This semester, I have had the opportunity to work with two undergraduate students. They are outstanding students who have volunteered their time to provide assistance on my dissertation study.  As I refine my skill set for mentorship and supervision, I have been reflecting upon my work as a TA and specifically some of the most stark realizations I have had during my PhD program.  While many of these “ah-ha” moments related to my own approach to teaching and communicating with students, some of the moments directly related to the students themselves.  And not specific students, but, on the whole, what do students generally struggle to understand?

Science. Yep, capital “S” science. I have observed students struggle to understand the basic components of systematic research.  Given the importance of empirical evidence for our practice as Speech-Language Pathologists (to make clinical recommendations and implement intervention) and the potential influence we have as practitioners (in team-based decision making with allied health and educational professionals and during tough conversations with caregivers and family members), I am committed to serving my future students by providing ample opportunities for them to practice reading and thinking about the empirical studies that support the work we do.   So, future students, buckle up, because this may be a challenge but will serve you in graduate school (and then, in your professional pursuits).

Do you want to get a head start?  Here’s what I look for and ask myself when I read articles:

  1. Background (i.e., what is the general landscape of this area in our field? what is the “problem”?)
  2. Purpose (i.e., why are the researchers conducting this study?)
  3. Hypothesis (i.e., what do the researchers think will happen?)
  4. Method (i.e., what did the researchers do to answer their RQs?)
  5. Analyses (i.e., how did the researchers make sense of their data)
  6. Results (i.e., what did the researchers find?)
  7. Conclusions (i.e., what do we know now?  has the general landscape (see #1) changed slightly?  why are the results of this work important?)

After you are done reading, try to explain the study to someone else (this might help you identify components that you missed or didn’t quite understand).

Dissertation Update: Data collection continues 🙂  Chapters 1-3 written, revised, revised, revised. . .