Mentoring Matters

In this episode of Mentoring Matters we discuss how to help your graduate students plan for the end. Of their graduate program that is.

We cover things we've done (or wish we had done) to help graduate students plan for and execute an excellent final thesis and even discuss some tips for preparing for the defense.

1) Starting in their penultimate semester, work with the student to lay out a series of deadlines that breaks that big, scary thesis into manageable chunks (for you and the student!)
2) Assume something is going to derail #1, and leave yourself a cushion of time at the end to catch up on any bits of writing not quite completed.
3) How to help your students catch "finishing energy"
4) Helping students with the job search.

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We'd love to hear what questions you have about graduate student mentoring or suggestions for future episode topics!

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In this episode of Mentoring Matters we share our tips for helping graduate students become awesome oral communicators.

Don't forget to give them opportunity to practice! Provide low stress opportunities to present such as giving presentations to your lab group.

Have discussions about core concepts of effective communication.  

1. Always consider the audience, build from their knowledge. Meet them where they are at. 
2.  Ask yourself what you want the audience to do with the  information you are providing. 
3. Start with the big picture! Help the audience see why it matters.
4. Keep it simple-no more than three main points. Don’t include everything just because you can. 
5. Break down a big story into bite-sized pieces so that audience can take it in.
6. Focus on the story, walk the audience through your thought process and why you did the work. 
7. Use visual aids to supplement what is being verbally articulated. Make sure visuals don’t distract the audience. 

Have lab members provide feedback to help them think critically about what effective communication looks like. Consider having the student also do a self-assessment. Then have a discussion after the presentation on what worked and what could be better. 

A great book to get one thinking about effective science communication is Alan Alda’s book titled “If I Understood You, Would I Have This Look On My Face?”

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In this episode we discuss one of our favorite subjects, how to build community within your graduate student team. 

Things we talk about include:

• Setting expectations from day one to help students understand the importance of teamwork
• Creating group challenges with fun rewards to drive productivity and team building
• Praising teamwork when it happens
• My Life in a Paper Bag team learning exercise

One resource Mary talks about is a chemistry professor she follows on Twitter who often has great mentoring advice. She's Jen Heemstra. https://twitter.com/jenheemstra

Reach us on Twitter to join the conversation!

We'd love to hear what questions you have about graduate student mentoring or suggestions for future episode topics!

And if you liked what you heard leave a review on your podcast platform of choice!

If you are enjoying this podcast please leave a rating or review, and join us over on Twitter to let us know what topics you'd like to hear more about.

In this episode, we tackle a topic that can strike fear in the heart of even the best mentor—how to develop students into strong technical writers.

In this episode we discuss tips for making the writing process manageable:

1. Get them started early
2. Break writing up into small sections 
3. Ask them to develop an outline for each section before they start writing it then meet and have them talk though the main points for the section
4. Provide feedback on sections so they are able to learn and progress throughout the process
5. Make sure that you point out what they did right as well as what needs to be improved

Resources mentioned that can be adapted to assist your students in their writing journey

Guidelines for writing a literature review by Helen Mongan-Rallis http://www.duluth.umn.edu/~hrallis/guides/researching/litreview.html.

Writing a Scientific Paper. Adapted from Cox (1990) https://www.luther.edu/biology/assets/writing_scientific_papers_2.pdf

We want to hear from you!

The question of the week is: How do you help your students become strong technical writers? Share your thoughts with us in the comments!

YouTube Link 
or https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCdfbWXZG4Pdut63Y7uD9FRA 

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Clear communication is key to success when working with graduate students. Articulating expectations at the start will pay dividends in the long run!

In this episode we discuss how to:

1. Clearly communicate what you expect from your students, begin this during the interview. They should know what they are getting into...
2. Consider using a mutual expectations document to ensure you hit the important points and everyone is on the same page.
3. Take time early to work with and provide guidance to your students to get them engaged and develop productive habits.

We want to hear from you!

The question of the week is: How do you clearly communicate expectations with your graduate students?

Reach us on Twitter to join the conversation!

We'd love to hear what questions you have about graduate student mentoring or suggestions for future episode topics!

And if you liked what you heard leave a review on your podcast platform of choice!

If you are enjoying this podcast please leave a rating or review, and join us over on Twitter to let us know what topics you'd like to hear more about.

In the inaugural episode of Mentoring Matters we talk about the one mentoring strategy that has had the single biggest impact on our graduate programs.

We are Steph and Mary, best friends and professors in animal science who have spent years trying out ways to become better graduate student mentors. We've made the mistakes, so you don't have to!

In this episode we discuss the benefits of regularly scheduled meetings with graduate students and how such a simple trick revolutionized our programs. We both agree these meetings with our students are time well spent.

We want to hear from you! The question of the week is: what is the single best thing you’ve done to improve your graduate student mentoring?

Reach us on Twitter

We'd love to hear what questions you have about graduate student mentoring or suggestions for future episode topics!

And if you liked what you heard leave a review on your podcast platform of choice!

If you are enjoying this podcast please leave a rating or review, and join us over on Twitter to let us know what topics you'd like to hear more about.