Undergraduate Research Week 2011 - Incorporating Undergraduate Research in My Courses (A Reflection)

Readers,

This semester has been filled of great ideas, wonderful opportunities, and enjoyable experiences. One of these wonderful opportunities include my presentations at various academic conferences and traveling with students and listening to their presentation at the Southern States Communication Association Annual Conference. Through these experiences, I have had time to gain new points of view of my research and research strategies through the eyes of my undergraduate students.

Each semester, I integrate undergraduate research in each of my upper-level undergraduate courses (Fall - Interpersonal Communication and Intercultural Communication; Spring - Interpersonal Communication and Organizational Communication).  Through this integration process, I adopt a scaffolding approach to teach my undergraduate students about the research process and we progress through the steps of the process every week.

During the first week of class, I introduce the undergraduate research experience in my syllabus. Most of the students have never had an undergraduate research experience and an overwhelming majority of the students feel undergraduate research is something that happens in the science department. After explaining the social science research approach and helping the students realize that they CAN do it, the process becomes easier and the students start to select their groups and their research topics. Through their selection of their own topic and creating the problem statement, purpose statement, and research questions, the students start the process of creating a literature review.

They start to take ownership of their projects and become "experts" in their chosen section of their research topic. As a professor (especially near the end of the research project), I discover that the students truly embrace their research and they are able to apply the results of their research as they form conclusions, implications, and suggestions for further research. Usually, the research projects conclude around five to six weeks before the end of the semester we are able to apply the results from their research to the final chapters of their textbook. I think that research is one of the best ways of helping students understand the course material and it enables undergraduate students to "own" their research and to hone (or merely start) the critical thinking process (which is important for higher education and the workplace).

Sincerely,

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Life on the Tenure-Track - A Millennial's Perspective

Readers,

The past two days have been some of the most interesting days of my career. This week, I attended the AERA Division J - Early Career Scholars Session. Over the few days of the session, I formed a higher education research network several new people (with whom I plan to collaborate on a few research projects), learned new tricks of the tenure track, discovered the items for which you can negotiate in the academic job search process, and then I listened to how several other early career academics carve their research time each day. 


After my posts for undergraduate research week (next week) and environmental education week (the week after), I will post my notes from this very important workshop on the blog. Look forward to reading notes from this very important session!


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Happy Undergraduate Research Week! - April 11th - 15th

Readers,


As many of you can probably tell, undergraduate research is near and dear to my heart. On November 16, 2010, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to declare April 11th - 15th as Undergraduate Research Week! 


Encourage your college students to conduct an independent study project with you OR to help you with one of your undergraduate research projects! They are wonderful helpers and it seems that they learn many incredible skills from their undergraduate research experiences!


Here's a video from their important vote!






Enjoy!


Sincerely,


Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.

Life on the Tenure Track - Questions and Answers (AERA Division J Emerging Scholars Pre-Conference)

Readers,

Last week, we had a great discussion focused on the tenure track. Here are the questions and answers from the panel discussion:

Question - What are the requirements for tenure?

Answer - The institution type determines the tenure track. If you are

 in doubt about the tenure process, just ask the people who are in your department and/or people who will be voting on your tenure.

Question - 

Do you ask "how many publications do I need" in the faculty job search process.

Answer - If your department does not require an annual review process, then just ask for one and then document your annual review.

Question - 

What about service?

Answer - It depends on university and their requirements. Some universities REALLY value service and others do not. 

What do you define as meaningful service? Service at the national, regional, local, etc. 

Answer - (By the way, a really neat piece of advice.) -> C

onnect your service to your scholarship. Take the findings from your paper that may be valuable for practice. Have a brown bag and facilitate a discussion in the community. Marry the two (research and service).

 Make your teaching, research, and service fit with one another.

 Make sure your research and your personal interests merge with one another.

Question -

How do you protect your research time? 

Answer - Try to carve one or two writing days a week.

Question - How do you make yourself stand out on your CV? 

Answer - Market yourself through your experience and your research. 

Strategize! In your doctoral program, try to figure out what will make you stand out! Run for an office position and gain a national platform. Network with others who can mentor you!

What question would you ask the panel?

Sincerely,

Millennial Professor - Jennifer T. Edwards, Ed.D.