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From Class Assignment to University Event: Evolution of Research EveningSusan R. Hutchinson, Ph.D. and Maria Lahman, Ph.D.

Department of Applied Statistics and Research Methods University of Northern Colorado, College of Education and Behavioral Sciences, Greeley, CO 80639

What is Research Evening?

Over 10 years ago Drs. Maria Lahman and Susan Hutchinson from the ASRM Department first conceived of Research Evening to serve as the final presentation for ASRM courses such as Introduction to Graduate Research, Survey Research Methods, Mixed Methods Research, Qualitative Research Methods, Educational Ethnography, and Narrative Inquiry. As Research Evening grew, other graduate programs that offer research courses have joined this dynamic experience including Educational Leadership, Educational Technology, and Higher Education and Student Affairs Leadership. Since its inception, more than 1,000 student presentations have been given as part of Research Evening.

Bringing Research to Life!

Each fall and spring semester, between 40 and 100+ graduate students present a poster, paper, or symposium and represent numerous program areas from across the university including: Applied Statistics & Research Methods, Biological Education, Chemistry Education, Counselor Education & Supervision, Counseling Psychology, Educational Leadership, Educational Psychology, Educational Studies, Educational Technology, Geoscience Education, Higher Education & Student Affairs Leadership, Mathematics Education, Music, Rehabilitation, School Psychology, Social Psychology of Sport & Physical Activity, Special Education, Sport Administration, and Sport Pedagogy.

The goal of Research Evening is to provide an experiential learning opportunity that brings to life classroom concepts regarding graduate-level research. In many ASRM (and other programs’) courses students are required to design, implement, and report either qualitative or quantitative research projects of potentially publishable quality. Research Evening represents the culmination of the students' semester long research inquiries by providing an opportunity to share their experiences in a mini-research conference setting.

Evolution of Research Evening

Over 27 courses have participated including: SRM 600: Introduction to Graduate Research, SRM 627: Survey Research Methods, SRM 629: Structural Equation Modeling, SRM 680: Introduction to Qualitative Research; SRM 685: Educational Ethnography, SRM 687: Narrative Inquiry, SRM 700: Advanced Research Methods, SRM 705: Advanced Issues in Research Methods, HESA 782: Research Capstone in HESAL, and others.

Many students have used these class research experiences as the foundation for dissertations, conference presentations, and journal publications.

THEN

Research Evening has evolved from an informal joining of two professors’ classes to share their class research project findings, to a significant and well-attended university event.

Research Evening Timeline

Fall 2002 Maria’s and Susan’s classes join informally to share project findings

Spring 2003 One class from HESAL joins the event; first typed schedule

Fall 2003 to Fall Spring 2008 The “formative” years were characterized by creative scheduling with sessions often scattered across different floors in McKee Hall, including a computer lab, student lounge, conference rooms, classrooms, and even a hallway; numerous additional classes join Research Evening

Spring and Fall 2009 Research Evening finds a “home” location on the McKee 4th floor; all sessions finally held on the same floor

Spring 2010 Event must find a new home due to McKee 4th floor renovation; moves to lower level of McKee for three semesters

Fall 2011 UNC’s Graduate School formally supports Research Evening; the event moves to the University Center

Fall 2012 Research Evening hits the “big time” with professionallydesigned programs and posters provided by the Graduate School along with awards for outstanding presentations

A Sample of Recent Presentations:

Natalie Austin (School of Special Education) and Gwendolyn Dillman (Audiology). Experiences of Educational Multidisciplinary Team Members Working with Students Who Have Cochlear Implants.

Cathy Berei (Sport & Exercise Science). Factors That Influence Senior Physical Education Teacher Education Faculty to Remain Productive.

Mari Jo Brown (Reading) and Sandra Pike (Curriculum Studies). The Effect of Cell Phone Assisted Quizzes in 8th Grade Science on Comprehension of Genetic Concepts.

Ruth Cink (Chemistry and Biochemistry). English Language Learners’ Perceptions of Chemistry in Chemistry Laboratories.

Jenny Cureton and Janessa Parra (Counselor Education and Supervision). Suicide Education: Toward Addressing a Gap in Counselor Training.

Karen Traxler, Suzy Landram, and Tyler Kincaid (Applied Statistics & Research Methods). Assessing the Mental Health Recovery Paradigm Using a Hierarchical Linear Growth Curve Model to Examine Recovery Outcomes.

NOW

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 Drs. Maria Lahman and Susan Hutchinson from UNC’s Applied Statistics and Research Methods Department

have collectively supervised more than 1,000 graduate students’ class research projects. Below are some of their suggestions and strategies for successful supervision of students’ class research projects. 1.Students’ projects that will involve human subjects require IRB approval before students collect and/or analyze data. To speed up the IRB approval process, we highly recommend you obtain Omnibus IRB approval which allows instructors to serve as the IRB reviewer for exempt status studies. See http://www.unco.edu/osp/ethics/irb/ for additional information about obtaining Omnibus IRB approval.

2.Be prepared to spend additional time meeting and electronically communicating with students (even those who are advanced graduate students) to guide them through their project decisions and to assist in problem-solving when students hit “roadblocks” during the research process (e.g., difficulty obtaining participants; data analysis issues, etc.).

3.To minimize problems in implementing their studies, students should choose a sample to which they know (or are fairly certain) they have access (e.g., discourage them from collecting data from a school site unless they’ve received tentative assurance of access in advance).

4.Encourage students to work in a group with classmates as co-researchers. Not only will the workload be lighter for students by dividing up work tasks, but students generally benefit from opportunities to brainstorm and trouble-shoot with their peers. Group work benefits you as well with fewer project reports to read! However, stay alert for potential interpersonal conflicts and inequities in group members’ contributions to the project and have a plan for addressing these situations if they arise.

Supervising Experiential Class Research Projects: Insights from Two Research Faculty

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5. Instruct students to submit a well-written IRB so that either you (as Omnibus reviewer) or the standard UNC IRB can approve it quickly. Forewarn them to plan for up to several weeks turnaround time on their IRB applications, particularly if they fail to adhere to UNC’s IRB application requirements and need to resubmit.

6. Allow class time for students to share their project progress and concerns. Other students will benefit from the experiences of their classmates and the advice you offer. Also provide structured tasks to keep students on track, e.g., one week have them bring their research questions to class for feedback/discussion; another week have them bring in their sampling plan, etc.

7. Allow (or even require) students to submit drafts of different sections of their research paper, for example, their literature review and methods sections. Provide detailed feedback to help them think critically about their study and about their scholarly writing.

8. Include a meaningful venue for students to share their research. We created Research Evening for this purpose, initially as an informal gathering of students across several classes to present their research findings. Now Research Evening has become a mini-research conference that provides graduate students with valuable presentation experience similar to what they might encounter at a professional conference.

Supervising Experiential Class Research Projects: Insights from Two Research Faculty