30-Day Online Course for High School Educators
Transform your students into self-directed learners and lifelong researchers.
COURSE OVERVIEW
What do your students need right now to flourish as thinkers and creators?
What can you do right now to invigorate your most impactful ways of teaching?
Based on the revolutionary philosophy and approach of the book, Where Research Begins, by professors Tom Mullaney (Stanford) and Christopher Rea (UBC), this 30-day course introduces a fresh approach to teaching and learning research that will help you transform your pedagogy and the aims, outcomes, and joys of the student experience.
Learn how and why to integrate this approach into your existing syllabi and curricula, supercharging student learning without needing to overhaul or replace your current courses.
COURSE FORMAT
- Part-time, hybrid (live + self-paced)
- 100% online
- Five weekly 60-minute synchronous sessions with experienced facilitators
- Full course requires a total of ~15-20 hours
Coursework includes:
- Weekly attendance at live synchronous sessions
- Reading Where Research Begins, and completing related exercises
- Weekly individual writing activities (5 total)
COURSE CURRICULUM
Week 1: How (and Why) to Make Research a Core Part of the High School Experience
Live session led by Dr. Tom Mullaney and Dr. Christopher Rea
Asynchronous lessons:
- Module 1: How to Foster a Researcher’s Mindset in Your Students
- Module 2: What Does Success Look Like for Your Student Researchers?
Week 2: Equipping Students to Ask Original Research Questions
Live session led by Corrie Martin
Asynchronous lessons:
- Module 3: Brilliant Research Projects Begin with Asking “Meaningless Questions™”
- Module 4: Expanding Your Students’ “Intellectual Range of Motion”
Week 3: What’s Your Problem? The Secret to Self-Motivated Student Research
Live session facilitated by Corrie Martin, Dr. Mullaney and Dr. Rea
Asynchronous lessons:
- Module 5: How to “Educate Your Questions”: Moving from Meaningless Questions™ to a Research Project
- Module 6: What’s Their Problem?: Helping Your Students Identify the Driving Force Behind their Research
Week 4: Share Your Findings: Student Research Proposals and Projects
Live session facilitated by Corrie Martin
Asynchronous lessons:
- Module 7: Reimagining the Literature Review (ie, Reading the Field for Its Problems)
- Module 8: How to Make Your Problem Their Problem: Essential Components of a Successful Research Proposal
Week 5: Mentoring Researchers at Scale: Improving Inclusivity and Efficiency
Live Q&A on Classroom Implementation with Corrie Martin
Asynchronous lesson:
- Module 9: Office Hours 101: How to Dramatically Improve Time-Constrained Consultations with Your Students
FALL 2024 SCHEDULE
Access to all asynchronous course material begins on November 1, 2024.
Facilitated synchronous sessions are scheduled from 9:00-10:00am Pacific / 12:00-1:00pm Eastern on the following Saturdays: November 2, 9, 16, 23, and December 7.
TUITION
Tuition: US$2,499
Early Bird Registration: $1950 (register by October 1, 2024)
Group Registration (3 or more participants): $1,950 per person
Early Bird Group Registration (3 or more participants): $1850 per person (register by October 1, 2024)
To Register, email trainings@whereresearchbegins.com
Tuition includes:
- 12-month access to videos and select curricular material for use in your classroom
- Weekly 60-minute synchronous sessions with course facilitator
- Nine self-paced video lessons, with online instructor guides and curricular materials
- Research mentoring exercises and assessments
- One e-book copy of Dr. Mullaney and Dr. Rea’s bestselling guide Where Research Begins: Choosing a Research Project that Matters to You (and the World)
- 12-month access to Meaningless Questions™ online flashcards for both you and your students
- Unlimited downloads of student worksheets for classroom use
- Optional extended access to video lessons and curricular materials
- Discounts on WRB books, courses, webinars, coaching, and other products
- Certificate of completion for all enrollees who complete the course requirements
- Three bonus classroom implementation sessions: During the Winter/Spring 2025 semester, Dr. Mullaney and Dr. Rea will offer 3 bonus drop-in group sessions about classroom implementation, at no extra charge. The scheduling of these sessions will be determined in consultation with registered course participants.
TEXTBOOK
All course participants will receive an e-book copy of the required textbook:
Thomas S. Mullaney and Christopher Rea. Where Research Begins: Choosing a Research Project That Matters to You (and the World). Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2022.
Textbook also available in Chinese (Simplified), Chinese (Traditional), Japanese, Korean, Thai, and Polish.
TECHNOLOGY REQUIREMENTS
To take this course, you will need a(n):
- email address
- computer, laptop or tablet
- updated version of a web browser
- reliable internet connection
- video camera and microphone, for participating in synchronous sessions
INSTRUCTORS
Course Creators and Lead Instructors
Tom Mullaney is Professor of Chinese History at Stanford University, a Guggenheim Fellow, and the recipient of Stanford’s highest award for excellence in teaching, the Gores Award. He is the co-author of Where Research Begins (University of Chicago Press, 2022, with Christopher Rea), The Chinese Computer: A Global History of the Information Age (MIT Press, 2024), The Chinese Typewriter: A History (MIT Press 2017), and Coming to Terms with the Nation: Ethnic Classification in Modern China (UC Press, 2010), among other works. His writings have appeared in Fast Company, MIT Technology Review, Quartz, the South China Morning Post, TechCrunch, the Journal of Asian Studies, Technology & Culture, Foreign Affairs, and Foreign Policy. His work has been featured in RadioLab, The Atlantic, the BBC, and in invited lectures at Google, Microsoft, Adobe, and more. He earned his BA and MA from the Johns Hopkins University, and his PhD from Columbia University.
Christopher Rea is Professor of Asian Studies and former Director of the Centre for Chinese Research at the University of British Columbia. A native of Berkeley, California, he earned a BA from Dartmouth College and a PhD from Columbia University, and has been a visiting fellow at Harvard University and at universities in Taiwan and Australia. His books include Where Research Begins (University of Chicago Press, 2022, with Tom Mullaney), Chinese Film Classics, 1922-1949 (2021), The Book of Swindles: Selections from a Late Ming Collection (2017, with Bruce Rusk), and The Age of Irreverence: A New History of Laughter in China (2015). He was awarded UBC’s Killam Research Prize in 2023, and Dean of Arts Mentorship Award in 2024.
Course Facilitator
Corrie Martin is on a mission to foster students as writers and researchers, and to empower teachers to be the best research mentors we can be because, she says, “schooling should be something we do with students, not to them.” Most recently as instructor in the English Department at Phillips Academy Andover in Massachusetts, she directed an independent scholar program focused on social justice-related projects, engaging students in discovering and connecting their personal and academic passions. Corrie also served as the inaugural Senior Fellow in Engaged Pedagogy, mentoring students, developing curriculum, and facilitating professional development programs, including peer coaching, with the Tang Institute, Andover’s center for teaching and learning. Corrie earned a B.A. from the University of Hawaii and a Master’s in English and Comparative Literature from UC Irvine, embarking on a 20+ year adventure in interdisciplinary, innovative teaching at universities and independent schools from California to New England. Check out Corrie’s writing about education and Asian American culture and history at clippings.me/corriemartin.
CONTACT
For information and registration, contact trainings@whereresearchbegins.com
Course note
This independent course is not affiliated with Stanford University or the University of British Columbia.