Welcome to the Welcome to the first day of a first day of a

six-month journey!six-month journey!

http://seniorsequence.nethttp://seniorsequence.net

Six Skills We Develop Six Skills We Develop in the Senior Sequencein the Senior Sequence

Begin with broad questions

narrow down, focus in.

Operationalize.

OBSERVEOBSERVE

Analyze data.

Reach conclusions.

Generalize back to questions.

The "hourglass" notion of research

Sept. 24, 2009Sept. 24, 2009

OctoberOctober

November November

DecemberDecember

JanuaryJanuary

FebruaryFebruary

Mar. 11, 2010Mar. 11, 2010

RequiredWe will use the same books for 186 and 187. All books are on reserve at the Geisel Library  Hunt, Andy. 2005. Your research project : how to manage it. New York, NY: Routledge.

Robson, Colin. 2007. How to do a Research Project: A Guide for Undergraduate Students. Oxford, UK ; Madden, Mass.: Blackwell Publishers.

Robson, C. 2002. Real world research : a resource for social scientists and practitioner-researchers (2nd ed.). Oxford, UK ; Madden, Mass.:  Blackwell Publishers.

Yin, Robert K. 2009. Case study research : design and methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, Calif.: Sage Publications.

Student-Mentor Research TeamsEach “Research Team” has one or more designated mentors (faculty, researchers and/or professionals).

Mentors are asked to:

•Play a facilitators role by providing intellectual guidance at the outset of the Senior Sequence (mainly in the form of a short written guide prepared in consultation with the course instructor. The guides are part of the on-line database).

•Meet with the student Research Team on three occasions over a six month period: once at the beginning (Oct), middle (Jan) and end (Mar) of the Senior Sequence.

•Help compose their student Research Team’s (a) section of the Sustainable City-Regions Reader, and (b) optional 3-5 minute video vignette.

A Research Team is composed of 2-5 students joined together by common research interests (a Grand Challenge). In a spirit of solidarity and creative networking, each team member is responsible to participate in the following ways:

1. Support one another during the six-month Senior Sequence journey: Sept 2009 to Mar. 2010 (the team will function as a source of critically constructive feedback and encouragement)

2. Seek mutually reinforcing opportunities to collaborate with one another on certain tasks (finding/sharing contacts, reviewing literature, selecting methods, conceptualization, etc.)

3. Create a categorically organized list of readings, web sites, experts, ideas, questions, data, etc. useful for researchers in their domain of investigation (this effort will build on initial input provided by the team’s mentors)

4. Produce a team contribution to the Senior Sequence class of 2010 Sustainable City-Regions Reader (the Reader is a summary of student research highlights, prepared by the mentor , to be published at the end of the Senior Sequence)

5. Optional: Produce a short 3-5 minute video story about their team’s efforts and main lessons learned (technical support and equipment will be provided).

What is Research Team? What is Research Team?

The heart of the matter: Your The heart of the matter: Your

Student Research Student Research PortfolioPortfolio

Supporting DatabasesSupporting Databases•Grand ChallengesGrand Challenges•OpportunitiesOpportunities•MentorsMentors•Research TeamsResearch Teams

Areas of Areas of ConcentrationConcentration

Grand ChallengesGrand Challenges

Research TeamsResearch Teams