Collaborative Educational Experiences through Higher Education-Industry Partnerships

Abstract: This paper is co-authored by Thomas E Pinelli from the NASA Langley Research Center and Cathy W. Hall of the East Carolina University for the 2012 ASQ Advancing the STEM Agenda Conference.

This paper examines the perceptions of mentors and student interns from NASA’s Langley Aerospace Research Summer Scholars (LARSS) program in Hampton, Virginia. Data for the current study are from student interns and mentors participating in the 2010, 10-week summer internship. Students are chosen from around the country based upon their applications and mentoring opportunities to participate in a summer program focusing on a range of specialty areas including: aeronautics; earth science research; exploration and flight; systems and concepts; systems engineering; subsonic/transonic testing; supersonic/hypersonic testing; and structures testing. This study presents information on mentors’ perceptions of academic preparedness brought to the workplace by student interns; student interns’ perceptions of how the internship helped develop key skill areas; and self-reports from student interns and their mentors about their internship experience.

Keywords: STEM - Conference Proceedings - Higher Education Brief - Career Development