Engaging COEUR Principles to Achieve Higher Impact in Student Learning through a Campus-Community Partnership with the Air Force Institute of Technology

摘要

This work presents a preliminary thematic analysis of student benefits and student outcomes that are achieved in a summer undergraduate research program following the implementation of the Council of Undergraduate Research Characteristics of Excellence in Undergraduate Research (COEUR) principles in a campus-community partnership. Our partnership between the Air Force Institute of Technology (AFIT) and Southwestern Ohio Council for Higher Education (SOCHE) engages principles described in COEUR to enrich undergraduate student research experiences in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields in the AFIT Summer Research Program. AFIT is located on Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and SOCHE is located off-campus in Dayton, Ohio. Since 2012, SOCHE and AFIT, a graduate school in engineering and applied science devoted to defense-focused research-based education, are partnering to transform student research experiences so that students can succeed in the 21~(st) century STEM workforce. Students in the Summer Research Program are selected by AFIT Faculty Advisors to perform research in 12-week internships. Students are referred to as SOCHE interns because SOCHE is the government contractor and employer of the 40-50 students who participate annually. As the students' employer, SOCHE is able to assess the experiences of the students.