2023 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition

A shortage of 3.4 million skilled technical workers by 2022 (or 13% of the U.S. workforce ages 25 and older) was predicted by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (2017). With the internship program funded by the NSF START, we engaged 2-year associate degree students from Valdosta State University in the NSF Spatiotemporal I/UCRC at George Mason University to train them with advanced spatiotemporal computing research and technology skills to fulfill such needed skills set in critical service activities for geospatial applications. 10 interns were interviewed, selected, and matched with mentors and projects based on their interests and skills, and they worked with mentors on a daily base during the academic year of 2021-2022.
Our research questions are as follows: Has the internship program increased students’ knowledge and skills in spatiotemporal computing, research, and communication? What success did we obtain from such a program? What improvement could we make to the program? In order to answer the above questions, anonymous pre- and after-internship online surveys and in-person focus groups were applied to gather information. Quantitative and qualitative measures were both used in the study.
The results demonstrated improvements in all skill areas for interns, including computer skills and soft skills such as research, presentation, and writing. It also provides insights into further improving such a successful program.

Reference:
National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), 2017. Building America's Skilled Technical Workforce, (Washington, D.C.: The National Academies Press, 2017): https://www.nap.edu/catalog/23472/building-americas-skilled-technical-workforce