*** Diversifying Tallahassee’s Bicentennial

theater, reenactment, Florida history, Tallahassee

Research Mentor: Dr. Benjamin Gunter, he, his, him
Department, College, Affiliation: Theater with a Mission, Fine Arts
Contact Email: bgunter@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Ms. Idy Codington she, hers, her
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: idycodington@gmail.com
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 6
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: 7.5, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Tuesday, September 5, 1-1:30 p.m. https://fsu.zoom.us/j/95487611987
Wednesday, September 6, 12 noon till 12:30 p.m. https://fsu.zoom.us/j/97416456369
Thursday, September 7, 4-4:30 p.m. https://fsu.zoom.us/j/96513843468

You can view a recording of our Zoom presentation here:
https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/share/8obk8wRAMkMEirmzDCPdnct0aJdyXYgByf3uiad-MP8LjengYY8FX_8v-N-oo3Rv.ajDqEZCv0qpM0NVo

Project Description

Step inside Tallahassee’s Bicentennial and discover Florida’s multicultural roots. Join a diverse investigative team with two mentors to research what happened when Florida Territory decided it needed a new capital. Investigate the backstory of the two commissioners who were appointed to select the new capital city’s site in 1823. Explore the culture of Natives who had already homesteaded New Tallahassee, the Blacks who had already established villages in Apalachee country, and the crackers who were already farming Florida between the Apalachicola and the Suwannee. Document the proclamation that made Tallahassee into Florida’s lawmaking center in 1824. Examine the laws that early Territorial Councils passed and connect them to culture wars today. See your research turn into theatrical time-travel and hands-on activities at public events that explore Tallahassee’s Bicentennial in 2024.

Research Tasks: We’ll start with orientation. You’ll get a crash course in how Tallahassee became Florida Territory’s capital through assigned readings – selected passages from histories like "Red, White and Bluebloods in Frontier Florida" and "Antebellum Tallahassee," plus deep dives into primary documents like the journals of Williams and Simmons (the two commissioners appointed to select the new capital’s site). You’ll get to see what you’re reading about, first person, in targeted group excursions to authentic Territorial sites (e.g., Lake Jackson Mounds, Mission San Luis, Goodwood Museum & Gardens, and the Tallahassee Museum).

We’ll proceed to specialization. You’ll select one facet of Tallahassee’s origin story that speaks to you, and become our resident expert on that particular aspect of the Bicentennial. You’ll build an annotated bibliography of sources about that person/place/cultural activity – sources that flesh out how Floridians can connect with that character/law/duel/structure/recipe/portrait/food today. With the help of two mentors and five fellow UROP members, you’ll dig up primary sources that document your chosen family/focus/financial shenanigan and produce research-based suggestions for how to reenact a high point from your point of view during Tallahassee’s Two Hundredth.


Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Five essential skills are required for succeeding in “Diversifying Tallahassee’s Bicentennial”:
1. Curiosity, since the past does not reveal itself unless you look for it.
2. Collaboration, since reconstructing context makes history come to life, for you, your teammates, and your audiences.
3. Commitment to learning, since every research project demands diligence, hits snags, and profits by calling others in to help.
4. Time management, since UROP calls for averaging 7.5 hours of work per week over 2 semesters of research, and a project this large calls for breaking big goals into manageable bites.
5. Technological know-how, since your research will involve strategic use of digital libraries, our team meetings will include Zoom, and your research progress will be posted on a Google Drive.

Acculturation and Translation of the s-FCCHL

health literacy, psychometric tool, Spanish language, health equity

Research Mentor: Dr. Carli Zegers, she/her/hers
Department, College, Affiliation: College of Nursing , Nursing
Contact Email: czegers@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: health based majors
Project Location: Innovation Park
Research Assistant Transportation Required: Yes
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: Tuesday, Sept 5, 3-330, https://fsu.zoom.us/j/93522021510
Thursday, Sept 7, 1-130, https://fsu.zoom.us/j/92720644829

Project Description

Looking for assistance with data analysis and manuscript development from two datasets focused on health literacy and self-management. The development of manuscripts will include literature reviews and development. Additionally, a pilot study is being completed and will need assistance with data collection and interviews.

Research Tasks: literature review, data collection, conducting interviews

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: literature reviews and citation management - required
data collection (qualtrix) - recommended
interviews (via zoom) - recommended

Distribution of teaching presence in online learning

teaching presence, community of inquiry framework, online learning

Research Mentor: Secil Caskurlu , She/her/hers
Department, College, Affiliation: Educational Psychology and Learning Systems , Education
Contact Email: scaskurlu@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Computer science or psychology
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 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

Teaching presence is one of the essential components of Community of Inquiry framework which focuses on creating meaningful learning experiences in online courses. In this study, the primary objective is to use machine learning approaches to create a library for the automated analysis of interactions between students and online instructors using the teaching presence indicators. The next step will focus on identifying the distribution of teaching presence between and among instructors and students in online learning environments, aligned with the Community of Inquiry Framework.


Research Tasks: The research assistant(s) will assist in literature review, data collection, data preparation, and data analysis. The research mentor will additionally provide guidance to students throughout the research process, ranging from planning to publication.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Recommended skills include programming experience.

Simulation and experimental exploration of radiative cooling

Radiative cooling - Heat transfer - Atmospheric window

Research Mentor: None Luis Angel Porto Hernandez, Him/his
Department, College, Affiliation: Mechanical Engineering Department, FAMU-FSU College of Engineering
Contact Email: lp18bh@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Dr. Dr. Juan Ordonez Him/his
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: jordonez@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators: Dr. Dr. Camilo Ordonez Him/his
Faculty Collaborators Email: co04d@fsu.edu

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Mechanical Engineering
Electrical Engineering
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: FSU and FAMU buses go to Innovation Park
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 7, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Wednesday, Sept. 6th. 4:00-5:00pm
Luis Porto Hernandez is inviting you to a scheduled Zoom meeting.

Topic: UROP Roundtable with Luis Porto
Time: Sep 6, 2023 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://fsu.zoom.us/j/92485297395?pwd=NkZzbUNjQTIzQmtYUUV6bno1Tzg4Zz09

Meeting ID: 924 8529 7395
Passcode: 355370

Project Description

Recently, radiative cooling has been attracting scientific interest as it is a passive method to cool down surfaces and objects on Earth. Usually, no power is needed and no moving parts are involved to take advantage of the effect. This effect is based on an atmospheric window that allows radiation in the wavelength range of 8-13 µm to be released into the cold space surrounding our planet.
The project is looking for a student that can help explore the concept from analytical and experimental fronts. Among the activities that we envision the student participating in, are:
- to review state of the art in radiative cooling,
-to create a mathematical model to simulate the effect,
-to perform experimental validation model, and
-to explore experimentally the effect of surface modifications.

Strong motivation and the willingness to learn some basic programing, instrumentation, data processing, along with the hands-on efforts to manufacture (3D print) components of the experimental setup is expected.

Research Tasks: - Literature review
- Coding
- Set up and run experiments
- Data collection
- Data analysis

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Basic knowledge of heat transfer - Required
Programming skills - Recommended
Basic knowledge on instrumentation - Recommended

Instructional Designers' Use of Data

Instructional design, data-driven decision making

Research Mentor: Secil Caskurlu , She/her/hers
Department, College, Affiliation: Educational Psychology and Learning Systems , Education
Contact Email: scaskurlu@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Psychology
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 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

This multiple case study explores how instructional designers use data to make decisions during the instructional design process. Participants will include full-time instructional designers who are involved in one or more phases of the instructional design process. Data sources will include pre-interview surveys and semi-structured interviews.

Research Tasks: data collection and analysis

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Recommended skills: conducting interviews and initial analysis of interviews

Digital Diaries and Artifacts

digital life, diaries, artifacts, qualitative research

Research Mentor: Dr. or first name is okay, too. Vanessa Dennen, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Florida State University, Education
Contact Email: vdennen@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Fully 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 Sept 6 5:30-6 pm
Thursday Sept 7 12:00-12:30 pm
Same zoom link for both sessions: https://fsu.zoom.us/my/vdennen

Project Description

One way researchers can learn about people's lives is through digital diaries and artifacts. Sometimes these items are naturally generated during the course of a day. Other times, researchers may ask participants to generate and share them so we can see what their everyday lives are like.

This project explores the use of digital diaries and digital artifacts as a form of data collection. Drawing upon the literatures and existing data sets for empirical studies on topics like youth social media use and professional identify development as well as narratives of researchers' experiences, we will explore best practices related to this form of data collection. Additionally, there is the potential to engage in new data collection in the spring and/or to connect with a project actively collecting artifacts and video diaries in the fall.

Research Tasks: At a minimum, you can expect to be involved in systematic literature review, data coding, and data analysis (videos, images, interviews). You will learn to use a variety of tools and techniques. Should we collect additional data in the spring, you will be involved in qualitative interviewing.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Strong organizational skills and attention to detail are needed.

Impressions of First Impressions: An Analysis of People's Thoughts on Their First Impressions of Others

Psychology, Social Psychology, Cognitive Psychology, Attitudes

Research Mentor: Dr. Irmak Olcaysoy Okten, She/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Florida State University, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: okten@psy.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: Psychology, pre-med, sociology, anthropology. education, communication preferred. All social science majors will be considered.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8-10 hours weekly, Flexible schedule (Combination of business and outside of business. TBD between student and research mentor.)
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Link to Zoom recording: https://fsu.zoom.us/rec/play/ZCqq5fdvRYR4d8NfTjlNN54HjCsY0CDZZc7-0lpzp7JqpywuIcxFGppgX9CYW6uRCyFVV0JN0Oyb-zW_.BYVp-ja9-YqUwCGM?canPlayFromShare=true&from=share_recording_detail&continueMode=true&componentName=rec-play&originRequestUrl=https%3A%2F%2Ffsu.zoom.us%2Frec%2Fshare%2FseVa3fwk_IVDWT06YHDe-inNN_sfLn4W60cVpbTdcCEI6QeGB11tZB5Sgg8esI1k.NB4c-CElEXPUAMAe

Project Description

The project aims to explore people's views on their first impressions of others. Past research has shown that first impressions are difficult to change. Do lay people think so? Do such views impact people's attempts to change their impressions when they learn new information about others? We recently developed a scale to measure various characteristics of people's first impressions. The current project aims to improve and validate that scale and examine its power to predict people's actual first impressions.

Research Tasks: The tasks will involve literature review, survey construction (producing questions), programming studies (using online and in-person data collection tools), data collection, content analysis of open-ended responses, preliminary data analysis, and writing research reports.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Research assistants will work as a team, so collaboration skills are required for this position. Previous experience with scientific literature review, using survey construction tools such as Qualtrics, and APA style writing are recommended.

Teens, Teachers, and Online Information

teens, social media, information literacy, school

Research Mentor: Dr. or first name is okay, too. Vanessa Dennen, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Educational Psychology & Learning Systems, Education
Contact Email: vdennen@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
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: Fully 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 Sept 6 5:30-6 pm
Thursday Sept 7 12:00-12:30 pm
Same zoom link for both sessions: https://fsu.zoom.us/my/vdennen

Project Description

This study combines interviews and media diary portfolios to explore how high school students make sense of information they encounter in their everyday online lives via information and communication technologies (ICTs), especially social media, and the role that science, social science, and English teachers play in developing and shaping their information literacy and fluency skills. The study is situated in these disciplines because of the quantity of information and misinformation shared online about science-related topics like climate change and health to civics-related topics like social and political issues. This year we will be engaged in data collection during the fall term and moving into data processing, coding, and analysis during the spring.

Research Tasks: Data collection and processing, including interviews. Data coding and analysis (qualitative data).

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Strong organizational skills and attention to detail are needed.
We will train you on all research-specific skills.
Students need to complete CITI training (“FSU Faculty, Staff, and Students” Social/Behavioral) before beginning any work.

Review of Police Use of Force Policies

policing, justice, violence, race, police reform

Research Mentor: Dr. Tyler McCreary, he/his
Department, College, Affiliation: Geography, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: tmccreary@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Mr. Adam Rose he/him
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: amrose@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 3
Relevant Majors: Geography, Sociology, Political Science, Criminology, Environment and Society
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: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

In light of recent tragic deaths of civilians in police custody, the use of force by law enforcement officers has become a leading topic of public discussion. As a result of these fatal encounters, there has been an increasing demand for police reform in their use of force policies. However, there remains limited systematic research to inform to policy discussions. The Campaign Zero movement, established in 2015, has proposed a set of eight policies to decrease police violence incidents in the United States. To access, whether these eight policies decrease incidents of police use-of-force, this project engages in a comprehensive review of police use-of-force policies across police jurisdictions in Florida. It evaluates what effect adopting the recommended policies, as well as an additional policy mandating the provision of emergency medical services in the event of physical harm, has on rates of reported use of force. We will also examine any demographic trends in the
areas where policies have been adopted.

Research Tasks: Write emails and file information requests asking for use of force polices from different police jurisdictions; conduct policy scan evaluating the policies in place in each jurisdiction; for those interested, participate in statistical and spatial-statistical analysis of data.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Communication skills, policy analysis skills

The Historical Experience of Indigenous Patients in Canadian Assylums

history, history of medicine, history of psychiatry, colonialism, racism, discrimination, Indigenous peoples, Canada, mental illness, assylums

Research Mentor: Dr. Tyler McCreary, he/his
Department, College, Affiliation: Geography, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: tmccreary@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 4
Relevant Majors: History, Geography, Sociology, Psychology, Political Science, Criminology, Environment and Society
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: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

This research project examines the historical experiences of Indigenous patients in the Canadian mental health system from the early twentieth century until the mid-twentieth century (1900-1944). The project particularly explores how Canadian mental health institutions ordered the conduct of care for Indigenous people, and compares it to Indigenous practices of traditional psychological and spiritual care. We examine how settler authorities sought to control care for Indigenous life, presenting Indigenous peoples as broken and lacking the capacity to heal themselves. The objective of this research is threefold. We seek to examine how settler institutions: a) normalized their psychiatric and medical authority to save Indigenous people; b) erased the coexistence of Indigenous healing practices, and c) consistently neglected consideration of the broader the violence of colonialism as a source of Indigenous psychological and spiritual harm.

Research Tasks: students will engage in: identifying Indigenous patient records; collecting reports on conditions in the provincial hospitals and photographic material on mental health hospitals; preliminary document analysis; review of the relevant academic literature

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: archival research, historical document analysis, critical reading skills