For Undergraduate Students and Research Staff

Expectations for All Undergraduate and Research Staff

Respond to emails and voicemails promptly
If you are not able to respond (e.g., a difficult parent question), find someone who can
Leave emails in the inbox if you are unable to respond or address them before the end of your shift
As always, record interactions in DRDB if the information will be relevant to future interactions
Only delete voicemails that have been addressed

If there are simultaneous or back-to-back studies, communicate with other lab members about who will handle what tasks. You are responsible for ensuring that all families visiting during your shift are accounted for, and no one waits for us in the parking lot.

Check to see if a child will soon be eligible for another study; try to schedule while the family is in the lab if possible
Look up parent and child names
Go downstairs with the parking pass to meet the family 10 minutes prior to their scheduled appointment
Bring the family up to the lab; play with the child(ren) if you are not running the study
When the study begins, stay and play with the siblings or talk with the caregiver; the work can wait (unless the parent really doesn’t want to talk to you)
Walk the family down to the parking lot after their study

Clean up the playroom after the family has left; tidy up the toys and SANITIZE all toys
Update the checkbox in Study History that the child has completed the study
Send a thank-you email using DRDB

Check where your scheduling team has left off in their scheduling
Schedule for your team’s studies using the scheduling scripts, DRDB, calling, and checking the calendar

Make sure that all appointments for the next day are resolved (i.e., no TENTATIVES on the schedule, RESCHEDULING is addressed)
To check this, compare the day of studies in the Google Calendar with each study’s corresponding database record to ensure that Confirmations and Thank Yous have been sent to all necessary families

You will be asked to commit to a schedule of 5–10 hours of lab work per week. This needs to be the schedule you stick to through the entire semester. This is a research opportunity, but it is also your job. If you cannot attend a shift, always check with Dr. Xiao first.
You will be paid through the pay system; you must log your hours regularly.

Best Practices as an RA This is both a research opportunity and a job; please remember to treat it as both with the respect they require.

Be working on a lab task at all times during your scheduled lab hours (breaks are okay; sometimes you are doing tedious tasks and need a mental break, but within reason, please)
Be on time for your shifts; there are many moving parts in the lab, and your timeliness is usually central to all of them (getting families, watching siblings, answering the phone, etc.)
Participate actively and thoughtfully in the research projects; be careful, diligent, and thorough with all of your work
Ask questions!
Have a notebook (or note app on your phone) with you at all times to take notes
Respond to your personal email promptly; you should check your email at least once a day!

Participate in recruitment
Present an article in Journal Club (see Journal Club under Lab Activities)
Write a final reflection paper at the end of the course:
- Reflect on what you learned about theories and research methods from the course
- Make one suggestion to improve the PI’s supervision in research
- Grading is based on the quality of writing