{"id":93949,"date":"2023-06-07T13:58:11","date_gmt":"2023-06-07T17:58:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/?p=93949"},"modified":"2025-07-22T09:30:31","modified_gmt":"2025-07-22T13:30:31","slug":"at-umw-summertime-brings-undergraduate-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.umw.edu\/news\/2023\/06\/07\/at-umw-summertime-brings-undergraduate-research\/","title":{"rendered":"At UMW, Summertime Brings Undergraduate Research"},"content":{"rendered":"

Academic test-taking can spark anxiety in even the calmest students. But is anxiety even more pronounced when the tests are taken online, with a visible timer ticking down the minutes and seconds?<\/p>\n

University of Mary Washington psychology majors Eliana Black \u201924, Kaitlin Lennox \u201924, Ada Moses \u201925 and Hannah Shipp \u201925 are approaching that question with scholarly precision as participants in UMW\u2019s second annual Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences Summer Institute (AHSSSI).<\/p>\n

\"eye-tracker <\/a>
Ada Moses attaches a sensor to Kaitlin Lennox’s finger as they work with eye-tracker equipment. Team members Hannah Shipp, Eliana Black and Assistant Professor of Psychology Marcus Leppanen observe. (Laura Moyer photo.) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"calibrating <\/a>
The eye-tracker equipment is calibrated before use. (Laura Moyer photo.) <\/div> <\/div>
\"taking <\/a>
Test-anxiety team members (from left) Hannah Shipp, Kaitlin Lennox, Eliana Black and faculty member Marcus Leppanen, go over protocols. (Laura Moyer photo.) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Moses <\/a>
Ada Moses and Assistant Professor of Psychology Marcus Leppanen consult on how to handle newly collected data. (Laura Moyer photo.) <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

Working alongside Assistant Professor of Psychology Marcus Leppanen, the four have devised a small-sample study that uses UMW\u2019s high-tech eye-tracking equipment and a biometric sensor to determine test-anxiety levels in college-age volunteers. They and four other student-faculty research teams will present their findings at the AHSSSI Symposium at 2 p.m. Wednesday, June 14, in Room 139 of Combs Hall.<\/p>\n

Inspired by the success of UMW\u2019s Summer Science Institute (SSI), now in its 24th year, UMW last summer introduced AHSSSI as a parallel institute for disciplines outside of the traditional STEM fields.<\/p>\n

In both the AHSSSI and SSI, undergraduates work alongside faculty to conduct professional-level research, analyze data and present their findings. And in both institutes, student researchers receive room, board and a stipend. Working alongside faculty, they put classroom concepts into practice, develop employable skills in their disciplines and function as professional teams.<\/p>\n

In the test-anxiety research group, researchers Black, Lennox, Moses and Shipp consulted with Leppanen to refine research protocols and create the test questions \u2013 similar to standardized college admissions tests \u2013 for volunteer participants to answer.<\/p>\n

The team looked through databases to determine whether similar studies had been done, \u201cand no one seemed to have done this,\u201d said Black, who\u2019s double-majoring in psychology and sociology. \u201cSo in a way, we\u2019re trailblazers,\u201d Shipp added with a smile.<\/p>\n

The work draws heavily on the statistics and methods courses all four students have taken.<\/p>\n

Because their project involves human participants, they went through the process of getting Institutional Review Board approval and are observing strict ethical standards as they work with the volunteers. The actual testing is happening this week, and the team will draw preliminary conclusions in time for Wednesday\u2019s presentation.<\/p>\n

\"Fallon, <\/a>
Associate Professor of Linguistics Paul Fallon (center) works with student researchers Victoria Gallaway and Angela Chou. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Angela <\/a>
Angela Chou and Victoria Gallaway are working on a project to map and catalog writing systems for a database. They’re part of a team with student Lauren Knight and faculty member Paul Fallon. <\/div> <\/div>
\"Lewellen <\/a>
International affairs majors Morgan Lewellen and Hennry Paredes describe putting together a timeline for the passage of the CHIPS and Science Act 2022. Others on the team are students Logan Rowland, and Jarad Ponce and faculty members Surupa Gupta and Don Lee. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"AHSSSI <\/a>
Students Melissa Lopez Guerrero, Isabella Justiniano and Zoe Hanrahan tend a compost bin, part of a project to reduce urban food waste. Associate Professor of Sociology Eric Bonds leads the team. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"AHSSSI <\/a>
Eniya Cropper films a scene for a digital documentary project led by Assistant Professor of Communication and Digital Studies J.D. Swerzenski. Other student documentarians are Kasey Ripper and Benjamin Dickinson. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>
\"Community <\/a>
Benjamin Dickinson works on the community documentary project. <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div> <\/div>\n

This summer\u2019s other four teams of AHSSSI researchers are tackling topics in international economics, linguistics, environmental sustainability and digital studies. The projects and teams are:<\/p>\n