Promoting Student Research

Scholars' Day is open to student or faculty submissions, and we are especially interested in promoting student participation, so we are asking faculty to help.

10 Tips for Scholars' Day Faculty Mentors How to Support Scholars' Day

Scholars' Day is open to student or faculty submissions, and we are especially interested in promoting student participation, so we are asking faculty to help.

Presenting at a conference is an event that offers tremendous opportunities for student development. For most of the students who present at Scholars' Day, it is their first experience of the kind, and they are sure to remember it well. Scholars' Day provides students with the full intellectual experience of conference presentations, and it provides a valuable addition to their resumés.

And faculty are in a unique position to help students develop exceptional work worth showcasing.

Presentations often begin as term paper projects or group projects in class, frequently integrated into syllabi or course curricula with Scholars' Day in mind. The most common type of project suitable for Scholars' Day is one that produces work that can be turned into a conference-style presentation on a focused topic, perhaps collaboratively shared with other students or faculty, although poster presentations and creative productions are also a part of Scholars' Day. These projects might be initiated in the fall semester or spring, but to meet the schedule, spring semester projects have to be completed early. The projects themselves are not always research papers: a review of the previous Scholars' Day schedule (see the link in the left-hand navigation bar) reveals research papers, engineering projects, and student-faculty collaborations that may have begun in lab courses.

Students are required to have a mentoring advisor for their project, and we expect this mentor to help the student(s) plan, complete, and prepare their projects for the formal presentation.

Since student presenters are eligible for scholarships, it's a good idea to consider the criteria used for selecting scholarship winners. A thorough description is available on our scholarships page, but in brief they are: student responsibility, depth of research, clarity, professionalism and delivery, and originality and creativity. The MCC library has speech presentation tips with helpful advice for students. A skillful presentation is an important component to earning a scholarship.

Designing assignments that promote originality, motivating capable students to engage in these assignments, and helping them develop the project are important elements of successful student participation. The results are incredibly rewarding, for faculty and students alike.

How to Support Scholars' Day

Mentoring student research and independent projects for presentations or posters.
Building Scholars' Day into your curriculum and promoting student participation as presenters and/or attendees, perhaps as a homework assignment or extra credit.
Encouraging your class to attend the Scholars' Day presentations and keynote.
Supporting students who are presenting, and who may be among your students.
Participating in planning and hosting Scholars' Day as a member of the Scholars' Day Committee.

10 Tips for Scholars' Day Faculty mentors

Website: Faculty mentors and student presenters should familiarize themselves with the information on the Scholars’ Day webpages at the inception of their project. This includes key requirements and guidance. The mentor can start with our suggestions for promoting student work.
Event date: Note the date of Scholars’ Day and associated deadlines. Get an up-front commitment from prospective student presenters that they will be able to complete their work by the event date and meet other deadlines as well.
Check in with students regularly: Meet with your students as they prepare their abstracts to discuss the trajectory of their project, the level of scholarly work involved, and potential challenges or areas in need of improvement. Ensure that their abstract is the product of discussion with you about the purposeful development of a scholarly question. Confirm that the student's project is practical given available resources and time. Determine whether IRB approval is needed; this is an important consideration if research utilizing human subjects is part of the student's project.
Application deadline: Note the application deadline. Remind your student(s) to submit the form online by the deadline, with a detailed, proofread abstract, 100–200 words in length, that specifically describes and succinctly summarizes the entire presentation.
Application form: Each separate presentation requires a separate application, which includes the mentor's name. Each student interested in the competitive scholarship awards should determine whether he or she meets the eligibility criteria, and if so, select that option on the application form. Group projects need to list all group members on the application.
Presentation planning: Continue to support your students as they prepare to record their presentations or create their digital posters.
Judging criteria: Go over the judging forms with the students early in the project, so they can develop the project and prepare the presentation accordingly, if they are eligible for scholarship awards.
Written materials: Scholarship awards require the submission of written materials (such as an annotated bibliography), so please plan to work with your student(s) to get these submitted on time and correctly. Although ultimately all written materials should be completed by the applicant(s), it is expected that a mentor will work closely with the student(s) to assist with coherently summarizing their scholarly work.
Presentation tactics: Good presentations require eye contact, command of the topic, and a little enthusiasm; students should not just read a paper. Visual aids that contribute to professionalism are recommended.
Supported practice: Students should practice presenting ahead of time, including, preferably, with their mentor. If this process reveals gaps in the presentation itself, help the students recognize this and revise accordingly.