Development of scientific thought in an advanced research internship: building up a performance assessment system

Abstract

The scientific research experiences of engineering students allow them to develop practical thinking skills necessary for their professional work, especially scientific and critical thinking. This case study evaluated the performance in the thinking skills competencies of engineering students who interned in an advanced research project. Two instruments were designed: a survey for students and an observation rubric for evaluators. Data were collected on-line at the end of the academic term and reviewed using descriptive statistics. The results showed more students’ interest in the technical work of the scientific experience and less in the thinking skills that might be needed to do this task. This finding may be influenced by the previous Covid-19 lockdown that prevented laboratory practices for a long time. The two instruments demonstrated their usefulness qualitatively and descriptively, assessing the development of the mentioned competencies in the students who completed the internship.