CUREing the Lack of Research Experiences for Online Astronomy Majors

Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) involve students in authentic research experiences that have an impact on the broader scientific community. CUREs have been shown to provide students with a number of affective and conceptual outcomes. In order to provide research opportunities to students enrolled in the online Astronomical and Planetary Science degree program at Arizona State University, we developed and assessed one of the first online CUREs in astronomy. In this CURE, students partner with NASA Exoplanet Watch to update the ephemerides of hot Jupiters.

This CURE deviates from traditional CUREs in two ways: 1) it is delivered in an online format and 2) students are not involved in the data collection. To investigate if this CURE delivered when compared to known CURE outcomes, we conducted a mixed-methods analysis to assess potential student gains across a variety of affective outcomes. We found that students reported statistically significant increases in research self-efficacy, science identity, sense of belonging, and exoplanet transit concept knowledge. We will present these findings from the first four offerings of the CURE to provide insight into the impact that online research experiences can have on a diverse student population.