UROP Research Mentor Project Submission Portal: Submission #1263

Mentoring Philosophy My program of research includes a core interest in how folks learn to become researchers and direct their own researcher identity through self-regulated goal pursuit and development of research efficacy, particularly within effective mentoring relationships. As a social constructivist, I believe in the social nature of learning and in providing scaffolded support as students acquire new skills and develop their own unique line of inquiry or ideas grounded in previous science/scholarship. I love working in team environments, and plan to include UROP scholars within teams and other communities of practice that surround my current work, as well as developing authentic relationships based on students' unique goals (that is, it is perfectly fine to gain research skills to transfer to other contexts without committing to researcher/scholar as a profession, or in other words, to discover that a certain kind of research is not for you). To support student development, I believe in providing a strong foundation in research ethics (even if not directly engaged in human subject research, as this project is not) and exposure to a variety of methodological approaches and traditions. I like to encourage exploration without losing sight of what is feasible in order to achieve a successful finished project.