Dr. David Bertolatus
Assistant Professor of Biology
School of Science, Mathematics, and Technology
Adams State University
Date: September 20th
Time: 12:00pm - 1:00pm
Where: Denver Campus – North Classroom, Rm 1604
What’s in a creek? Place-based research experiences integrated across multiple STEM courses.
Course-Based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) represent an evidence-based approach to improve STEM education across the board and are specifically impactful for underrepresented minority students. CUREs enable all STEM students to gain realistic research experience through laboratory coursework, whereas historically these experiences were only available to a small fraction of STEM majors.
At Adams State University, we have implemented a place-based research framework that integrates multiple unique CUREs across biology, chemistry, geoscience, and mathematics. These experiences connect the geographical and cultural location of the San Luis Valley with state-of-the-science research questions and techniques.
Faculty have developed CUREs in 13 courses, among them 10 gateway courses for 1st and 2nd-year students. The research framework for these CUREs uses the “natural laboratory” of the San Luis Valley, which contains watersheds of the Sangre de Cristo and the San Juan mountain ranges. Students are able to make comparisons between these watersheds to better understand the ecosystems and natural structures of our valley.
Each discipline provides a unique perspective about how to apply scientific techniques to better understand the wonders of our local environment. This seminar will provide a few examples of CUREs implemented in phases across science curricula and outline some of the successes and challenges.