Uncovering Factors Influencing Instructors' Decision Process when Considering Implementation of a Course-Based Research Experience

Abstract

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) are an effective way to expose large numbers of students to authentic research, yet most laboratory courses still use traditional "cookbook" methods. While barriers to using CUREs have been captured postimplementation, little is known about the decision mindset before implementation or what features of CURE design may mitigate perceived barriers. Perception of an innovation (such as a CURE) influences the likelihood of its adoption, and diffusion of innovations theory posits that the decision to adopt is largely influenced by five perceived features of an innovation: relative advantage, compatibility, complexity, observability, and trialability. We conducted interviews with instructors considering using the Prevalence of Antibiotic Resistance in the Environment (PARE) project to assess their perceptions of CUREs and motivations for using PARE. Instructors viewed CUREs as having relative advantages over traditional methods; however, CUREs were also viewed as complex, with instructors citing multiple barriers. Instructors were motivated to use PARE because of its potential scientific impact and compatibility with their courses' structures and resources. Instructors perceived PARE to have few barriers to implementation compared with other CUREs. Designing CUREs that address common instructor barriers and drivers could increase the rate of diffusion of CUREs.

FIGURE 1.

The innovation decision process. In DOI theory, the innovation decision-making process describes the five stages an individual goes through when deciding to use (or not use) an innovation: knowledge gathering, persuasion, decision, implementation, and confirmation. This study focuses primarily on the persuasion stage, which is highly influenced by perceived characteristics of the innovation.

FIGURE 2.

The PARE module format allows instructors to pick and choose their students’ research experience according to course learning goals, institutional resources, and instructor expertise. All modules are related to studying environmental presence and transmission of antibiotic resistance. In the core PARE module, students isolate bacteria from soil and test for the prevalence of tetracycline resistance (Tc^R). Most PARE classes implement the PARE core module first, with additional modules (optionally) added as desired. The order and pairing of these add-on modules can be mixed and matched. Eight expansion modules are currently available, with others in development. Many expansion modules were conceived of and codeveloped by PARE instructors. Add-on modules expand on the research goals of the core PARE module. More details on each module can be found on the PARE website (https://sites.tufts.edu/ctse/pare). Figure created by Madeline Verbica.

FIGURE 3.

Formative assessment results of a survey of new PARE instructors’ anticipated challenges with the PARE project, N = 17. Numbered bars represent the number of instructors selecting that Likert-scale option. Neutral responses (Likert-scale level 4) were omitted from this graphic for ease of viewing.