Going remote: Recommendations for normalizing virtual internships
Going remote: Recommendations for normalizing virtual internships
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DOI：
10.1002/ecs2.3961
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发表时间：
2022-03-01
期刊：
影响因子：
2.7
通讯作者：
Komatsu，Kimberly J.
中科院分区：
文献类型：
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作者：
Hruska，Amy M.;Cawood，Alison;Komatsu，Kimberly J.
研究实习为学生提供了进行独立研究、为更大的研究项目做出贡献以及融入专业科学环境的宝贵经验。这些经历提高了学生在生态学和其他科学、技术、工程和数学(STEM)领域的坚持性，并促进了那些在本国机构缺乏机会和/或来自STEM中代表性不足的群体的学生的纳入。虽然许多生态实习项目在2020年新冠肺炎疫情期间被取消，但其他一些项目成功地适应了第一次提供虚拟实习机会。尽管与许多研究人员和学生在想到实习时所设想的不同，虚拟生态实习项目可以创造更多可获得的机会，并与研究项目和顾问有意图和规划地开发虚拟实习机会一样有价值。在这里，我们重点介绍六种构建虚拟实习生项目的方法，从纯粹基于计算机的机会(例如，数字数据收集、数据分析或综合)到完全动手的研究(例如，样品处理或基于家庭的实验)。我们通过史密森环境研究中心2020年虚拟实习计划的案例研究来说明这些虚拟项目的例子。接下来，我们提供了10条有效开发虚拟实习计划的建议。最后，我们总结了虚拟实习可以避免面对面实习的局限性的方法，以及针对虚拟实习可能存在的陷阱的可能解决方案。虽然虚拟实习在2020年因新冠肺炎而成为必要，但未来虚拟实习的发展和继续可能是一个宝贵的工具，可以增加现有的实习机会，可能进一步促进多样性、公平性和融入生态和STEM。
Research internships provide students with invaluable experience conducting independent research, contributing to larger research programs, and embedding in a professional scientific setting. These experiences increase student persistence in ecology and other science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields and promote the inclusion of students who lack opportunities at their home institutions and/or are from groups that are underrepresented in STEM. While many ecology internship programs were canceled during the 2020 COVID‐19 pandemic, others successfully adapted to offer virtual internships for the first time. Though different from what many researchers and students envision when they think of internships, virtual ecology internship programs can create more accessible opportunities and be just as valuable as in‐person opportunities when research programs and advisors develop virtual internships with intention and planning. Here, we highlight six ways to structure a virtual intern project, spanning a spectrum from purely computer‐based opportunities (e.g., digital data gathering, data analysis, or synthesis) to fully hands‐on research (e.g., sample processing or home‐based experiments). We illustrate examples of these virtual projects through a case study of the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center's 2020 Virtual Internship Program. Next, we provide 10 recommendations for effectively developing a virtual internship program. Finally, we end with ways that virtual internships can avoid the limitations of in‐person internships, as well as possible solutions to perceived pitfalls of virtual internships. While virtual internships became a necessity in 2020 due to COVID‐19, the development and continuation of virtual internships in future can be a valuable tool to add to the suite of existing internship opportunities, possibly further promoting diversity, equity, and inclusion in ecology and STEM.