In a follow-up to our publication that describes inorganic chemistry instructional laboratories within the United States, we share findings related to the use of Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CURE’s) in inorganic chemistry courses.

In the article “Goals for the Undergraduate Instructional Inorganic Chemistry Laboratory when Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences are Implemented: A National Survey”, we share findings related to the use of CUREs, and faculty perspectives on CUREs, in inorganic chemistry laboratory courses.

Findings suggest that CUREs have limited current use in inorganic chemistry courses. However, courses that do implement CURE pedagogy have more distinct instructional goals than non-CURE counterparts. Additionally, findings suggest that institutional and departmental characteristics may be predictive for whether or not CUREs are implemented.

This publication represents the first chemical education research investigation of CUREs in inorganic chemistry. We anticipate inorganic chemistry educators and researchers can use these findings to reflect on their practices. Specifically, faculty members can reflect on the CURE pedagogy and their own institutional/departmental contexts and consider the potential fit of CUREs in their courses. However, the findings suggest further work is needed to understand how faculty members perceive CUREs and the barriers that exist for implementing CUREs.

We hope that this publication, coupled with previous publications on lecture courses and the inorganic chemistry laboratory course overall, are useful for inorganic educators, provide context for the variety of inorganic chemistry courses and pedagogies, and seed future investigations related to laboratory pedagogies for inorganic chemistry