A Pilot Study from the First Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience for Online Degree-Seeking Astronomy Students

TL;DR

This pilot study demonstrates that online course-based undergraduate research experiences in astronomy can effectively enhance student confidence, community belonging, and research skills among diverse, online learners in a short six-week curriculum.

Contribution

The study introduces a novel online astronomy CURE curriculum and provides preliminary evidence of its positive impact on student self-efficacy and community engagement.

Findings

Students showed increased confidence in astronomical research tools.

Students felt a strong sense of belonging to the astronomy community.

Preliminary data suggests positive impact on student self-efficacy.

Abstract

Research-based active learning approaches are critical for the teaching and learning of undergraduate STEM majors. Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are becoming more commonplace in traditional, in-person academic environments, but have only just started to be utilized in online education. Online education has been shown to create accessible pathways to knowledge for individuals from nontraditional student backgrounds, and increasing the diversity of STEM fields has been identified as a priority for future generations of scientists and engineers. We developed and instructed a rigorous, six-week curriculum on the topic of observational astronomy, dedicated to educating second year online astronomy students in practices and techniques for astronomical research. Throughout the course, the students learned about telescopes, the atmosphere, filter systems, adaptive optics systems, astronomical catalogs, and image viewing and processing tools. We developed a survey informed by previous research validated assessments aimed to evaluate course feedback, course impact, student self-efficacy, student science identity and community values, and student sense of belonging. The survey was administered at the conclusion of the course to all eleven students yielding eight total responses. Although preliminary, the results of our analysis indicate that student confidence in utilizing the tools and skills taught in the course was significant. Students also felt a great sense of belonging to the astronomy community and increased confidence in conducting astronomical research in the future.