FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN TEACHING AND RESEARCH Michael Knepp University of Mount Union.
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FIND THE RIGHT BALANCE BETWEEN TEACHING AND RESEARCH Michael Knepp University of Mount Union PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT CHANGES 4 pillars to tenure at Mount Union Teaching Effectiveness Professional Development Campus Service Service to the Community A changing landscape Teaching Effectiveness has been and continues to be the main component for continuation and promotion As the academic landscape changes, the professional development piece takes on greater importance A focus on higher impact practices MODEL CHANGES AT MOUNT UNION 4-credit model Faculty move from 4 3-credit courses to 3 4-credit courses Goal 1: To lower course preparations and allow for more professional development Goal 2: Within the classroom, allow more time to move beyond the lecture aspects of a course Goal 3: Integration of written and oral communication across the general education requirements Expectation Changes 3-credit model: Continue to show scholarly and professional development that can be used within the classroom 4-credit model: Focus on assessment of professional development outcomes both in and out of the classroom Differences: Moving from presentations and potential published works to needing a publishing record to support teaching effectiveness DEPARTMENTAL FOCUS ON RESEARCH The Psychological Sciences General Education Requirement Written and Oral Communication focuses on learning how to conduct background research to build arguments Research Methods 1 and 2 A combined methods and stats class Both courses involve designing a small research study to run in the classroom and early work with writing a research report Senior Research 1 and 2 Fall Term: Teams of students prepare a research proposal with full IRB approval Spring term: Collect/Analyze Data, Present at University conference, Write full report THE UNDERGRADUATE LABORATORY Independent Study The research design counts as a course 2 credit or 4 credit option with the difference in hours worked per week Developed for students primarily interested in going to graduate school Lab meetings are weekly at first, then biweekly each term Laboratory Team Between 4 and 8 students so far Each student works on every project; Projects created by faculty mentor All aspects of the project: Background Research, Data Collection, Data Quantification Beyond the Course Conference Presentation Opportunities Publication opportunities RESEARCH SETUP Recruitment through the SONA system 120 majors across psychology, neuroscience, and human development/family science 180 minors and 125-150 introductory students Not all courses provide extra credit 2-3 studies at any given time Fall Term: 1 neuropsychological study and 1 psychophysiological study Early Spring Term: 2 studies in our neuropsychology room; Senior Research uses physio equipment Late Spring: Begin new psychophysiological study Balance: Quicker task-based studies or questionnaire-specific research Typically have less independent study students in the spring due to recruitment competition with senior research Key Balance: Staggering study beginning and ending periods LABORATORY WING FACILITIES BALANCING THE SCHEDULE: FALL TERM July/August Submit IRB application for new neuropsychological/task based study Set up topic areas for literature searches Incoming IS students complete human subjects training Strongest returning student(s) typically assist as laboratory managers First weekly lab meeting is determining work schedules and explaining psychophysiology study 9am to 5pm for potential timeslots; In fall term, there is overlap due to two rooms in use First 2 weeks of term Students conduct background research on all studies Requirements on amount of literature found Practice psychophysiological study until ready for subject running Weeks 4 and 5 of term Begin training on neuropsychological study Continuing literature searches and psychophysiological study data collection Once a student is ready, they spend half of their time on each study or split their time across three studies if we are running multiples END OF FALL TERM SCHEDULING Late October/Early November Solicit feedback for spring term research study interests/ideas Determine number of returning IS students; recruit from relevant classes to maintain 5-6 IS students Submit revisions from summer journal articles End of Fall Semester Literature reviews for manuscript Give one month; Student submissions due at end of semester Organize conference submissions Relevant authors work on abstracts for submission over winter break (receive data analysis portions when completed) Psychophysiology study ends at least two weeks before end of term Time for data quantification to be done by IS students Winter Break Submission of IRB for next psychophysiological study Spring student human subjects training Submission of psychophysiological study paper week before the semester SPRING TERM OVERVIEW Early Spring Term Only neuropsychological/task based studies during senior research Train and re-train; potentially add a smaller study to give more data collection time Conference abstract submissions Spring Break Begin training on new psychophysiological study Conference poster creation Before registration, larger recruitment email sent to all majors about IS opportunities Invite to meetings and laboratory tours Continue targeted recruitment All other details mirror spring term/including revisions End of Spring Semester Mirrors fall term with neuropsychological study in place of psychophysiology projects Could have two studies finishing if shorter study used to balance is done Neuropsychological manuscript goal is June TEACHING THROUGH RESEARCH Literature Search Skills Focus on the practical skills of the literature search, strategies to use on course papers This year: Bibliography write-ups Data Collection/Quantification Diversify projects Use different tasks and study designs to entice strong students to take multiple terms Skill set focus for improving CVs Having a returning undergraduate is important here Revision process Invite students as part of the presentation and publication revision process, not just the initial stages Show samples of changes throughout drafts to improve their own writing samples THE LAB IN THE CLASSROOM Journal Article Days Bring in relevant topic articles in 200 and 300 level course Out of class work to read the paper with in-class discussion Laboratory demonstrations Show various examples of past research in the classroom and relate it to the topic at hand Seeing is believe; greater buy-in Related Written and Oral Communication Experiential projects that recreate previous works Grant proposals that hit at different skills Oral communication assignments that build towards graduate experiences ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS Graduated Students Erin Krafka, Sam Stilson, Kevin Joyner, Ashley Boutin, Morgan Myers, Angela Paridon, and Logan Cook Current students at Mount Union Rebecca Kritschil, Emily Quandt, Veronica Zaczyk, Alex Tomaino, and Erica Druzina Fall Students Erin Bell, Chad Gentry, Amanda Glorioso, Rachel Horseman, Casey Lambert, Natalie Ricciutti, Dekota Toot, and Jeffrey Yoza Lab Mascot and Materials Samson the cat