Collaborative Summer Research Internship Program Engages High School Students in Authentic Physiology Research Experiences

Abstract

Participation in authentic research experiences is increasingly recognized as a high‐impact educational practice for undergraduate students and is associated with improvements in student learning, engagement, retention, and persistence in STEM fields. The benefits of authentic research participation for high school students have been less well‐studied. We developed a collaborative Summer Research Internship Program for high school students between California State University, Sacramento (Sac State) and Sacramento Country Day School (SCDS) emphasizing participation in physiology research. Our primary aims were to expose students to an academic research environment, explore mechanisms for mentoring students in early phases of the STEM pipeline, and strengthen connections between Sac State and SCDS. The Program targeted 11th and 12th grade students with an interest in pursuing science‐related careers. We piloted the Program in the summer of 2017 with one student interning in a cell physiology lab, followed by the official launch of the Program in the summer of 2018 with three students interning in two labs (cell physiology and neurophysiology). The Program grew to four mentors with a total of six students by the summer of 2019 and has expanded to include physiology, chemistry, and zoology labs. We gathered responses from all student interns to survey questions regarding their experiences with the Program. Before students began their internships, their expectations focused on learning what exactly research entails and generating a useful addition to their college applications. Student expectations at the onset of the Program closely matched our aim of providing an initial research exposure. Interestingly, when students reported their takeaways at the end of their internships, they noted different outcomes than their initial expectations. Student interns said they gained more far‐reaching benefits than mere exposure to research. These included a deeper appreciation for the time and effort required to complete a successful research project, the supportive and collegial relationships with their lab mates and research mentors, and the flexibility and ingenuity required in the research environment. Although a few students reported their internships made them more interested in pursuing a research career, even those who did not said they learned about the importance of research in their intended career path. We identified several other unexpected outcomes. Although the student interns differed in age by at most three years, this significantly impacted how we tailored the internship to each student. In addition, the interns expressed interest in learning how to analyze and communicate data for a scientific audience. Based on the interns’ desire to be more involved in the scientific process, we intend to expand the current Internship Program to include an associated academic class at SCDS, focused on the reading, writing, analytical, and communication processes of science. We also aim to involve more research labs to increase student participation in the Program, and we will explore the possibility of students continuing their internships into the academic year to allow more in‐depth and sustained research experiences.