Struggles

The Lab:

Unfortunately, I received an e-mail from my professor yesterday explaining that, due to computer updates, a third of the data from the last experiment is missing. That means data from 40 participants has disappeared. Right now, he's working on recovering everything, but we'll most likely need to replace those data with 40 new participants.

This is a sad, but smooth transition into my experience at the lab lately. . . I'm beginning to understand how research actually works; how difficult it can be to find participants, how frustrating it can be, when analyzing the data, to find participants who didn't even attempt to perform the procedure correctly, how fun it is to start a new experiment, how intensive it is to try to work out kinks, how "in practice" is almost always different than "in theory", and how working with a team is researcher is beyond beneficial to, not only the research itself, but everyone involved.

Laura Jeffrey:

I overheard one of the teachers expressing her opinions about a standardized test the 8th graders will be taking next week and the following week. She says she tries to get the students excited about it by telling them it's a chance for them to show off, but she says it's actually all about White privilege. She also says none of the teachers like the test.

Because I overheard the conversation, and it was in response to something one of the other tutors brought up, I didn't feel it was appropriate to leap into the discussion, but I'd like to ask her more about this during an interview (that I have yet to schedule).

Notes and Comments:

I'd like to interview the Professor at the U and the teacher I work with at Laura Jeffrey; it'd be really fascinating to compare their experiences/viewpoints as teachers. However, it might not be possible to have time with both, but I plan to have at least one interview scheduled by next week.

Overall, things are going well and I'm enjoying my experience. I'm learning a lot about how (and how not) to work effectively with middle-school-aged girls, how to handle the challenges of working in psychological research lab while also learning to appreciate the successes. I'm discovering how teachers cope with conflicting interests and goals, and I'm beginning to think about how I might apply this knowledge to my academic and professional career.

I'm excited to finish up the year and I'm looking forward to (hopefully) volunteering at Laura Jeffrey again next year. I'm not sure if I'll return to the U of M with this particular lab, but, if I can make it work, it'd be great to take a class there. We'll see . . . .