Aresty Research Assistants
2010-2011 Syllabus
Peer Advisor: Kelly Kemmerle
Email:
Cell phone:(856)-520-5061
* I am always available by cell phone but like most college students, I do usually check my email at least once a day so e-mail is fine for advance notice but I do not have a blackberry or a smart phone so for last minute updates please contact me through my phone!
Introduction:As part of the Aresty Undergraduate Research Program you are required to attend bi monthly peer group meetings. These meetings are all for your benefit! We will be engaging in discussions about your research (while greatly improving your communication skills which involve a separate skill set than your everyday interactions), reviewing all of your Aresty assignments, meeting new peers with interests and motivations similar to your own, prepare you for the symposium in April where you present to students, faculty, and some members of the general public what you have been working on for the past year, and much more!
Goals:During our first meeting we will establish some goals that we have as a group. The following blank space is for you to fill in during our meeting so that you have a record of what we collectively decide that we want to accomplish during the year so you have something to reference if at any point during the year you are stuck doing a bit of boring ‘grunt’ work for your research project (which is still extremely important, though it may not seem that way at the time) and you begin to wonder ‘why am I doing this?’ Or ‘what is the point?’
I also have some goals of my own for the year:
1. Gain important skills that you will need not just for your this year but the rest of your experience doing research at Rutgers and beyond including writing for research, reading and understanding research articles, being able to effectively communicate information about your research project to others who have no background in your subject.
2. Get to know other students with motivations and academic interests similar to your own in a stimulating environment!
3. Keep the bigger picture of your research project in mind through discussion and reflection.
4. Learning more about all different types of research as well as learning more about the research process including methodology, ethical concerns, etc.
Expectations:
Requirements: You are required to complete 5 hours of research a week including regular meetings with your faculty mentor. This will be set up around your class schedule between you and your mentor. You are required to attend all peer group meetings, they are just as much a part of the Aresty program as your actual time spent doing research. You also have mandatory assignments including working on your eportfolio, writing a lit review, writing an abstract, and of course the poster presentation for the Aresty Symposium in April, which must all be completed on time. I know that everyone is busy with classes and extracurricular activities so you will be given the due dates of these assignments as far in advance as possible. I will let you know as soon as I learn the official dates!
Attendance: I expect you to attend and be on time to every meeting. Since there are only 2 per month it should not be that difficult and this also means that each meeting is important. I do understand that things come up and I am a very understanding person and I will be lenient about missing a meeting or two as long as you have a legitimate reason and let me know in advance. Don’t abuse it. It is a requirement of the Aresty program and if your attendance becomes a problem I will have to speak with Dean Levine, which could result in you not getting paid and I’m sure none of you want that to happen!
E-portfolio: For those of you who are not familiar with the e-portfolio, it is a computer program accessible through Sakai that you will be required to create and continually update throughout the year. You will use e-portfolio to create a profile with an about me, an introduction, and even a picture of you if you’d like, and to upload your Aresty assignments, research products, and complete reflections on your assignments which will help you take a step back and thing about the bigger picture of your research and of the Aresty program.
Monthly Meetings:
September
Meeting 1: Introduction
To Bring: Your contracts and any guides (grant proposals, articles, etc.) that your faculty mentor has given you that may help you summarize your project.
Topics:
-Introductions – getting to know each other!
-Goals: Aresty’s, Mine, Group Goals
-Expectations
-Communicating with your faculty mentor
-What is research? Why is it important?
-Discussing your contracts
-Library Resources
Assignment: Bring to the next meeting an article concerning your research topic that you have recently read and understand. Be pretty familiar with it because you will be teaching it to another member of the group.
Interview your faculty mentor. I will provide some sample questions during the meeting!
Bring your laptops! We will go over e-portfolio and it will be much easier to understand if you can see it right in front of you!
Meeting 2: Understanding Research Literature
Topics:
-Sharing your interviews and your research article!
-How do you go about reading and understanding a research article?
-Sources and References & using them to find new articles
-Google Scholar v. Google/Wikipedia
-Peer Review & Its Importance
-E-portfolio: Introduction & About Me
Assignment: Most ridiculous research article gets a prize! (I recommend but you are free to find your own!) You will also need the same article that you brought to the last meeting. You will also need to know the research question for your project (ask your mentor if you aren’t sure!)
October
Meeting 1: Research Questions
Topics:
-Identifying and critiquing hypotheses
-Reviewing and evaluating your own research questions
-Ethical issues in research design
-Library resource review
Assignment: A research product (something that you are currently working on or have already finished working on). Also bring your laptops! We will be working on e-portfolio at the next meeting.
Meeting 2: Your Progress & Time Management
Topics:
-How to utilize your time effectively
-Discussing & Uploading your research products
-Reflecting on the work you have done so far
Assignment: Bring a different research product that relates to research methodology.
November
Meeting 1: Research Methods
Topics:
-Different types of research methodology
-What type of research methods your project is using
-Some basic information about Lit Reviews
Assignment: Bring a draft of your literature review as well as a new research article on a new aspect of your research project that you haven’t shared with us yet.
Meeting 2: Literature Reviews
Topics:
-Literature Reviews
-Abstracts
-Discussing your articles
December
Meeting 1:Looking Ahead, Reflection & Relaxation
You have worked hard this semester and we will spend this meeting reflecting on what you have accomplished and how it will impact the research project. We will also talk about what there is to look forward to after you come back from break (including some important due dates!) This is going be a pretty informal meeting with some food (ABP, pizza maybe?) to give you a chance to relax and talk about how your semester has gone and suggest any improvements for our meetings!
Assignment: Bring an abstract draft to the meeting. Find examples from abstracts from papers that you have read.
January
NO MEETINGS THIS MONTH! ENJOY YOUR BREAK!
February
Meeting 1: Abstracts
Topics:
-Positive and negative aspects of the abstract from your article
-Peer review of your own abstracts
-Going over how to correctly write an abstract
Assignment: Be prepared to give a short no longer than 5 minute speech summarizing your research project
Meeting 2: Elevator Speeches
Topics:
-Presentations
-Critiquing each others speeches
-Discussing how this relates to the symposium
March
Meeting 1: Ethics / Posters
Topics:
-Popular ethical dilemmas that have occurred in research
-Hypothetical situations that may arise in research
-Group discussion about ethnical issues that occurred in your own research
-I’ll bring in some good examples of posters and some poor examples to prepare to start making yours.
Assignment: Work on a draft of your poster and bring it to the next meeting. Bring your laptops for next time!
Meeting 2: Posters
Topics:
-Discussing how to articulate your work in front of panels, teachers, friends, and fellow research assistants in a short period of time
-There will be time at the end of the meeting to work on your posters. I will be there to provide assistance and answer any questions about making a poster that you may have.
Assignment: Bring your final copies to the next meeting and be prepared to present them to the group.
April
Meeting 1: Posters
Topics:
-Presentations
-Transitioning to other research opportunities
-Formulate some questions about grad school/future careers/future research that I can answer and bring to the next meeting.
Meeting 2: Debriefing & Discussing your futures!
Topics:
-Preparing for the symposium – what to expect
-Reflecting on the past year and what you have learned. Did you accomplish your goals?
-Discussing Aresty – What went well? What didn’t go so well? Would you recommend the program? Etc.
*Syllabus is subject to change
*Students will be paid in 2 installments at the end of each semester IF and ONLY IF all requirements are fulfilled.