Medical Education
Neuroscience Colorado Research Experience (N-CORE)
Overview
The Neuroscience Colorado Research Experience (N-CORE) is a summer internship and educational program that gives undergraduate students from historically underrepresented backgrounds (URM) authentic neuroscience research experiences in state-of-the-art biomedical research labs at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical School Campus (CU Anschutz). N-CORE’s overarching goal is to cultivate a better understanding of neuroscience and biomedical research, engender scientific enthusiasm, and promote retention in scientific fields.
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Evaluation Approach
The Evaluation Center will provide program directors with formative, summative, and process assessment data to foster ongoing program improvement and to measure program impact. Objective-oriented, management-oriented, and participant-oriented approaches inform the evaluation which focuses on assessing N-CORE’s effectiveness to attract and support undergraduate students from diverse backgrounds who have the potential to engage in research and build careers in biomedical, behavioral, or clinical sciences. Evaluators utilize a mixed-methods approach, using data collection methods such as surveys, interviews, focus groups, and program administration data (e.g., graduation rate, career and education status). Guided by the Hope Theory and Social Cognitive Career Theory, all evaluation data are combined and analyzed with the programmatic data that are collected by the program directors/administrators to examine students’ progress and assess the program’s impact over time.
Timeline
2023 – 2027
POPULATION SERVED
Undergraduate students from historically underrepresented backgrounds (URM)
Funder
National Institutes of Health