Through learning about chemical systems and laboratory skills, students should be able to solve problems and connect macroscopic observations with what is occurring at the microscopic level. This rarely occurs in traditional confirmation labs. Research-based labs have been created to better develop these skills. One such category includes course based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs). Herein, we describe results on student experiences in a pre-college workshop based undergraduate research experience that combines principles of CUREs and summer workshops. The aim of this workshop to improve student research and presentation skills through use of meaningful learning at the intersection of the cognitive, psychomotor, and affective domains. In the workshop, students completed work around the inhibition of salivary alpha-amylase using various foods as inhibitors at-home and using computer visualization of enzyme-substrate complexes. Students participated in an interview in which they were able to discuss their affective experiences in this environment and their changing view of nature of science. Students described their change in understanding of the research topic, the social experiences of working in small groups, their future in STEM, creation of a poster presentation, the relation of the research to their personal lives, and compared what they were able to do with how scientists do science in their careers. Findings include that all students expressed a desire to remain in STEM and some expanded their original STEM ambitions, voiced largely positive affects towards the workshop, and described greater motivation to pursue research if it related to their future career plans or personal lives. The implications of this research include identifying characteristics that students find most beneficial in pre-college workshops, encouraging increased communication when working with peers, and allowing students to develop skills that will be useful to them in the future or that relate to their personal lives to experience meaningful learning in this environment.

Student experience in the UIC STEM initiative CoLab program

Fall 2022 abstracts, posters, and presentations will launch in mid-September.

ACS Fall 2022

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.