1. Disease and the Environment: A Health Disparities CURE Incorporating Civic Engagement Education
- Author
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Olimpo, Jeffrey T., Apodaca, Jennifer, Hernandez, Aimee A., and Paat, Yok-Fong
- Abstract
Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) offer a novel avenue for engaging students in the scientific process (Bangera and Brownell, 2014). In contrast to traditional laboratories, CUREs are designed to foster autonomy through student-driven hypothesis generation, experimentation, data analysis, and dissemination of findings (Auchincloss et al., 2014; Spell, Guinan, Miller, and Beck, 2014). In this article, the authors describe the development and evaluation of the BIOL 1108: Health Disparities in the Border Region II CURE, which represents efforts to address concerns through purposeful integration of civic engagement education into the CURE curriculum. A health disparities course theme was identified given the widespread health inequalities along the U.S.-Mexico border that have posed a challenge to the U.S. healthcare system (Bastida, Brown, and Pagán, 2008; Rosales, Carvajal, and de Zapien, 2016). They also present both quantitative and qualitative evidence suggesting that participation in the CURE positively impacts students' development of public health outreach skills, researcher autonomy and self-efficacy, and affective dispositions toward the role of science in society
- Published
- 2019