General Outline for a 4.5-Day ASRT Workshop
The following is ONLY a starting point. The ASRT workshop can be customized daily to address the specific short-term and long-term goals of all involved.
The ASRT curriculum can be customized to accommodate a 3 or 3.5 or 4 or 4.5 day in-person workshop with follow-up Zoom sessions.
Though some items and activities may be labeled “for 1st year” or “for 2nd year” or “for 3rd year” students, all activities can be customized to fit in any type of student research project opportunity or program.
Day 1- Full Day
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Benefits of having students become involved in STEM research projects.
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Mistakes made by teachers that hinder the growth and success of a STEM research opportunities for their students.
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Understanding the current and/or potential obstacles that may interfere with the goals of increasing STEM research opportunities.
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Understanding the benefits and challenges of at-home projects, in-school projects, professional lab/medical facility projects and field projects.
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Helping students to “think outside of the box” when deciding on a topic and project.
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How to effectively manage multiple students that are all working on different types of STEM research projects at different stages.
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Benefits of increasing contact time, structure and enthusiasm for STEM research projects through a STEM research club/class/program.
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How to increase STEM research opportunities including building a program (club and/or class), and gaining interest and support from students, administration, colleagues, and parents.
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Making it a “thing” until it becomes a THING (Building/Gaining support for a STEM Research Program/Class/Club)
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Activities for 1st year students (part 1), regardless of whether STEM research opportunities/projects are being incorporated into a traditional STEM classroom or as a part of a research program or club.
Day 2 - Full Day
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Activities for 1st year students (part 2), regardless of whether STEM research opportunities/projects are being incorporated into a traditional STEM classroom or as a part of a research program or club.
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Helping each student to connect with a potential mentor, local or distant, that can help to better understand the area of research they have chosen and to help guide them with their project.
Day 3 - Full Day
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Opportunities to have students present research in different venues including local gatherings, professional conferences, and local, national, and international competitions.
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Understanding the different deadlines, formats, and application forms of the numerous competitions.
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Advanced Activities (for 1st, 2nd,3rd or 4th year research students).
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Poster presentations – Creative ideas to poster presentations including numerous tips and tricks.
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Training students how to present their research in a professional, clear, enthusiastic manner.
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Community outreach, including establishing a practice night for the Poster and PowerPoint/Google Slides competitions.
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Incorporating an info session for incoming students and their parents into a practice night for the older students.
Day 4 - Full Day
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Research paper (research report) writing – including numerous tips and tricks.
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Creating Behavioral (Survey) Projects. Detailed “How to” guide for creating, distributing and analyzing in-person and large (nationwide) online survey projects.
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Creating a school-based Institutional Review Board (IRB), Deciding on a topic, Creating a survey, Reaching out to potential mentors and organizations, Coding results to be statistically analyzed, Analyzing what the results show.
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Community outreach, including establishing a practice night for the Poster and PowerPoint/Google Slides competitions.
Day 5 - Half Day
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Incorporating an info session for incoming students and their parents into a practice night for the older students.
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Statistical analysis and graphing resources.
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Creating an end-of-year showcase/symposium for all current students to present to the community.
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Customizing any/all activities reviewed, to suit any style of class, club, or STEM research program.
