The Ramps into Research Initiative
The primary goal of the Ramps into Research Initiative is to collaboratively build a student-friendly gateway to research at SHSU, and a repository of reusable interactive modules for training students in the methodologies most relevant to their research; in a manner that supports wise and efficient use of both the faculty mentor’s and the student researcher’s time. In the long run, our hope is that the Ramps-into-Research hub will also provide a structured platform for research collaboration and efficient safe instrument/method sharing and usage.
Many undergraduate students even in their second year don’t know that their professors are conducting great research. Being able to tell students, “This is our site, please look at it before our meeting on Monday to discuss our research” could facilitate getting students involved early and effectively in research. Since, different labs have different requirements for participation, the hub will make these clear to students so that they know how to meet the criteria to line up research in an area of interest to them.
Ramps into Research Initiative. The goal of the Ramps into Research Initiative is to collaboratively build a student-friendly gateway to research, and a repository of reusable interactive modules for training students in the methodologies most relevant to their research, in a manner that supports wise and efficient use of both the faculty mentor’s and the student researcher’s time.
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What Value Can a Locally Built Learning Module Add to Other Learning Resources?
Well-designed learning modules distill information from technical manuals, textbooks, scholarly papers and local constraints into efficient and focused learning experiences that teach students the simplest sequence of steps needed to begin using a specific scholarly method under the constraints of the local research context. Well-designed learning modules help students to learn the prior art more efficiently. This helps them to stay motivated, because they can clearly see the progress of their learning and frees them to focus more energy on truly novel research questions. Well-designed learning modules free up faculty time and the pace at which collaborative research can move forward. Well-designed learning modules are especially useful in an undergraduate research setting, where informal transfer, such of knowledge from experienced to new student-researchers, is not always possible.
One-on-one training provides excellent active learning, builds community, and has effective feedback loops; however, it can be time-consuming for the professor, can easily overload student working memory, and involves schedule syncing challenges. Instrument manuals are specific and detailed; however, they often provide more information than a beginning student needs, and minimal connection to theory, and thus make it easy for students to get lost in the weeds. Textbooks explain the theory and portions of the data analysis and provide good practice for some types of problems; however, textbooks cannot provide context-specific information such as operational details for a specific instrument, or coding and variable naming conventions specific to a particular research group. Research papers are great for learning about the forest - the major steps in the overall scope of the work but are not effective for learning about the trees. Too many details are usually missing to enable a paper to serve as the sole guide to a new researcher. Well-designed learning modules draw upon all these resources while simultaneously navigating local constraints to build efficient and focused learning experiences that teach students the simplest sequence of steps needed to begin using a specific scholarly method under the constraints of the local research context.
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What Types of Learning Modules Provide the Highest Potential Value?
High-value learning modules target methods: (a) that are critical for student success on their specific research project, (b) that past students have found difficult to master due to a combination of method complexity and inefficient prior training materials, and (c) whose reuse and ongoing refinement is likely to provide long-term research training and productivity efficiencies.
What types of modules are most suitably shared?
- Learning Modules on shared Instruments (e.g., In chemistry, shared research instruments include the NMR spectrometer, the UV-vis spectrometer, the fluorimeter, the single crystal x-ray diffractometer)
- Learning Modules on shared methodologies. (e.g., mathematical methods, sample prep methods, etc.)
- Learning Modules introducing norms and training modules for accessing shared Research and Innovation Facilities
- Learning Modules providing training related to shared collaboration, safety, dissemination norms.
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Challenges of Conducting Research and Training Student Researchers at SHSU
The NSF funded STEM Center at SHSU and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), are working on four collaborative initiatives to help meet the challenges outlined above. These initiatives have been set up to function as opt-in initiatives in which participation is voluntary.
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Collaborative Initiatives in Support of Research at SHSU
The NSF funded STEM Center at SHSU and the Office of Research and Sponsored Programs (ORSP), are working on four collaborative initiatives to help meet the challenges outlined above. These initiatives have been set up to function as opt-in initiatives in which participation is voluntary.
Faculty Interest Profiles Initiative. The goal of the Faculty Interest Profiles Initiative is to facilitate collaborative research efforts by accurately showcasing faculty research interests and expertise on the SHSU ORSP website for internal and external investigators who are assembling proposals and looking for collaborators. Faculty Interest Profiles can also be used by students for mentor identification. You can build your profile here.
Equipment Database Initiative. The goal of the Equipment Database Initiative is to provide faculty and staff researchers with a readily accessible and searchable database summarizing the equipment and instruments available for collaborative research at SHSU. You can add your equipment to the database here and view the beta site here.
Boilerplate Database Initiative. The goal of the Boilerplate Database Initiative is to help faculty craft more competitive proposals, by providing faculty grant writers with detailed, up-to-date descriptions of SHSU’s capabilities, services, facilities, and equipment that can be readily incorporated into research proposals. You can add a facility or other resource to the database here.
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Challenge: Strengthening Research Training
We could probably all share anecdotes of student research presentations, thesis defenses etc. where a good student was stumped by a simple foundational question about their research, or a semester where time for student training was limited because of our many commitments. The question of how we systematically strengthen student-researcher training in a time-constrained world is not a simple one.
However, we know that thoughtfully designed student research experiences have the potential to improve learning, retention, and research productivity while also making more efficient use of student and faculty time. Specifically, well-designed research experiences support exploration by helping students to: (a) frame the boundary between prior work and the current exploration, (b) develop expertise with the methodologies, tools, and safety practices most relevant to their scholarship, (c) understand the role of iteration and statistical analysis in discovery, (d) learn the norms related to collaborative and individual aspects of the work, and (e) acquire discipline-specific communication and dissemination skills.
How can we as a faculty make smart investments in our training programs that result in long term benefits to both our students and our scholarship? How can we do this in a way that is sustainable and compatible with our many other responsibilities?
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How Might Participating in These Collaborative Initiatives Benefit You?
Your participation supports effective research training, collaboration, and proposal writing.
- Well-trained students are more likely to persist and make significant research contributions.
- Your participation ensures you and your facilities are accurately represented.
- Up-to-date information allows ORSP to encourage the use of your services/expertise.
- Showcases the capabilities and expertise of SHSU to collaborators, external parties, and students.
- Proposals are more competitive when they include up-to-date and accurate information about SHSU’s capabilities, services, facilities, and equipment.
- Ensures faculty and staff are aware of the numerous services, competencies, facilities, and equipment at SHSU.
Questions
These guidelines are in development. We welcome your feedback and questions, and encourage you to direct them to the current leadership team for the Ramps into Research Initiative: Dave Thompson (david.thompson@shsu.edu), Tarek Trad (tmt033@shsu.edu), Faruk Yildiz (fxy001@shsu.edu). If for any reason, we do not reply in a timely fashion, please follow up with a call or additional emails. Thank you for your interest in the Ramps into Research Initiative!
