CUREs (course-based undergraduate research experiences) are becoming increasingly popular, implemented at hundreds of colleges and universities across the US. One widely-cited study found that at least 45 percent of students in its sample did not demonstrate any statistically significant improvement in their reasoning and communication skills during their first two years of college. Spurred by such findings, educators have sought to engineer new approaches. One that seems to be working: asking undergraduates to conduct actual scientific research through CUREs.