BETR Grants: Bringing Efficiency To Research (BETR) Grants
The link below was shared by Jay Meldrum, Director of Sustainability at Michigan Tech, regarding the inclusion of sustainable lab information into individual grant proposals. View here.
By Amy Strage, PhD San José State University
Excerpted text: “A word about the purpose of this workbook. Over the years, I have had the opportunity to attend many, many professional conferences. In some instances, I contributed to the formal program in some way. In others, I had the good fortune to just be there just to learn. In virtually every instance, I did my best to immerse myself in the moment, attending sessions, engaging in animated and thoughtful conversation, taking notes, collecting business cards and handouts. But all too often, the conference “high” dissipated quickly as I returned to business-as-usual. As I look back, one thing is quite clear: regardless of my role or responsibilities at the gathering, I benefitted much more from the experience when I had (read “made”) the time to prepare and follow through. Isn’t this exactly what we encourage our students to do, to get the most out of their educational opportunities?”
Main advice provided (I recommend reading the whole posting for full benefit):
I – To ensure that you get the most out of the conference, PREPARE, DO YOUR HOMEWORK, AND BE INTENTIONAL… “Short exercises in advance of the conference
II – To ensure that you get the most out of the conference, REACH OUT… DON’T BE SHY NETWORK …” Structure to identify key contacts
III – To ensure that you get the most out of the conference, REFLECT AND FOLLOW THROUGH…” Structure to align intent with follow up
III – To ensure that you get the most out of the conference, REFLECT AND FOLLOW THROUGH…” Structure to align intent with follow up
Thank You Note (You’ve probably already thought to do this, but in case it’s slipped your mind…)”
Happy Conferencing and Networking!
Text by Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD, president and CEO of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity, from the posting of August 1, 2016 in her Monday Motivator series.
Throughout this summer, I’ve dedicated the Monday Motivator to helping readers better understand and develop a relationship with their resistance to writing. This week, I want to go a little deeper into that evolving relationship by encouraging each of you to engage in an exercise I call “Resistance Tracking.” It’s a deceptively simple exercise but one that I’ve seen have such a powerful impact on those who commit to actually doing it so I thought I would share it with you.
Why Track Our Resistance?
We’ve talked a lot about resistance this summer, but I think we need to move from just talking about it towards getting smarter about moving around it. You know you’re experiencing resistance when you want to do something — and you should do something — but you just aren’t doing it. For academic writers, it means that you want to finish your ____________ (dissertation/book/article/grant proposal) so that you can ______________ (finish your degree/move on with your life/get a job/get tenure/move your ideas into the world), and yet, you’re just not doing it! It may be that you keep procrastinating the act of sitting down to write.
If you’re reading this, it’s more likely that you’ve committed to daily writing, but when you sit down each day something happens. Maybe you get a strong urge to check email, Facebook, or the news. Maybe you suddenly feel a bodily need that you must fulfill before you get started writing (hunger, thirst, too cold, too hot, etc.). Maybe you become suddenly distracted by your immediate environment that must be cleaned or organized before you can concentrate on writing. Maybe some unresolved conflict (that has nothing to do with your writing) must be solved before you can focus on your intellectual work. Or maybe you find yourself gazing out the nearest window, thinking about the meaning of life and wondering whether you are wasting yours cranking out work that very few people will read. Each of these examples illustrates the most common forms of academic resistance: procrastination, avoidance, and denial. And, of course, if you should happen to be experienced and nimble in moving beyond these basic forms of resistance and actually start writing, a new and deeper well of resistance often arises in the form of your inner-critic(s).
If you experience any of this resistance, CONGRATULATIONS! You’re a perfectly normal academic writer. While I’ve encouraged you throughout the summer to better understand your resistance and explore the fears that lie underneath it, this week I want to encourage you to get even more intimately acquainted with how your resistance works to keep you from doing the one thing that will have the greatest long-term impact on your success in the academy: writing for publication. The purpose of this (slightly painful) exercise is to get clear about your unique individual patterns, to both see and feel your resistance as it manifests, and to begin laying the groundwork for your own personal diagnostic tool.
How to Track Your Resistance
Every day during your writing time, keep a small notepad and writing utensil next to your desk. Throughout your writing time, you simply make a quick note of whatever comes up to keep you from writing. Some of your resistance will take the form of behaviors (clicking on Facebook, checking email, etc.) and some will take the form of thoughts (“This is awful,” “Who do you think you are?,” “You need to read more before writing anything else,” etc.). The goal of this exercise is to capture everything that emerges to keep you from writing during your scheduled 30-60 minutes each day this week in one place. Please note this will be most effective if you can resist the urge to judge your resistance; all you need to do is view these thoughts and behaviors with compassionate curiosity, record them, and then get back to your writing. For example, last Monday my resistance tracking looked like this:
• I gotta pee.
• I’m thirsty.
• I wonder how dehydration impacts cognitive performance?
• Uh-oh! I drank too much water, now I have to pee again.
• I wonder if I’ve eaten enough protein today?
• How many grams of protein are in one scoop of brown rice protein powder?
• What is brown rice protein anyway?
• I should post “I’m writing” as my Facebook status so that people can send me positive writing energy.
• I hate writing. I don’t feel like doing this.
[And once I actually started writing]
• Why can’t you ever finish anything ahead of time?
• Why didn’t you work on this over the weekend?
• You’re so lazy and disorganized! Why can’t you get your shit together?
• Please stop writing this before you embarrass yourself!
This is pretty standard fare for me during a 30-minute writing session. I don’t need to feel embarrassed or frustrated by this list because I can see my wiggles and negative self-talk for exactly what they are: manifestations of my resistance. They are each designed by my bodyguard to keep me from writing so that I can stay safe from sharing my writing, from putting my ideas into public space for criticism and debate, and from the possibility of success or failure. Once I see them in writing, it becomes perfectly clear that they are simple distractions that I can maneuver around by simply acknowledging the thoughts and impulses and writing each one on my notepad. At the end of my writing time, I can assess if they are truly worth acting on. And, after a week’s worth of data, I can see the patterns in my resistance: behavioral urges at the beginning of my writing time and inner-critic outbursts towards the middle and end. I don’t know what your patterns are, but I encourage you to become interested in identifying them this week.
The Weekly Challenge
This week, I challenge you to do the following:
• Use your timer each day for your writing time. Trust me, this will heighten your awareness about starting and stopping your writing time as well as what’s going on during that time.
• Each day, notice when you feel resistance and record it.
• Ask yourself: What’s going on here? How do I feel?
• If your resistance manifests as a behavior (or urge to engage in a particular behavior), record it.
• If your resistance manifests as (a) strong inner-critic(s), record the dialogue and messages.
• At the end of the week, take 5 minutes to look back over your resistance log to see if you can identify any patterns.
• Don’t throw that log away! We’ll use it next week to create a resistance diagnostic tool that’s unique to YOU.
I hope this week brings you the energy to track your resistance, the desire to deepen your relationship with this ever-present piece of your humanity, and the confidence to know that you can move around your resistance each day no matter how it manifests.
Peace & Productivity,
Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD
President, National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity
New faculty receive a fair amount of information about teaching during orientation. However, once in the classroom, you learn first-hand about Michigan Tech students, teaching expectations, what works and (frustratingly) what doesn’t. You may also be pushed to expand your teaching repertoire with opportunities to teach a larger class, a technology or project-based class, or even to teach online.
The William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning (ctl@mtu.edu, 487-3000), on the second floor of the Van Pelt and Opie Library, helps with all dimensions of your teaching endeavors. We provide resources and support as you implement specific teaching methods or use new teaching technology in new, exciting ways!
Walk-in consultations are available Monday through Friday from 10 AM to 4 PM, or you can schedule an appointment to discuss a topic of your choice. You can request a recorded or live observation of your classroom to get feedback and suggestions, or if you know of some new technique you’d like to try out, the CTL can provide resources, references, equipment, and ideas. From the very low-tech (effective whiteboard use, syllabus review, or paper response systems) to “flipping” classrooms, to effective teaching in an online course, instructors in all disciplines find the CTL to be a valuable partner.
Many newer faculty find it difficult to allocate the time needed for effective teaching, especially to effectively assess student progress without being overwhelmed by grading. The CTL can help you explore informal, time-efficient methods of in and out of class response and grading systems. Its close partner, the Michigan Tech Testing Center (techtesting-l@mtu.edu, 487-1001) helps provide computerized or bubble-sheet exams, as well as assisting with management of the increasing number of students who need accommodations or makeup exams.
At least twice each month during academic terms, the CTL also holds instructional developmental events (“Coffee Chats” and “Lunch and Learns”.) If you haven’t yet been to one, I strongly encourage you to sign up and attend. Even if the topics aren’t a perfect match, these events provide a great chance to network with a large number of excellent instructors from across the university to get ideas and support. And the free food certainly doesn’t hurt!)
Your relationship with the faculty you meet at these events and the CTL is unique in that it’s purely supportive. Many instructors use the CTL staff to help interpret end-of-term course evaluations to focus ideas for improvement, or even to discuss departmental challenges. You can document your observation, teaching innovation, or professional development events as part of your continuous teaching improvements. The CTL can help document your efforts as part of your T&P packet, or your work with the CTL can remain entirely confidential, at your discretion.
There’s no question that teaching today is challenging and demanding. Many students carry high expectations, and it’s often hard to meet them, especially given the other demands on your time. Rather than trying to shoulder this burden alone, I encourage you to collaborate with the CTL! Let us know how we can help you to continue to improve your teaching and effective interactions with students.
Michael R. Meyer
Director – William G. Jackson Center for Teaching and Learning
Michigan Technological University
Text drawn from R.M. Felder and R. Brent, Teaching and Learning STEM: A Practical Guide, pp. 60–61.
When you teach a course that builds heavily on previously-taught material, you have a dilemma. Should you assume that all of the enrolled students start out with a solid grasp of the prerequisites? You’d better not! Some students may have taken the prerequisite courses years ago and have long since forgotten what they learned, or some of the prerequisite content may be really hard or was rushed through so few students really understood it. On the other hand, you don’t want to spend the first three weeks of the course re-teaching material the students are supposed to know. The question is, how can you help your students quickly pick up whatever they’re missing without spending a lot of valuable class time on it?
An effective way to achieve that goal is to give an early exam on the prerequisites. Here’s the process.
· Before the first day of class, write out a set of learning objectives that specify what the students should be able to do—define, explain, calculate, derive, critique, design,…—if they have the prerequisite knowledge and skills you plan to build on in your course. That last phrase (“you plan to build on in your course”) is critical: if you announce that the students need to know everything covered in the prerequisite courses, you’ll just overwhelm them and the exam won’t serve its intended function. Put the objectives in the form of a study guide for an exam (“To do well on this exam, you should be able to.…”). Except for facts and definitions the students should be prepared to reproduce from memory, the items on the study guide should be generic, not specific questions that might appear verbatim on the exam.
· On the first day of class, announce that the first midterm exam will be given on ___ (about a week from that day) and will cover only prerequisite material. Hand out the study guide and briefly review it, assuring the students that every question and problem on the exam will be based on items in the study guide.
· Hold a review session before the test date at which students can ask questions about anything in the study guide. Alternatively, tell the students that they are free to raise questions in class or during your office hours.
· Give and grade the exam. Count the grade toward the final course grade. (We’ll say more about this later.)
· (Optional) Give the students a take-home retest to regain up to, say, half the points they lost the first time.
When you adopt this strategy, most students will do whatever it takes to get the specified material into their heads by the exam, and you won’t have to spend more than one class session reviewing prerequisites. Students who do poorly on the exam will be on notice that unless they do something dramatic to relearn material they missed, such as getting some tutoring, they are likely to struggle throughout much of your course and are at risk for failing. If many students have problems with a particular topic on the exam, then consider additional review of that topic.
The idea of testing on course prerequisites at the beginning of a course is not new, but instructors who do it commonly make one or both of two mistakes: (1) they make the test purely diagnostic and give it on the first day of the course, and (2) they don’t count the test grades toward the course grade. What’s wrong with those practices? If the test is given on the first day, the students have no time to remedy deficiencies in their knowledge of the prerequisites and not much incentive to do so after the test. Even if the test is given after the first day, if the grades don’t count many students will spend little or no time studying for it. Either way the grades are likely to be low, indicating that extensive review is required, and the instructor has little basis for knowing what to review and what to leave for the students to relearn on their own. If you use the procedure suggested here you avoid both mistakes; your students will have time to learn or relearn prerequisite material on their own and will have a strong incentive to do so; the study guide will enable them to concentrate their studying on the material you will be building on; and you’ll easily find the sweet spot between insufficient and excessive review at the beginning of your course.
From Tomorrow’s Professor
by Dave Reed, ddreed@mtu.eduThe American Statistical Association has worked with NIH and NSF to encourage statisticians to participate in the panel review process. The first link below is a Google Form for nominations to be on NIH panels. The second link is to an NSF page where people can volunteer for panels, and the third is a link to a general document that describes the process, how to get involved, and things to consider when reviewing a proposal. The first is specific to statisticians, but the second two are general and are suitable for all disciplines.NIH Funding Review Panel Nominations
NSF – volunteer for panels
Serving effectively on funding review panels: advice for statisticians new to the process
Joan Chadde, jchadde@mtu.edu Director for Science & Environmental Outreach
Greetings, members of the ECM community! We hope your spring semester is off to a great start. As you continue to look for potential National Science Foundation or other state and federal agency funding, you will likely come across the need to incorporate K-12 education / outreach in your project proposal.
I’d like to introduce you to the work of the Center for Science & Environmental Outreach (CSEO), which has a wide range of experience developing and delivering K-12 Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) programs, along with many environmental education programs. These are for students and teachers in Houghton County, the western U.P., statewide in Michigan, the Upper Midwest/Great Lakes region, and some programs are even disseminated nationally, such as the Family Engineering Program!
Established in 1991 and wholly grant-funded, the Center offers programs focused on enhancing the teaching and learning of STEM for K-12 students, teachers, and community members. The Center’s diverse programs include Outdoor Science Investigations Field Trips, Family Science & Engineering events, After School STEM Classes & Summer Camps, Water Festival, Girls & Engineering and other programs to increase under-represented students in STEM, K-12 teacher professional learning, and Western UP Science Fair & STEM Festival. Programs are created and delivered by the Center’s education staff and we also partner with Michigan Tech faculty who wish to conduct modules/short courses/etc. with our target audiences. The Center’s programs engage ~15,000 students, teachers, and community members annually so it is a great place to broadly disseminate your hands-on / interactive ideas!
And the good news is that you don’t need to figure out logistics! The Center has a menu of education / outreach ideas with an estimated cost for each. These ideas should pique your creativity and then you can set up a meeting with CSEO staff to customize an offering to your research broader impacts.
The Center is located at the Great Lakes Research Center where it takes full advantage of the learning lab/classroom and other spaces to deliver a wide range of programs. There are 4 full-time staff with a range of experiences, from science, social studies, environmental education GIS, technology, geoheritage, citizen science, and organizing large and small events. The Center’s expertise way outpaces the links on this page: https://blogs.mtu.edu/cseo/
This valuable post on Tomorrow’s ProfessorSM eNewsletter by Kerry Ann Rockquemore, PhD, president and CEO of the National Center for Faculty Development & Diversity begins with “At this point in the term, it’s an ideal time to stop and evaluate your progress… by gently asking yourself several important questions:
- How is the term going so far?
- How much writing have I completed?
- Have I developed a daily writing routine?
- How am I progressing towards the goals on my strategic plan? and
- How do I feel about my answers to the previous questions?”
The post goes on to provide practical advice to classify the areas that hold you back so you can intentionally make adjustments for the rest of the semester. “Most academics’ productivity is blocked by some combination of what Julie Morgenstern describes as technical errors, psychological obstacles, and external realities.” The technical errors are easiest to fix; those and external realities are usually cited to others for lack of progress. In my own career, I’ve found my own psychological attitude to be the key challenge and also to undermine my ability to deal with external realities and technical errors. This is a wonderful post to read and discuss in your ECM meetings this month. Have a great, productive and rewarding semester! – Adrienne
Read the full article here.
by Amy L. Howard, Center for Diversity & Inclusion
What does diversity mean and why does it matter?
Join us at noon Monday, February 12, 2018 in MUB Ballroom B1 for our first Diverse Dialogues to engage in meaningful campus dialogue around topics of diversity and inclusion. Bring your own lunch, light refreshments and beverages will be provided.
This guided conversation will allow individuals to discuss the meaning of diversity and explore the multiple diversities that exist. Individuals will work to identify the relevance of their own cultural and social identities and leave with an enhanced understanding of how to embrace diversity in order to work more effectively across difference at Tech and within their respective communities.
The Diverse Dialogues series aims to provide opportunities for students, faculty and staff to have conversations about relevant issues of equity, diversity, inclusion, social justice and much more. They are designed to be an informal, yet guided gathering to allow participants to educate and learn from one another. While each dialogue in the series has a centralized theme, we want to encourage participants to determine where the conversations go. This series is meant to start the discussion on difficult topics and implore individuals to push their awareness, knowledge and action related to themes of diversity and inclusion.
Industrial Sponsorship of Research: Making and Cultivating Contacts
Greetings, members of the ECM community! We hope your spring semester is off to a great start. As you continue to build your research portfolio, we wanted to take a moment to provide an introduction to how funding from industry can be one potential tool in your funding “toolbox.”
As you consider pursuing funding from industry, it is important to recognize that industrial funding differs from other types of project funding in a variety of ways. In particular, understanding the following types of issues will help immensely as you pursue industry-funded projects:
- Publishing restrictions: Many industry sponsors request pre-publication review and/or a publication delay.
- “Hands on” project sponsors: Industry sponsors tend to work very closely with researchers – visiting labs, talking regularly, asking for more frequent deliverables and reports.
- Logistics: Industry funding often comes in smaller amounts, for shorter-duration projects, often with quick turn arounds needed from idea, to proposal, to funding.
- Confidentiality: In many cases, projects are subject to non-disclosure agreements. Some projects may restrict what types of personnel can participate.
Faculty from many disciplines across campus regularly work through these issues successfully with industry sponsors. However, it is important to seek clarity on any potential areas of concern prior to project implementation and to propose realistic projects where your team can meet deliverables. Industry funding can often lead to long-term partnerships between a sponsor and a faculty researcher; however, one “failed” project is likely to burn bridges with more than just one industry sponsor.
What is the best way to proceed with industry funding? Industry funding is usually driven by personal relationships. Some practical tips to build these relationships include:
- Seek out collaborators on campus who receive funding from a relevant industry. Perhaps start as co-PI on a collaborative project to enable you to develop a reputation for success and to develop personal contacts in the industry.
- If applicable, attend conferences that include industry representatives. Proactively seek out people to develop personal connections.
- Consider a sabbatical in industry if your interests align.
- Use every opportunity you have (e.g., Michigan Tech’s Career Fair, departmental or college/school advisory boards, alumni events) to develop relationships with Michigan Tech alumni and friends who can either work with you directly or make introductions to their industry colleagues.
- Train graduate students to conduct work relevant in industry; keep in contact with graduates from your group and leverage their growing networks.
Getting your first industry contract can be intimidating, and it can take some time. However, faculty across campus find these connections rewarding and – in many cases – a significant contribution to their funding portfolio.
If you are interested in learning more or pursuing industry funding for your projects, some additional resources can be found in the Michigan Tech Research Development toolkit. The “agencies” link (top right) has an “industry” tab with additional information and resources. Note that because these resources are limited to the Michigan Tech community you must be logged into your Michigan Tech Google account to access the site.
If we can be of assistance to you as you continue your career at Michigan Tech, please contact either of us.
Jim Desrochers, jtdesroc@mtu.edu Associate Director of Industry Relations
Peter Larsen, palarsen@mtu.edu Director of Research Development