Time Management and Procrastination
Thursday, February 9 | 2–3:00pm | Alkek 133A
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.
Self-Efficacy and Motivation
Wednesday, February 15 | 2–2:50pm | Alkek 133A
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.
Stress and Anxiety Management
Thursday, February 16 | 1–1:50pm | Alkek 133A
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.
How to Present My Work
Thursday, February 23 | 2–3:00pm | Alkek 133A
An important part of being a researcher is sharing your findings and best practices. This session will cover the different types of professional presentations that researchers often encounter at conferences, finding/applying to conferences, and ways to help mitigate presentation anxiety. Attendees will also create a presentation preparation plan.
How to Approach a Mentor
Wednesday, March 1 | 2–2:50pm | Alkek 133A
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.
Presentation Spotlight: What Skills Do I Need to Create My Research Poster?
Tuesday, March 7 | 2–3:00pm | ALKEK 440
Creating the materials needed to present your research can sometimes be as daunting as conducting the research itself. In this workshop we will demystify the art of creating the perfect research poster for your poster sessions. Join us to learn how to get free to license photos, find free poster printing resources on campus, and what programs to use to create your posters and the appropriate dimensions needed.
What are the Characteristics of a Successful Student Researcher?
Thursday, March 9 | 2–3:00pm | Alkek 133A
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.
How to Narrow or Broaden My Topic
Wednesday, March 22 | 2–2:50pm | Alkek 133A
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.
Self-Regulatory Research Skills
Thursday, March 30 | 2–3:00pm | Alkek 133A
Self-regulation is a category of skills related to monitoring and regulating your behavior, thinking, and emotions to be able to reach your goals. Although self-regulation is most often discussed regarding increasing student success, it can also be instrumental for increasing your success as a researcher. This session will cover areas of self-regulation (time management, self-talk, metacognitive strategies) and how they can affect research progress and relationships with co-researchers.
Letters of Recommendation
Wednesday, April 5 | 2–2:50pm | Alkek 133A
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.
Imposter Syndrome
Tuesday, April 11 | 2–3:00pm | Alkek 133A
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.
How Do I Even Make a Topic?
Wednesday, April 19 | 2–2:50pm | Alkek 133A
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.
How to Communicate and Resolve Conflict with Mentors and Research Peers
Tuesday, April 27 | 2–3:00pm | Alkek 133A
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.