By Josh Yonis
Dr. David Lee, the associate director of the InterTerm program and a research archaeologist at SMU, spoke to students about the steps in undertaking a research paper as part of the Altshuler Learning Enhancement Center’s Learning Strategies Workshop series. Five students attended the workshop at the A-LEC on Tuesday, Feb. 17.
“Your objective as a researcher is to become an expert on that subject in the allotted time,” Lee said.
Lee was a learning specialist in the A-LEC until November 2014. He developed his 10-step research process back in 2011 and covered it in the workshop. Lee pointed out that a common mistake made by students is not taking quality notes during the pre-writing stage of the research process.
“You want to be able to just go back to your notes,” Lee said.
The Learning Strategies Workshop series was started over 25 years ago, and provides workshops built around the timeline of the semester. The Spring 2015 series is in the second fundamental phase, focusing on research and taking notes.
Pamela McNulty, a learning specialist at the A-LEC, believes that partnering with individuals like Lee will attract more students.
“Students are mostly motivated by a good opportunity,” McNulty said.
The next workshop, entitled “Excel at Excel,” partners with the SMU Office of Information Technology. It will take place on Thursday, Feb. 19 at 4:00 p.m. in the A-LEC.
