Table 5:
Specification of the roles of CRE instructors with a definition, example statements and percentage of community agreement
| Specification | Definition | Example Statements |
|---|---|---|
| Mentor | A role in which the instructor facilitates the development of a student researcher by providing advice, emotional support, personal training and feedback. | “The paragraph describes a committed teacher and a caring mentor. A mentor who motivates students and helps them grow. Person who has working knowledge of the science necessary to conduct the project and to run safely lab full of students.” |
| Advocate and Counselor | A role in which the instructor provides support and advice that help a student to overcome the barriers that emerge as a student researcher or as a student more broadly. | “One of my discussion colleagues noticed a thread through my responses is that I act like a coach and watch students work (individual or group) and step in only when they are struggling and need support” |
| Scientist | A role in which the instructor works and shares with student researchers their research practices, findings and communities in order to facilitate the furthering of scientific knowledge. | “I am a member of a community of scientists and educators who work collaboratively to seek insights into bacteriophage evolution and enhance STEM education” |
| Educator | A role in which the instructor uses their experience and knowledge of science and pedagogy to advance each student’s knowledge, ability and disposition to complete their science education. | “We train students in a variety of laboratory and bioinformatic techniques and guide them as they analyze their results. As teachers, we teach scientific communication skills by having students document their work in a notebook and present their findings in written and oral forms” |
| Motivator | A role in which the instructor recognizes and announces the successes of students and encourages and inspires students during their research. | “I love that students think that I exude enthusiasm for the work they do in the lab and for the importance of their contributions to understanding aspects of phage biology.” |
| Collaborator | A role in which the instructor works together with students for the shared aim of creating scientifically valuable output. | “Early in the semester I am the expert, and they are the learner, however, as the semester goes along, we are more colleagues working towards a common goal” |
| Community Builder | A role in which the instructor creates for students a sense of community in the lab and with the broader community of scientists. | “I have always seen the main role of my course as building community, and my professional identity is mainly to facilitate the connections in this community” |
| Learner | A role in which the instructor learns new skills or knowledge in relation to science and educational issues | “The program provides opportunities for professional development in both scientific and education research, and therefore I have been able to continuously grow and learn in both areas.” |
| Evaluator | A role in which the instructor assesses and evaluates both formally and informally the scientific work of the student researcher | “I use weekly reflection assignments to encourage students to relate phages and bacterial hosts to the topics discussed in the lecture portion. Having to correlate topics like photosynthesis to phages and bacteria can be challenging but moves the students away from memorization and to building connections. For example, I have had students’ reflections relate photosynthesis to phages by discussing a journal article that they found about cyanobacteria phages” |
| Project Manager | A role in which the instructor oversees the development of the students’ research projects and provides organizational support for the work being conducted. | “It is critical that SEA instructors are highly organized and well prepared for lab meetings, as it would be impossible to manage the many intersecting, complex protocols without these skills. However, as things will inevitably not work perfectly the first time and plans will change, they must also be highly adaptable, and have the confidence to manage those adaptations.” |
| Degree of Community Support – 88.58% | ||