Crossing Floors: Developing an Interdisciplinary CURE between an Environmental Toxicology Course and an Analytical Chemistry Course

We designed a collaborative course-based undergraduate research experience (CURE) between an Analytical Chemistry course and an Environmental Toxicology course to engage students in a research project that cannot rely on one discipline alone. This study reports on 47 students’ self-reported experiences with the course outcomes and their opinions of the CURE project. Students in both courses increased their levels of experience in skills related to the CURE project, including their ability to design a project where the outcome was unknown. Further, most students felt a sense of project ownership, but their ownership was attributed only to the positive aspects of the CURE. At the end of the CURE, the students in both classes demonstrated the ability to connect ideas and techniques learned in the course to a broader environmental research question. We also suggest several tips for developing collaborative CUREs in undergraduate courses.