Junior Plan
All juniors who wish to enroll in the Educ 400 Senior Research Seminar next academic year MUST attend a meeting on Tuesday Feb 28th 2023 from 12:15-1:15 PM, which we have moved to Zoom due to the snowstorm. See email from Prof. Jack Dougherty for the link to his Zoom room.
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.
Due to the large number of rising seniors, Ed Studies faculty will assign students to ONE of two sections, both to be taught by Professor Britney Jones at these scheduled times:
• Educ 400 in Fall 2023, TR 10:50-12:05
• Educ 400 in Spring 2024, W 1:30-4:10
The Junior Plan form below asks if you have any scheduling conflicts (such as a required class at the same time, or a thesis in your other major) or strong preferences. We will address individual requests with the need to balance total student enrollment between the two sections.
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 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) Highly recommended: Schedule a meeting with any Ed Studies faculty member to discuss and clarify your ideas. We want to help you succeed! Also, feel free to consult with other faculty and staff who are willing to assist you, such as Prof. Dan Douglas, Director of Social Science Research and Lecturer in Sociology.
4) Email the link to your SHARED Google Doc to Prof. Jack Dougherty by Tuesday March 28th 2023 by 6 PM (our second day back from Spring Break). He will share your plan with other Ed Studies faculty members to review before Advising Week. We will either approve it (and send you a PIN) or we may 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 in the Trinity College Digital Repository
- 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.
- Community Learning Research Fellows: If your study involves a Hartford-area community partner, ask a faculty sponsor to support your application to become a CL Research Fellow at http://cher.trincoll.edu/fellows. Additional 0.5 credit class (usually in Fall semester) and modest research expense funds for projects conducted with a community partner.
- Summer Research Funding: Apply to the Summer Research Program to start working on your research with a participating faculty member during the summer, and receive a stipend plus housing. Also, apply to the Public Humanities Collaborative to work on research for a participating faculty member and a participating community partner, and receive a stipend plus housing.
