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CTEI Announces Learn@Lunch Feb. 18

January 13, 2022
Submitted By: Lydia Chiappetti

Learn@Lunch Workshop: Feb. 18, 2022, 12:45 p.m. to 1:45 p.m.

Pending COVID issues: in-person meeting with remote access: Please click here to register.

 

           Senior Year Honors Research and Writing:  

Everything Students Want to Know but May Be Afraid to Ask  

 

The ultimate challenge for honors students in their senior year is to conduct independent research and complete a research project/thesis. However, even some of our best students feel intimidated as they begin so they may need careful mentoring.  

Led by the Honors Director - Dr. Claudia Oakes, the A&S Honors Coordinator – Dr. Adam Silver, and the 2020-22 Distinguished Teaching Humanist - Dr. Donald Jones, this interactive workshop will help experienced and aspiring advisors become better mentors for senior-year honors research and writing. It will focus on the first few months of these efforts, and the following questions will be addressed: 

  1. As honors students start to consider a research project/thesis during their junior year, how should their mentors describe this effort (and implicitly persuade more students to dare to try)? 
  2. How should the honors students conceive of this project so that it seems feasible and worthwhile? What do students especially need to understand about a preliminary honors proposal/prospectus that may be required (varies by college)? 
  3. What training for reading scholarly sources and framing the research question do mentors need to provide for at least some honors seniors? 
  4. Why should students be advised to start writing early in their research process, and what is the value of such preliminary writing? 
  5. Why should mentors stress the identification of central concepts and the use of keywords? 
  6. What are satisfactions and the benefits of mentoring a senior honors student? 

In other words, what mentoring at the end of junior year and at the start of senior year will lead more honors students to the successful completion of an honors research project/thesis?  

 

This workshop is intended for the Honors Program Coordinators, experienced thesis advisors, and all faculty interested in supporting our top seniors in their honors projects. The workshop leaders hope that experienced mentors will join them in sharing their insights with others. 

 

Bios:

Claudia Oakes is the Director of the Honors Program and the former ENHP Honors Coordinator. She is an Associate Professor and the Director of the Health Science Program.

 Adam Silver is the A&S Honors Coordinator. Adam Silver has served as the A&S Honors Coordinator since 2019, is an Associate Professor in Biology, and has mentored Honors Thesis students.

Don Jones is the 2020-22 Distinguished Teaching Humanist in the College of Arts and Sciences. He is an Associate Professor in English, and since 1996, Jones also has served as the Writing Program Director, the A&S HON Coordinator, and the Director of Honors.