| Abstract |
How effective of a mentor are you? Have you thought much about this
question? Have you participated in training to become a better mentor?
For many academics, the typical three answers are "pretty good, I think
... why wouldn't I be?!"; "I am right now while reading this;" "Uh, no."
The University of Wisconsin-Madison has developed a program called
Research Mentor Training to help train scientists in myriad STEM
(science, technology, engineering and mathematics) disciplines,
including astronomy, for their crucial role of mentoring the next
generation. Most of the field testing to date has focused on graduate
students, post-docs, academic staff, and faculty mentoring undergraduate
students who are participating in summer research experiences. The
materials have proven quite effective in other areas as well, with only
modest modifications. For example, several faculty cohorts concentrating
on mentoring graduate students and post-docs have completed the
training. In addition, the materials are used to prepare graduate
students and undergraduates to mentor high school students.
The preferred venue for the mentor training program is a seminar meeting
one hour per week for 8 to 9 weeks, plus readings and outside
activities, including mentoring a student. However, the structure is
flexible, and some meaningful learning can occur in a single 90-minute
interactive workshop like the one presented at the 2009 ASP annual
meeting, "Science Education and Outreach: Forging a Path to the Future."
All of the materials, including case studies, facilitator notes and
guidelines, plus reading lists, are available online for no charge (
href="http://researchmentortraining.org">http://researchmentortraining.org).
Users can select pre-built curricula, or they can customize a package
using a "shopping cart" interface. |