May 1, 2014

Guiding students in identifying their strengths, passions and goals

Holly Barker: Mentoring undergraduates in research

If current projections hold, recent graduates may change jobs ten times or more in their lives, and may work in careers that don’t yet exist.^1,2Experience in academic research will help students meet these challenges, because the ability to reinvent oneself is essentially a research skill. Faculty throughout the UW’s three campuses are working to involve not just graduate students, but also undergraduates in academic research projects that can help them build critical skills, such as the ability to gather, analyze, and synthesize complex information on a new topic; to determine needs for new knowledge; and then to help create that knowledge. Working on real-world problems with faculty mentors also helps students build the confidence that they, too, can make an impact. UW faculty such as Holly Barker treat their undergraduate students as emerging professionals, supporting them as they experience what it means to contribute to a scholarly field and to the community.

Often faculty struggle to find time to support undergraduate researchers. Through structured office hours and group projects, Holly Barker not only mentors students in a wide range of disciplines herself, but helps her students mentor each other. This support helps her students succeed in individual and group research, with many presenting at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium. Here are some of the techniques she uses to mentor undergraduate researchers:

Help students identify and build on prior knowledge: Barker views every student as an expert. She helps students examine their experiences through an academic lens and share those insights with other students. In a recent introductory class, “Culture of the Bomb,” international students translated and presented summaries of news from their home countries. “Korean students talked about tensions between North and South Korea over nuclear issues, and students from Taiwan described the country’s challenges with nuclear waste,” she says. In her “Anthropology of Sports” course, student-athletes share their first-hand knowledge of the opportunities and challenges of being dedicated to both sports and their studies at an institution that excels in both realms.

Guide students to research topics of personal relevance and to research methods that best suit their strengths and goals: Barker has organized independent studies at the Burke Museum where she is a curator, including a study of Pacific Island objects by UW students from the Pacific Islands. “The Burke is a place where students who benefit from hands-on, communal learning thrive,“ says Barker.

Trust that students can rise to a challenge: “I now see I can give students more leadership and more freedom academically to demonstrate their learning, that I can trust them to be professional and to do a good job,” Barker says, reflecting on a recent upper-division class that culminated in a public open house on environmental health issues related to the Hanford Nuclear Reservation (“Public Policy and Environmental Health: Hanford,” ANTH 479). When the students were dividing up tasks, such as marketing, emceeing, and leading table discussions, all were eager to contribute. “There was one hundred percent participation in that class, and students were elated with the outcome,” says Barker.

Set clear limits so you still have time for your own research: Barker has clearly delineated office hours for each group of her students. She says, “I try to be very transparent with my students about what my time obligations are when I’m not with them. Letting them know when I have deadlines and other professional obligations also helps them understand the life of an academic, if they’re thinking about graduate school. This way they know that if I don’t have more time for them, it’s not because I don’t care. Rather, time is limited.”

Help students mentor each other: “At the start of every class, as a community-building opportunity, I allow time for student announcements,” says Barker. “Someone might say, ‘I’m working at this place and they’re hiring so if anybody wants a job, let me know.’ Or, ‘My department has a résumé workshop and there’s free pizza.’ Through that kind of sharing, students see each other as resources and mentors, which can reduce the pressure on professors.”

 

Resources: Seattle Times coverage of Barker’s students working on an independent study at the Burke Museum: Adam Jude, “Three Huskies football players explore their heritage with Burke Museum,” 14 November 2013.

¹Bridgstock, Ruth. “The Graduate Attributes We’ve Overlooked: Enhancing Graduate Employability Through Career Management Skills.” Higher Education Research & Development 28, no. 1 (March 2009): 31–44. doi:10.1080/07294360802444347.

²Stacey, Robert. “From the Dean: Changing Enrollments Reflect the Times.” Perspectives Newsletter: College of Arts and Sciences, University of Washington, May 2013. http://www.artsci.washington.edu/newsletter/May13/DeanLetter.asp.

Learn More

Read the full Provost report on how to prepare students for life after graduation.