Research experiences can often be inspiring and life changing for young college students. It is possible that research experiences are pivotal in making decisions about college majors and careers. We are beginning to implement research as part of the regular curriculum for first- and second-year students in chemistry as part of the Center for Authentic Science Practice in Education (CASPiE) project. The center utilizes authentic research projects, a remote-access network of chemical instruments, and the peer-led team learning (PLTL) model. Our early evaluation results indicate that students are finding this to be a rewarding experience.
Weaver et al. (Sat,) studied this question.