The High School Research Initiative (HRI) offers a dual-enrollment course in science research, offering high school science credit, as well as The University of Texas course credit. Taught at high school campuses, this unique course combines open inquiry research for the first semester and University-partnered research collaborations for the second semester.

At UT-Austin’s College of Natural Sciences, students dive into scientific research right from the start through the Freshman Research Initiative (FRI). Now high school students can do the same. The pioneering HRI program provides high schools students the opportunity to initiate and engage in real-world research experience with faculty and graduate students at The University of Texas at Austin. The HRI offers a dual-enrollment course, which is part open-inquiry and part focused-research for high school students. The resulting course provides high school students both college credit for the HRI-Research Methods course (NSC 309) and high school credit for Scientific Research and Design [SRD, PEIMS: 8724.H900.Y (fall) and 8724.NC10.Y (spring)].

The NIH SEPA-funded HRI program is the result of partnerships between nationally recognized UT-Austin programs: UTeach, FRI, and OnRamps. UTeach specializes in STEM teacher preparation, while the FRI specializes in undergraduate research experiences and OnRamps offers infrastructure and experience in hosting dual-enrollment courses throughout Texas.

The HRI seeks to leverage the benefits of these partnerships, obtaining similar outcomes in the FRI and UTeach. That is - FRI students are more likely to complete science and math degrees, graduate within 6 years (Rodenbush, et al, CBE-Life Sciences Education, 2016), and (we believe) graduate better prepared to pursue advanced degrees or jobs in industry. Similarly, UTeach is a model for science education, professional development, and outreach.

Like the freshmen at the FRI, students in the HRI course are engaged in authentic student-driven research, a cornerstone of project-based learning. In the first semester, students develop two of their own research projects, using inquiry-based instruction. In the section semester, students are paired with University research educators to work on projects related to current University research.

Significance and Innovation

The significance of the HRI is that it capitalizes on the power of research experiences as a STEM recruitment and retention tool. HRI includes other design elements that contribute to student success: mentoring, networking, college readiness programming, academic skill building, and a transition from more guided to more independent work. These factors are especially important for the success of students who are the first in their families to attend college or are from backgrounds underrepresented in STEM fields, which are the target population of HRI. HRI is designed to meet the needs of schools as outlined by the Texas legislature, and to align with state science education standards as well as the Next Generation Science Standards, especially related to the practices of science.

HRI will operate at scale – involving 250 high school students from diverse backgrounds in yearlong science inquiry and research experiences each year. This totals to 135+ hours of research experience per high school student – almost as many hours as a standard one-semester undergraduate research experience. Many undergraduate researchers only gain eight weeks of research experience through summer research programs, which is about twice as much as an HRI student will experience but for four times the cost (i.e. about $1,000 per student in HRI versus $4,000+ per student in a summer research experience for undergraduates). Thus, without significant cost to the school, the HRI will provide a proof-of-concept that high school students can participate in research at scale. Evaluation of HRI is designed to provide rigorous evidence of its efficacy, especially the extent to which high school students, who are inherently a more diverse group of students than undergraduates, reap the same benefits as undergraduates from participating in science research.