This TC IRB blog series, Student Researcher Highlights, includes a sequence of recorded presentations hosted by Zahra Ladhani, Research Writing & Ethics Interns, in collaboration with TC NEXT. This blog series offers insights into students' research background, their research goals, their future career paths, and how they navigated the IRB protocol submission process.
Each blog post in the series will highlight a student researcher using excerpts from recorded presentations conducted during the Fall 2021 presentation series. Each student presenter engaged in an approximately 45-minute conversation with student attendees. This blog series offers themes, suggestions, and pathways as presented by students during the presentations. This blog mini-series is intended to provide some inspiration and insight into how an individual student's experience with research and the IRB unfolded at TC.
Pedagogical Moves and Decision-Making in Undergraduate Mathematics Instruction
Sarah Nelson, Doctoral Student in the Math, Science, and Technology Department
Sarah Nelson
Sarah’s research seeks to investigate the phenomenon of “good teaching” by:
- Categorizing pedagogical moves used by award-winning undergraduate mathematics instructors;
- Recording verbal and nonverbal pedagogical decisions in the classroom;
- Generating a decision-making model to record “...disposition, situation-specific skills, and performance.”
- Exploring how knowledge and math teaching influence classroom decision-making.
While Sarah’s ultimate goal is graduation, she also seeks to add to the field of undergraduate teacher education. She acknowledges that many undergraduate teachers get less training or mentorship than K-12 teachers. Inspired by her job as a current undergraduate teacher, she noted the limited pedagogical training she received before entering a classroom. Although she learned how to navigate the demands of a teaching profession, Sarah wanted to know more about how undergraduate faculty differed in training from a K-12 teacher, who has to go through years of training and testing.
The Institutional Review Board (IRB) Process
Sarah began the IRB process while writing her dissertation proposal. Her faculty sponsor prompted students with IRB-related questions to help prepare them for writing the actual protocol submission. In addition to her faculty sponsor, other professors in her department offered helpful advice. Sarah encouraged students to seek ideas from various people, including faculty and friends in different content fields. She lauded her time with the Graduate Writing Center, which not only provided her with a writing routine but also moral support.
Sarah recommended that students explore research methods courses that match their own content area in addition to qualitative courses that explain different methodologies. She encouraged students to explore and take advantage of available resources. Specifically, she encouraged students to leverage on-campus resources including Teachers College Information Technology (TC IT), the Graduate Writing Center, and booking office hours with the TC IRB administrators, as well as invest in peer relationships with classmates. Concerning the IRB application process, Sarah mentioned it is easy to miss a part of the IRB application, but if you go slow and read each part carefully, it will save you time later.
Reflections and Resources
Peer-to-peer support builds investment in research projects and overall graduate student life. Learning from the peers around you can help you refine your academic goals and projects. For more information about the IRB process, visit these links: Before You Begin, Submitting a New Protocol, and Guides & Resources.