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Graduate Student Mentors in REU Sites

Graduate Student Mentors in REU Sites. Cesar D. Guerrero Miguel A. Labrador Rafael Perez Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of South Florida Tampa, FL 33620 {guerrerc, labrador, perez}@cse.usf.edu. Outline. REU: participants and expectations Motivation

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Graduate Student Mentors in REU Sites

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  1. Graduate Student Mentors in REU Sites Cesar D. Guerrero Miguel A. Labrador Rafael Perez Department of Computer Science and Engineering University of South Florida Tampa, FL 33620 {guerrerc, labrador, perez}@cse.usf.edu

  2. Outline • REU: participants and expectations • Motivation • Graduate Mentor Profile • Graduate Mentor Duties • Graduate Mentor Experience • REU Student Experience • Faculty Mentor’s point of view • Conclusions

  3. Student Faculty Mentor REU Site Graduate Mentor REU: Participants and expectations .. to commit a fair amount of time to mentor the REU student .. to increase enrollment in graduate programs .. to be well mentored and enjoy the research work .. to foster research

  4. Motivation • REU demands significant amount of time before, during and after the program. • Faculty Mentors experience difficulties in committing enough time to the REU program • By mentoring undergraduates, graduate students can enhance their research projects • Developing mentoring skills is a key factor for those graduate students having academic careers in mind. • REU students may consider the Graduate Student as a more approachable mentor.

  5. Graduate Mentor Profile • Research experience (PhD candidates are a plus) • Supported by the research project that the undergraduate will be working on. • Highly motivated • Committed to the goals of the REU program. • Able to guide and following guidelines • Good communication skills.

  6. Graduate Mentor DutiesPreparation • Participate in the research project definition and planning. • Send preliminary information to the students for them to be well prepared. • Verify that all the resources needed for the student are available and functional. • GMs are given a presentation about the program including its goals, activities, schedule, and project deliverables.

  7. Graduate Mentor DutiesDuring the program • Project kick-offpresentation. • Progress control according to the research plan • Deliverables review • Logistic support • Social and academic interaction

  8. Graduate Mentor DutiesAfter the program • Perform new experiments and/or analysis. • Publish the results of the research project.

  9. IntroductionREU students and mentors (2005-2006) 72 % 25 %

  10. Helps to develop mentoring skills Fosters Graduate Mentor research work Releases of time consuming research tasks. Contributes to a future publication. Demands a significant amount of time Bad prepared REU students may imply additional work and lack of motivation and engagement Graduate Mentor Experience  

  11. REU Student Experience (2006)

  12. Faculty Mentor’s point of view • REU students greatly benefit from the research experience of Ph.D. candidates • A key success factor is that the graduate student has to mentor in REU projects directly related to their own research. • Mentoring experience provides valuable skills to any graduate student who wants to be in academia

  13. Conclusions • Involving graduate students in the mentoring process of REU student is highly beneficial for each participant in the REU program. • How helpful the experience for the graduate student mentor depends on how motivated, engaged, and well prepared the REU student is for the project. • It is recommended to give the GMs a formal workshop with information on how to help the students learn to work independently and how to interest the students in pursuing a graduate education.

  14. Thanks! Questions?

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