C. Vriezen: 0000-0002-3162-7020

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-2025

Publication Title

Journal of Microbiology & Biology Education

Abstract

Differences in economic and social growth and academic equity, experi ences, and opportunities have left an achievement gap in STEM for underprivileged students. Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have attempted to answer these inequalities by leveling the playing field or by offering course-based research opportunities with minimal requirements for background knowledge. When we ask novel questions, more students get the experience of performing research, which lowers thresholds to pursue research and increases participation. Although the learning outcomes have been largely positive, there is a concern that many CUREs are still too scaffolded. In contrast, I propose to develop exploratory, hypothesis-driven CUREs that are integrated into ongoing research (riCURE). By using the opportunities created by the Tiny Earth CURE as a start, I designed exploratory courses that allow for interdiscipli nary hypothesis development, yielding both improved educational outcomes as well as ongoing research dividends.

Keywords

research-integrated, riCURE, nature of science, creativity, dissemination, learning outcomes, hypothesis development, confirmatory, exploratory

DOI

10.1128/jmbe.00114-25

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Rights

© 2025 Vriezen.

Version

Version of Record

Included in

Biology Commons

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