Fostering researcher identity in STEM distance education: impact of a student-led on-line case study

Researcher identity can be defined as the totality of traits such as confidence, logical thinking, and having both the ability to design experiments, interpret results, and the desire to seek and succeed in authentic research. Therefore, the development of students' researcher identity can be supported by authentic research experiences embedded in introductory courses. Distance courses are increasingly more appealing to students and institutions, and there is a need to assess to what extent web-based education can provide opportunities to foster researcher identity. In an attempt to offer authentic research opportunities in a course with partially web-delivered content and to foster a research identity, we developed an outbreak case study - group project (OCS-GP) that is an investigation of a mock outbreak of illness. Participants were divided into groups tasked with conceiving an outbreak scenario and then identifying the cause and the source of the outbreak. The case studies were open-ended and designed to provide students with authentic learning experiences. Development of a researcher identity was evaluated in this exploratory study via reflective tests: participants in the OCS-GP demonstrated more willingness to conduct research, when compared with those who completed a similar outbreak case study but as individual assignment (OCS-IA).