Research Workshops

The Undergraduate Research Program will be holding a series of workshops in spring 2013. These workshops are intended to help students from all disciplines with various aspects of conducting and presenting research. They are designed to supplement classroom instruction. Faculty from various departments will be leading the workshops.

Students may attend any of these workshops. No registration is required. Faculty may also assign students to participate. If you would like to request one of these workshops for an entire class, please contact Dr. Sara Sewell (ssewell@vwc.edu) to make arrangements.

All workshops will be held in Hofheimer Library in the Foley classroom on the second floor.

They all begin at 11:00 a.m.

• Feb. 7 -- Maximizing Library Help for Your Research
  Description: This workshop focuses on making the most of the assistance that librarians provide to students, from the beginning of a research project through the final stages. The workshop also provides tips on how to maximize the library’s research tools, including features in the library's databases, to enhance research efficiency.
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• Feb 14 -- Defining a Research Problem
  Description: This workshop provides instruction on how to select and define a viable and interesting research problem. Building on Virginia Wesleyan’s commitment to inquiry-guided learning, it teaches students how to develop questions to determine a compelling research problem. The workshop especially focuses on how to use scholarly literature to articulate a problem. It also stresses the importance of practical considerations when deciding on a research problem, including defining a project that can be completed within a single semester and assessing whether the appropriate resources are available to conduct the research.
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• Feb 21 -- How I Write
  Description: This workshop features an interdisciplinary panel of faculty who discuss their writing strategies. Researchers all write differently. This panel will share its insights into effective and efficient writing strategies. It especially focuses on ways to begin the writing process, offering different perspectives on how and when writing should start.
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• April 4 -- Writing an Abstract
  Description: An essential element of the presentation of scholarly research is an abstract that summarizes the research. This workshop will teach the qualities of an effective abstract and demonstrate strategies to writing abstracts. This workshop will be especially helpful to students who will be presenting their own research at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and would like to share their research on the Undergraduate Research webpage and annual Symposium program.
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• April 11 -- Giving a Research Presentation
  Description: Scholars routinely present their research to academic audiences. This workshop provides instruction on effective research presentation strategies. It focuses on the ways that scholarly research presentations differ from other kinds of oral presentations that students might have previously learned.  The workshop should be especially helpful to students who will be presenting at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and at off-campus academic conferences.
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• April 18 -- Making a Research Poster
  Description: This workshop teaches students how to put together a poster that effectively presents their research findings. It focuses on both technical elements of poster design and content. The workshop should be especially helpful to students who will be presenting posters at the annual Undergraduate Research Symposium and at off-campus academic conferences.
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