LS&T Course Pathways & Research

Planning Courses for Your Degree

It is your responsibility to keep track of your degree requirements. Always plan ahead and talk with you advisor to figure out which courses and research credits to take each semester.

Check out this template for tracking your degree requirements and feel free to make a copy to use for yourself!

Goal Setting and Attending Conferences

Every student has a different path in the LS&T program and every faculty member has a different approach to advising. Talk to your advisor about setting goals that are right for you and their lab.

Try to plan out at least the upcoming semester with reasonable goals. Identify 1-2 conferences you would like to attend each year and ask your advisor what is feasible. See the next slide for organizations and conferences that are regularly attended by LS&T.

Remember that while faculty can help identify sources, funding for conferences is not guaranteed. Apply for all fellowships, travel awards, etc. and look into reduced rates for graduate students for membership and registration fees. Be proactive, search, and apply for these opportunities. Ask other students for advice.

Organizations and Annual Conferences

Because our program is interdisciplinary, students and faculty attend a wide range of conferences that span education, psychology, computer science, and data science audiences. Check out the list of organizations and conference below to get an idea of the professional communities we are involved with. Ask other students about which conferences they have attended, dates, and the process to attend.

• American Educational Research Association (AERA)

• Artificial Intelligence in Education (AIED)

• Educational Data Mining (EDM)

• International Conference of the Learning Sciences (ICLS)

• Learning Analytics and Knowledge (LAK)

• Learning Sciences Graduate Student Conference (LSGSC)

• Mathematics Cognition and Learning Society (MCLS)

• National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM)

• Northeastern Educational Research Association (NERA)

• Psychology of Mathematics Education - North America (PME-NA)

• Society for Research in Child Development (SRCD)

Funding Opportunities

There are ample funding opportunities out there although it’s hard to know where to look. See below for a few funding sources that have helped LS&T members in the past! And join Twitter and organization-wide list servs to learn about more opportunities.

All first or second year students who are US Citizens should apply for the NSF GRFP in the fall. Be on the lookout for a bootcamp series by Rory Flinn to get started.

Each semester, graduate students may apply for the Graduate Student Travel Award to supplement conference expenses (only once per academic year). Arts and Sciences also has awards.

The Women’s Impact Network accepts grant proposals from faculty, staff, and students each year in January for projects up to $50,000 that support the WPI community.

Key Readings

Everyone in LS&T comes in with different experiences and skillsets; the readings below offer two easy-to-read textbooks that are fundamental for the learning sciences.

• The ABC’s of How We Learn
  This is an easy read that is worth the buy or ask around to borrow a copy.

• The Cambridge Handbook of the Learning Sciences
  The PDF of this textbook is available in Mendeley under SL133 shared folder or ask around to borrow a hard copy.

• 7th Edition of the APA Publication Manual

All new students should buy a copy of the manual and become familiar with APA formatting. Most work will be done in APA format and learning it upfront will be massively helpful.

• Discovering Statistics Using SPSS

Andy Fields provides excellent statistics training, check out his book for SPSS or R. Click the link above for a free PDF version.

• The Writing Workshop

Barbara Sarnecka writes a witty, light read that is helpful for all LS&T students to develop productive writing habits. Check out the link to the free version on OSF or purchase a copy on Amazon!

Market Yourself and Connect with Others

While you are getting settled, take the time to:

1. Create or update your CV! See the Writing Center or CDC if you want help.

2. Create a website for yourself. We recommend Google Sites or Wix.

3. Start a professional Twitter page for yourself. Check out some of the accounts that @LST-WPI and our lab accounts follow to get started.

4. Order business cards from printing services. For $10, you can receive 100 business cards to have ready for any conference you attend. Feel free to ask senior students for more details.

Think About Your Goals and Interests

No one expects you to know your research plan as you get started (whew!). That said, actively thinking about your goals and interests throughout the program will help you find projects to work on and figure out where to spend your time as a researcher.

Which projects drew you to this program? What are your skill sets? Where are areas that you want to grow? Periodically asking yourself these questions will help you identify where to focus your energy.

Learn Something New

We work with a lot of programs and languages in LS&T! Challenge yourself to try learning something new by reaching out to other LS&T members, taking a class, or teaching yourself online.

Find out which programs are primarily used in your lab and start by familiarizing yourself with those programs. When you are ready to branch out, we suggest considering R, SQL, or Python. Feel free to ask a senior member of your lab what they would recommend!

Always Ask for Help and Feedback

The LS&T program thrives because of our tight-knit community and we all learn by helping one another, especially peer-to-peer. Get to know your peers. Use them as your go-to resources and mentors. Next year, you will be doing the same for new students.

Ask for help and feedback as early and often as possible. Share your work with your lab members and always ask for feedback on projects and submissions. Science is collaborative and research is a process, just make sure you reach out early and often.

And if you are struggling or feel stuck, ask for help. Graduate school is rewarding but difficult so be gentle with yourself and ask for help from other students or faculty members. The SDCC is always available as well, providing free appointments to students.

What Next?

Keep reading and exploring projects that LS&T members work on. Sit in on meetings to learn about ongoing projects and pick up new skills. Set up short one-on-one meetings with faculty members, postdocs, and students to share your interests and learn about ways that you can help out and get your feet wet.

If you have any questions, always ask!