The semi-annual Showcase of Undergraduate Research Findings for students in the College of Education and Human Performance took place Wednesday, March 18th in the Teaching Academy on the UCF campus. Once again offering an opportunity for students to present proposed research or projects currently underway, the showcase is an invaluable experience for students to receive in-progress feedback from faculty mentors, staff, and even information and research experts from the UCF Library system.
“This year, people took it to a whole other level,” said Pryia Persaud, SURF Club president and organizer for the Showcase. “Instead of just posters, they created binders and brought all of their research, all of their questions, and everything they found with them to accompany their presentations. (CEDHP) has never really had enough posters and presentations to participate in the University-wide showcase, but now we do and we have our own category for the College of Education and Human Performance. That’s something we have wanted to do since last year and we were able to accomplish that goal this year.”
The spring showcase, held in room 117 in the Teaching Academy this time around, had expanded space available for presenters, and there were more than enough students participating to fill the space.
“We have around 34 presenters this time, and the majority of our presenters come from a research class that has started in the College,” Morgan Futch, graduate assistant for the CEDHP Office of Research tells us. “During the class they learn about research and are then asked as one of their final projects to present here at this poster presentation. And if they are really dedicated or get pretty excited about research, we encourage them to apply for SURE. In the end we’re hoping that we get more of our students involved there because they haven’t necessarily been in the past.”
Posters and projects once again covered a wide range of topics and research areas, from teacher retention and professional development to the benefits and impacts of recess on student success.
“My research project investigates the correlation between free, unstructured recess during the school day and development of leadership abilities or qualities,” student and presenter Meridith Doerstling tells us. “I really appreciated all the time we took in class to share with each other and Dr. Wise, and I got a lot of feedback and was able to refine a lot of what I had. So I felt a lot more confident about what I was able to put on my board and present today at the Showcase.”
The CEDHP Showcase of Undergraduate Research Findings takes place twice a year and provides students with opportunities to refine and improve their research before participating in the University’s Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, a part of the 2015 Student Research Week at UCF.