Impacts of a Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience in Introductory Astronomy Using Robotic Telescopes.

Abstract

As part of a general education undergraduate astronomy course at a minority-serving
\nuniversity in the Midwestern US, students completed an observing project with the Global
\nTelescope Network (GTN), where they participated in realistic practices used by
\nprofessional astronomers, including proposal writing and peer review. This study
\ninvestigates students??? experiences and perceived impacts of participation in the project.
\nThe data analyzed includes an essay assignment [N = 59] administered over seven
\nsemesters and individual interviews [N = 8] collected over two semesters. Students were
\nprompted to address what they liked, disliked, or would change about the project
\nexperience. These data were coded iteratively into nine categories. A Kruskal-Wallis (KW)
\ntest was used to determine that essay results from different semesters could be combined.
\nWe find that students expressed an overall strong positive affect, increased perception of
\nself-efficacy, enjoyment of the experience of peer review, an appreciation for being able to
\nuse real scientific tools and to take on the role of astronomers, as well as a small number
\nof dislikes such as real-world constraints on observing.