Working With A Scientist Program (WWASP): A Summative Assessment of Cohort 1

This report is part of a four-year evaluation assessing the impact that the Working with a Scientist Program at the University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP) had on its first cohort of participants. Participants were students from a regional high school that were selected to take part in research activities every other Saturday during the Spring semester and on weekdays during the summer. The evaluation components included in this report focus on assessing students’ academic performance and the gains the students made while in the program. It also focused on an assessment of students’ perceptions of the ‘self’, ‘others’ and the ‘group’ during group discussions at two time periods: towards the middle of program participation and towards the end; note that the group discussions are a main component of the program. Assessment was realized through: 1) analysis of academic records, 2) participant survey that focused on program fellows’ perceptions of their group discussions, and 3) participant survey modeled after the Undergraduate Research Student Self-Assessment (URSSA).

Appendix includes surveys.