Featured Project: Remote Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience

Course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) involve students in authentic research by engaging students in inquiries where neither the students nor the instructor know the answer. During the Fall 2020 term, when faced with the challenge of instructing a large (400+ student), introductory physics lab virtually, Heather Lewandowski, Alexandra Werth, and Colin West redesigned the course to create a unique experience for the students in this very unique situation--a CURE. They partnered with Dr. James Mason at Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) to study the relationship between the power of solar flares and their frequency. CU Boulder's Physics 1140 students engaged in a 16-week-long course which allowed them to work and contribute to this research project. Students worked in teams of 3-4 students over Zoom to choose a flare from the Space Weather Data Portal, do a background correction, and report the total power of the flare. The students then pulled all the individual flare data together to determine the relationship between flare power and frequency. The project resulted in a publication in the Astrophysical Journal with all students included as authors. Research on the impacts of this CURE is ongoing, but results so far suggest that the course played a crucial role in helping students develop a sense of community and engage in authentic teamwork.