• Why should the staff of my laboratory spend time with undergraduates who may not even be majoring in the sciences or engineering?
• Won’t participating in these workshops slow down the primary work of my laboratory?

• What do SERTS workshops add to my course?
• How do I begin to incorporate workshops into my class?
• Do I have to modify my lectures or conform to a particular pedagogical style?
• How do I let students know I am offering a SERTS class?
• How do I go about finding workshop leaders for my class?
• How do I select good workshop leaders?
• How are the workshop leaders trained?
• Will my colleagues be upset when a bunch of students shows up unannounced in their laboratory?
• How are workshops scheduled?

You need to think of your workshop leaders as “public relations officers” for the scientific community. You want to select people who are very knowledgeable about their project, but who can place their specific project in a more general context (i.e., explain the “big picture”). It is best to select people with good interpersonal skills who can communicate their ideas to people with a wide variety of intellectual interests and backgrounds.