Qualitative assessment of the University of Texas system Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation Summer Research Academy Abroad: An international experience in research and culture

摘要

Since 1993 nine universities in the University of Texas System and several affiliated community colleges have worked collaboratively to promote STEM undergraduate research through the Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation. In 2012 the Alliance was recognized as a model Senior Alliance by the National Science Foundation and to expand on its work an international research component was added: the Summer Research Academy Abroad (SRA-A). Our first cohort of eight students travelled abroad during the summer of 2014. The students participated in an intensive undergraduate research experience for eight weeks and thus became part of the global STEM community. Prior to their departure these students enrolled in a spring 2014 online seminar to prepare them for both the scientific and cultural components of the SRA-A experience. They learned to operate with confidence in new, unfamiliar environments and gained a multicultural perspective. They also acquired early membership and credibility in the global science arena and began to understand the competitiveness that drives the international research community. This paper discusses program details, participant profiles, and assessment after the program's first year of operation.