Despite all of the information that exists to encourage students to attend and do well in college, this is the first research-based guide that directly advises first- and second-year college students. With a focus on the needs and interests of students who are underrepresented in the academy (African American, Latinx, low-income, and first-generation students), this book will help all students take full advantage of the academic resources that the university setting has to offer. The authors introduce students to different types of research across the disciplines, showing them how to work with professors to build a course of study, how to integrate research work into coursework, and how to write and present research. This timely volume will also assist faculty, staff, and parents in providing the needed tools to promote student success. Book Features: Prepares students for the transition from high school to college with a focus on writing, time management, and research skills.Addresses the challenges that face high-achieving, underrepresented students.Empowers students to seek out resources and research opportunities to achieve their full academic potential.Includes models, approaches, student voices, and vignettes from the authors’ successful undergraduate research program. “A must read for every college student. This practical guide provides a roadmap for success as a researcher, a scholar, and a learner.” —Tia Brown McNair, Association of American Colleges & Universities “Faculty mentors and administrative leaders who aspire to be effective sponsors and supporters of students from diverse backgrounds should definitely acquire this resource.” —Elizabeth L. Ambos, Council on Undergraduate Research “What I love about this book is the broader, humanistic conversation about how pursuing research becomes a window into how one becomes a supremely informed and critical citizen.” —Armando Bengochea, director, Mellon-Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Program

The definitive career guide for grad students, adjuncts, post-docs and anyone else eager to get tenure or turn their Ph.D. into their ideal job Each year tens of thousands of students will, after years of hard work and enormous amounts of money, earn their Ph.D. And each year only a small percentage of them will land a job that justifies and rewards their investment. For every comfortably tenured professor or well-paid former academic, there are countless underpaid and overworked adjuncts, and many more who simply give up in frustration. Those who do make it share an important asset that separates them from the pack: they have a plan. They understand exactly what they need to do to set themselves up for success. They know what really moves the needle in academic job searches, how to avoid the all-too-common mistakes that sink so many of their peers, and how to decide when to point their Ph.D. toward other, non-academic options. Karen Kelsky has made it her mission to help readers join the select few who get the most out of their Ph.D. As a former tenured professor and department head who oversaw numerous academic job searches, she knows from experience exactly what gets an academic applicant a job. And as the creator of the popular and widely respected advice site The Professor is In, she has helped countless Ph.D.’s turn themselves into stronger applicants and land their dream careers. Now, for the first time ever, Karen has poured all her best advice into a single handy guide that addresses the most important issues facing any Ph.D., including: -When, where, and what to publish -Writing a foolproof grant application -Cultivating references and crafting the perfect CV -Acing the job talk and campus interview -Avoiding the adjunct trap -Making the leap to nonacademic work, when the time is right The Professor Is In addresses all of these issues, and many more.

Undergraduate Research in History offers a blend of theory and practice for undergraduate researchers in history, relevant to new routines of the digital age. Explaining how research conducted by undergraduate students fits into the broader contexts of the discipline of history and the expanding realm of undergraduate research, this book presents the major phases of substantive research projects, and offers practical advice for work in specific historical areas as well as in interdisciplinary projects. The volume addresses key issues facing researchers, including finding relevant sources, funding research projects, and sharing results with diverse audiences. Supported by dozens of examples of real-world undergraduate research projects, this book is an indispensable reference for any student embarking on historical research and for professors guiding and collaborating with undergraduate researchers.

"For undergraduates in STEMM fields, the experience of working in a lab or other research position has become an increasingly important credential for many career paths. Landing such a position can be difficult, with hundreds of applicants for perhaps a dozen openings in the most competitive cases. But finding a meaningful research experience also involves knowing what to look for and how to present yourself effectively, skills that represent a hidden curriculum for many students. In this book, an expert lab manager and a longtime principal investigator share their secrets for securing these positions, both in summer undergraduate research programs and in labs operating during the academic year. They offer advice on the application and interview processes for undergraduates who often do not know how to prepare appropriately professional emails, cover letters, CVs, and interview responses. They address students in a wide variety of STEMM fields at both research-intensive universities and primarily undergraduate institutions. And they focus on how first-generation college students and those from low-income backgrounds and communities historically underrepresented in science can learn to negotiate the hidden curriculum and claim their place in research settings. This new edition also serves as a companion to the authors' social accounts, including @YouInTheLab and @TheLabMentor, where they offer advice on lab life at many levels"--

This book is written for all science or engineering faculty who have ever found themselves baffled and frustrated by their undergraduate students’ lack of engagement and learning. The author, an experienced scientist, faculty member, and educational consultant, addresses these issues with the knowledge of faculty interests, constraints, and day-to-day concerns in mind. Drawing from the research on learning, she offers faculty new ways to think about the struggles their science students face. She then provides a range of evidence-based teaching strategies that can make the time faculty spend in the classroom more productive and satisfying.Linda Hodges reviews the various learning problems endemic to teaching science, explains why they are so common and persistent, and presents a digest of key ideas and strategies to address them, based on the research she has undertaken into the literature on the cognitive sciences and education. Recognizing that faculty have different views about teaching, different comfort levels with alternative teaching approaches, and are often pressed for time, Linda Hodges takes these constraints into account by first offering a framework for thinking purposefully about course design and teaching choices, and then providing a range of strategies to address very specific teaching barriers – whether it be students’ motivation, engagement in class, ability to problem solve, their reading comprehension, or laboratory, research or writing skills.Except for the first and last chapters, the other chapters in this book stand on their own (i.e., can be read in any order) and address a specific challenge students have in learning and doing science. Each chapter summarizes the research explaining why students struggle and concludes by offering several teaching options categorized by how easy or difficult they are to implement. Some, for example, can work in a large lecture class without a great expenditure of time; others may require more preparation and a more adventurous approach to teaching. Each strategy is accompanied by a table categorizing its likely impact, how much time it will take in class or out, and how difficult it will be to implement.Like scientific research, teaching works best when faculty start with a goal in mind, plan an approach building on the literature, use well-tested methodologies, and analyze results for future trials. Linda Hodges’ message is that with such intentional thought and a bit of effort faculty can succeed in helping many more students gain exciting new skills and abilities, whether those students are potential scientists or physicians or entrepreneurs. Her book serves as a mini compendium of current research as well as a protocol manual: a readily accessible guide to the literature, the best practices known to date, and a framework for thinking about teaching.

What makes a good research topic in a literature class? What does your professor mean by "peer-reviewed" sources? What should you do if you can't find enough material? This approachable guide walks students through the process of research in literary studies, providing them with tools for responding successfully to course assignments. Written by two experienced librarians, the guide introduces the resources available through college and university libraries and explains how to access the ones a student needs. It focuses on research in literature, identifying relevant databases and research guides and explaining different types of sources and the role each plays in researching and writing about a literary text. But it contains helpful information for any student researcher, describing strategies for searching the Web to find the most useful material and offering guidance on organizing research and documenting sources with MLA style.

Grants and fellowships are increasingly essential to an academic career, and competition over federal and foundation funding is fiercer than ever. Yet there has hitherto been little training available for this genre of writing. Funding Your Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences demystifies the process of writing winning grant proposals in the humanities and social sciences. Offering practical guidance, step-by-step instructions, and examples of successful proposals, Walker and Unruh outline the best practices to crack the proposal writing code. They reveal the most common peeves of proposal reviewers, and offer advice on how to avoid frequent problem areas in conceptualizing and crafting a research proposal in the humanities and social sciences. Contributions from agency and foundation program officers offer the perspective from the other side of the proposal submission portal, and new research funding trends, including crowdfunding and public scholarship, are also covered. This book is essential reading for all those involved in funding applications. Graduate students, research administrators, early career faculty members, and tenured professors alike will gain new and effective strategies to write successful applications.