2025 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) are a promising approach to enhancing student learning, particularly in STEM courses. While widely implemented in the natural sciences, their adoption in engineering remains limited. This multi-institutional study analyzed survey data from 21 engineering faculty to identify best practices and challenges in implementing CUREs. Findings highlight that course structure and organization are essential, requiring adjustments to content delivery and timelines. Faculty were found to align CURE topics with their research, benefiting both students and their projects. Project-based learning, especially through collective projects, proved highly effective. Faculty reported that CUREs enhanced student learning, collaboration, writing, and presentation skills. However, challenges included aligning research topics with course content, managing time demands, and providing sufficient scaffolding to support student research. Faculty successfully integrated various research components, including experimental design, research execution, and literature review, to engage students across engineering disciplines. These approaches helped create meaningful research experiences. Overall, this study provides initial insights for faculty looking to implement CUREs in engineering courses. Future research should focus on refining strategies for scaffolding undergraduate research, expanding CURE integration across engineering disciplines, and developing faculty training programs to support broader adoption. Additionally, further studies should explore the long-term effects on student learning and faculty research productivity.