UROP Project

paraprofessionals, scaffolding, practice based coaching

Research Mentor: Mrs. Debbie Slik, she, her
Department, College, Affiliation: Florida State University, Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Contact Email: ds02@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Dr. Lindsay Dennis she, her
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: lrdennis@fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: I am open to all majors, but elementary and special education majors would particularly enjoy working on this project.
Project Location: Taylor County Primary School, 1000 Howard Street, Perry FL
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10 hours,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Thursday, September 5th at the following times 2:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.
Friday, September 6th at the following times: 10:00 a.m. - 10:30 a.m., 12:00 p.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/my/debbieslik

Project Description

I am conducting a single-case, multi-probe study involving approximately four pairs of paraprofessionals (teachers’ aides) and students at a voluntary pre-kindergarten (VPK) preschool in Perry, Florida. The focus of my research is to train paraprofessionals to engage in meaningful conversations with students during book reading sessions.

In the baseline phase of the study, each paraprofessional will be voice-recorded while reading a book of their choice to a student who has low language abilities. Once a paraprofessional transitions to the intervention phase, which will be staggered, they will receive a one-time professional development session. This session will cover techniques for scaffolding conversations to extend student dialogue during shared book reading. Research indicates that longer conversations during book reading can enhance children's inferential knowledge, vocabulary, and later reading comprehension.

Following the professional development session, I will offer ongoing coaching support to the paraprofessionals via text messaging. Each paraprofessional will read the same book to their student three times a week and send me voice recordings of these sessions. I will review these recordings and provide feedback for them to incorporate in subsequent sessions. This process will continue for several weeks until a noticeable change in the trend of the reading sessions is observed, compared to the baseline.

Approximately one month after the study concludes, I will collect maintenance data by having the paraprofessionals read a book to their students again to determine if they are still applying the techniques learned during the intervention.

Research Tasks: The UROP student will have several key responsibilities in my study:

Coding Professional Development Implementation: The student will listen to the recordings of the professional development sessions and code them to ensure that the training was consistently and accurately implemented for each paraprofessional.

Coding Shared Book Reading Sessions: The student will code approximately one-third of the voice recordings of the shared book reading sessions to evaluate the use of scaffolding techniques. This will involve identifying and categorizing instances of scaffolding during the reading sessions.

Training in Coding Procedures: The student will receive thorough training in the coding procedures to ensure reliability and accuracy in their coding efforts.

Interrater Reliability: The student will work alongside other coders to assess interrater reliability, ensuring that the coding is consistent across different individuals.

Fidelity Checks: The student will assist in conducting fidelity checks to confirm that the intervention is being implemented as designed.

Data Analysis Assistance: If the student is interested, there may be opportunities to assist with data analysis, contributing to the interpretation and presentation of the study's findings.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: It is recommended that the research assistant have the following skills:

Attention to Detail: The ability to meticulously code and analyze recordings, ensuring accuracy and consistency in the data collected.

Organizational Skills: Strong organizational abilities to manage multiple recordings, coding sheets, and data analysis tasks efficiently.

Technical Proficiency: Basic technical skills, including the use of audio recording software, data entry programs, and possibly statistical analysis software (Excel) if involved in data analysis.

Reliability and Commitment: A dependable and committed attitude towards the project, ensuring timely and consistent completion of tasks.

Critical Thinking: A willingness to learn basic tenets of research that involves critical thinking about the collection and interpretation of the data.

Confidentiality: Understanding the importance of maintaining confidentiality and ethical standards when handling sensitive data related to students and their educational progress.

reading, feeling, literature, nature, imagery, Japan

Research Mentor: Prof. or Dr. Matthew Mewhinney,
Department, College, Affiliation: Modern Languages & Linguistics, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: mmewhinney@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: 6
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,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Friday, Sept. 6, 12:00pm-12:30pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98263296771)
Friday, Sept. 6, 12:30pm-1:00pm (https://fsu.zoom.us/j/98711781735)

Project Description

This research project explores the experience of reading works of Japanese literature in English translation. The goal is to locate and document passages in the narrative that invite the reader's sympathy/empathy. Such passages include descriptions of natural imagery (e.g., sky, sea, water, mountains), human loss (e.g., the death of a character), grieving/mourning, and forms of healing or renewal. The student will be assigned any number of Japanese titles (all novels or works of prose fiction that have been translated into English) to read over the course of one or more semesters. The number of titles will depend on the student's UROP work hours and how long it takes for the student to finish reading a novel. The student will keep a digital reading log, where he/she/they types out passages from the text. In the process the student will learn how to practice proper citation. The student will meet with the research mentor at least once a month to share the reading log and report on reading progress.

Research Tasks: literature review (reading Japanese fiction in English translation), data collection (typing quotes/passages onto a word document/spreadsheet)

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: Being able to read English fluently
Required: Being able to use Microsoft Office (e.g., Microsoft Word and/or Microsoft Excel)
Recommended: Being interested in reading great works of literature (e.g., prose fiction, novels), especially those from a different cultural context (i.e., Japan).

social psychology, race, harm, electric shock, perceptions, prejudice, stereotypes

Research Mentor: Dr. David March,
Department, College, Affiliation: Psychology, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: march@psy.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Tara Lesick she/her/hers
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: lesick@psy.fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: psychology, neuroscience, criminology/criminal justice
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 9,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Tuesday, September 3 at 2:00-2:30pm https://fsu.zoom.us/j/97436793901

Project Description

The ongoing study questions whether the race of the agent (i.e., person doing them harm) impacts the perceptions of harm felt by the victim. This study involves the use of confederates (Black- and White-passing female and males) briefly meeting with participants and engaging in a reaction time “game” where the loser will be shocked presumably by the winner. In reality, the shock is already pre-programmed and standardized across all participants. Participants are asked about their harm perception when they “lose” and what shock intensity they would like to choose for the confederate to receive when they “win”.
In our lab, we consistently find an automatic Black-physical threat association, meaning people tend to associate Black compared to White males with physical threat. Thus, it is possible harm perception may be altered depending on the race (and most likely gender due to gender stereotypes) of the person participants believe are shocking them.


Research Tasks: The research assistant will be responsible for being the confederate, pulling the data once data collection concludes, help analyze and interpret the data, and help brainstorm future ideas based on the results. Research assistants may also conduct other studies performed in the lab and conduct literature review(s).

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Time management
Drive to learn
Effective communication
Background in psychology (i.e., took general psychology)

Trade, labor, international agreements, economics, human rights

Research Mentor: Chris Gahagan, he/him
Department, College, Affiliation: Political Science, Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: cgahagan@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, preference for those in the social sciences.
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/94540642031

Meeting ID: 945 4064 2031

Tuesday, 9/3/2024, 4:30 pm to 5:00 pm

Project Description

This project investigates if trade agreements with labor protections reduces economic informality compared to trade agreements that do not have labor protections. Specifically, this project will include a time-series cross-sectional analysis of trade agreements on the size of the informal economy for a global sample of countries and free trade agreements.

The informal economy is surprisingly large, consisting of 61% of the global workforce and comprising over 2 billion individuals. Informal work often includes dangerous and low paying jobs, and is known to increase inequality and hurt sustainable development. Previously, trade agreements were thought to increase informal employment due to a lack of protections for workers, and a "race-to-the-bottom" approach that firms employed to stay competitive. However, starting with the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), labor protections started to be explicitly entered into trade agreements, with the goal of protecting worker's rights in both developed and developing countries. This project aims to see whether these new trade agreements have successfully protected labor rights, with the observable implication being a reduction in the size of the informal economy.

Research Tasks: Tasks include literature reviews as well as qualitative and quantitative data collection. Qualitative data collection includes investigating individual trade agreements to see what (if any) enforcement mechanisms are present to protect labor rights. Additionally, reading labor and trade agreement reports from IOs such as the International labor organization (ILO), and NGOs such as Human Rights Watch or Amnesty international will be necessary. Quantitative data collection will involve help creating a trade agreement dataset with and without labor protections, as well as data on the informal economy. If a student is comfortable, minor data analysis may be done, but not necessary.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: required skills:
- able to read through complex agreements and pick out important facts and information
- use of search engines and google scholar to find academic articles and read reports from IOs and NGOs.
- basic data entry such as in Microsoft excel

Recommended skills:
- knowledge of the R programming software/language
- some background in international relations, political economy, economics, and human rights
- very minor data analysis

early childhood, farm to school, school garden, professional development, teachers

Research Mentor: Ms. Camille Lewis, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Educational Psychology: Learning and Cognition, Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Contact Email: clewis5@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: teacher education, nutrition, early childhood education, education, psychology, family sciences, developmental psychology
Project Location: 459 Famu Wy, Tallahassee, FL 32307
Research Assistant Transportation Required: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Tuesday, September 3rd 12:00-12:30 -Topic: UROP Info Session
Time: Sep 3, 2024 12:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://us02web.zoom.us/j/81111366715?pwd=bgtXDd8thrludIB24bLXN4sEfNqGzq.1

Meeting ID: 811 1136 6715
Passcode: 140237

Project Description

This qualitative case study aims to explore how targeted professional development influences early childhood educators’ self-efficacy and foundational beliefs within a farm-to-school setting. The research specifically examines the impact of the training on educators' abilities to teach gardening, nutrition, and healthy eating.

Research Tasks: As a Research Assistant for this project, you will be involved in various key tasks essential to the research process. Your responsibilities will include:

Data Transcription:
Accurately transcribe audio recordings of interviews, focus groups, and other data collection sessions.
Ensure high-quality, error-free transcriptions that are ready for analysis.

Data Coding:
Assist in coding qualitative data using established frameworks and software.
Collaborate with the research team to identify themes, patterns, and significant insights from the data.

Report Creation:
Contribute to the development of comprehensive reports summarizing research findings.
Ensure reports are well-organized, clear, and adhere to APA 7 formatting guidelines.

Dissemination Materials:
Help create materials for sharing research findings with various stakeholders, including presentations, brochures, and summaries.
Ensure dissemination materials are engaging, informative, and accessible to a broad audience.

Dialogue and Discussion:
Participate in discussions and meetings to interpret findings and refine research questions.
Engage with the research team in reflective dialogue to enhance understanding and application of the research

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required Skills:

Strong attention to detail and commitment to producing high-quality work.
Excellent written and verbal communication skills.
Experience with qualitative research methods and data analysis software (e.g., NVivo, Atlas.ti) is preferred.
Ability to work collaboratively in a team-oriented environment.
Familiarity with APA 7 formatting guidelines.
Basic understanding of educational psychology and agriculture education is advantageous.

clinical psychology; safety behavior; self-injury

Research Mentor: Emma R. Edenbaum, she/her
Department, College, Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: edenbaum@psy.fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Dr. Victor Buitron he/him
Research Assistant Supervisor Email: buitron@psy.fsu.edu
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Psychology; Exploratory/Undeclared
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Friday, September 6, 2024, 11-11:30am: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/91820056634
Meeting ID: 918 2005 6634
Zoom Recording: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1C2ITtbFwSIRL77A4M3XOgOmWE4xsY_VK/view?usp=sharing
(email edenbaum@psy.fsu.edu if you cannot access this link)

Project Description

Self-triggering is a relatively new construct as a focal point of empirical investigation, beginning with Bellet et al. (2020). Thus far, it has been studied in the context of posttraumatic stress disorder (Bellet et al., 2020; McGhie et al., 2023; Musicaro et al., 2023), despite its emergence in other disorders such as nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI) disorder (Brown et al., 2020) and its similar functions to direct self-harming behaviors (Bellet et al., 2020). The only existing assessment of self-triggering, the Self-Triggering Questionnaire (STQ; Bellet et al., 2020), ties the behavior to a traumatic event, which is not applicable to all individuals who engage in said behavior, and likens it to nonsuicidal self-injury, despite there being no involvement of physical harm to the body. This multiphasic study aims, first, to clarify the nature of self-triggering when instead framed as a safety behavior not unique to posttraumatic stress, and second, to incorporate the qualitative qualities gleaned into the existing Self-Triggering Questionnaire (Bellet et al., 2020).

Research Tasks: This student will be involved in data collection in the form of qualitative interviewing and quantitative self-reports, and will be guided through data analyses in R (e.g., qualitative coding, exploratory factor analysis, analysis of covariance- and regression-based techniques).

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required:
Because this study involves client-facing qualitative interviewing, a research assistant must be capable and willing to maintain professionalism during discussions of sensitive content (e.g., events provoking post-traumatic stress, imagery of nonsuicidal self-injury and suicide). Relatedly, a research assistant must also have strong communication skills and a team-oriented mindset that allows for collaboration and open discussions.
A research assistant must also be interested in pursuing clinical psychology as a career path and show obvious excitement and passion for this work.
Recommended:
A research assistant should be academically familiar with clinical psychology (e.g., current or past enrollment in a psychology course).

Psychology, Clinical Psychology, Measurement, Minority Stress

Research Mentor: Jaime Garcia, He/Him/His
Department, College, Affiliation: Department of Psychology, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: jrg23e@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: No, the project is remote
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 5-10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Tuesday, Sept. 3rd from 5-5:30
Thursday, Sept. 5th from 5-5:30
Friday, Sept. 6th from 4-4:30

All will use the following zoom link: https://fsu.zoom.us/j/4758652269

For those unable to attend the session, you can watch a brief overview recording here! https://drive.google.com/file/d/1WTG8DeALRZsJiDHufkGB98fL3pBBkAFd/view?usp=sharing

Project Description

Current literature states that there is a significant relationship between appropriated racial oppression (ARO; also known as internalized racism) and the incidence of poor mental health outcomes in individuals who identify as racial/ethnic minorities. This includes elevated rates of anxiety, depression, and suicidal ideation among others. Left unaddressed, these may lead to the development of psychopathology that cause great distress and require psychological intervention.
However, current work has been lacking in terms of establishing a causal link between ARO and these negative mental health outcomes. Most studies have highlighted correlations between these variables, and we aim to address this. In developing and refining a novel survey that will further examine how ARO can lead to negative mental health outcomes, we seek to bridge this gap and open further lines of research that can address distress caused by race-related concerns.
This project will involve preparing and implementing this novel tool as we refine it over time with potential for further lab-based studies.

Research Tasks: Students should expect to gain experience in literature review, participant recruitment, scale development, data collection/analysis, and developing their own research projects. Students will be encouraged to ask questions and develop their own ideas for how this project may grow and relate to their own interests.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Required: Strong writing skills, open mind, clear communication skills
Recommended: Strong interest in minority stress/psychology research
Training for specific tasks will be provided.

Information Costs, Statistical Experiments

Research Mentor: Yonggyun Kim,
Department, College, Affiliation: Economics , Social Sciences and Public Policy
Contact Email: ykim22@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor):
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators: Xiaoyu Cheng
Faculty Collaborators Email: xc22f@fsu.edu

Looking for Research Assistants: No
Number of Research Assistants: 1
Relevant Majors: Economics
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: In-person
Approximate Weekly Hours: 8,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

This research project aims to test the property of information cost functions known as Blackwell monotonicity. Blackwell monotonicity is a key property that describes how the cost of acquiring information should change as the quality of information improves. To explore this, we will first build a theoretical framework predicting the behavior of information cost functions under Blackwell monotonicity. Following this, we will design and conduct an empirical experiment to test these theoretical predictions.

Research Tasks: Data Collection



Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Real Analysis required
Linear Algebra required

Data Science, AI, Electric Vehicle, Smart Cities

Research Mentor: Guang Wang,
Department, College, Affiliation: Computer Science, Arts and Sciences
Contact Email: guang.wang@fsu.edu
Research Assistant Supervisor (if different from mentor): Lin Jiang
Research Assistant Supervisor Email:
Faculty Collaborators:
Faculty Collaborators Email:

Looking for Research Assistants: Yes
Number of Research Assistants: 2
Relevant Majors: Computer Science, Data Science
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Fully Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Not participating in the Roundtable

Project Description

Despite billions of dollars of federal investments that promote transportation electrification, the state of Florida is still largely left behind with very low EV penetration and few charging resources. EV usage may be more beneficial for environmental, social, and economic sustainability. A key challenge for large-scale EV adoption is the inaccessibility of public charging infrastructure. Hence, in this project, we propose to develop a data-driven optimization framework for EV charging infrastructure deployment. In doing so, we aim to address multiple complicated technical and real-world challenges by performing the following tasks.
(i) Understanding the current charging station distribution in Florida.
(ii) Predicting charging demand in a fine-grained region, e.g., census block or zip code level.
(iii) Combining the predicted charging demand with other real-world conditions like population and POI distributions, we plan to design a decision-support tool to help deploy charging infrastructure by balancing different practical factors, such as (a) improving charging infrastructure accessibility and fairness to satisfy charging demand of EVs in different regions, (b) increasing charging resource utilization to improve the profitability of operators, and (c) reducing potential impacts on power grids, etc.


Research Tasks: Students will conduct a comprehensive literature review about electric vehicle (EV) adoption and charging infrastructure deployment. Different datasets including mobility data, charging station data, and US census data will be analyzed. Machine learning models will be built for charging station siting and charging demand prediction.

Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Data collection and analysis skills are required.
Experience in Python is required.

Common App, quantitative research, college readiness, student success, social science

Research Mentor: just Sam is fine..! Sam Luby, He/him
Department, College, Affiliation: Education Leadership and Policy Studies, Education, Health, and Human Sciences
Contact Email: sml23@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: Education, Sociology, Social Science, Data Science....

Open to all majors
Project Location: On FSU Main Campus
Research Assistant Transportation Required:
Remote or In-person: Partially Remote
Approximate Weekly Hours: 10,
Roundtable Times and Zoom Link: Topic: Roundtable #1: Investigating the influence of high school activities on undergraduate degree success
Time: Sep 4, 2024 02:30 PM - 03:30PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/99661490854?pwd=uwmoMBwAslsOuC5Q0o5FZNHwbgbDva.1

Meeting ID: 996 6149 0854
Passcode: 951800

Topic: Roundtable #2: Investigating the influence of high school activities on undergraduate degree success
Time: Sep 6, 2024 03:00 PM - 04:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

Join Zoom Meeting
https://zoom.us/j/98199461631?pwd=P5rn5aeMbcVILR0JiMb24RCgSZYSen.1

Meeting ID: 981 9946 1631
Passcode: 978247

Project Description

In collaboration between CLASS (Collaborative Lab for Advancing Student Success) and the FSU Undergraduate Admissions Office, the entire project is focused on connecting data between matriculated students’ Common App descriptive and activity sections with their degree progress information to deduce the relationship between high school activities and university success. Essentially, we are trying to explore the impact on pre-college activities during high school on a student’s success during their undergraduate degree at Florida State University.

In this project, we will be using admissions and university student data. Your role is to help collect, clean, and organize the data, along with creating a literature review on the topic. The intention is for you to contribute to the data efforts of the larger project, while creating your own mini-research paper, using parts of this data, to explore similar concepts of education, social science, college readiness, and student success

This project is ideal for someone interested in a career in research and data science, particularly with an interest in social sciences, public policy, or education. This will be a significant boon to your undergraduate portfolio. This can be completely remote if you prefer, but I'll be on-campus to meet too.


Research Tasks: Collect Common App and undergraduate student degree progress data, clean it based on the team’s variables and groupings, and begin organizing it
Conduct literature reviews on related topics of student success and college readiness
Produce own final research paper on related topic using the data


Skills that research assistant(s) may need: Recommended to have background knowledge about Statistics, SPSS, or other social science and quantitative tools