W&M Libraries staff have been hard work over the summer months. A few of them were excited to share their favorite project with the W&M community. Paul Showalter, coordinator of instruction & assessment, shared about the workshops held by the research services team.
Share about the summer workshops:
The undergraduate research mini-courses are a series of summer workshops on research and presentation skills offered by the Research Department in collaboration with colleagues from around W&M Libraries, including the Special Collections Research Center and the Business Library, and the Writing Center. This summer we covered a wide range of topics like how scholars measure the impact of their research, how to effectively present research, and how students can cite in an inclusive manner.
What led you all to do it?
They started in 2020 in response to the need for remote training during the pandemic for students in the Undergraduate Research Program through the Charles Center. It was such a success that we were asked to repeat the series in 2021 and again in summer 2022. Each year, we’ve expanded the lineup of workshops in order to continue our “greatest hits” and keep up with hot new topics.
How did it help the students?
Students were able to attend workshops live if their schedules permitted, but a recorded Zoom option for every mini-course allowed students to learn at their own pace. The mini-courses were very well received! One student said, “I feel like this was by far the most helpful course that I attended and having so many of my questions answered relieved a lot of my stress.” We’re happy to expand students’ understanding of the scholarly landscape while making them more prepared to tackle their own research!