本科研究
微塑料
数学教育
环境教育
本科教育
环境研究
化学
工程物理
工程伦理学
环境化学
环境科学
工程类
医学教育
心理学
教育学
医学
环境规划
作者
Josh Forakis,Blaine Johnston,Joe L. March
标识
DOI:10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00730
摘要
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) have been shown to result in increased science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) persistence, but such experiences are rarely available for first-year STEM students. This work outlines the development and integration of a CURE into a year-long honors general chemistry laboratory sequence involving the detection of microplastics in a local watershed with Nile Red. This CURE was implemented over three academic years in collaboration with a local environmental preservation organization. Samples were collected as part of a field sampling trip with students, and a pre/post-questionnaire was administered each semester. The questionnaire investigated how this CURE impacted students' self-concept as scientists and behaviors regarding plastic use. Additionally, interviews were conducted with CURE and non-CURE laboratory students. Outcomes of participation in the CURE versus the traditional (non-CURE) sequence are discussed, including pre/post questionnaire results, inductive coding of interviews, and microplastic counts in Cahaba River water samples. Results demonstrate that this CURE is beneficial for students' scientific self-concept and results in self-reporting of environmentally conscious behaviors around plastic use. This experience is appropriate for first-year STEM students but can be scaled to an upper-division laboratory or scaled down to a multiweek laboratory activity.
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