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Junior Plan

All juniors who wish to enroll in the Educ 400 Senior Research Seminar next academic year MUST attend a meeting on Thursday, February 12 from 12:15-1:15 PM in the McCook 201 conference room. Lunch will be provided. (If you are studying away, email Prof. Stefanie Wong to request a Zoom link.)

Ed Studies faculty will describe steps you need to complete this spring in order to receive permission to enroll in Educ 400 next year. Read the materials below before our meeting and bring ideas about your potential research project to discuss.

After your Junior Plan is approved, the Ed Studies faculty will give you a PIN and assign you to one of the two sections of the Educ 400 Senior Research Seminar next year, both taught by Prof. Speciale:

  • Fall 2026 – Tuesdays/Thursdays, 1:30-2:45
  • Spring 2027 – Tuesdays/Thursdays, 10:50-12:05

Submit your Junior Plan to receive permission to enroll in Educ 400:

1) Open the Junior Plan Google Document 2-page template, then go to File > Make a Copy, and begin to write your responses.

2) Change your Google Doc settings to Share > Anyone with the link > can Comment. This allows any Ed Studies faculty member to write feedback on your Junior Plan.

3) Schedule a meeting with an Ed Studies faculty member to discuss and clarify your ideas. The faculty member you should meet with will be assigned after the Junior Plan meeting. We want to help you succeed! We also encourage you to consult with other Ed Studies faculty and Trinity staff who are willing to assist you.

4) When your Junior Plan is complete, email the link to your SHARED Google Doc to Prof. Stefanie Wong by Sunday, March 1, 2026 at 11:59 PM. The Ed Studies faculty will review your Junior Plan before Advising Week, and either approve it (and send you a PIN) or require you to make revisions. If you are late or need substantial revisions, you may not receive your schedule preference.

Read additional resources to plan your thesis:

  • Sample Junior Plans from prior years:
  • Recent Senior Research Presentations:
  • Ed Studies Senior Projects that students have voluntarily uploaded to the Trinity College Digital Repository
  • Partnerships with schools and organizations: If you wish to conduct a study involving a school or organization, think about how to build a partnership that benefits everyone. Be cautioned that any research involving minors as participants is unlikely to be possible for a one-semester senior thesis, and some districts require that research projects receive approval from the district. Some examples of how you might work with schoolr:
    • Build on an existing relationship you have with a local school or organization. You might offer to explore a research question that matters to your partners, or offer to volunteer some hours in exchange for any assistance with your research, such as access to organization events or distribution participant recruitment materials.
    • Expand on existing partnerships with local organizations through the Center for Hartford Engagement and Research (CHER). See CHER’s database of recent partnerships with over 100 organizations in the Hartford region.
    • Explore opportunities for research through public meetings and records of educational organizations and agencies, such as public hearings for legislative committees at the Connecticut General Assembly, public meetings at boards of education for the Hartford Public Schools or CREC or suburban districts, and public journalism (such as CT Mirror) about different stakeholders seeking to influence the policy process.
    • Build research partnerships with schools and organizations outside of the Hartford area. This approach is most likely to be successful if you have a pre-existing relationship with the school or organization.
  • If your study involves a Hartford-area community partner, ask a faculty sponsor to support your application to become a Community-Learning Research Fellow (usually offered in the Fall semester). In addition to Educ 400, earn an additional 0.5 credit by enrolling in the CLRF one-hour-per-week seminar and receive access to modest research expense funds for projects conducted with a community partner.
  • Apply for summer research funding through the Public Humanities Collaborative to work on a project for a participating faculty member and a participating community partner, and receive a stipend plus housing. If appropriate, use this opportunity to start your own Ed Studies thesis research on a related topic.
  • Ask a faculty member if they are willing to submit your name to the Summer Research Program, to do research with them and receive a stipend plus housing. If appropriate, use this opportunity to start your own Ed Studies thesis research on a related topic.
  • Coordinate with another student researcher: Some students may wish to coordinate their independent research with another Ed 400 student’s project. For example, two students could work on separate research studies, but pool together interview questions to collect data from the same population. Furthermore, some seniors may wish to coordinate their Ed 400 research project with a thesis in their other major, by conducting two distinct studies on a related topic. To propose a coordinated study, add a section that explains the relationship between your Ed 400 project and work by other students or for other classes.
  • Coordinate with thesis in your second major: Students are double-majoring and doing a thesis in each major may wish to coordinate their research projects to concentrate their time and energy. For example, you could ask two different research questions about a similar topic, and write two different theses that may have overlapping literature reviews. Be sure to obtain written permission from your faculty supervisors in both majors.