What does it mean to mentor students through the research process in Teacher Education?
Mentoring students through research means walking them through the entire process. Not only how to form research questions, choose a methodology, collect and analyze data, and present findings, but a focus on ethical research practices is extremely important. Students need to be exposed to the IRB process, not only as a required step in the research process, but also as the right thing to do in terms of protecting participants’ rights, especially those of children. Value also needs to placed on children’s consent to participation, not just as another step, but as an ethical, caring practice.
I think the students also need to be introduced to the world of scholarship as both consumers and producers. Learning the language of research, understanding how conferences work, and walking through a proposal submission process.
Teacher Education Research Goals:
1. Raise funds for student travel to research conferences. The experience of attending a research conference is a powerful part of preparing students to think as scholars. It demystifies it for them, making it an attainable goal to present their own work at future conferences.
2. Develop a Teacher Education Research Handbook for faculty mentors and undergraduate researchers to have available as a resource. Will include things such as IRB history and processes, tips for constructing research questions, instructions for writing an abstract, templates for proposals or papers, etc.
3. Our hope is that 15 undergraduates per year will participate in substantive research projects beyond what is required in professional education courses.
QEP Thoughts Teacher Education.docx
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