Increasingly, undergraduate institutions are incorporating original research into the curriculum as a matter of best practice. However, while the practice of science has grown more collaborative, undergraduate research has remained largely confined to single-institution studies. Incorporating long-term, distributed research projects into the undergraduate research experience can better prepare students to interpret and engage in science of the future. The Decomposition in Aquatic and Terrestrial Invaded Systems (DATIS) project within the Ecological Research as Education Network (EREN) offers a good model for examining how to minimize challenges and maximize opportunities associated with classroom use of long-term, collaborative research projects. Eleven key challenges are identified, and practical solutions are provided for each. By modeling this scientific approach in primarily undergraduate institutions, we are preparing graduates who will have the tools and knowledge to work collaboratively and create their own distributed research networks. Our goal is that the decomposition project we describe here can inform and inspire others seeking to engage in research at the undergraduate level, either as potential research coordinators or as collaborators in an existing network.
How to translate text using browser tools
20 March 2020
Strategies for Incorporating Long-Term, Distributed-Network Research Projects into the Undergraduate Curriculum: Lessons from the Ecological Research as Education Network's Decomposition Project
Tracy B. Gartner,
Carolyn L. Thomas,
Kevin Geedey,
Kim Bjorgo-Thorne,
Jeffrey A. Simmons,
Kathleen L. Shea,
Jerald J. Dosch,
Craig R. Zimmermann
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
It is not available for individual sale.
This article is only available to subscribers.
It is not available for individual sale.
It is not available for individual sale.
The American Biology Teacher
Vol. 82 • No. 3
March 2020
Vol. 82 • No. 3
March 2020
collaborative research projects
course-based undergraduate research
Decomposition
EREN
undergraduate research experience
