Public School Leadership in Times of Uncertainty: A Rendering of the Influence of Anti-Equity Legislation and Hostile Political Climate on Leadership for Equity, Diversity, Inclusion, Social Justice, and Anti-Racism in Florida Schools

educational leadership, principal, principal preparation, equity, social justice, anti-racism

Research Mentor: Dr. Daniel Moraguez, He/Him/His
Department, College, Affiliation: Educational Leadership and Policy Studies , Education
Contact Email: dm22w@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Ms. Seunghee Park She/Her/Hers
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: sp22a@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: 9/5 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM; Zoom link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/9857878982
9/7 from 1:00 - 2:00 PM; Zoom link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/9857878982

Project Description

To ensure equal access to educational opportunities, K-12 leaders must lead organizations in ways that foster climates open to continuous improvement and meeting the needs of all students. Doing so often requires emphasis on equity, diversity, inclusion, social justice, and critical conversations regarding culture, race, racism, and white privilege. Factors inside and outside our school buildings may play a role in an administration’s ability to work effectively to meet school goals and to live up to commitments articulated in school mission and vision statements. Principal preparation programs may need to adjust approaches to the development of certain leadership competencies, or to adjust their curriculum, to provide aspiring leaders the skills for anticipating and dismantling resistance, or navigating external pressures not aligned with core commitments.

The purpose of this study is to gain insight into how the current anti-equity climate influences schools and leaders in their ongoing efforts to address achievement and opportunity gaps. This secondary purpose of the study is to create a knowledge base that facilitates additional research aimed at supporting principal preparation programs in their efforts to develop effective K-12 leaders.

This is a survey-based, primarily qualitative study. Quantitative data will be presented via descriptive statistics. Open-ended responses will be coded using in vivo, process, and values coding methods. Focus coding and code mapping will be used to organize the data and develop themes and/or concepts.

The primary endpoint for this study is to present the findings at a symposium or paper session on school leadership at the American Educational Research Association 2024 Annual Meeting in April or the University Council for Educational Administration 2024 Annual Convention in November. We will also attempt to publishing these findings in an academic journal. As the study will serve as a pilot of sorts for a larger exploration of these effects across Florida, a secondary endpoint would be to inform revision and redesign of the larger study’s survey instrument, leading to additional presentation and publication opportunities.

Research Tasks: Literature review, creation of Qualtrics survey, data collection, data management, data analysis, proposal writing, manuscript writing, conference presentation

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Familiarity with survey methods, Qualtrics, and qualitative coding recommended, but not required. Interest in K-12 education and/or commitment to equity supersede experience with research methods.

Magellon: A next generation software package for automated cryo-EM data collection and processing

computer science, biochemistry, workflows

Research Mentor: Scott Stagg,
Department, College, Affiliation: Biological Sciences / Institute of Molecular Biophysics, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: sstagg@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Behdad Khoshbin
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: bk22n@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: Computer Science, Biochemistry, Engineering
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Thursday, 9/7 4:00-5:00 - https://fsu.zoom.us/j/97609646320
Friday, 9/8 4:00-5:00 - https://fsu.zoom.us/j/97609646320

Project Description

We are developing the next generation of software for automated data collection and processing for cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Cryo-EM is now a widely established and indispensable method for determining the high-resolution structures of biomedically important molecules. The pioneering software packages Leginon and Appion demonstrated the power of automated data acquisition and real-time processing, and there are now numerous programs for automated data acquisition and real-time processing. Despite advances in automation, data collection and processing still require a good deal of manual involvement of an expert electron microscopist. Building on the foundations of Leginon and Appion, we are developing the next generation software package that we call “Magellon”. Magellon will overcome existing bottlenecks and provide an avenue toward fully automated data acquisition that bypasses need for user input during data collection. Importantly, this software will support the computational infrastructure to enable real-time image processing results to inform on and modify the ongoing data collection regime by learning where to acquire images in regions that will yield the highest resolution structures. Using machine learning and the new industry standard tools for distributed processing, we will develop new fast image assessment routines, and provide an application programming interface to enable the incorporation of extensions and plugins from developers in the community.

Research Tasks: Students will work with a team of programmers and biochemists to develop new tools for data collection and processing. The overall goals of the project have been modularized so that individual team members can work on a discrete task that contributes to the overall project. There are many potential tasks available depending on the interests of the student. Examples include: 1) adapting existing code to build backend tools that interface with the electron microscopes to drive data collection from the web, 2) using machine learning tools to automatically identify good areas of the sample for data collection, 3) developing front end web tools to interface with the instruments, 4) developing and testing deployment strategies for the software

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: We can take most any student with a computational mindset. Students should have at least one skill in the following list: Python, MySQL, Web development, HTML, Javascript, RESTful programming

Developing an Adaptive Professional Development Model for School Professionals’ Implementation of Shared Reading Activities

preschoolers, special education, speech-language pathology, shared book reading, education, early childhood

Research Mentor: Dr. Kelly Farquharson, she/ her
Department, College, Affiliation: Communication Science and Disorders, Communication and Information
Contact Email: kfarquharson@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Dr. Veronica Fleury she/ her
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: vpfleury@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators: Dr. Lindsay Dennis she/ her
Faculty Collaborators Email: lrdennis@fsu.edu

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors, but education, early childhood special education, speech-language pathology (CSD) are strongly encouraged to apply
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday September 6, 4:00 - 5:00 pm https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98731950082

Project Description

For this project, we will be recruiting speech-language pathologists and early childhood educators to participate in a training study. They will submit videos of themselves reading to preschoolers. We will watch the videos and determine if more professional development is required for them to be implementing evidence-based practices.

Research Tasks: coding videos, emailing participants, tracking participant enrollment, communication with participants (must be clear, organized, and professional), data entry, review of surveys. All tasks are available remotely, but there may be some in-person meetings.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: clear and quick communicator, organized, fast learner, willing to work independently, but not afraid to ask questions, good at troubleshooting tech issues.

Content Creation over Degree Completion

social, media, influencers, theories, communication

Research Mentor: Ms. Eldaneka Rolle, She
Department, College, Affiliation: FSU College of Communication and Information, Communication and Information
Contact Email: etr22b@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Dr. Richard Waters N/A
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: richard.waters@cci.fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: "Open to all majors."
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10 hours , Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Eldaneka Rolle is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: UROP Research Mentor Round Table (Eldaneka Rolle)
Time: Sep 8, 2023 06:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://fsu.zoom.us/j/97026519465

Meeting ID: 970 2651 9465

Project Description

Many students here in the U.S and also many places around the world, spend time now creating content for Social Media platforms such as Instagram and TikTok and have created YouTube channels for monetary purposes. A lot of students realize the money they can make creating content as a social media influencer, becoming endorsed and decide to abandon their goals of achieving a college degree. The Research Study will be on understanding how the topic at hand can impact and affect these students in a long run, and also the economy when it comes to less skill laborers in the field due to everyone turning to social media as an income.

Research Tasks: The tasks assigned will be: Conducting Interviews and Data Collection any other tasks will later be discussed with the Lead Professor but hoping not to exceed that of three tasks.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Communication, Written and Oral Skills
Critical Thinking
Attention to Detail
Technical and Statistical Skills for Data Analysis
Proficiency in Microsoft Word and Excel
Ability to Create Data Charts

Artistic expressions of family resilience before and since COVID-19

international; family; stress; resilience

Research Mentor: Dr. Donald Karina Donald,
Department, College, Affiliation: Art Education, Fine Arts
Contact Email: kdonald@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors; however preference will be given to psychology, arts, and humanities majors.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-7, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Recorded Zoom meeting links:
https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/share/PzaMNnt4oJ0Oa5-HD2txmAA-jFEn8CdGJIMdJh3JeR86l-FSciRZEYi18Q2zq5vk.ic7r-fmDtdgngcqw__;!!PhOWcWs!3Mg38H6GuGcR8Z-12j7C0t_tmOERf34JO_wTYRbaOzuhCS595a0T--iaBXTX1t5_tuTX0fO9D9huZFuj$
https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/share/gO7xF9qBl9ail3mgs78DpYnUkdDlS84REA1gy_oQovh4Hw9KOYvHwka8nlJ5zoDQ.m_s1e9C6cu5ZX3JN__;!!PhOWcWs!2B-X3mPOHeGudGNmyMrlZKzci6CRxpkYtvq8zPGU4aKYRz_9lTH7GsndbdCEP4srLqY__kM7wwdyHf0W$

Project Description

Moreover, the COVID-19 pandemic has increased families’ level of stress. Researchers explained that participating in creative expression through artmaking can enhance mood, mental state, and provide insight to the psyche. In the Caribbean, artmaking is seen as skill, but engaging in artmaking cultivates resilience. It is unknown how Caribbean families responded to coping with the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the purpose of this project is to explore artistic expressions of resilience among Caribbean families before and since the COVID-19 pandemic. The research question was: what are the artistic descriptions of Caribbean family resilience since COVID-19? This project focuses on the final part of ongoing data collection/research on families in the Caribbean - manuscript preparation. The focus will be on visual arts analyses and manuscript preparation.

Research Tasks: Literature review; arts data analysis; manuscript preparation

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: The research assistant(s) will be working with a team of graduate students and I to analyze visual arts data, manuscript preparation and possibly present at a research conference in late Spring 2024. Therefore, curiosity about the research process is important. Research assistants will need to learn from their experiences and from ongoing collaboration. Although experiences of working in a team is not required, openness to working in a team on a research project is necessary. Skills that will be helpful are: literature review, academic writing, data analysis, and preparation of a manuscript. Writing skills are important because we will be preparing a manuscript. There will be opportunities to learn new skills; therefore, I hope that research assistant(s) will be open to share their triumphs, mistakes, and questions throughout our research relationship.

Habitat Characterization of Central and Western Pacific Seamounts, Necker Ridge, and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands

Seamounts, deep-sea corals, substrate, habitats

Research Mentor: Ms. Sierra Landreth, She / Her
Department, College, Affiliation: Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Science, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: slandreth@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Ms. Virginia Biede She / Her
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: vbiede@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators: Dr. Amy Baco-Taylor She / Her
Faculty Collaborators Email: abacotaylor@fsu.edu

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 4
Relevant Majors: Biology, Geology, Environmental Science, will consider other natural sciences
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10, During business hours
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday, September 6th from 1:00 - 1:30 PM https://fsu.zoom.us/j/92209140462
Video Recording: https://clipchamp.com/watch/j2cPHmSOr9q

Project Description

The goal of this project is to review deep-sea remotely operated vehicle videos to help characterize substrate on seamounts of seamounts in the central and western Pacific, Necker Ridge, and the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. There is potential for this project to develop into characterization of habitats and comparisons among sites.

Research Tasks: Tasks for this project will include review of videos in image analysis software, characterization of substrate types, data entry, and future potential for data analysis.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Strong excel skills required
Image J, BIIGLE, or coral point count software experience not required but would be helpful
R or GIS software experience helpful but not required

Selective Reporting in State Media of Authoritarian Regimes

Authoritarian Regimes, Mass Media, Text Analysis

Research Mentor: Qing Wang,
Department, College, Affiliation: Political Science, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: qwang10@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Political Science, Sociology, and other related social science majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 hours/week, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Friday, September 8, 3-4pm, zoom link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/91905078895

Project Description

How do state media in authoritarian countries influence public opinion through selective reporting of international events? Leaders in authoritarian regimes utilize the centralized control of mass media to shape the rhetoric and to direct the information flow of what types of news could enter the public discursive space. On the other hand, there are potential backlashes against the leader if the alternation or lack of information becomes visible to the public. Using the country case of China, this project examines the type of foreign news that is reported by the state media and the rhetoric used to frame sensitive events.

Research Tasks: Literature review, Internet-based data and information search, data analysis

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Have taken the core seminar in comparative politics and research method (recommended);
Data analysis experience in R (recommended)

Density functional theory simulations of metals

materials simulations, python, high-performance computing

Research Mentor: Prof. Chen Huang,
Department, College, Affiliation: Department of Scientific Computing, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: chuang3@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 2-5 hours , Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Alloys play a critical role in the industry, such as nickel and cobalt-based super-alloys utilized in jet engines. Computer simulations provide a powerful way for understanding and predicting alloy properties. Among many methods, orbital-free density functional theory (OF-DFT) is a highly promising method for large-scale alloy simulations. The accuracy of OF-DFT hinges upon two key elements: (a) the kinetic energy density functional and (b) the local pseudopotentials. In our group, we recently developed highly accurate local pseudopotentials for all metallic elements in the periodic table, which is a significant advancement toward OF-DFT simulations of large-scale alloys. The goal of this project is to assess the performance of these pseudopotentials. The students will (a) gain hands-on experience with material modeling utilizing DFT software, (b) learn how to work in a high-performance computing environment, and (c) write Python scripts to calculate material properties based on the results from DFT simulations.

Research Tasks: The students will perform DFT simulations, gather data, and analyze the data using Python programming.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: No programming or computation experience is required. The student will be trained in this project.

Social Media's Role in First-Generation Teens' College Choice System: A Multiple Case Study

Social media, College choice, First-generation students

Research Mentor: Ms. Daeun Jung, she/her/hers
Department, College, Affiliation: Educational Psychology and Learning Systems, Education
Contact Email: dj19@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Open to all majors.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 hours a week, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Despite the importance of college access, postsecondary education perpetuates educational inequity. Social media, integral to teens' daily lives, can be a valuable tool, especially for marginalized teens, aiding them in their college choices. This multiple case study investigates how potential first-generation students make college choices and the role of social media in their college choice system. Interviews and social media diaries captured participants' perceptions and experiences. Based on findings, I propose suggestions for educators, higher education institutions, and social media stakeholders to support marginalized college-bound teens.

Research Tasks: Literature review, Data collection, Data analysis

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Qualitative data (e.g., interview, diary) analysis skills required

Buying and Selling Foreign Aid: Donor Motivations and Public Perceptions of Foreign Aid

foreign aid, international relations, United Nations

Research Mentor: Mr. Zachary Houser,
Department, College, Affiliation: Political Science, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: zhouser@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Political Science
International Affairs
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday, September 6th from 2:00-2:30 PM (https://fsu.zoom.us/my/zacharyhouser)
Wednesday, September 6th from 2:30-3:00 PM (https://fsu.zoom.us/my/zacharyhouser)
Wednesday, September 6th from 3:30-4:00 PM (https://fsu.zoom.us/my/zacharyhouser)

Project Description

With mass economic disparities between the Global North and the Global South, prosperous nations across the globe collectively allocate over 150 billion dollars a year in financial aid to developing countries. Foreign aid allocations have developed into a crucial tool that states use to advance their interests at home and abroad. Nations give countries foreign aid to achieve domestic and international political objectives, solve global crises, and to gain international or regional status and influence. Donor nations use foreign aid to help domestic industries by requiring recipient nations to open their markets for donor nation exports and by mandating that a certain percentage of the aid they allocate be used to buy products from the donor nation. The allocation of foreign aid can be instrumental for donor nations in achieving their foreign policy goals. States use foreign aid to bring conflicts to an end, buy United Nations Security Council (UNSC) votes, attain access to natural resources, and to influence the policies of the recipient. Additionally, donor nation can turn to foreign aid to enhance their international status.
This project explores how an aid-for-policy deal with one donor nation impacts other donor nation’s ability to make aid-for-policy deals with the same recipient state. I argue that the effect of foreign aid on a recipient state's behavior is conditional on 1) how much aid a recipient state receives from donor nations and 2) how many donor nations give the recipient state foreign aid. Viewing foreign aid as a network, where countries are the nodes and the directed weighted edges are the amount of foreign aid donor nations allocate to recipient states, I test to see how a state's position in the network (who they get aid from and how much they receive from each node) changes when they are serving as a nonpermanent member in the United Nations Security Council. I argue that a state’s position in the network before it’s term on the Security Council effects the amount of aid that is required to “buy” its vote.

Research Tasks: literature review
data collection
combining datasets
data analysis (optional)


Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Excel - required
R - recommended (not at all necessary but would be a plus!)