For students whose experience with science has been primarily in the classroom, it can be difficult to identify and contact potential mentors, and to navigate the transition to a one-on-one, mentor-student relationship. This is especially true for those who are new to research, or who belong to groups that are underrepresented in research. The Entering Research curriculum offers a mechanism to structure the independent research experience, and help students overcome these challenges.

Features

Extensive collection of activities contributed by research training program colleagues from across the country.

Seven Areas of Trainee Development provide a conceptual framework for text.

New to This Edition

Incorporating material on trainee development. Specifically, the authors have introduced seven areas of trainee development, which provides a conceptual framework for this edition.

Research training program colleagues from across the country have contributed activities and other material to this edition.

The scope has broadened to include graduate materials and materials that address important issues not addressed in the first edition, such as researcher identity, research self-efficacy, and equity and inclusion awareness and skills.

Entering Research

Janet L. Branchaw; Amanda R. Butz; Amber Smith

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Entering Research

Second Edition 2020

Janet L. Branchaw; Amanda R. Butz; Amber Smith

Chapter 1: The Entering Research Framework
Chapter 2: Active Learning: Facilitating, Not Teaching
Facilitator Roles
Facilitating Groups
Handling Facilitation Challenges
Chapter 3: Building a Trainee Curriculum Using Backward Design
Custom Curricula
Complete Curricula
Complete Curriculum #1 10-Week Summer Research Program for Undergraduate Students
Complete Curriculum #2 15-Week Seminar for Novice Undergraduate Students
Complete Curriculum #3 15-Week Seminar for Intermediate Undergraduate Students
Complete Curriculum #4 15-Week Seminar for Novice Graduate Students
Chapter 4: Strategies and Tools for Assessing Trainee Learning and Evaluating Implementations
Designing an Assessment and Evaluation Plan
Choosing Assessment and Evaluation Tools
Rubric Index
Post-Activity Mini-Reflection
Entering Research Implementation Evaluation Survey
Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA) Surveys
Chapter 5: The Entering Research Activities
Summary of Entering Research Activities
Introductory Activities
Constructive and Destructive Group Behaviors
Setting the Stage for Inclusive Discussions
Addressing Conflict
Aligning Mentor and Trainee Expectations
Article Organization, Comprehension, and Recall 96 Case Study: Authorship
Case Study: Awkward Mentor
Barriers to Effective Communication
Bias Literacy: Fair Play Video Game
Challenges Facing Diverse Teams
Communicating Research Findings 1: Poster Presentations Communicating Research Findings 2: Oral Presentations
Communicating Research Findings 3: Developing Your Presentation Communicating Research to the General Public
Coping Efficacy
Counter-Storytelling
Case Study: Credit Where Credit Is Due
Developing a Curriculum Vitae
Discussion of the Nature of Science
Discussion with Experienced Undergraduate Researchers
Diversity in STEM
Elevator Sentences
Establishing Your Ideal Thesis Committee
Ethics Case: Discussion with Mentor
Finding a Research Mentor
Finding Potential Research Rotation Groups and Mentors
Fostering Your Own Research Self-Efficacy
Case Study: Frustrated
Funding Your Research
General Public Abstract
Importance of Reading in Graduate School
Interviewing for Graduate School
Case Study: Keeping the Data
Letter of Recommendation
Mentor Biography
Mentor Interview about Making Research Posters
Messages Sent and Received
Mini-Case Studies: Sticky Situations
Mini-Grant Proposal
My Mentoring and Support Network
Networking 1: Introduction to Networking
Networking 2: What Should Your Network Look Like?
Networking 3: Your Brand
Networking 4: Planning for Networking Opportunities and Engaging in Purposeful Interactions
Case Study: Overwhelmed
Personal Statement
Prioritizing Research Mentor Roles
Privilege and White Fragility
Professional Development Plans
Reflecting on Your Mentoring Relationship
Research Articles 1: Introduction
Research Articles 2: Guided Reading
Research Articles 3: Practical Reading Strategies 366 Research Careers: The Informational Interview
Research Documentation: Can You Decipher This?
Research Documentation Process
Research Experience Reflections 1: Entering Research?
Research Experience Reflections 2: Reflection Exercise
Research Experience Reflections 3: Research Experience Exit Interview
Research Group Diagram
Research Group Funding
Research Rotation Evaluation
Research Writing 1: Background Information and Hypothesis or Research Question
Research Writing 2: Research Project Outline and Abstract
Research Writing 3: Project Design
Research Writing 4: Research Literature Review and Publishing Process
Research Writing 5: The Peer-Review Process
Research Writing 6: Research Proposal
Research Writing 7: Research Paper
Case Study: Responding to Feedback
Safety Training Checklist
Science and Society
Science Literacy Test
Science or Pseudoscience?
Searching Online Databases
Case Study: Selection of Data
Steps to Researcher Independence
Stereotype Threat
Summer Undergraduate Research Programs
The Next Step in Your Career
The Power of Social Persuasion
Case Study: The Sharing of Research Materials
Three Mentors
Three-Minute Research Story
Tips for Technical Writers
Truth and Consequences Article
Undergraduate Thesis 1: Components of an Undergraduate Research Thesis 540 Undergraduate Thesis 2: Thesis Writing Discussion Panel
Undergraduate Thesis 3: Developing a Thesis Writing Plan
Universalism in STEM: Case Study and Analysis
Visiting Peer Research Groups
What Happens to Research Results?
Case Study: “Whatever you do, don’t join our lab.”
Why Diversity Matters in STEM Research
Your Research Group’s Focus

Entering Research

Second Edition 2020

Janet L. Branchaw; Amanda R. Butz; Amber Smith

Find Your Rep

Janet L. Branchaw

Janet L. Branchaw is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology in the School of Education and the Faculty Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement (WISCIENCE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). She earned her B.S. in Zoology from Iowa State University and her Ph.D. in Physiology with a focus on cellular neurophysiology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After completing postdoctoral training and a lectureship in undergraduate and medical physiology at the UW–Madison’s School of Medicine, she joined the University’s then Center for Biology Education, which she now directs as WISCIENCE. Her research as a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology and her programming work at the Institute focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative approaches to undergraduate science education, with a special emphasis on undergraduate research, assessment of student learning, and broadening participation in science. In addition to developing the Entering Research curriculum, she has developed a curriculum to train research mentors, Entering Mentoring, and led the development and validation of the Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA). She has developed and directed Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) and Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (URM) programs funded by the National Science Foundation and served as the Chairperson of the Biology REU Leadership Council as well as a member of the 2017 National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s consensus committee on Undergraduate Research in STEM. She served as the Associate Director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Research Mentoring Network’s (NRMN) Mentorship Training Core and currently oversees Mentee Training Initiatives at the UW–Madison’s Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). Most recently she is leading UW–Madison’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence project to catalyze institutional change to support 2- to 4-year STEM transfer students.

Amanda R. Butz

Amanda R. Butz is the Director of Evaluation and Research for the Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement (WISCIENCE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. She received her Ph.D. in Educational Psychology from the University of Kentucky, where her research focused on academic motivation, self-efficacy, and the beliefs and aspirations of rural potential first-generation college students. She also holds an M.A. in Adult and Higher Education from Morehead State University and a B.A. from Indiana University. As a member of the NRMN Mentorship Training Core, Butz has worked on the development, adaptation, and evaluation of mentor and mentee training curricula and assessment tools. As a postdoctoral research associate, she led the evaluation efforts for mentor training modules on promoting mentee research self-efficacy and culturally aware mentoring. She also worked with the What Matters in Mentoring project on the development and validation of an instrument to measure cultural diversity awareness in mentors and to study the motivation of mentors to address race/ethnicity in their research mentoring relationships. Butz coordinated the development, pilot testing, evaluation, and research on the second edition of Entering Research and was the lead researcher in the development and validation of the Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA). She coordinates the evaluation efforts of WISCIENCE programs and initiatives and is a member of the team conducting evaluation on the UW–Madison’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence project.

Amber Smith

Amber R. Smith is the Associate Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement (WISCIENCE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). She earned her B.S. in Biology from Carroll College and her Ph.D. in Plant Breeding Plant Genetics from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. As a postdoctoral fellow at the Institute for Biology Education (now WISCIENCE), Smith developed first-year transition programs for Biology students at UW–Madison before continuing her educational development work as an instructional consultant in the Center for Research on Learning and Teaching (CRLT) at the University of Michigan. At CRLT she led inclusive teaching professional development trainings for graduate student instructors, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty. Smith returned to UW–Madison to direct campus-wide programming for research mentor and mentee training through WISCIENCE. In this role, she supports undergraduates to find and succeed in research opportunities through a series of professional development seminars and workshops using the Entering Research curriculum. Additionally, she directs two summer undergraduate research programs at UW–Madison that broaden access to underrepresented students. Smith offers mentor training opportunities for graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and faculty mentors through the Entering Mentoring seminar, Culturally Aware Mentor training, and tailored mentor/mentee training workshops for graduate training programs. She is helping to lead the transfer student success programming for UW–Madison’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence project to support 2- to 4-year STEM transfer students. Smith is certified as a Master Facilitator and Master Consultant through the National Research Mentoring Network.