New Faculty Guidance For Best Practices In Research Mentoring

Abstract

Abstract NOTE: The first page of text has been automatically extracted and included below in lieu of an abstract Main Menu Session 2555 Learning Circle: New Faculty Guidance for Best Practices in Research Mentoring Amyl Ghanem Faculty of Engineering Dalhousie University Halifax, Nova Scotia Canada Introduction Student-conducted research is an active learning experience practiced in capstone projects, in- class research assignments, or laboratory based undergraduate and graduate research. Society depends on the innovations that stem from research at all levels. The transition from an undergraduate environment to a research environment is often difficult: new skills are needed, students are expected to make decisions independently, and learning is informal. Graduate work (and research in general) is recognized to be a stressful time for students (Brennan, 1999). This is especially true for women and minority graduate students who find themselves more isolated and less able to take advantage of informal learning networks than others (Berg and Ferber, 1983). The problem is confounded by the fact that faculty research advisors are not taught management and mentoring skills that are required to properly supervise students. This situation is especially difficult for new faculty who are inexperienced in mentoring student research, but depend strongly on student research productivity. To address these issues, a small group of faculty, students and research staff convened a “Learning Circle” over the course of one semester. The ultimate goal of this group was to put together a common set of resources that can be utilized when training and mentoring students who do research, to encourage new faculty to develop strategies for more effectively mentoring these students, and to provide mentoring for junior faculty who are supervising research. The group process and recommended strategies will be discussed A “Learning Circle” brought together various members of the university community over the course of one semester to discuss mentoring students in a research environment. The panel consisted of 8 members: three junior faculty members, one senior faculty member, one research staff member, one undergraduate student, and one graduate student. At the first meeting the focus of the group was discussed, definitions of mentoring were established, topics for discussion were identified and a timetable for meetings was established. The plan developed at the first meeting is outlined in Figure 1. “Proceedings of the 2002 American Society for Engineering Education Annual Conference & Exposition Copyright © 2002, American Society for Engineering Education” Main Menu