Hi [First name],

When research is going well, it can be hard to point at what's making it go well. When it's hard, it can be hard to name what's making it hard. Both problems have the same fix: Naming.

Take five minutes this week and look at the components in your self-assessment workbook again, not to score them, just to review them. Most of the outcomes describe ordinary research moves:

• troubleshooting
• looking for root causes
• expressing ideas clearly
• working independently and knowing when to ask
• recognizing the limits of your own knowledge

Pick 2 outcome components and pay close attention to them. For one week, when one of those behaviors shows up in your work, mentally tag it. That was me troubleshooting. That was me asking for help at the right time. That was me not catching a flaw in my own reasoning.

This sounds small, but it's the move that turns experience into learning. The shift is from "I'm doing research" to "I'm doing research, and right now I'm exercising X."

Journal prompt (3-4 sentences): Which two components did you choose to watch this week? When did each show up? Anything surprise you?

If you want to turn it into a conversation, tell whoever you'd count as a mentor which two you picked, and ask whether they see those skills the same way.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

You answered a version of this question at the start of your research, and most likely before you really knew what you were getting in to. Now you have a much better sense of things, so your response might be different.

Take 10 minutes this week and ask yourself again with the benefit of what you have learned:

• What are you getting out of this experience that you didn't expect? (Could be good or bad. Both useful.)
• What are you not getting that you thought you would? Worth knowing while there's still time to adjust.
• What would make the remaining weeks feel like a real win? Be specific. "Finish the project" is fine if that's it, but "have one clean figure I can put in a poster" or "be able to explain the method to someone outside the field" is better.
• What's one specific request you could ask your mentor that would help improve your project?

This isn't a goal-setting exercise. It's a re-aiming exercise. You started before you had the information you have now. Use the information to be proactive.

Journal prompt. Answer all four questions. Short answers are fine.

If one of your answers points at something that needs an actual conversation about scope, expectations, or a task you'd like to try, consider bringing it up during the next meeting with your mentor.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

It's been about a week since you finished your research project. Things hopefully have settled down enough for you to take some time and reflect on your experience.

A few things we hope you take with you:

• The score itself isn't the point. The point is that you spent your time noticing: what you were learning, what was working, who was helping, what you wanted. That practice is the actual product. It transfers to the next things you do.
• Your workbook and your journal are yours. They aren't going anywhere. Save them somewhere you can find them in six months when you're writing an application, a personal statement, or a cover letter. The specifics you'd otherwise have forgotten will still be there.
• The "mentor" habit travels. You probably leaned on someone, formally or not, for thinking-out-loud during this experience. The single most useful thing you can do in the next year is keep doing that, with whoever the next version of that person is.

One closing journal prompt, in two parts:

• What's one thing you learned about how you learn? Not what you learned about your field. What you learned about yourself.
• What's one thing you'd say to a friend who's about to start something like this?

Thank you for taking the time to do the reflective side of the work. It's the part nobody assigns, which is exactly why doing it is worth so much.

Good luck with whatever's next.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

Your internship starts in a few days, and we wanted to get you set up before it does. EvaluateUR Student Open Access is a resource that is designed to complement your experience and help you get more out of it. This resource won't grade you, it won't be shared with anyone else but you, and it won't require too much of your time. What it will do is help you notice how you're learning, solving problems, and adapting while you are working, which is something that most people overlook when they're focused on the day-to-day tasks and not on the skills, insights, and long-term benefits that come from an internship.

Consider your internship as a journey, with EvaluateUR Student Open Access as a GPS for your learning and problem solving along the way. It helps you track where you are, consider course-corrections if or when needed, and recognize and celebrate your progress. This resource is as effective as you want it to be. While we won't tell you exactly how to use EvaluateUR Student Open Access, we strongly encourage you to keep a journal throughout your experience and take time to respond to the prompts you'll be receiving.

Before Day 1

2 videos to watch (under five minutes each):

• Get More Out of Your Experience: the why → https://serc.carleton.edu/details/files/757130.html
• Your Experience Guide: the how → https://serc.carleton.edu/details/files/757131.html

Pick a place to journal. Open whatever you'll actually use: a notes app on your phone, a Google Doc, a paper notebook. Once a week we'll send you a short prompt; the journal is where you'll record your thoughts and ideas. Remember that nobody else sees your journal so be open and honest and as brief or detailed in your answers as you want.

Before Day 1, take 5-10 minutes to write 3-4 sentences in your journal for each of these questions.

1. In your own words, what do you think you'll be doing during your internship?
2. What do you hope you'll learn, improve, or gain by the end of it?
3. What's one thing you're excited about, and one thing you're a little unsure or nervous about?

Day 1

Second email arrives! That's the one where you'll choose the outcomes that matter to you and do your first self-assessment.

— The EvaluateUR team

P.S. Two words that will come up a lot in these emails. Your supervisor is the person officially overseeing your internship. A mentor is a broader idea: someone who's a helpful sounding board for your ideas and questions. Your supervisor might also be a good mentor for you, but that isn't automatic; some students find their most useful mentor in a coworker or colleague on their team, a faculty internship coordinator, a career center advisor, or a more-experienced individual in the field. When we use these two words in the emails ahead, we mean them in these ways.

Hi [First name],

Much of what you're doing right now will outlive the internship itself. The specific tasks you're doing may not come up in your next role. The skills you are building will.

This week, pick two components from your assessment workbook and put them into your own words. You're not changing the skills — just describing them in language that's easier to understand outside of the internship setting. A few examples:

• Uses time and resources effectively to ensure work gets accomplished. → "I manage my time well and keep track of what needs to get done."
• Identifies when guidance and/or collaboration is needed and seeks it out. → "I know when to figure something out myself and when to ask for help."
• Expresses ideas orally in an organized, clear, concise, and professional manner. → "I can explain what I've been working on to people who don't share my background."
• Recognizes situations that might raise ethical questions. → "I notice when a situation calls for careful judgment and I take the time to think it through."

Pick two components you've been using during your internship. Write a one-sentence "resume or cover letter version" of each. Then identify one specific moment from your internship that helps you remember when you did this.

The reason why this matters: when you describe this experience in a job application or interview six months from now, the only difference between a forgettable version and a memorable one is whether you can point at the skill behind the story.

Journal prompt. Your two components, your two one-liners, and one concrete moment from your internship for each.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

Your internship is nearly over, and one specific conversation is worth having before it wraps up: an intentional check-in with your supervisor about your future, not just the current project. This isn't a status meeting or a wrap-up of your assignments. It's a short conversation about what you've done, what you've learned, and what might come next.

Your supervisor has watched you work for weeks or months. That's rare and valuable information about you, from someone whose opinion carries weight in your field or industry. It is worth asking for it while you still have easy access.

Set up the conversation. Send a short message asking for 20-30 minutes on their calendar in the coming week or so. Say what you'd like to talk about ("I'd love to hear your thoughts on my growth here and any advice you have about what comes next for me"). This helps them prepare and makes the conversation twice as productive.

A few things worth asking about (pick 2-3 to focus on):

• How they see your growth over the internship. Their outside perspective is worth capturing while it's fresh in their mind. Ask: "Where did you see me improve most? Where do you think I still have room to grow?"
• What roles or paths might fit you. Even if the answer isn't this exact role, they may see options you haven't considered. Ask: "Based on what you've seen of my work, what kinds of positions or fields do you think I'd do well in?"
• Whether they know of specific opportunities. For a future role at this organization, or somewhere in their network. Ask: "Are there any current or upcoming opportunities here, or in your network, that you'd suggest I look at?"
• Whether they'd be willing to serve as a reference or write a recommendation. It's much easier to ask now, while your work is fresh in their mind, than in six months. Ask: "Would you be willing to be a reference for me for future opportunities?"
• A way to stay in touch after the internship ends. LinkedIn, email, an occasional update. Ask: "What's the best way to stay in touch after the internship ends?"

Journal prompt. Before the meeting, write down the top 2-3 things you want to walk away knowing. After the meeting, write down what they said that you want to remember.

Not every conversation will cover every question, and not every supervisor will have an easy answer to all of them. Even one useful piece of feedback, one introduction, or one honest read on your work from this conversation can shape your next step.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

No outcomes language this week. No skills inventory. Just a check-in.

It's easy to go a few weeks heads-down without actually asking yourself how it's going. So, this week, give yourself 10 minutes and answer four questions honestly. (Honest answers are the only ones worth writing down.)

1. What's working? Name one thing: a habit, a tool, a kind of question you ask, a time of day when you do your best thinking.
2. What's not working? Just one. The first thing that came to mind when you read the question.
3. What's one small change you could try this week? Smaller than you think. Writing down questions before class or lab. Blocking off time in your week for focused work on the research. Sending a quick message to your teammates between meetings. The smaller the change, the more likely you'll actually do it.
4. What would help you the most right now, and what would it take to ask for it?

Enter your answers in your journal.

This kind of pause is the work, not a break from it. The goal is to notice patterns while there's still time to change them, not to feel guilty about something you're not doing.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

One of the most useful things the research portion of a course gives you is real practice working with a team on something more open-ended than a graded group project you can divide up in advance. Research is genuinely collaborative. Different people notice different things, someone else's question can save you a week, and the quality of the final work depends on how well the team communicates as much as on any individual contribution.

This week, take a step back and think about how you have been showing up on your team so far. (If you happen to be doing your research project solo rather than with a team, the same questions apply if you substitute "the classmates, teammates, or instructor you interact with regularly on this project" for "your team.")

A few questions worth asking yourself:

• Which of your teammates have you learned the most from, and what specifically have you learned? Naming this is worth doing even if you never tell them.
• What do you contribute to the team that other members might not? A perspective, a skill, a way of thinking, a willingness to ask certain kinds of questions. This is worth knowing about yourself.
• Is there a team dynamic that has been quietly slowing you down? Someone always dominating a discussion, a task that keeps falling through the cracks, a decision that everyone has been avoiding. If yes, is there a small way you could address it?
• When you disagree with a teammate, what usually happens? Do you speak up, go along quietly, or bring it up later with someone else? Any of these can be OK depending on the situation, but it is useful to notice your default.

Journal prompt. Write down one thing your team does well and one thing your team could do better. Then write one small thing you could do this week to make the "better" happen.

Optional follow-up: bring it up at your next team meeting. Not as a criticism, but as a "here is something I have been thinking about" opening. Teams that are willing to talk about how they are working, not just what they are working on, tend to do better work.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

You're nearly done with the research portion of this course. Time for your last assessment.

Open your assessment workbook. Go to the Self-Assessment tab. Use the next milestone column.

Score the same components you've been tracking, plus any additional ones you want to add. Use the same 5-point scale.

Reminder: your scores in this workbook are for your own reflection. They are not part of your course grade and are not shared with anyone.

Then look at the whole picture across the milestone columns side-by-side.

Some questions to answer in your journal:

• Which component(s) changed the most? What did you start (or stop) doing during the term that explains why the score changed?
• Which component(s) showed very little change over the course of the term? Is it because you were already strong there, or you didn't get the chance to practice it, or because it's harder to improve in this area than you realized?
• If you had the opportunity to start over again, what would you change about how you approached the research portion of this course?
• What's one outcome component you want to keep working on in your next course, project, or team experience?
• What individual(s) made the biggest difference for you over the course of the term? Have you told them?

Journal prompt. Answer the questions above. Your answers will help you remember and reflect on what you got out of this course long after it ends.

This is your last "assignment" from us during the course. We'll send you one final email about a week after the term ends.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

A month or two into a competition season is when people most often underestimate their own progress. The work feels more familiar by now than it did during the first week, so it's easy to forget that "familiar" is the difference between then and now.

Take 10 minutes this week and look back at where you started. You've been journaling, so take time to review a few entries. You're looking for three things:

• One skill you've practiced enough that it feels different than it did at the start. Maybe you're faster at a routine task. Maybe you write clearer technical descriptions. Maybe you spend less time trying to figure things out on your own before asking.
• One skill you're still building. Something you've tried more than once and don't quite have a handle on yet.
• One thing you've learned that isn't a skill at all. A fact about the vehicle or the field, a way of thinking, an opinion about your team's approach, or a useful piece of insider knowledge about how competition teams actually operate.

Don't worry about having the "right" answers — just be honest. The point is to give your future self (the one writing a cover letter or sitting in the next interview) something concrete to point at.

Journal prompt. Write down all three. One sentence each is enough.

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

You're well into the season now, with a real stretch of team work behind you and competition on the horizon. This is a good moment for another self-assessment. A lot has changed since your last one, and there is still meaningful time between now and the end of the season to act on anything you notice.

Open your self-assessment workbook. Use the next milestone column and score the same components you've been tracking.

A few notes before you score:

• Score from where you are today. Try not to anchor on your earlier numbers.
• Use the same 5-point scale. "Not yet" is still a perfectly good answer.
• Add a component if it's become relevant, or drop one that no longer is important.

Then look across your columns so far.

• Where have you kept climbing? What have you been doing that shows up in those gains?
• Where have you plateaued? A plateau partway through is normal; it's often where the harder, slower learning is happening.
• Pick one component and write a few sentences in your journal about how it's moved across the experience thus far, and what you want to do with the time that's left.

Journal prompt. Write short answers to the questions above.

Looking ahead:

• What's one thing you still want to get out of the remaining time this season?
• Is there a skill you'd like to deliberately practice before competition?
• Is there a conversation (with your team advisor, a mentor, or a teammate) that would help you obtain valuable feedback or help you think through some aspect of your work?

— The EvaluateUR team

Hi [First name],

Competition day is getting close. Most teams put most of their effort into designing and building the vehicle, drone, or other design product and less into preparing for the static events (the design review, the technical presentation, the cost report, the poster session), even though judges' scores from those events often count just as much as anything happening on the course or in the pool or on the track.

This week is a good time to get more intentional about the presentation side of things.

A few questions worth asking yourself and your team:

• What is the one thing you most want judges to walk away understanding about your vehicle/design product? If you can't name it in a sentence, that's the first thing to figure out.
• What's the weakest part of your presentation right now? Slides, the story, transitions between speakers, response to questions? Naming it makes it fixable.
• What questions are the judges most likely to ask that would be hard to answer? Practice those specifically. Rehearsing the easy ones doesn't help you.
• Who is the least-comfortable presenter on the team, and what would help them? More time to prepare, a script, extra rehearsal, or taking a smaller section can all reduce the risk of the whole team's score being pulled down.

A few specific actions to consider this week:

• Do one full practice run in front of an audience other than members of your team. A teammate from another sub-team, a faculty member, an alumni, or a friend who knows nothing about your competition will all notice things your own team's eyes miss.
• Have a teammate ask you the three questions you're dreading, and rehearse your answers out loud.
• Look at your slides, poster, or written report with fresh eyes and cut anything that isn't earning its space.

Journal prompt. What's one specific thing about your team's presentation you want to improve this week? What's the first small step you'll take on it?

The point: the static events reward preparation. Teams that treat them as an afterthought lose points to teams that treat them as an equal part of the competition.

— The EvaluateUR team