Multidisciplinary research on behavioral neuroscience: the online experience of an international student mobility program in the year 2020

Abstract

Due to the restructuring of activities in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, student mobility around the world is being delivered online. On one hand, the management of internationalization between higher education institutions to carry out research internships predominates. On the other hand, there is little reflection on the experience of these virtual internships. The aim of this paper is to highlight, through the analysis of the case of the visiting students program of Universidad Veracruzana (Mexico), delivered online for the first time in summer 2020, the importance of the virtual multidisciplinary research internship carried out by Colombian students from different fields of study, who shared a common interest in behavioral neuroscience. Connected with the Institute of Neuroethology in Mexico, which focuses on the biological mechanisms underlying behavior, the future professionals in nursing, accounting and law demonstrate through research activities the contribution of neuroscientific knowledge in taking care of others, in promoting financial culture, and in the practice of litigation, respectively. Additionally, these students bring to the program their personal experience. The paper concludes that although student mobility is virtual, it is still possible to do research, exchange cultural and personal experiences, without diminishing the learning challenges that experimental disciplines online present, but strengthening meaningful learning practices.

Keywords

• accounting
• law
• nursing
• virtual internship
• neuroscience
• neuroethology