Thread by @FlyBehaviour

In #Academia there are some common ‘good practice’ mentoring things. But we can do more – much more – than the basics, without it taking a ton of time. Here are some of the more unique mentoring things I do.
1/10

Get more out of group meetings. Like many labs, we meet each week. But we rotate what we do, each in approximately equal measure: standard journal article discussion, discussion of a research article on Equity/Diversity/Inclusion (EDI), “Slide Improv”, and Fact or Fiction.
2/10

Equity (EDI) articles are chosen on a rotating basis by students. They are usually primary research articles. We conscientiously choose papers from diverse areas of EDI. These discussions have been fantastic, and have led to changes in how we do and discuss things.
3/10

Slide improv gives experience thinking on the fly. A student makes a 5 slide presentation (no animations). Another student gives it. Their presentation doesn’t have to be accurate, but it has to be believable. I’ve seen marked improvement in confidence and presenting skills.
4/10

Fact or fiction gives experience in critical thinking. A student gives (brief) details and results for 3 papers. But 1 is completely fabricated. As a group, we try to figure out which is the fake one. This is fun, and seeing the gears turn as people sort things out is great.
5/10

Once a year I poll my students on quality of life, what is working and what isn’t. This has been VERY HELPFUL in identifying things that need fixing (and some surprises of things that I thought were issues but are fine). I use a variation of this:
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAI…
6/10

Over time, I forget which new students I’ve given ‘key advice’ and expectations. So I made a document. It has basic things around how many weeks ahead to give me drafts, and life things like you will work long hours sometimes, but this should be the exception not the rule.
7/10

Reading papers is important but not urgent, so gets delayed. Every 6mo I require a list of papers they read, annotating why they might cite it in their thesis. Expected # of papers scaled over time. Every student has said this was SO USEFUL when writing their thesis.
8/10

The annotations are really helpful to keep on top of reading, as a searchable document when writing, and for me to see what they are reading. Plus, with a large lab studying diverse topics, this really helps me see some otherwise papers I otherwise may miss, too!
9/10

Lastly, don't be afraid to try new ways, and toss things that don't work. I've tried lots of things that just didn't work for my group, or didn't work for *this* group. I touch base frequently to see what works and doesn't, and student's like that I ask and it's adaptable.
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