EAGER International Type II: Collaborative Research: Reimagining International Research for Students in a Virtual World

第一部分国际研究合作为支持创新研究和应对当今世界面临的重大全球挑战提供了重要机会。为了培养既具有跨文化能力又能够在其领域内驾驭全球研究网络的美国研究人员，为学生提供国际研究经验是很重要的。在虚拟环境中重新构思学生的国际研究项目，将确保未来国际参与应对新冠肺炎等突发变化的韧性，并有可能拓宽获得此类机会的途径。该项目将探索STEM学生在后COVID时代的国际研究经验的未来。基于之前对学生体验和这些项目的项目结构的研究，我们将召集利益相关者创造性地思考如何在虚拟环境中为学生提供类似的体验。为了加强未来的国际研究合作，我们需要了解在虚拟环境中为学生提供国际研究体验所需的挑战、好处和支持。开发虚拟课程以保持学生从传统形式获得的学习成果，将需要根据先前为学生协调国际研究经验的教育工作者社区的经验和最佳实践进行有意的设计。第二部分，本项目将探索在虚拟环境中为STEM学生设计国际研究体验。具体来说，我们将解决以下研究问题：1)如何将学生国际研究体验的每个元素转化为虚拟环境？2)什么样的项目结构将允许这些新的虚拟体验？3)项目负责人需要什么支持来实施这些项目？该项目将包括两个阶段，第一个阶段侧重于通过虚拟焦点小组收集广泛的想法，第二个阶段通过问卷调查收集更多受众对这些想法的反馈。我们将使用参与式设计方法从目前为学生提供国际研究经验的研究人员社区收集信息，因为这将使我们能够建立他们在这一领域的默会知识和专业知识。在后COVID时代，可能需要提供更多的虚拟教育体验，我们的发现可以支持虚拟研究体验和实验室体验的发展(例如，REUS和RETS)。同样，对于STEM专业的学生来说，出国留学往往是一项挑战，因为这些专业的课程结构高度结构化，因此提供虚拟体验可能会增加学生的学习机会。我们将通过学术渠道、网络研讨会和在线资源广泛传播我们的发现，这些资源可以支持教师和大学寻求为学生开发虚拟研究体验。该奖项反映了NSF的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力优势和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Part 1.International research collaborations provide important opportunities to support innovative research and address the significant global challenges facing the world today. To develop U.S. researchers who are both interculturally competent and able to navigate global research networks within their field, it is important to provide international research experiences for students. Reimagining international research programs for students in a virtual environment will ensure the resilience of future international engagement to sudden changes such as COVID-19 and potentially broaden access to such opportunities. This project will explore the future of international research experiences for STEM students in the post-COVID era. Building on prior research of student experiences and program structures for these programs, we will convene stakeholders to think creatively about how similar experiences can be provided for students in a virtual environment. To strengthen the international research collaborations of the future, we need to understand the challenges, benefits, and supports necessary to provide international research experiences for students in a virtual environment. Developing virtual programs that maintain the learning outcomes students gain from the traditional format will require intentional design based on the experiences and best practices of the community of educators who have coordinated international research experiences for students previously. Part 2.This project will explore the design of international research experiences for STEM students in virtual environments. In particular, we will address the following research questions: 1) How could each element of an international research experience for students be translated into a virtual environment?; 2) What program structures would allow for these new virtual experiences?; 3) What support would program leaders need to implement such programs? This project will include two phases, the first focused on collecting a broad range of ideas through virtual focus groups, and the second collecting feedback on these ideas from a wider audience through a questionnaire. We will use a participatory design approach to collect information from the community of researchers who currently run international research experiences for students as this will allow us to build on their tacit knowledge and expertise in this area. In a post-COVID world, more educational experiences may need to be provided virtually, and our findings can support the development of virtual research experiences and laboratory experiences generally (e.g., REUs and RETs). Similarly, studying abroad is often a challenge for students in STEM disciplines where programs are highly structured, so providing virtual experiences may increase access. We will disseminate our findings broadly through academic channels and through webinars and online resources that can support faculty and universities seeking to develop virtual research experiences for students.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.