scholarly journals Building a Sustainable National Infrastructure to Expand Research Mentor Training

2018 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. ar48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kimberly C. Spencer ◽  
Melissa McDaniels ◽  
Emily Utzerath ◽  
Jenna Griebel Rogers ◽  
Christine A. Sorkness ◽  
...  

An evidence-based research mentor training (RMT) curricular series has been shown to improve the knowledge and skills of research mentors across disciplines and career stages. A train-the-trainer model was used in the context of several targeted approaches aimed at sustainability to support national dissemination of RMT and expand the network of facilitators prepared to implement the curricula. These infrastructure elements included 1) an expansion initiative to increase the number of trained facilitators able to deliver train-the-trainer workshops nationwide; 2) adaptation of RMT curricula for multiple audiences and career stages to increase accessibility; 3) implementation resources to support facilitators and help them overcome implementation barriers; and 4) standardized evaluation of training. This approach to dissemination and implementation has resulted in the preparation of nearly 600 trained facilitators, a large percentage of whom have implemented mentor training for more than 4000 graduate student, junior faculty, and senior faculty mentors. Implications for and challenges to building and sustaining the national dissemination of RMT are discussed.

2018 ◽  
Vol 2 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-123 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jenna Rogers ◽  
Christine A. Sorkness ◽  
Kimberly Spencer ◽  
Christine Pfund

As part of their mission, Clinical and Translational Science Award (CTSA) hubs are charged with developing, testing, and disseminating evidence-based practices to other CTSA hubs. Over the past 7 years, the University of Wisconsin-Madison has answered this charge by implementing the facilitator training (FT) initiative for research mentors. Three elements to advance training across the CTSA hubs have been critical: (1) using an FT model to empower others to build research mentor training at their local institutions; (2) tracking implementation of training events across the CTSA hubs over time; and (3) partnering with implementation sites to build local capacity and evaluate the effectiveness and quality of training. Here we report that facilitators have been trained at 75% of CTSA hubs. These facilitators report high satisfaction with the training and increased confidence in their ability to implement mentor training, and plan to implement local mentor training. These findings demonstrate that the FT initiative can serve as a model for dissemination and implementation of other workforce development interventions across the CTSA hubs.


2015 ◽  
Vol 14 (2) ◽  
pp. ar24 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christine Pfund ◽  
Kimberly C. Spencer ◽  
Pamela Asquith ◽  
Stephanie C. House ◽  
Sarah Miller ◽  
...  

Research mentor training (RMT), based on the published Entering Mentoring curricula series, has been shown to improve the knowledge and skills of research mentors across career stages, as self-reported by both the mentors engaged in training and their mentees. To promote widespread dissemination and empower others to implement this evidence-based training at their home institutions, we developed an extensive, interactive, multifaceted train-the-trainer workshop. The specific goals of these workshops are to 1) increase facilitator knowledge of an RMT curriculum, 2) increase facilitator confidence in implementing the curriculum, 3) provide a safe environment to practice facilitation of curricular activities, and 4) review implementation strategies and evaluation tools. Data indicate that our approach results in high satisfaction and significant confidence gains among attendees. Of the 195 diverse attendees trained in our workshops since Fall 2010, 44% report implementation at 39 different institutions, collectively training more than 500 mentors. Further, mentors who participated in the RMT sessions led by our trained facilitators report high facilitator effectiveness in guiding discussion. Implications and challenges to building the national capacity needed for improved research mentoring relationships are discussed.


2021 ◽  
pp. jim-2020-001769
Author(s):  
Nicole M Llewellyn ◽  
Jamie J Adachi ◽  
Eric J Nehl ◽  
Stacy S Heilman

Health science researchers need training and support to effectively pursue independence in their research careers. Little data exist regarding the specific resources that faculty researchers have found or would find useful. In this study, we aimed to better understand the needs of health science researchers to develop recommendations for effective career development programming. The authors conducted a multi-method evaluation of early-career researcher faculty needs beginning by using post-session satisfaction surveys to assess the value of a long-standing “K-Club” seminar, which educates and supports those pursuing NIH Career Development (K) awards or similar. The authors then collected in-depth views on career development needs through a series of focus groups conducted with health science researchers at three career stages: early career, award-seeking junior faculty; mid-career faculty who have obtained some extramural funding; senior faculty who serve as mentors for early/mid-career faculty. Participants who attended the existing K-Club strongly endorse the program in supporting their career goals. Focus group participants described specific areas for program expansion that would add value across career stages: more flexible training options, conducted in smaller group settings with immediate feedback provided; more formalized training and resources for senior research mentors; in-depth guidance on individualized grantsmanship. The authors propose program development guidelines for helping researchers achieve research independence and success. Findings indicate that a broad-reaching K-Club style educational seminar can serve as a valuable foundation supporting professional development. The addition of tailored programs delivered across diverse platforms are predicted to heighten career development success.


Author(s):  
Patricia Y. Talbert ◽  
George Perry ◽  
Luisel Ricks-Santi ◽  
Lourdes E. Soto de Laurido ◽  
Magda Shaheen ◽  
...  

Mentoring continues to be a salient conversation in academia among junior and senior faculty and administrators. Mentors provide guidance and structure to junior faculty so that they can meet their academic and professional goals. Mentors also convey skills in balancing life and academic pursuits. Therefore, the purpose of this descriptive study was to provide additional insight from a training program called Leading Emerging and Diverse Scientists to Success (LEADS) regarding successful strategies and challenges of mentoring relating to lessons learned from the scholars and mentees’ perspective. The LEADS program provided multiple training platforms to increase skills and knowledge regarding research to promote expertise in grant writing and submission for funding opportunities among diverse scientists. These findings reinforce the knowledge about the value of a mentor in helping define the research pathway of their mentee and underscoring the importance of mentoring.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olivia M Dong ◽  
Megan C Roberts ◽  
R Ryanne Wu ◽  
Corrine I Voils ◽  
Nina Sperber ◽  
...  

Aim: The first Plan-Do-Study-Act cycle for the Veterans Affairs Pharmacogenomic Testing for Veterans pharmacogenomic clinical testing program is described. Materials & methods: Surveys evaluating implementation resources and processes were distributed to implementation teams, providers, laboratory and health informatics staff. Survey responses were mapped to the Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research constructs to identify implementation barriers. The Expert Recommendation for Implementing Change strategies were used to address implementation barriers. Results: Survey response rate was 23–73% across personnel groups at six Veterans Affairs sites. Nine Consolidated Framework for Implementation Research constructs were most salient implementation barriers. Program revisions addressed these barriers using the Expert Recommendation for Implementing Change strategies related to three domains. Conclusion: Beyond providing free pharmacogenomic testing, additional implementation barriers need to be addressed for improved program uptake.


Author(s):  
Victor X. Wang

Time and space no longer separate learners from their instructors. The emergence of distance-learning technologies, especially the Internet and networking technologies connect learners with their instructors. Instructional resources such as training courses, instructional job aids, reference materials, training guides, and lesson plans, as well as teachers, trainers, and other learners that were traditionally available for traditional classroom settings are now attainable via distance-learning technologies by anyone, anywhere, and anytime. As the growth of new information in the digital age accelerates (Gagne, Wager, Golas, & Keller, 2005), the debate revolving around distance-learning essentials has become even more heated among the academic circles. One side of the debate, represented by senior faculty, indicates that distance learning is inferior to traditional classroom learning because it lacks the necessary “face-to-face” interaction. The other side of the debate, representing current researchers and junior faculty, contends that distance learning is no better or no worse than traditional learning, given the fact that distance learning offers both advantages and disadvantages. The same thing is true about traditional classroom learning, which also offers benefits and disadvantages. Regardless of the debate, distance learning is revolutionizing education and training, along with so many other aspects of our lives (Gagne, et al., 2005). Open any job ads for a faculty position and there must be a description requiring a potential faculty member to be able to use distance-learning technologies. Those faculty members who cannot use distance-learning technologies are truly at a disadvantage nowadays.


2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-35 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kathryn L. Servilio ◽  
Aleksandra Hollingshead ◽  
Brittany L. Hott

In higher education, current teaching evaluation models typically involve senior faculty evaluating junior faculty. However, there is evidence that peer-to-peer junior faculty observations and feedback may be just as effective. This descriptive case study utilized an inductive analysis to examine experiences of six special education early career faculty, from different institutions, using the partnerships that enhance practice (PEP) model for technology-based observations of teaching in higher education. PEP paired early career faculty into dyads. Each participant served as a provider and a recipient of feedback on teaching. The data were derived from semistructured interviews with each dyad and additional information was obtained from four instruments that facilitated peer-to-peer observations. Findings suggest this technology-based model has the potential to improve teaching skills and serve as a tool for developing professional partnerships among special education early career faculty across institutions.


2003 ◽  
Vol 39 (2) ◽  
pp. 373-389 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANDREW CARNIE ◽  
NORMA MENDOZA-DENTON

SETTING: The University of Arizona's idyllic desert campus. As in many colleges across the United States, ‘formalist’ linguistics is implicitly understood to be at cross-purposes with ‘functionalist’ linguistics. The Linguistics Department's only course on non-minimalist syntax is famously nicknamed ‘Bad Guys’. Although the linguistics department forms a unified front, malcontent quietly simmers across campus as functionalist sociolinguists, discourse analysts, grammaticalization specialists and linguistic anthropologists outnumber formalists, though they roam within their own language-department fiefdoms. Politeness and cooperation reign among senior faculty linguists, who have realized that antagonism only hurts students and programs in all the language sciences. The junior faculty are more brash: they work hard, publish a lot, and speak loudly to get tenure as respected form/functionalists. They socialize together and joke about each other's positions, but don't talk very much serious shoptalk. Until now …


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