Advancing Research Ethics Education in CUREs through Multi-Institutional Curricular Innovation

Responsible and ethical conduct of research (RECR) education is essential for the preparation of future scientists but is often overlooked for undergraduate scholars. To address this concern, the Ethics Network for Course-based Opportunities in Undergraduate Research (ENCOUR) engaged facilitators of course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) in the development of RECR-focused student learning objectives (SLOs) for their courses. In this qualitative study, 158 facilitator-created SLOs were analyzed, using Bloom’s Taxonomy to classify cognitive level and to capture patterns in how facilitators attended to RECR. Findings revealed that 41 percent of SLOs targeted higher-order skills, whereas 59 percent focused on lower-order skills. SLOs frequently incorporated research and RECR-specific terminology alongside CURE characteristics. These results guide CURE facilitators seeking to design RECR curricula that support ethical reasoning in undergraduate STEM education.