Erin Crede of Virginia Tech leads a group discussion at the meeting on fostering interdisciplinary research.
Virginia Tech College of Engineering
In July 2011, 45 engineering graduate students, postdoctoral researchers, faculty members, and administrators from 33 universities across the country met to discuss how to foster successful engineering graduate research groups. The meeting was sponsored by researchers in Virginia Tech’s department of engineering education and held at the recently opened Virginia Tech Research Center – Arlington.
Research groups, in which two to 20 (or more) graduate students are advised by one professor, are the most typical mode of research training for engineering master’s and PhD students. Students in the same group often share equipment and lab or office space, and may learn as much from each other as they do from their advisor.
According to Maura Borrego, associate professor of engineering education, the group concluded that students in a supportive and productive research group are more likely to persist in a challenging graduate program. Successful research groups help students become independent researchers who also work well on teams. High quantity and quality of engineering master’s and doctorates contributes to technological innovation and ultimately to the U.S economy.
Borrego is a National Science Foundation CAREER Award recipient, and it was for the development of methods that will better prepare faculty and graduate students fro interdisciplinary research.
Specifically, the attendees concluded that expectations should be made clear to students as early as possible, Borrego added. Student tasks should be scaffolded to require increasing responsibility and creativity over time. Setting concrete and challenging but achievable goals can also help motivate students. As groups increase in size, it becomes less efficient for one advisor to individually mentor each student, and postdoctoral researchers or more advanced graduate students can contribute to mentoring while developing their skills for future positions. Finally, time should be spent developing community among research group members to increase the chances they will approach each other for help and support.
Findings from the discussion will be submitted as a paper to the 2012 American Society for Engineering Education annual conference.
For more information, please contact: Maura Borrego mborrego@vt.edu