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Abstract The Bee the CURE is a novel course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) that engages introductory biology students in DNA barcoding (DNA extraction, amplification, and bioinformatics) in partnership with the Tucson Bee Collaborative and the University of Arizona. The first iteration of this CURE taught at Pima Community College (PCC) occurred during the Fall 2020 semester in which the course was taught online and students focused on bioinformatics. Due to the online format, students were unable to participate directly in the wet-lab components (extraction and amplification) of the course. These were approximated with videos of the instructor performing the tasks. A qualitative case study of this semester built from student interviews found that students were able to form positive relationships with instructors and peer mentors but that the online format of the class posed some challenges to relationship formation. Students reported developing self-efficacy in bioinformatics skills while online lab participation disrupted student’s gaining “hands-on experiences” and seldom led to development of science self-efficacy in wet lab skills. Our findings from a study of a synchronous online CURE allowed us to characterize a context in which online learning posed a challenge and perhaps even a threat to research self-efficacy, especially regarding skill development and self-efficacy in “hands-on” areas, such as wet-bench research skills. Yet optimistically, our study highlights the potential of online community college learning environments to provide mastery experiences in online science contexts (e.g., bioinformatics) and opportunities for relationship building.
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Piloting the Air Force JROTC Cyber Academy for High School Students
In summer 2020, the United States Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps (JROTC) piloted a Cyber Academy to teach cybersecurity skills and career awareness to high school JROTC cadets. Modeled after the Air Force JROTC Flight Academy, a collaborative effort between the aerospace industry and Air Force to address a national pilot shortage and increase diversity in the field, the Academy lasted 8 weeks and a diverse group of 25 cadets from 12 states participated. The Academy was led by instructors from three institutions, Moraine Valley Community College, Brookdale Community College and Madison Area College. In this experience report, we provide an overview of the curriculum and student learning ecosystem, including the shift from an in-person experience to online due to COVID-19. We present some preliminary findings based on cadets' feedback, grades, and self-efficacy. Despite being an online course that met 3-5 hours per day for 8 weeks, course retention was 96%. Although girls showed much lower cyber threat identification self-efficacy prior to the start of the course than the boys, they reported the same level of self-efficacy as the boys had post-course. We also share lessons learned from the pilot program and future plans for creating a distributed model of the Academy.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2115324
- PAR ID:
- 10304452
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Proceedings of the 52nd ACM Technical Symposium on Computer Science Education
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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