Work Culture

Philosophy

We are all of us both* teachers and learners.  

Dr. Schladen and the graduate students expect to learn from you as much as you learn from us. 

We aim to create an atmosphere for the free exchange of ideas and openness to questioning. 

Practices

KSA

We ask every person working on HUGS do a  knowledge, skills and abilities (KSA)  self-evaluation  in the context of the work that we plan to accomplish this summer. This will be one of the Google Forms we send to you.  Knowing better how your KSAs  map onto HUGS needs will help us tailor your work plan to optimize outcomes for both you and the project. 

This does not mean that every task you take on will be exhilarating -- inevitably some R&D tasks are analogous to hauling stone to the Nile Valley to make blocks to build the pyramids. Admiring the final product is a lot more satisfying, sometimes, than making it happen. However the incremental work is essential to the final product. Understanding our team's capabilities and interests reduces the risk of both unhappiness and not accomplishing the goals we set out.

Effort

30 hours per week of focused work is typical. 

Location is flexible, at CU or virtual

Core working hours M-H, 10am - 2pm

We will schedule meetings during this window.

As a lab, we are very comfortable with and make extensive use of Zoom. People working on fabrication will need to be on campus more frequently to access the 3D printer and other tools.

Breaks in Schedule

We will send you a Google Form to map out when everyone will be out of the DC area or otherwise unavailable during the summer.

It is expected that you will have family and other obligations, but we need to know to plan effectively.

We also respect the need to take care of the whole person. We are all about health here, after all!

Managing stress, sleep, eating and exercise are just as important for researchers as they are for the babies and families we are working to help.

Weekly Lab Meeting

We will meet once a week as a group. Day and time TBD.

Each intern will present his/her progress since the previous meeting.

We use PowerPoint (or Google Slides) to do this. Build the presentation during the 8 weeks of the internship. 

It becomes your lab notebook/journal. Don't overwrite your previous work. The need to rollback is common.

Sample HUGS-3 weekly progress report  from Hanh from Spring 2023 semester.

Sample "progressive" form from Tan demonstrating week-to-week format.

Research Plan

We begin with the end in mind.

 After you are oriented, during the SECOND  week of the internship, Dr. Schladen will meet with each student to map out the direction of the research paper that needs to come out of their summer work at HUGS-Lab.  Here's a template for a Research Plan.

We expect it will morph as you actually get into the work, but it provides an aerial view of what will be your ultimate trajectory across the terrain of HUGS.

Building a Reference Library

We use Zotero for references and have a group Library in the Cloud.

You will receive an invitation to join during the first week of the internship.

Download Zotero and the chrome extension to your computer.

Below are some of the many YouTube videos that explain how Zotero works. 

How To Use Zotero For Referencing: Complete Tutorial (Updated For 2023)
How to Download Zotero and Install the Zotero Connector
Creating a Group Library in Zotero

Each intern will have his/her own folder in the Zotero Group Library. Initially, Dr. Schladen will drag articles there that are relevant to your summer work.

When YOU reference an article, put it in Zotero in your folder.

You can make subfolders to organize as suits. Putting it in your own folder lets Dr. Manon see who has done what, however.

You can pull up and annotate/highlight your full-text PDF articles right in Zotero.

You can also make annotations in the Notes field for each article you add to the Library. 

You can balance documentation in Zotero with what you put in your weekly progress report.

*Consider that Russian  (обучение) blurs the distinction rather completely.  Key words: Vygotsky, Constructivism, scaffolding, ZPD