Preparing the Leaders of Tomorrow: A Model of Applied Research Training in a Community College

Authors

Pat Spadafora, Sheridan CollegeFollow
Lia Tsotsos, Sheridan CollegeFollow

Document Type

Conference Presentation

Publication Date

10-18-2013

Keywords

older adults, Sheridan Elder Research Centre

Abstract

Depending on their program of study, many students graduating from colleges and universities will have had few educational opportunities to learn about the influence of a changing Canadian demographic. However, the reality is that an aging population can be expected to impact their careers regardless of their chosen field of work. At Sheridan College, the Sheridan Elder Research Centre (SERC) has developed a comprehensive applied research training and mentorship program for college students. This training is designed as a week-long immersive and interactive series of workshops. In addition to laying a solid theoretical foundation, exploring current issues in the field of aging and the principles of applied research, students participate in role-playing and team-building exercises that build a variety of applied research and communication skills. The use of a newly designed applied research board game is one of the innovative ways that SERC helps to build interdisciplinary relationships while teaching applied research skills. Two years after implementation, SERC has seen the effects of the program on student success within the classroom and after graduation. The training materials support SERC’s research goals on a variety of age-related topics while showing students how to apply the skills they learn in the classroom to ‘real world’ problems. This model for training the leaders of tomorrow is flexible, relatively simple to implement and has lasting benefits for both students and researchers. The curriculum and program outcomes will be discussed along with a demonstration of how the board game is used as a teaching tool.

Faculty

Research Centres

School

Sheridan Elder Research Centre (SERC)

Version

Publisher's version

Peer Reviewed/Refereed Publication

no

Terms of Use

Terms of Use for Works posted in SOURCE.

Copyright

© Sheridan

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 4.0 License.

Original Publication Citation

Spadafora, P., & Tsotsos, L. (2013). Preparing the leaders of tomorrow: A model of applied research training in a Community College. Oakville: Sheridan Elder Research Centre (SERC).

SOURCE Citation

Spadafora, Pat and Tsotsos, Lia, "Preparing the Leaders of Tomorrow: A Model of Applied Research Training in a Community College" (2013). Publications and Scholarship. 25.
https://source.sheridancollege.ca/centres_elder_publ/25