Writing Research & Education Plans

Proposal Writing Workshop II

Proposal Development Team Office of Research & Sponsored Projects (ORSP)

October 14, 2009

Introductions

Ann Gates, Associate Vice President for

Research

Flo Dick, Coordinator of Pre-Award Services

Malu Picard-Ami, Proposal Development

Specialist

Claudine Riccillo, Associate Director

ORSP Proposal Development Team

Workshop Topics

Establishing a clear research question

Writing goals and objectives

Integrating research and education

Research Process

Step 1 •Conduct background research•Formulate research questions

Step 2 •Develop hypothesis•Define goals and objectives

Step 3 •Develop a research and education plan•Seek feedback

Research Process

Step 1 •Conduct background research•Formulate research questions

Step 2 •Develop hypothesis•Define goals and objectives

Step 3 •Develop a research and education plan•Seek feedback

Establishing Research Question(s)

• Review the literature to determine what has been conducted in your area of interest• Determine gaps in knowledge• Identify areas that need greater understanding• Determine the impact of the question• Criteria for evaluating research questions:• Is the question relevant or significant?• Is it feasible? Is it focused?• Is there interest in the question?• Does the question probe or does it have a Boolean

answer?

Project Goals

Broad purposes around which all project activities and resources will be organized

• State what you hope to accomplish, but usually are not measurable

• Create the setting for what you are proposing• Identify a gap in knowledge• Describe what you want to achieve and the

outcome• Should be important and the outcome should

impact your long-range research plan

Long-Term Goal

Goals

Objectives

Example Project Goals

1. The long-term goal of ICE is to develop a coordinated circumpolar approach to understand climate interactions in the Southern Ocean, the implications for ecosystem dynamics, the impacts on biogeochemical cycles and the development of management procedures for the sustainable exploitation of living resources.

3. A goal of Project CAE is to increase the representation of Hispanic girls and women in science, mathematics, engineering, and technology (STEM) programs of study.

Example Project Goals

5. The goal of the Aspect-Oriented Functional Programming (AspectML) project is to explore the semantics and implementation of aspect-oriented programming language features in the context of typed functional languages such as ML.

Example Project Goals

8. Research Question: What is the potential for survival and adaptation beyond the home planet?

Goal 1: Identify natural processes that may spread life from one planet to another.

Goal 2: Define the minimal ecosystem that is required for organisms to survive and then

adapt beyond Earth. Goal 3: Establish ethical principles for seeding

life elsewhere in the solar system.

Example Project Goals

Project ObjectivesSpecific things that will be

accomplished in the project

• Operational

• Measurable

• Basis for the activities of your project

• Basis for the evaluation of your project

Objectives: Some Guidelines

•Ensure that all objectives relate to and support your overall project goal.•Ensure that your objectives correlate with a

specific goal.•Delineate a reasonable number of objectives,

presented in a logical order.•“Why” objectives are generally stronger than

“What” objectives.•Make sure no objective is dependent on the

successful outcome of another.

Smart Objectives

Specific: concrete, detailed, and well defined

Measurable: concrete criteria for measuring success; helps define when objective is achieved

Achievable: ability to attain with effort and commitment; feasible and actionable

Realistic: considers resources, e.g., equipment, time, and people

Time-bound: defined timeline

Strong & Weak Verbs for Objectives

Strong:to increaseto determineto create/designto evaluate/analyzeto describeto calculateto contrastto classify

Weakto promoteto encourageto understandto become awareto work withto supportto graspto study

Common Errors

•Too specific to be meaningful•Too broad to be measureable•Too many to be manageable•Too few to be comprehensive•Too arbitrary to be relevant•Too boilerplate or “cookie cutter” to be

individualized

GROUP ACTIVITY

•Review the objectives in the handout.

•What are your observations? Activity:

Time Limit: 5 minutes

Think

•Discuss your observations with your group members.

Activity:

Time Limit: 10 minutes

Share

Report Out

•Write at least one goal and two or more objectives related to your project. Work with other group members to evaluate and refine them.

Activity:

Time Limit: 30 minutes

Report Out

RESEARCH PLANSINTEGRATING RESEARCH & EDUCATION

Common Research Plan Components• Introduction (motivation; overarching goal; research

questions and/or hypothesis)

•Goals & objectives (specific aims)

•Background and significance/ related work

•Research plan (design, methods /approach)

•Education plan

•Project management – timeline

•Evaluation

•Dissemination

Integrating Research & Education

Effective integration of research and education at all levels generates a synergy in which the process of discovery stimulates learning and assures that the findings and methods of research are quickly and effectively communicated in a broader context and to a larger audience.

NSF Career Program Solicitation

What is Integrating Researchand Education?

Not a “tack on” to your research project

The best integration is mutually enhancing – research enhances the education activity, education activity enhances the research

Happens at different levels of education and different levels of formality

Slide from QEM Network Presentation “Integrating Research & EducationHBCU-UP LDI August 11, 2009. Karen D. King, Ph.D. Karen.d.king@nyu.edu

• What kind of activities could you incorporate in your proposal that would integrate education into your research plan?

THINK

Time Limit: 5 minutes

• Share your answer with the group.

• Discussion:oHow do the proposed activities mutually enhance

research and education?

o How do the activities include students?

o How do the activities relate to your long-term research goal?

SHARE

Time Limit: 15 minutes

Report Out

Time Limit: 5 minutes

• Incorporate educational objectives into the research plan

• Include students in the research activities

• Develop collaborations and outreach activities with the community college or K-12 schools

• Establish mentoring programs

• Integrate research results into courses & curriculum

• Disseminate results to broad audiences to include formal and informal learning sites

• Link to education and outreach programs on campus

Strategies: Integrating Research & Education

Linking to Programs at UTEP

Upward Bound: (Contact: Tita Yanar) http://studentaffairs.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=studentaffairs.utep.edu/upwardbound

Gear UP: (Contact: Juliette Caire) http://studentaffairs.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=studentaffairs.utep.edu/gearup

Talent Search: (Contact: Carol Hicks) http://studentaffairs.utep.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=16275

Mother-Daughter: (Contact: Josie Tinajero or Luz Rolon) http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?alias=academics.utep.edu/motherdaughter

Engineering (Contacts for Engineering Programs: Peter Golding, Associate Dean & Gabby Gandara) ExciTES: http://engineering.utep.edu/plaza/excites/index.html

Discover-E: http://engineering.utep.edu/plaza/Discover-E/index.htm

Engineering Ambassadors: http://engineering.utep.edu/plaza/ambassador/index.html

Science Pathways: http://academics.utep.edu/Default.aspx?tabid=28766 (Contact Aaron Velasco)

CenMaSTER: http://science2.utep.edu/cenmaster/index.html Center for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education and Research (Contact: Laura Serpa)

Resources

ORSP Development Team

ORSP Research Administrators

ORSP web page Expertise System

Proposal Development Team Contact Information

Ann Gates agates@utep.edu

Flo Dickfdick@utep.edu

Claudine Riccillocriccill@utep.edu

Malu Picard-Amimarialp@utep.edu

Reflection

What did you learn today that was new?

What elements of the workshop did you find the most

relevant?

What would you like to learn more

about?

ORSP Development Team

Fall 2009

Proposal Writing Workshops

Session III - October 26th

Selling Your Idea1:30-3:30

Location: Blumberg Auditorium (UTEP Library)

Session IV - November 11th

Project Management, Evaluation & Assessment

1:00-3:30pmLocation: Blumberg Auditorium (UTEP Library)

Session V - December 2nd

Budget Preparation1:30-3:30pm

Location: Blumberg Auditorium (UTEP Library)