New Perspectives in Science Education

In 2024, more than 10.5 million students in the U.S. attended public two-year colleges, representing nearly half of all undergraduate students. Almost 70% of STEM students at two-year colleges leave STEM pathways.¹  Eighty-one percent of white women and students of color of both sexes report that poor instructional quality is an issue when they leave post-secondary STEM programs.² The iRISE (Inclusive Research-based Interdisciplinary Science Education) Project seeks to increase engagement and retention in STEM pathways through providing students with research experiences in their introductory STEM courses that leverage culturally relevant teaching,³ place-based education,⁴ and science identity.^{5, 6} We utilize low-cost CO₂ sensors to embed authentic, small-scale research projects in STEM courses. The students work collaboratively to design, implement, and present community-based research projects. We collected pre- and post-survey data and conducted interviews about the students’ experiences. In the survey data, students reported statistically significant increases in their confidence in their ability to do STEM research. Students also reported that they liked doing STEM research. In their interviews, students reported the value of conducting their own research, how conducting research in their courses made it ‘less intimidating’, how doing STEM research could create interest in STEM fields, and the value of STEM research beyond STEM careers.