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Infusing Undergraduate Research into the Curriculum

Undergraduate research plays a critical role in a student’s academic success, learning, and development, including increased retention and higher graduation ratings (Baron et al., 2020).

  • High-Impact Practices (HIPs) such as undergraduate research are educational practices that research has shown to increase rates of student retention, student engagement, and persistence to graduation for all students (AAC&U, 2023).
  • The benefits of participation in undergraduate research in terms of retention, graduation, deep learning, and self-efficacy, has been substantiated as well (Chamely-Wiik et al., 2023; Bhattacharyya et al., 2018; Chan et al., 2018; Mandernach, 2015; Sweat et al. 2013).
  • Students who are involved in undergraduate research are two times more likely to enroll in graduate schools than students who are not involved in research activities while in the undergraduate nursing program (Collins et al., 2017). 

Embedding authentic research experiences in courses can help more students gain access to these benefits compared to the single faculty mentor/mentee paradigm. Undergraduate research is typically implemented in various formats to include curricular and co-curricular activities. However, course-embedded research has the potential to broaden undergraduate research participation and early engagement in research in all disciplines (Prajukti et.al., 2020).

Ways to Infuse Undergraduate Research into Coursework

Specific Discipline Examples

Learn more about how some faculty have infused undergraduate research into courses in their disciplines’ coursework.

Applied Science

Arts and Humanities

Health Sciences

Natural Sciences

Social Science

Designing CURE Courses

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE) are structured courses where students work together in a classroom setting to engage in addressing a research question or problem that is of interest to the research community (Auchincloss et al. 2014). CURE courses can improve the accessibility of undergraduate research experiences by incorporating research into the design of curriculum. CURE courses are characterized by five core principles that distinguish it from other laboratory and research learning experiences:

  1. The use of multiple scientific and evidence-based practices to generate new knowledge and understanding.
  2. Research outcomes are not predetermined, positioning both students and instructor as co-participants in the process of inquiry and discovery.
  3. Focuses on broadly relevant or important work that has meaning beyond the individual course and topic.
  4. Emphasizes collaboration of groups of students and instructor to tackle a problem.
  5. Students engage in iterative processes of investigation and revision, building on their own and others' work to strengthen evidence through repeated testing.

CURE courses are not inherently qualified to be designated Research Intense (RI) courses, though they can become RI courses. Some CURE courses may qualify to be designated as an RI course if they engage students in assignments/projects that align with the in the following research Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs). Faculty may seek RI designation for CUREs courses, which may provide support for faculty teaching these courses and allow students to count them in pursuit of the Research Certificate. For more information on Research Intensive course designations, click here.

Interested in finding out more?

We have curated additional resources in a comprehensive CUREs Canvas course to support faculty in integrating research into the curriculum. If you are interested in gaining access to the Canvas course with these materials, please email ouri@fau.edu requesting access to the CUREs canvas course or contact the faculty liaison in your college.

Additional Resources