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Mentoring Students

Mentoring Students. Maria Gini Dept of CSE, University of Minnesota. My background. Faculty at the University of Minnesota for more than 20 years 40 faculty in the Department Department is in College of Engineering and Physical Sciences

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Mentoring Students

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  1. Mentoring Students Maria Gini Dept of CSE, University of Minnesota

  2. My background • Faculty at the University of Minnesota for more than 20 years • 40 faculty in the Department • Department is in College of Engineering and Physical Sciences • Large undergraduate program (~550 students, 130 graduates/year) • Large classes (100+ in lower division, 20-50 in upper division electives)

  3. Outline • WHAT TO DO • A full range of activities to do with students • HOW: • Know your students and give them opportunities • Decide your mentoring style

  4. WHAT: Full range of activities Examples: • Attract students to CS (non-engineering students, women and underrepresented groups) • Reach students through classes • Retain students by engaging them • Use support groups and extra-curricular activities

  5. I - Attract students to CS • Branch out course topics and material in courses to attract non-typical majors, women and other underrepresented groups • Add flexibility to curriculum (for example provide dual majors and minors) • Reach freshmen, for instance via freshman seminars • Example: freshman seminar on “Robots as Pets” I offered last Fall • Outreach activities

  6. II- Reach students through classes • Consider special activities to get students excited about CS and curious about research • Example: using the dogs AIBO in CS1 course (video) • Get students engaged in classes • Example: consider using a Student Management Team [see: Nuhfer, E. B., 2003, Manual for Student Management Teams, Idaho State University]

  7. III- Retain students by engaging them In course work: • Individual or group projects can be used in upper division courses. Often they are a good start for research • Allow students to take advanced classes when they are ready • Maintain flexibility in curricula • Add challenging material to courses to keep students engaged

  8. III- Retain students by engaging them In research: • Honors programs • Thesis work, other research activities • Example: being an unpaid TA for a semester • Research experiences • Support undergraduate research with REU supplements to NSF grants (easy to get!) • Summer internships • Connect with local companies, former students

  9. IV- Support groups and extra-curricular activities • Types of groups/activities: • Example: establish a support group for women • Role of professional societies • Outreach activities • Funding • Often funds exist at Dept, College, University level • A little money goes a long way

  10. Example: Support group for Women in CS at Minnesota • The Women in CS group is a support group for women (students and faculty) • The group meets monthly for lunch and activities such as • lunch with distinguished women speakers • workshops (negotiation skills, combining career and personal life, etc.) • game night and other fun activities • Started with a small grant from University, now is self sustaining via small grants from local companies • Attendance of a large group of women to Grace Hopper conferences • Started a focus women group for women in CS1 to get them connected

  11. Role of chapters of professional societies • The local ACM chapter and the SWE chapter can support a variety of activities such as • career fairs • game nights • outreach activities • meet the faculty to hear about their research • Consider starting a ACM-W chapter

  12. Outreach activities • Demonstrations at Science Fairs for elementary, junior high, high schools students • Helping judging local science competitions in schools • Activities at local science museum • Summer camps

  13. HOW - Know your students and give them opportunities • Talk with students about career choices (graduate school, jobs, internships, etc) • Get them out to internships, Summer experiences, study abroad, etc • Get them to present their work at local workshops, poster presentations, and undergraduate conferences

  14. HOW - Decide your mentoring style • Be yourself, take mentoring roles you are comfortable with • example: you do not need to take your students out to football games or invite them to your home to connect with them at a personal level • Key ingredients to success: • Respect students • Give them choices • Let them chose what to work on and control pace of work • Keep them motivated, praise them • Give them opportunities to excel and be recognized • Be patient

  15. Reference on what students value in teachers Look at www.stephenbrookfield.com under ‘Workshop materials, power points, book extracts’. Look at Chapter 4 of The Skillful Teacher, 2nd edition (2006): “What Students Value in Teachers”. Brookfield identifies two major characteristics: Credibility and Authenticity. Credibility – “the perception that the teacher has something important to offer…and learning it will benefit the student considerably.” (page 67) Authenticity – “the perception that the teacher is being open and honest in her attempts to help students learn.” (page 67-68)

  16. For more information email: gini@cs.umn.edu http://www.cs.umn.edu/~gini

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