Assessment Study of an Undergraduate Research Training Abroad Program

Abstract

The Old Westbury Neuroscience International Research Program (OWNIP) encourages undergraduate students from health disparities populations and underrepresented minorities to pursue careers in basic science, biomedical, clinical, and behavioral health research fields. To evaluate this program, several measures were used tracked through an online learning management system (ModdleMentors and Angel), including: science related perceptions by students; student program assessments; laboratory performance of students evaluated by mentors; and (since 2011) student performance of weekly and biweekly online deliverables, a journal entry, and a research report. Herein we describe our more broad-based approach to program evaluations of this type, including the articulation of a full program model linking key program elements with priority outcomes, and the reporting of findings from the first and second cohort of students who participated in the summers of 2010 and 2011 and the tracking of students who have participated since the inception of the program in 1994.

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