Description
The Geo Coaching Project or “Graduate Experience Outreach Project” (ธรณีพี่สอนน้อง) is a graduate-level student development activity where graduate students “coach” the undergraduate students.
Who is involved
Project Manager (PM): Kritika Trakoolngam (Chair of the Graduate Program)
Graduate Coach (GC): All active graduate students
Target audience: 10 students from a specific undergraduate class
Participant: Any undergraduate student
Activity Details
Each graduate student during the duration of their study (2 years for MSc Program and 3 years for PhD Program) must organize 2 coaching sessions for the undergrads. One must be a technical session, the second must be a personal development session.
- Each session should take around 20 minutes (or more if preferred) consisting of 10 minutes talk and 10 minutes for Q&A
- The session can be in any language, Thai or English
- The format can either be onsite or online
- The technical session is expected to be a short lecture on any technical subject that the graduate student is proficient. The topic should be related to the student’s research or research interest. The topic can be a complicated issue but the lecture should be made easy for the undergrads to understand even though they do not have any background knowledge. Complicated issues are highly recommended!! The graduate student will gain better experience from trying to simplify the topic. The topic must be interesting enough or else you will not get good attendance. Examples of topics are:
- What is a groundwater basin and how it is identified?
- What is climate change and how it is quantified?
- The cubic law and how it is used
- What is BIM Slope and why it is a problem?
- The super power of the intersect function in ARCGIS
- The professional development session is expected to be a short talk or lecture on anything that is useful for professional development. It can be a topic that is based on researched information or it can be your own experience. Examples are:
- What does a good resume look like?
- How I overcome my fear of public speaking
- Where to apply for jobs in geology or geotechnology
- How to study for the Kor Por exam
- My experience as an exchange student in Japan
- PowerPoint or handouts for each session are optional
- The GC is responsible for organizing the event
- Create brochures, reserve classroom, announce activity, register attendees, etc.
- At least 10 students from the target audience must attend. You will have to use all your advertising skills to convince the uninterested undergraduate student to join.
- You are free to set the date, time and place that works for you and the participants
- It is recommended that other grads lend a hand to support the coach of each session
- The GC and participants must evaluate the activity after every coaching session. An evaluation form will be provided.
Procedure for Coaches (graduate students)
- Propose a title for each coaching session using the GEO Coaching Proposal Form. You do not need to propose 2 sessions at once. Propose each session only when you are ready.
- Choose a good topic/title. Create one that is easy to understand and interesting (the name can be in any language)
- Set a date, time, and place
- Create a brochure to advertise your event (attach with the proposal)
- Send the proposal at least 1 month before the coaching date
- The project manager will assign the audience for you. A class level (1-4) will be chosen at random for each topic.
- Advertise your coaching session. Any undergraduate student can join but make sure a minimum of 10 students from the target class attend your session.
- Prepare your talk.
- Run the coaching session
- Register attendants
- Give the talk and answer questions
- Make sure everyone evaluates the activity (an evaluation form will be provided by the PM)
- After the event, the Project Manager will analyze the evaluation results and provide feedback to the GC.
Benefits
- Grads and undergrads get to socialize
- Grads get the experience of coaching/lecturing
- builds self-esteem
- ingrains technical knowledge by teaching others
- develops essential professional skills
- organizing events
- delivering speeches
- preparing presentations
- Undergrads get technical knowledge and ideas about professional development.