Nature of Research, contributed by Yoonsuck Choe, Texas A&M University
From CISEREUPI
- Idea: Research is different from studying a subject, since one has to create something new that has not existed before. This concept is mostly alien to undergraduate students and it is important to let them know the distinction from day one.
- Objective: To let students appreciate what is the nature of research.
- What works well: We accumulated a collection of short tutorial slides that have been presented to entering graduate students. These tutorials include discussion on the nature of research including critical thinking media:choe-criticalthinking07.pdf, creative thinking, and general tips such as how to keep a research notes, how to manage time and tasks, and how to solve common issues.
- What doesn't work so well: Trying to use the same research mentoring strategy on every student does not work. Mentoring has to be custom tailored for each individual, based on their strengths, weaknesses, needs, and background. Putting two (or more) students on the same task without a clear task decomposition can lead to a lot of frustration.
Contributed by Yoonsuck Choe, Texas A&M University
