TABLE 1.

CURE design elements.

Design element	Course structure
Scientific practices	Students collect and analyze data to draw conclusions
Collaboration	Teams of students collaborate and share research data
Iteration	Previous results are incorporated into assignments
Discovery	Novel soil microbiome data are collected by students
Relevance	Research question is of interests to professional scientists

Specific course structure and activities were developed in alignment with the CURE design elements described in the existing literature: scientific practices, collaboration, iteration, discovery, and relevance.