The kind of engagement we saw with students was as follows:

• 5 minutes of class time at the beginning of the course to introduce students to the project (we had a recruitment script for any participating instructor to read) - or a video that instructors can put on their e-learning platform

• 3 surveys (20 minutes each) that students generally completed outside of class time over the course of the semester at these times:

  • Early in the semester

  • Around the middle of the semester - or after instructors decided that students had multiple opportunities to experience failure

  • At the end of the semester

• 1 hour-long interview with the students - outside of class time, for which students received monetary compensation

The kind of engagement we saw with instructors was as follows:

• 15 minutes of time to talk about the logistics of the research project (such as incentives for student survey participation)

• About an hour of time in total during data collection for communicating with us and putting the template text onto course e-learning platforms, for which we provided a $50 Visa gift card to participating instructors

All participating instructors had access to a folder with the assignment prompts and links that could be cut and paste onto their institution’s e-learning platform. The instructors then ensured that the extra credit assignment was open to students at the appropriate time points in the term.

In order to protect student identity, we did not share individual student responses with instructors. The research team will be providing summary data from participating instructors' courses in Fall 2024.

The first thing that students saw when they clicked on the link on their e-learning platform was a consent form. If students decided not to participate in data collection, they were redirected to an alternate option: a short essay prompt asking them to reflect on scientific failures and on their learning in the CURE course. Students could complete this to still get any credit that instructors choose offer for engaging in this activity!

While we cannot promise that every student will get any direct benefit from participating in either the data collection survey or the alternate reflection essay, in interviews and feedback from piloting these instruments, students have mentioned some personal benefits. These included becoming more reflective, seeing their failures in a new light, and thinking more deeply about their coping strategies. In what was the kindest compliment of our work, students mentioned that the interviews were a welcome therapeutic exercise, offering emotional and intellectual catharsis!