Quick and/or doable interventions for success in getting undergraduate students to be successful in applied mathematics
Tips for research
== (3P’s by Ami Radunskaya)
Pitfalls
- Wishing that students were different or better prepared
- Wishing that students were more independentPossibilities
- Instead of a final paper, have a sketch for a final paper
- Expect to work a couple of summers on the same topic to publish a paper.
- Write up a MOE = Memorandum of Expectations. Have students keep a log and a lab book with all notes that YOU own.
- Invest up front.
- ReST = give Resources, Samples, and Templates.
- Group assignments and accountability.
- Weekly discussion of results. Organize speaking seminars with other faculty/student teams.
- Try to facilitate peer mentoring.
- Believe in the students.Prayers
- Find 2-3 students who work well together (have complimentary skills).
- Have a project that a small question can be well-articulated and you know how to answer that question.
- Students have some programming/scientific computing skills.
- Students know how to navigate research database, LaTaX, Beamer, and Jabref.
- Students know how to critically read papers, how to cite properly, and how to synthesize information from multiple sources. ==
Summer research tips
(Tips 1-14 courtesy of Chad Topaz)
- Remember it is more like teaching than research
- Set expectations with students (# hours, deliverables, setbacks, etc.)
- Give students a realistic experience
- Getting a paper out is secondary
- Have a long time horizon
- Continue in later summers, or via senior thesis, or course projects, or…
- Student work in teams of 2-3 (if resources allow)
- Meeting with students every single day
- Code together with students
- Teach a lit review
- Teach organization (folders, commenting, BibTex, etc.)
- Teach/practice giving a talk
- Incorporate other professional development activities
- Incorporate social activities