Case Study 1

Abstract

Case Study 1: Project Envy I mentored an undergraduate student who came from another university for the summer. I explained the project to him and taught him the standard statistical analysis techniques for our type of data. Because my professor and I did not think he had sufficient background for a sophisticated project, we gave him some basic statistical analysis to do. He was very quiet for the first ten days of the project and then he went to my advisor and complained about the project. He said he wanted a project “like Emily’s.” Emily was a student with a strong disciplinary background and her project addressed an area of high visibility and practical importance. My advisor insisted that my mentee keep the project I had designed for him, but the student became sulky. As time went on and his productivity declined, I began to wonder if he understood what we were doing or even cared about it.