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Table of Contents

Contents

Foreword     ix
Preface     xi
Acknowledgments     xiii

Curriculum Overview     1 
Content     2
Format     3
Implementation: Facilitating Research Mentor Training     4
Learning Objectives     6

1 Introduction to Mentor Training      9
Introduction     9
Learning Objectives     9
Facilitation Guide    10
Introductory Activities: Ways to Help Participants Get to Know One Another     13
Constructive and Destructive Group Behaviors     15
Questions to Consider When Writing a Mentoring Philosophy     16
Reading: Mentoring: Learned Not Taught     17

2 Aligning Objectives     27
Introduction   27
Learning Objectives   27
Facilitation Guide    28
Case Study: The Sulky Undergraduate    31
Examples of Mentor-Mentee Compacts     32
Mentoring Tool: Research Experience Expectations    41
Mentoring Tool: Research Experience Reflections    42
Mentoring Tool: Letter of Recommendation    43
Mentoring Tool: Roles for Your Research Matter    44

3 Promoting Professional Development     45
Introduction    45
Learning Objectives    45
Facilitation Guide    46
Examples of Individual Development Plans (IDPs) for Discussing Development and Career Plans    49
Case Study: To Be or Not to Be a PhD     54
Mentoring Tool: The Next Step in Your Career: Factors to Consider    55

4 Maintaining Effective Communication    57
Introduction    57
Learning Objectives    57
Facilitation Guide    58
Case Study: The Slob     61
Mentoring Tool: Reflecting on Your Mentoring Relationship    62

5 Addressing Equity and Inclusion     63
Introduction   63
Learning Objectives    63
Facilitation Guide     64
Diversity Study Results    68
Case Study: Is It OK to Ask?    70
Reading: Benefits and Challenges of Diversity     71

6 Assessing Understanding     83
Introduction    83
Learning Objectives    83
Facilitation Guide    84
“Assessing Understanding” Scenarios     87
Mentoring Tool: Your Research Group’s Focus     88
Mentoring Tool: Scientific Article Worksheet    89
Mentoring Tool: Research Project Outline & Science Abstract     91

7 Fostering Independence     93
Introduction     93
Learning Objectives     93
Facilitation Guide     94
Case Study: Ready Mentee     97
Case Study: The Slow Writer     97
Reading: Mentoring Research Writers     98

8 Cultivating Ethical Behavior      105
Introduction     105
Learning Objectives     105
Facilitation Guide     106
Case Study: Tweaking the Data     108
Case Study: Plagiarism?     108
Case Study: A Big, Strong Guy     109
Case Study: A Drive in the Country     109

9 Articulating Your Mentoring Philosophy and Plan      111
Introduction     111
Learning Objectives     111
Facilitation Guide     112
Mentoring Reflection Worksheet     115

Appendix: Introduction to Facilitation     117
Role of Facilitators     117
General Notes on Facilitating a Group     118
Group Dynamics: Suggestions for Handling Challenges     119

About the Authors     121

Authors

Christine Pfund

Christine Pfund, PhD, is a researcher with the Wisconsin Center for Education Research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW).  Dr. Pfund earned her PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology, followed by postdoctoral research in Plant Pathology, both at University of Wisconsin-Madison.  For almost a decade, Dr. Pfund served as the Associated Director of the Delta Program in Research, Teaching, and Learning and the codirector of the Wisconsin Program for Scientific Teaching, helping to train future faculty to become better, more effective teachers.  Dr. Pfund is now conducting research with several programs across the UW campus, including the Institute for Clinical and Translational Research and the Center for Women’s Health Research.  Her work focuses on developing, implementing, documenting, and studying research mentor-training interventions across science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and medicine (STEMM).  Dr. Pfund coauthored the original Entering Mentoring curriculum and coauthored several papers documenting the effectiveness of this approach.  Currently, Dr. Pfund is coleading two studies focused on the impact of training on both mentors and mentees and understanding specific factors in mentoring relationships that account for positive student outcomes.

Janet L. Branchaw

Janet L. Branchaw is an Assistant Professor of Kinesiology in the School of Education and the Faculty Director of the Wisconsin Institute for Science Education and Community Engagement (WISCIENCE) at the University of Wisconsin–Madison (UW–Madison). She earned her B.S. in Zoology from Iowa State University and her Ph.D. in Physiology with a focus on cellular neurophysiology from the University of Wisconsin–Madison. After completing postdoctoral training and a lectureship in undergraduate and medical physiology at the UW–Madison’s School of Medicine, she joined the University’s then Center for Biology Education, which she now directs as WISCIENCE. Her research as a faculty member in the Department of Kinesiology and her programming work at the Institute focus on the development, implementation, and evaluation of innovative approaches to undergraduate science education, with a special emphasis on undergraduate research, assessment of student learning, and broadening participation in science. In addition to developing the Entering Research curriculum, she has developed a curriculum to train research mentors, Entering Mentoring, and led the development and validation of the Entering Research Learning Assessment (ERLA). She has developed and directed Research Experience for Undergraduate (REU) and Undergraduate Research and Mentoring (URM) programs funded by the National Science Foundation and served as the Chairperson of the Biology REU Leadership Council as well as a member of the 2017 National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine’s consensus committee on Undergraduate Research in STEM. She served as the Associate Director of the National Institutes of Health’s National Research Mentoring Network’s (NRMN) Mentorship Training Core and currently oversees Mentee Training Initiatives at the UW–Madison’s Center for the Improvement of Mentored Experiences in Research (CIMER). Most recently she is leading UW–Madison’s Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence project to catalyze institutional change to support 2- to 4-year STEM transfer students.

Jo Handelsman

Jo Handelsman is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor in the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology at Yale University.  She served on the faculty at the University of Wisconsin-Madison from 1985 until moving to Yale in 2010.  Her research focuses on the genetic and functional diversity of microorganisms in soil and insect gut communities.  She is one of the pioneers of functional metagenomics, an approach to accessing the genetic potential of unculturable bacteria in environmental samples for discovery of novel microbial products, and she recently served as President of the American Society for Microbiology.  In addition to her research program, Dr. Handelsman is also known internationally for her efforts to improve science education and increase the participation of women and minorities in science at the university level.  Her leadership in education led to her appointment as the first President of the Rosalind Franklin Society; her service on the National Academies’ panel that wrote the 2006 report, “Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering”; her selection by President Barack Obama to receive the Presidential Award for Excellence in Science, Mathematics, and Engineering Mentoring; her position as cochair of a working group that produced the 2012 report to the President, “Engage to Excel: Producing One Million Additional College Graduates with Degrees in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics,” about improving STEM education in postsecondary education; and Nature listing her as one of the “ten people who mattered” in 2012 for her research on gender bias in science.

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