Enhancing Collaboration in Undergraduate Biology Education: Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) as a Setting for Building Team Competencies, Connectivity, and Persistence

Abstract

Science has become increasingly collaborative as research is more commonly conducted by teams rather than individuals. In addition, within careers of all disciplines, teamwork competencies are highly desired by employers. Despite these trends, within undergraduate settings pedagogical instruction in teamwork is uncommon and students are expected to be able to operate effectively in teams without training. Prior work assessing team training programs in higher education have typically focused on evaluating student learning or academic outcomes, presenting a gap in our understanding for how training in teamwork functions to build cohesive teams and competencies for teamwork that can be implemented in future team experiences. Given these considerations, we implemented team science training interventions based on principles from the science of team science (SciTS) into STEM course-based undergraduate research experiences and argument-driven inquiry lab classes (which we refer to as CUREs and ADI-TS) to assess its impact on collaboration which takes place in undergraduate settings, and compared these results to those from an argument-driven inquiry lab course in which students engaged in teamwork, but did not participate in the interventions (ADI). First, we assessed the impact of these interventions on the development of transportable team competencies which we define as the knowledge, skills, and attitudes (KSAs) for teamwork that are applicable to team experiences across a variety of disciplines. We used a mixed-methods approach consisting of survey data and student focus groups to assess changes in the development of KSAs across the instructional types. Within this work, we noted growth in all of the KSAs for CURE and ADI-TS and our qualitative analysis suggested that students who exemplified strong team competencies were able to form communities of practice to enhance teamwork. We then investigated the interactions that took place within a class using social network analysis and student focus groups to determine if and to what extent teams formed within these instructional types. Our results indicated that CURE classes formed networks which had greater density, more numerous connections, and a greater number of interteam interactions than students in ADI-TS and ADI. Additionally, we noted several student demographic predictors which may impact the number of connections an individual has within a class network. Finally, we evaluated a CURE that took place in teams within multiple community colleges to determine its impact on student experimental design abilities, intentions to persist in STEM, and remain enrolled at the institution. We compared the results of the CURE to those from a community college standard instruction lab class that worked in teams but did not complete research. Using both a student survey and qualitative data from student focus groups, we found that the CURE did not differentially impact the development of STEM persistence, retention, or experimental design abilities but was recognized by the students as an authentic research experience. Collectively, this dissertation demonstrates the impacts of teamwork for enhancing student learning which takes place in collaborative settings. When teamwork is made intentional through training, these collaborations may be enhanced as students are able to build and implement teamwork competencies that can facilitate the development of stronger, more unified teams that may be able to achieve greater efficacy and form communities of practice. Students who have had the opportunity to engage in team training may be better equipped to participate in collaborative spaces and contribute to the overall expansion of scientific understanding.