In-Class Visit/Workshop Request Form

This class visit will be an opportunity for our representatives to show students what resources we have to offer and how we can help them get involved in real academic research.

How can good time management impact your experiences as a student researcher? This session discusses the four underlying causes of procrastination and foundational assumptions for good time management. Attendees will also work on creating research/action plans to promote better balance between their student and researcher duties.

Stress and anxiety are a particularly common barrier for all researchers, but especially for those who are balancing student life and researcher life. This workshop presents a discussion of the science behind stress/anxiety and tools for managing them. The talk also guides attendees regarding what stressors they may encounter as student researchers. Additionally, attendees will work together to create a personal stress management plan.

Self-efficacy—the confidence that you can complete a task—and motivation are linked in unique ways. Your self-efficacy can be influenced by how small or large a task is, while the same can be said about your motivation to complete your goals. This presentation will help students understand the science behind managing motivation and improving self-efficacy. Attendees will also be given the opportunity to understand what motivates them about being a student researcher, what their goals are, and how to create SMART goals.

They key to a successful research project is using the appropriate research methodology. In this overview session, we will discuss data collection and analysis methods associated with some of the most common types of quantitative, qualitative, and mixed methods research. This will enable attendees to understand what approaches may be most appropriate to engage with their research questions and hypothesis for current and future projects.

Every student has their own set of characteristics that they bring with them to college each day. The same can be said for student researchers. Attendees of this session will learn how their own unique qualities can enhance their success as a researcher, as well as understand some of the qualities of a successful researcher based on motivation and self-regulatory theory.

Two types of research bias exists. Research bias can be found in the types of resources and media used to report findings or interpret articles for readers. And bias can also make its way into research as we collect data and conduct analysis for our own projects. Attendees will learn about how research bias can impact their literature review and theoretical frameworks, as well as how it can impact the results of their studies.

Before you embark on your research journey, you will need to submit your research protocols to either the Institutional Review Board (for research involving humans) or the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (for research involving animals). Whether you expect any harms or risks will impact your participants, it is vital to obtain institutional approval over your work to protect yourself, your participants, as well as your institution from any undue burdens, harm, or appearance of impropriety. In this session we will highlight the basics of research ethics, the need for CITI training, and how to create/submit research protocols for approval. Attendees will fill out sample IRB/IACUC forms to get practice creating research protocols.

Whether applying to graduate school or a job, letters of recommendation are a vital part of the application process. This session will cover how to request letters of recommendation, who to request them from, and research data on what matters most to include in letters of recommendation. Attendees will also discuss the best ways to help letter of recommendation writers portray the best version of themselves for the specific job or school that they are applying to.

Having an accurate self-concept is one of the most important factors for a successful researcher, as well as a successful student. Unfortunately, it can be difficult to give ourselves credit for the skills we possess and the talents we have spent years accumulating. In this session we will cover the importance of an accurate and healthy self-concept and the different types of social and academic capital we bring with us to the research setting (from Yusso and Tinto's work on student capital and persistence). Attendees will identify the types of capital and expertise they bring with them to their research experiences to construct a healthy self-concept. They will also discuss combating negative self-talk.

Ever had a professor say "this paper is really good. You should submit it somewhere," and have absolutely no clue what that means? In this workshop we will discuss how to find an appropriate journal for your discipline and type of submission, what the journal submission process looks like, where to get assistance on campus with publishing, and what to expect once you have finally made a submission.

Often times with research, our ideas come to us as vague "what if" scenarios. Other times we may have one very specific phenomenon that we want to research, but is it too specific? This session will discuss potential issues with having a topic that is too broad or too narrow. Attendees will be shown how the literature review and methods section can help regulate the size and direction of their research questions. Attendees will work in groups to help widen or narrow topics with each other, or work as a class to discuss how to do the same with example topics.

Research is rarely done independently, so it is important to understand the dynamics that exist between research peers and how to engage with one another in effective ways. This session will involve discussing prominent conflict resolution techniques, as well as helping attendees to identify common points of contention in research environments.

Mentorship can be vital for any student, but particularly for those who are engaging in research. In this session, attendees will discuss some of the fears or apprehensions they may have about approaching faculty members—especially those they have no previous engagement with—to be research mentors. Attendees will also practice using available resources to find faculty members to partner with and create example emails to enhance their communication skills when reaching out to faculty.

Networking is a term that is casually thrown out in conversations with faculty and peers, but rarely ever explained. In this workshop we will discuss what exactly networking is, what it entails, and how it can affect your career. Additionally, attendees will have a chance to share their perceived apprehensions about networking and learn best practices for overcoming the struggle to reach out.

How do you take an interest and create research questions? How do you know what things have already been researched before? Do you need to create something entirely novel to conduct research? Attendees will practice looking at researcher profiles and discover what topics that they may want to choose and how to pursue it.