STEMskiller: Skill Set Map for Mentors of Early Career Researchers
RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
Discipline-specific competencies and skills
Definition:
The section, in progress, will over time provide mentors with resources for helping mentees fill any identified competency gaps in various disciplines. For a set of comprehensive science literacy competencies, please see your local/national standards (if they exist) or, for example, the US Next Generation Science Standards.[1] Mentors should ensure early career researchers possess these key science literacy skills and recommend additional learning to mentees to fill any gaps in knowledge.
[1] The National Academies Press. (2013). Next Generation Science Standards. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18290/next-generation-science-standards-for-states-by-states
Useful resources on Discipline-specific competencies and skills:
ETS. (2021). About the GRE Subject Tests. https://www.ets.org/gre/subject/about
The American Graduate Record Exam (GRE) subject tests in Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics, and Physics provide baseline examples of core competencies expected at the graduate (Master+) level. For students transitioning to doctoral work in some countries, these tests can provide examples for expected "global levels" of competency, illustrating to mentees areas in which they may need additional self-study or coursework to perform internationally. The linked pages above provide links to openly-available practice books.
The National Academies Press (Achieve Inc.). (2013). Next Generation Science Standards. https://www.nap.edu/catalog/18290/next-generation-science-standards-for-states-by-states
Comprehensive guide to core pre-university competencies for the physical sciences, life sciences, and earth and space sciences grouped not by discipline but by key concepts applicable to all disciplines in each group (e.g. for physical sciences: understanding matter and its interactions, motion and stability: forces and interactions, energy, and wave properties). Describes what students should be able to perform at different levels (not just what they should "know") with ties to scientific and engineering practices, disciplinary core ideas, and crosscutting concepts. May be particularly valuable for institutions in countries moving memorization-based curricula towards performance-based core curricula, also at the university level, by providing a conceptual roadmap for such efforts.
Tags: IPS IA; IPS QL; IPS PS; IAL IntL; CompQ; CompTS
Peer Review: None
Table of contents:
1.7. Discipline-specific competencies and skills
- 1.7.1. Mathematical literacy
Author: Stephanie Krueger
Peer Reviewer(s): None
Last Updated: October 27, 2021