Setting a good example does much of the teaching in an academic environment. A true leader who wants to inspire does not say “Go there!” but rather “Follow me!” No verbal encouragement will better motivate students than seeing their teacher in the lab or in the library late at night or on the weekend. No words will teach them how to obtain research funding better than seeing their advisor obtain research funding.
Caring and demanding
It takes a caring, supportive individual to make students succeed. Institutional procedures for recruiting students and assisting them in their careers are necessary, but they will not work without the commitment and care of individual faculty. This cannot be truer for underrepresented students in engineering (e.g., women and minorities). Individual attention is a powerful motivator and can literally do wonders. People are like fine musical instruments — they produce cacophony if played by somebody who does not appreciate their potential, but if touched gently and with care, they produce beautiful music.
Being gentle and caring does not, however, mean being easy and uncritical. There is profound truth in what high school teacher Jaime Escalante said: “If we expect students to be winners and expect them to do well, they will rise to the occasion.” One of the best comments on my teaching was an anonymous evaluation: “I worked my butt off … but it was worth it.” The habits that students develop in college have a profound impact on their later careers. If they learn that it pays to avoid work, they will avoid work. If they learn that by working hard they learn useful skills, they will develop a lasting thirst for knowledge.
Showing relevance of the material to real life
It is important to show relevance of the material and the classroom experience to daily life. My Research Design students must design and criticize experiments and write a real research proposal. My Decision Analysis and Decision Support Systems course shows the relevance of theories of decision making and studying human decision making to daily lives. Students have indicated that the course had a profound impact on their everyday thinking and decision making. Even though it increases my workload, all my exams are open book, because I believe that in their professional lives our graduates will have access to books and libraries if they need information that is not readily available.
Teaching research
A major problem for doctoral students is making the adjustment from the “course and exam taking mode” to the research mode. One way to help them overcome this is by introducing them to research, science, and the working of scientific enterprise early in their studies.
A substantial part of the students’ training in Research Design comes from writing a real research proposal. These students must work with their advisors and follow the standards accepted by peer, review-based funding agencies, such as NSF. Each project is reviewed by two students in the class (anonymously, like in a real setting), the instructor, and at least one external reviewer suggested by the author (usually that student’s advisor). Most projects are later developed into dissertation proposals. Some also bring research funds to the school (a total of over $700,000 in the last 12 years).
For our graduate students to appreciate apprenticeship, we need to interact with them as much as our schedules will allow. In addition to meetings, readings groups, retreats, and seminars, it is important that we have informal lunches, coffee breaks, parties, and dinners. An excellent tool for this has been the Decision Systems Laboratory that I created and run with my colleague, Roger Flynn. One way through which the Decision Systems Laboratory contributes to integrating research with teaching is by offering opportunities for participation in exciting research projects. Another is the sense of identity that comes from affiliation with a supportive and successful group. Yet another is the informal and supportive mentoring that takes place among the group members, a collegial introduction to an academic research and teaching environment. Senior students gain experience in mentoring, while their additional workload increases only nominally.
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