What to do if I have a bad mentor?
Posted: Tue Dec 05, 2006 12:59 am
I understand that Terik Daly mentioned in a past thread that:
What impresses a judge is the student who goes into a lab, learns the techniques and protocols s/he will be using, and then does the work his or herself under the supervision of the mentor.
I have been working alongside my mentor, who is a graduate student, for the past year have learned all the techniques and protocols for experimentation, but I haven't felt that my work is completely individualistic. It feels more like a group project. We hypothesize together, analyze the data together, and solve problems together. But sometimes I feel more like an assistant than a researcher. My mentor tells me to do things, and doesn't explain until I ask. Am I worrying too much? Is it common that the professor assigns a high school student to work alongside a grad student? Or does the high school student have their own individual research? How independent were past ISEF winners? Did they do it independently and asked their mentors for help when they needed it?
The reason I am concerned is because I want to take the research in another direction. I am measuring how a fuel cell electrolyte deforms, and I want to apply those discoveries into engineering a composite without deformation flaws. I already done background reading and have planned out what direction I want to go, but my mentor hasn't been too supportive.
I don't know what to do now. Do I still work alongside with him and measure other compounds or propose this idea to my professor and try "to work under his supervision?" Will that be too bold?
What impresses a judge is the student who goes into a lab, learns the techniques and protocols s/he will be using, and then does the work his or herself under the supervision of the mentor.
I have been working alongside my mentor, who is a graduate student, for the past year have learned all the techniques and protocols for experimentation, but I haven't felt that my work is completely individualistic. It feels more like a group project. We hypothesize together, analyze the data together, and solve problems together. But sometimes I feel more like an assistant than a researcher. My mentor tells me to do things, and doesn't explain until I ask. Am I worrying too much? Is it common that the professor assigns a high school student to work alongside a grad student? Or does the high school student have their own individual research? How independent were past ISEF winners? Did they do it independently and asked their mentors for help when they needed it?
The reason I am concerned is because I want to take the research in another direction. I am measuring how a fuel cell electrolyte deforms, and I want to apply those discoveries into engineering a composite without deformation flaws. I already done background reading and have planned out what direction I want to go, but my mentor hasn't been too supportive.
I don't know what to do now. Do I still work alongside with him and measure other compounds or propose this idea to my professor and try "to work under his supervision?" Will that be too bold?