2012: To Know is Not Enough

It was great to meet many of you at New Orleans! We are looking forward to seeing you at ... *drum rolls* Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada from Friday, April 13 - Tuesday, April 17, 2012!

Heads up, the theme for the 2012 Annual Meeting is Non Satis Scire: To Know is Not Enough. Read more.

Call for Submissions will open June 1, 2011.  Deadline to submit will be July 22, 2011.

How and Why I Got Involved

Our Outgoing Senior Co-Chair 2010-2011, Jonathan Bostic, was invited to address the group of graduate students who had congregated at St. Charles Ballroom, Marriott Hotel, at the GSC Orientation and Networking Session (New Orleans, LA). Watch this less than two-minute video to get a perspective of how to get involved and some of the benefits of getting involved.

Note: The video clip is close-captioned and there is an interactive transcript available if you go to the YouTube site. 

2011 Fireside Chat with Dr. Paul Cobb

We had the honor of having Dr. Paul Cobb, Peabody Chair in Teaching and Learning, Vanderbilt University, share his research with us on Day 4 of the Annual Meeting. Dr. Cobb's enlightening presentation afforded us a glimpse into the process of moving from graduate student to senior researcher and a unique opportunity to engage in dialogue with an established research scholar.

In educational contexts, when we talk about scale we are referring to the process of taking an instructional strategy that has shown to be effective in a small setting and reproducing that success in a large number of classrooms. Research in mathematics education has rarely focused explicitly on understanding the process of improving mathematics teaching and learning at scale. Dr. Cobb’s current research seeks to address this shortcoming by making instructional improvement a researchable issue.

Dr. Cobb captivates the audience with his presentation.

In an engaging manner, Dr. Cobb described the evolution of his research. Despite being an instructional designer who is not a math subject matter expert, I gained much from Dr. Cobb's presentation. The audience listened spellbound and participated with several questions. There was definitely more to share from both sides than the allocated time allowed. We will definitely post the slides from Dr. Cobb once it is available. Keep checking this space! And, please let us know who else you would like to have as our Fireside speakers and how we can improve our Fireside Chats!

Active audience participation

What is Division C?

AERA can start to feel like "alphabet soup," with letters and acronyms flying all over the place. We thought we'd take a minute to visit the letter of the day - C! Division C has an exciting and diverse mission to examine the worlds of learning and instruction. Because it involves so many different areas of interest, it can be hard to conceptualize. The above diagram was developed to illustrate the mission of Division C. Division C is concerned with research on the process of, and contexts for, learning, instruction, and assessment, as well as work examining the relationships among these areas. There are four content sections: Literacy & Language Arts; Humanities, Social Sciences & Fine Arts; Mathematics; and Science. There are three sections that explore learning and instruction across content areas: Learning Environments; Cognitive, Social & Motivational Processes, and Technology Research. As you can tell, there are multiple, varied, and overlapping areas of research going on in the dynamic, exciting world of Division C. It's exciting to see all that come together at AERA!

AERA Division C Graduate Student Seminar

The AERA Division C Graduate Student Seminar was held Thursday and Friday morning. Roughly 25 mentor-graduate student pairs came to learn about developing a research trajectory, conducting effective teaching, and ways to secure grant funding. Picture here is Kelly Rodgers from UT - San Antonio, discussing how to complete your dissertation and overcome some of the obstacles. If you are a graduate student who will be nearing or at the dissertation phase next year, consider applying for this seminar. There is a similar seminar for New Faculty, which provides a venue for senior scholars to share their insights about being successful in academia.

More updates from NOLA to come!

We are here!

Hello everyone, we are HERE! Welcome to the Big Easy! It was great to have met a few of you at the GSC Orientation and Networking Session this evening. We hope to meet more of you in the next few days at our Meet-and-Greet sessions at the Registration Booth, GSRC, New Directions panel, Fireside Chat, Business Meeting/Reception and Social. Check out the times by clicking on the Div C@Conference tab.

Shades of Blue: Jonathan Bostic, Janice Hansen, Yin Wah Kreher, Brittany Hott and Angi Shelton (not in the picture) at NOLA.

 Jonathan on the panel sharing about the opportunities and experience of serving in AERA.

Navigating Your First AERA

It’s true, I cried when I was handed my first AERA printed program. Everything seemed so huge and overwhelming: The number of workshops, the number of people, the size and scope of the whole affair. Now a seasoned veteran, I have a few tips for the first-timer.  

1. Keep it in perspective – Honestly, you don’t get extra credit for cramming in every presentation you can. Choose to attend those that you find most intriguing. For those you miss, access the online paper repository later.  

2. Take advantage of your student status – Is there a senior researcher you’ve been dying to meet? Respectfully introduce yourself after their presentation. Visit the Graduate Student Resource Center (and find out the free snack schedule). Attend graduate-student oriented workshops and socials (scroll through this blog or visit the Resource Center to find out more about these).  

3. Visit the vendors – Books, software, journals – it’s all in the exhibit area. Also, many of the exhibitors put their material on sale in the final hours of AERA, so be sure to ask!  

4. Don’t forget about poster sessions – These are a great place to network. Find others whose research aligns with yours and exchange business cards. Who knows, you could find a great new colleague!  

5. Have fun!! – AERA takes place in some of the most fabulous cities in North America. Nobody expects you to spend all day every day cooped up inside. Take one of the offered tours, participate in an AERA sponsored volunteer project, set aside time sight-seeing. Part of expanding your mind is expanding your horizons. See what the host city has to offer!

The iPhone/iPod/iPad App

You may have heard the rumor. Well, it's true. There's an iPhone app for the AERA 2011 Annual Meeting. Check it out at this link: http://bit.ly/glSERM

Some screenshots:

[Image Source: itunes.apple.com]

You can download it at iTunes. Simply type: 2011 AERA Annual Meeting.

2011 Headquarter Hotels

For a quick refresh, the 2011 Annual Meeting co-headquarter hotels are the New Orleans Marriott and Sheraton. Other hotels where sessions will be held include Astor Crowne Plaza, Double Tree, JW Marriott, and Hotel Monteleone. In addition to the AERA headquarter hotels, the Westin is the headquarter hotel for NCME.

The Graduate Student Resource Center (GSRC) is at the Astor Crowne Plaza, St. Charles Ballroom.

The Welcome/Registration Booth is at the Sheraton, Napoleon Foyer Third Level.

Tell us! How do you survive a HUGE conference?

(Copyright) Kreher, Y. W. Not to be used without permission.

What are things to do or bring to AERA Annual Meetings to make new friends and facilitate future collaborations?

1. "Business" Cards! There are templates available online and you can also use the ones available in MS Publisher. Make sure they are professional looking.

2. Attend Division/SIG/University business meetings and socials. Some friends said to me, "But you are so sociable! I'm not!" For tips on how to survive conferences for introverts, check out The Introverted Nerd's Conference Survival Guide. An AERA conference can be overwhelming but I find that if I go to any conference with the attitude to learn and make friends, things become a little less overwhelming.Also, the way out of one's discomfort zone is to act and think less about it. :)

3.Wear business attire - be casually elegant. Look professional. No jeans in my humble opinion! No flip flops or slippers please.

4. Prepare and rehearse your "elevator speech". People -- faculty and peers -- will want to know who you are, what you do and what your dissertation is about. Be ready to tell your short story. Articulate it in the time it takes the elevator to move from the bottom to the top floor -- metaphorically -- and without jargon because the people you meet may not come from your discipline.

What else? Tell us your experience and we'll be happy to add to this list!