Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) have been shown to provide students with a variety of learning benefits including better conceptual understanding, improved critical thinking and data literacy skills, and increased interest in pursuing scientific careers. Additionally, CUREs provide students with opportunities to participate in authentic research experiences that have a broader impact outside of the classroom. Despite the numerous benefits, the field of astronomy has lagged behind disciplines like biology and chemistry when it comes to including CUREs in the curriculum. Not limited to astronomy, however, is the lack of research opportunities and courses offered to students enrolled in undergraduate degree programs online. In the Fall of 2020, Arizona State University (ASU) introduced the nation’s first online bachelor’s degree program in astronomy and planetary sciences (APS). To make research accessible to a more diverse population of learners, it is imperative that students in this program have access to the same opportunities to participate in authentic research as those in the parallel in-person program. In this work, we describe the development, implementation, and assessment of a fully online CURE for astronomy majors as part of the APS program. We conducted a mixed methods analysis consisting of a Likert style survey administered pre- and postcourse as well as student interviews at the conclusion of the semester. Survey results from the course’s first two offerings ($N=24$) indicated that students’ research self-efficacy and science identity both improved. An exoplanet-specific multiple-choice assessment ($N=26$) showed statistically significant improvements in conceptual understanding postcourse. Additionally, student interview ($N=11$) responses relayed that students felt a stronger sense of belonging to both ASU and the larger astronomy community after participation in the course. The results from this study are encouraging and suggest that student participation in this online CURE led to similar improvements across a variety of outcomes previously identified in studies of in-person CUREs spanning multiple disciplines.

中文翻译：

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在线天文学专业基于课程的本科生研究经验的开发和评估

基于课程的本科生研究体验 (CURE) 已被证明可以为学生提供多种学习益处，包括更好的概念理解、提高批判性思维和数据素养技能，以及增加追求科学职业的兴趣。此外，CURE 为学生提供参与真实研究体验的机会，这些体验在课堂之外产生更广泛的影响。尽管有很多好处，但在将 CURE 纳入课程方面，天文学领域仍然落后于生物学和化学等学科。然而，不仅限于天文学，还缺乏为在线本科学位课程注册的学生提供的研究机会和课程。 2020 年秋季，亚利桑那州立大学 (ASU) 推出了美国第一个天文学和行星科学 (APS) 在线学士学位课程。为了让更多不同的学习者群体能够参与研究，该项目的学生必须获得与平行面对面项目的学生相同的参与真实研究的机会。在这项工作中，我们描述了天文学专业完全在线 CURE 的开发、实施和评估，作为 APS 计划的一部分。我们进行了混合方法分析，包括在课前和课后进行的李克特式调查以及学期结束时的学生访谈。该课程前两门课程的调查结果（$氮=24$）表明学生的研究自我效能感和科学认同感均有所提高。针对系外行星的多项选择评估（$氮=26$）在课程后的概念理解方面显示出统计上的显着改善。此外，学生面试（$氮=11$）反馈表明，学生在参加课程后对亚利桑那州立大学和更大的天文学界有更强烈的归属感。这项研究的结果令人鼓舞，表明学生参与在线 CURE 导致了先前在跨多个学科的面对面 CURE 研究中确定的各种结果的类似改善。