KICK OFF YOUR CREU PROGRAM TO A GREAT START! A Webinar for CREU - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

KICK OFF YOUR CREU PROGRAM TO A GREAT START!

A Webinar for CREU Mentors 2016-2017 Presenters Soha Hassoun, Tufts University, CREU Co-Director Nanette Veilleux, Simmons, Past & Current Mentor Bonita Sharif, Youngstown State, Past & Current Mentor

The CREU program is sponsored and coordinated by CRA-W/CDC and IAAMCS

Webinar Goals and Format

• Explain program overview and share

best practices

• Format

– Soha will highlight program expectations – Bonita and Nanette will share their best practices – Live Q&A session

CRA-W/CDC CREU & iAAMCS Programs

• CRA-W/CDC CREU: Collaborative Research Experiences for Undergraduates

– http://cra.org/cra-w/creu/

• iAAMCS: Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences

– http://www.iaamcs.org/

• Joined forces in spring 2016 to provide research mentoring opportunities
• Several program co-directors representing CRA-W (CRA Committee on the

Status of Women in Computing Research), from the Coalition to Diversify Computing (CDC), and from Institute for African-American Mentoring in Computing Sciences (iAAMCS)

Program Goals

• Ultimate goal: increase the number of women and

underrepresented groups entering graduate studies in CS

• Program Structure enables successful student

engagement in research:

– Mentor provides guidance and structure – Research stipend frees students from other work – Regular reporting helps students stay on track

Program Expectations

During School Year

• Students are expected to be actively engaged in research

experiences including:

– Working on a well-scoped and well-defined research problem – Using scientific methods to generate and/or test a hypothesis – Collaborating with colleagues – Collecting data or conducting experiments – Analyzing data with statistics or other tools – Explaining results – Writing or co-authoring a research paper or report – Presenting a research paper or report – Publishing a research paper or report

Program Expectations

After Project Completion

• Students will have:

– Comprehension of “What is Research” – Gained confidence in their technical abilities – Experience working in teams – Demonstrated ability to contribute to research – Improved their academic profile to gain access to graduate school – Ready to consider graduate school

Program Required Reporting

• Detailed information is clearly outlined:

– http://cra.org/cra-w/creu/#financial-support

• Reporting

– Student weekly blogs

• Demonstrate that students are making progress

– Student Reports

• Each student will be expected to submit a Mid-year Report
• Each CREU team will be expected to submit a Final Report

– Mentor reports (3 progress reports & 1 final report)

• Update from mentor on state of project

– Reporting for 2015-2016 is here:

• http://cra.org/cra-w/creu-2015-2016-participants/

How can we help you?

WE WANT YOU AND YOUR STUDENTS TO SUCCEED!

• Program co-directors and CRA-W staff (Melissa Borts) will

answer questions and help as needed

• Piazza can provide an interactive format to share

information and progress. New this year! We appreciate your active participation

• Flag any issues to us as they arise.
• Let’s hear about Best Practices!

BEST PRACTICES TO CONSIDER: FACULTY

Good design makes good projects

Design – Step 1 Refocus from Spring

• Re-read the proposal.
• With students, identify the end goal.
• Think about ways to achieve the goal.
• Define milestones (and deliverables).
• Iterate.

Good design makes good projects

Design-Step 2 - Foundation

• Encourage students to do searches or

literature reviews.

• Return to plan with new information or best

practices.

Good design makes good projects

Design-Step 3 Work plan Help students

• build a work plan from milestones
• determine how to parse out the work

(roles)

• Decide what kind of implementation

is appropriate (e.g. Agile MVP? Incremental?) Don’t micro-manage!

Maintain regular contact with students

Regular and Routine

• Weekly scheduled meetings
• Monitor Blogs
• Keep the proposal handy: re-focus

regularly.

• Encourage good team processes:

roles, report backs, logs Remind students about

• Mid-point and semester reports
• Conference deadlines

Help with

• conference submissions,
• scholarship applications
• travel

Practical points

Best Practices to Consider: Faculty

Good design makes good projects

• Re-read the proposal
• Help students think ahead about

the goals of their project

• Identify milestones along the way
• Spend time on literature reviews
• Help students build a work plan

and deliverables

• Help students determine how to

parse out the work

• Don’t micro-manage!

Maintain regular contact with students

• Weekly scheduled meetings
• Monitor Blogs and encourage

students if they fall behind

• Keep the proposal handy: the

project title and description are frequently requested!

• Encourage good team processes:

roles, report backs, logs

• Remind students about

conference deadlines and help with submissions, scholarship applications and travel

BEST PRACTICES TO CONSIDER: STUDENTS

Time Management

• block out time to work on the project during each week

– 10-15 hours per week

• have weekly scheduled meetings with their faculty

mentors as well as with each other if necessary

• notify your mentors if you are stuck and have exhausted

all your options for help – do this sooner rather than later

Students are advised to…

Project Planning and Execution

• know what the main goals of the project are

– re-read the proposal again

• maintain and adhere to a weekly work plan and

deliverables – make use of project management software as things tend to get lost in emails – make use of shared drives or version control for documents

• keep a current weekly blog/website

– use date ranges in addition to/instead of week numbers – post pictures

• submit timely reports as required by the CREU

program

Students are advised to…

Examples of Work Plan/ToDo Items

• Review paper by Jane Smith at ICSM 2013 and present

at weekly meeting

• Write up the pros and cons of using Method A vs.

Method B in experimental study.

• Conduct experimental study with 20 students.
• Analyze data collected from the study
• Submit poster to TAPIA or GHC

Basecamp project management An example of a Basecamp project showing Todo list items

Good blog entries

A more detailed blog entry

Disseminate

• present their work at the university level (if possible)

– chance to practice before a conference presentation

• submit and present your work at the official CREU

meeting spot (TAPIA or GHC)

• apply for travel scholarships and student volunteer

programs at conferences

Students are advised to…

Best Practices to Consider: Students

Time Management

• Block out time each week to work
• n the project
• Weekly scheduled meetings with

mentors / other team members

• Notify mentors about problems

early Disseminate

• Re-read the proposal
• Work with mentors to identify main

goals of the project

• Build a work plan and set of

deliverables weekly

• Keep your blog posts current and

post pictures

• Use shared drives and project

management software to keep everyone on track

• Submit timely reports as

requested by CREU. Project Planning and Execution

• Submit and present results of

project at university level and conference venues including CREU meeting spots.

• Apply for travel scholarships
• Apply for student volunteer

positions at conferences

Resources

Visit conquer.cra.org for resources for your REU experience Encourage your students to join the CRA-W mailing list, CRA-W Updates, by going to bit.ly/1McQCDd Follow @CRAWomen to find out about upcoming events or programs