Improvement of an international research experience: Year two

Six students from The Ohio State University were sent to Jaipur, India during the summer of 2015 to conduct research on the Jaipur Foot, a low cost lower limb prosthesis. As a continuation of the research conducted by the first cohort, in the summer of 2016 four different students were sent to Jaipur to conduct research. However, based on the successes and difficulties from the 2015 year, a number of changes were instituted to improve both the educational and research goals for the student researchers. This paper will outline these changes, identify how they affected student learning and technical success, and make suggestions for further improvement in the final year of the program. One major change to the structure of the research experience program included employing a research component to an independent study course during the spring 2016 semester. This course focused on preparing students from not only a cultural standpoint, but also from a technical content specific to the project, including the use of material testing systems and finite element analysis. As students from two geographically dispersed institutions were selected for the research experience, they were encouraged to adapt to working with both Indian and American scientists whom they had not previously collaborated with. The targeted improvements made in the second year allowed for better technical preparation and further development of collaborative and teamwork skills. These goals are evaluated using a broad range of metrics, including student journals during the research experience in India and pre and post surveys focusing on technical and teamwork skills specific to global competency. Observations suggest that students were better prepared to conduct technical research as a result of the expanded independent study course and that the limited interaction between students prior to arrival had no negative impacts on teamwork. This study could be used to support project specific technical education and preparing a diverse team prior to conducting undergraduate international research programs