Abstract
Since 2000, the University of Florida’s Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences (IFAS) has offered summer research internships at its Florida Agricultural Experiment Station to encourage undergraduate students to engage in science-focused education and pursue STEM-focused careers. The internships have provided students an opportunity to acquire hands-on research experience while working one-on-one with faculty members conducting research across a variety of disciplines. The purpose of this research was to assess the impact of the research internship by examining the research skills students developed and the career trajectories they chose. When comparing reported research-related skill levels before and after participating in the internship there were statistically significant (p ≤ .01) positive changes in all 19 indicators of research skills. The two highest areas of gain were practical skills for conducting research and knowledge of the important literature in their field. Other key skills acquired were those related to critical and logical thinking and the ability to synthesize information. In addition, 64% of the respondents attended graduate school and 69% reported they were currently working in a science related field. Results of the study demonstrated that hands-on research experiences at the undergraduate level improved the participants’ self-reported research related skillset.
 6 Odera_Sept2015 NACTA Journal.pdf | [ ] | 955 kB |
