1. EXPERT ADVISERS
What to know…

2. Teachers Should/Should Not
Bottom line for teachers:
Teachers must provide any necessary assistance to students in finding external expert advisers.
Assistance does NOT mean teachers find the expert for students.
Teachers equip students with skills to:
Know when they will or will not need an expert adviser
Find/engage with an expert
Document and reflect on engagement with expert adviser
Teachers don’t do the work for the students.
Teachers guide students through effective questioning techniques.
Remind teachers that if they can rationalize what they are doing using the rules on pp. 50–52 of the CED, then they are doing the right thing. If they cannot rationalize what they are doing using these rules, then they need to STOP what they are doing. Remind participants that they are not expected to “police” every student-expert adviser interaction. However, they are expected to ensure the students are aware of the rules of what advisers can and cannot do and to behave on the “honor system”.

3. Teacher’s Role with Expert Advisers
The AP Research Teacher has the following responsibilities:
Help administrators, parents, students, and potential expert advisers understand the role of expert advisers in the course.
Provide students with strategies to connect and effectively communicate with expert advisers.
Provide students with strategies to sustain effective expert adviser relationships.
Provide students with formal opportunities to document and reflect interactions with expert advisers.

4. Role of an Expert Adviser
Role of Expert Adviser
when asked, should provide feedback and guidance to students regarding their choice of research questions/project goals, data- or information-collection methods, and analysis strategies
may hold individual work-in-progress interviews with students to discuss the progress of their papers or presentations, explore issues and/or discuss topics and perspectives, and question students as necessary
may provide necessary background for a topic — including suggesting possible resources — so that students are not disadvantaged in their exploration
may help students with the mechanics of the research process (e.g., strategizing to find answers to questions or helping them understand how to access resources)
may provide general feedback to students about elements of their papers or presentations that need improvement
may vary in number, according to the needs of the paper or presentation
Guide participants to look at pp of the CED. Expert advisers represent a resource for teachers and students in a variety of areas (i.e., expertise in specific disciplines, fields, or methods).

5. What an Expert Adviser Should NOT DO
Expert Advisers may not
generate research questions/project goals for students
conduct or provide research, articles, or evidence for students
write, revise, amend, or correct student work
provide or identify the exact questions a student will be asked prior to his or her defense (i.e., students should be prepared to answer every one of the oral defense questions)
provide unsolicited help (i.e., students must initiate conversations that call for expert adviser feedback, such as asking a question to which the expert adviser can then respond)

6. Who Should be an Expert Adviser
Expert Advisers may be drawn from
the faculty
Other teachers with high content knowledge/skills in discipline of student’s inquiry topic
the community
Community leaders, pastors, volunteers with knowledge/skills pertaining to student’s topic of inquiry
local or nonlocal businesses and industries
professionals with knowledge/skills pertaining to student’s topic of inquiry
higher education institutions
faculty, senior undergrads/grads from community colleges, colleges, universities with content and research method knowledge pertaining to student’s topic of inquiry

7. Know Your School/District Policies
To keep your students/self out of harm’s way, make sure you and your students are aware of the school/district policies of working/interacting/communicating with adults outside of the school faculty and staff.
The Consent form signed at the beginning of the year releases the district from all liability. It is up to you and your parents/guardians to maintain and monitor safe interactions.

8. When Should Students Interact with an Expert Adviser?
If a student needs specific information pertaining to a research method that is not easily taught to or needed by the whole class
If a student requests feedback on a written piece of work to make sure it adheres to discipline-specific styles
If a student needs specific information about a population or setting and how to fine-tune the research question to effectively address a problem in that area
#1 RULE-student must seek out the information.
expert adviser must not give unsolicited information (this is cheating).
expert adviser must not correct student work but may provide constructive criticism
Impress upon teachers that the teacher is NOT responsible for finding and maintaining relationships with expert advisers/expert advisers for students—the onus is on the student—end of list.

9. Who Should Initiate and Maintain the Student/Expert Adviser Relationship?
The onus is on the student.
The AP Research teacher should provide assistance where needed by giving the student the proper tools to initiate and maintain an effective student/expert adviser relationship.
Student may seek out guidance from multiple expert advisers.
Relationship does not have to last any longer than the length of time the student needs/requires.

10. Misconceptions
Some AP Research teachers may feel as if they cannot play the role of an expert adviser for any of their students. However, the rules for the AP Research teacher and that of the expert adviser are congruous. AP Research teachers (and other discipline-specific AP teachers) can be expert advisers.
Some teachers and students may use the terms source and article interchangeably. For AP Research (and the rules governing solicited and unsolicited help), a source is like handing the student an entire journal (which is fine because students have to do the searching within that source). An article is a prescriptive handout; and you shouldn’t do this unless the student specifically asks for help in finding that exact article.

11. Misconceptions
Some students and teachers may think that the onus is on the teacher to establish and maintain any student/expert adviser relationship.
Teachers do not need to establish relationships with the expert advisers for the students.
The entire expert adviser–scholar relationship is established and maintained by the student. However, if the teacher wants to invite the expert advisers to be on the student panels, the student will need to make sure the teacher has the expert adviser contact information.

12. An Example
An AP Research student was getting frustrated because she could not access updated crime statistics for the Bahamas. So over Christmas, she sought out an interview with the Bahamian attorney general and the minister of national security. They shared updated crime statistics with her directly and answered questions on the record about the issues.

13. An Actual Student Question
Hi Dr. M.,
Thank you for the information; I think I will alter my method by using the Winkler method instead... it seems to be a much more fitting method for my project, so thanks again! Just one question: you mentioned how the Winkler method works with a spec, however I did not see procedures that used the machine. I only saw procedures in which reagents were added and titrations were performed, with no usage of the spec. How would the method work with the spec?
Thank you again for helping me with my project!
Sincerely,   R

14. An Actual Expert Adviser Response
Hi R. 
Usually we don't use a spectrophotometer to measure photosynthesis, but you can use it to measure the rate of oxygen that gets produced during photosynthesis - and that is a close approximation. The Winkler method is straight forward and works with a spec:
 And here is a link to a company that sells the Winkler reagents prepared so that you just need to add them. I haven't used this method in awhile, but you can call their tech support if you want to ask them questions:
product.search.jsa?keywords=Dissolved%20Oxygen,%20Winkler
Good luck, Dr. M.

15. L4: Practice I

16. Do or Do Not?
A student meets with an expert adviser and explains her research. The expert adviser tells her he is interested in the topic and gives her ten articles to read that are essential in the field.
A student submits a draft of his paper to his expert adviser and asks the expert adviser if the research method he has selected is an appropriate one.
After watching a practice run of a student’s presentation, the teacher tells the student that the pace is too fast. The teacher also tells the student that the implications of his research are weak and that he can expect a question about them on the oral defense.
1. DO NOT-The student did not ask for sources. This is unsolicited help and providing articles in this way is not allowed.
2. DO-The student is approaching the expert adviser with an issue, which is acceptable. As the student has done preliminary work on a method, the expert adviser can provide guidance on the mechanics of the research process so long as the expert adviser does not edit or rework the paper for the student.
3. DO NOT-The general feedback a teacher gives is acceptable, though specifying a significant aspect of an individual student’s work is entering somewhat of a gray area. The clear reference to what will be a specific defense question, however, is unacceptable.

17. Do or Do Not?
A student finds articles that are unavailable to download because they are behind an Internet paywall that is only available to university students or faculty. She takes down the name of the author and article and decides she will give it to someone else to download for her.
Looking over your students’ Process and Reflection Portfolio journals, you notice that their annotated bibliographies are mostly summaries of their sources, with no connection to their own work. A student tells you the next day that he had trouble with the assignment and wants you to show him how to fix one of his own entries.
4. DO-This is acceptable. The student has done her own search and found the articles on her own. As long as the resources are not obtained illegally in some way, helping the student retrieve the sources she found allows for equity and accessibility in keeping with the spirit of the AP program.
5.DO NOT-You cannot “fix” the student’s entry for him. However, this is a good example of teaching the whole class a skill that is clearly required for all the students in this case. It should be made clear, however, that the teacher should do so in a general fashion and not use a single student’s work to show how it can be improved. A better strategy would be to use a past student sample or fictional sample.
Feedback should be actionable and provide enough information so that students know next steps, but the student should be responsible for determining how they will incorporate the feedback received.

18. L4: Practice II

19. Proper Tools?
Students should have the skills to know whether or not they even need to consult with an expert adviser.
Students should have a general idea about who they can contact (and how) to be an expert adviser to their research.
Students should make sure potential expert advisers are aware of the course in general, deadlines, and rubrics.
Provide students with a form letter (if necessary) to give to expert advisers, which provides links to all course information online and specific dates for presentations (in case they might want to serve on the oral defense panel.