The Office of Student Research at IUPUC is holding its ninth annual Student Research Exhibition on April 16 from 2:30 p.m. – 4 p.m. in the Columbus Learning Center. The exhibition brings together the work of 24 students and 13 faculty mentors to showcase 12 research projects selected for the academic year.

Each student-faculty team received a $1,000 grant from the Office of Student Research to fund their project. To earn a grant, students submitted detailed project proposals, passed a rigorous vetting process by a review committee, and then completed their projects with direction and guidance from a faculty mentor.

“These innovative research projects have important impacts on various target populations and communities. Completing the work has been an excellent opportunity for students to integrate their academic knowledge with professional research,” explained Dr. Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick, who is a professor of English at IUPUC. “Intensive research adds to the overall academic experience for our students and elevates the quality of learning throughout the region.”

The exhibition is free and open to the public, and light refreshments will be served.

Descriptions of the funded projects, along with the names of the student researchers, their majors, and their hometowns follow.

1. Jane Austen’s Persuasion and Influence in the Modern World. Jane Austen is an author whose legacy lives on more than 200 years after her death. Writing works that have influenced literature and feminism, she is revered in communities and organizations worldwide. After attending the Jane Austen Society of North America’s 10th annual festival, the student researchers identified the value this beloved author holds with her devoted fanbase and explored why she is still widely celebrated. 

• Abigail Alderdice | English (Nashville, IN)
• Eden Alderdice | Communications (Nashville, IN)

2. The Role of Movement in Social Perception. This study focuses on how effectively people can rate extraversion, valance, dominance, and arousal by viewing biological movement data presented in the form of point light display videos (PLD). PLD removes any information that is not biological movement, such as gender, physical appearance, facial expressions, information which could otherwise influence ratings.

• Isaac Mauricio Garcia Rojas Aguilar | Mechanical Engineering and Psychology (Columbus, IN)

3. Makeup Use and Self-Esteem in Women. This study examined the correlation between makeup use and self-esteem. An online survey was used to measure makeup use and self-esteem, extraversion, age, other’s approval, and appearance. Results revealed extraversion and self-esteem were positively correlated with makeup use, suggesting that personality may play a role in understanding makeup use.

• Hannah Ballard | Psychology (Greenwood, IN)

4. Unforgetting Poland’s Forgotten Victims: Critical Reflection on Survivor Narratives. This project is a collection of first-person narratives in a web-folio format that captures previously unrecorded stories of Polish Holocaust survivors. The purpose of the digital collection is that it offers these stories to a new generation of readers. The memory web-folio contributes primary research with a digital humanities delivery system. The creative non-fiction web-folio contributes hitherto lost/unfound stories of Polish non-Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. This is a significant and timely contribution of primary narratives to the current discussion of Polish people and their complex and varied roles in the Holocaust.

• Elzbieta Antonina Bidwell | General Studies/Arts & Humanities (Columbus, IN)

5. Synthesizing Crystals to Model Crystalline Structures in Introductory Chemistry Classes. This research project synthesizes crystals in the chemistry lab to demonstrate the real-world examples of crystalline and lattice structures. These will be used in conjunction with 3-D printed models of the same crystalline structures in introductory chemistry classes.

• Nicole Bodi  | Biology (Elizabethtown, IN)
• Adrienne Shea | Mechanical Engineering (Columbus, IN)

6. ASIST for Jackson County. This student project will partially fund the Applied Suicide Intervention Skills Training (ASIST) training program for police officers and other first responders in Jackson County. This training will help to increase positive outcomes to suicide interventions performed by the trained officers.

• Anthony Cox | Nursing (Columbus, IN)
• Brooke Ebbing | Nursing (Brownstown, IN)
• Kylee Hollenbeck | Nursing (Columbus, IN)
• Danielle Shelley | Nursing (Seymour, IN)
• Jerrica Wischmeier | Nursing (Brownstown, IN)

7. Pressure Ulcer Prevention Among Residents at a Long-Term Care Facility in South Central Indiana. The purpose of this research project is to provide education to staff members at a long-term care facility in South Central Indiana to enhance their knowledge on the use of Mepilex dressing for pressure ulcer prevention and how to correctly use the Braden score. The student researchers are focusing on preventing pressure ulcers in this extended care facility.  Their research has shown that utilizing silicone foam dressings as a preventative measure reduces incidents of facility-acquired pressure ulcers. Staff education is needed to assess and prevent pressure ulcers.

• Alex Day | Nursing (Scipio, IN)
• Michelle Fitzsimmons | Nursing (Columbus, IN)
• Elizabeth Leech | Nursing (Columbus, IN)
• Kailee Lynn | Nursing (Indianapolis, IN)
• Lauryn Stephens | Nursing (Columbus, IN)

8. How Well Can Toddlers Self-Regulate? Comparing Temperamental, Attentional, and Behavioral Predicters of Self-Regulation. In this research project, the researchers are measuring the ability of toddlers to postpone gratification. They are coding videos to examine which behaviors are associated with increased wait time.

• Asher Denny | Psychology (Columbus, IN)

9. How Paper and Digital Children’s Books Support Student Understanding. The purpose of this research project is to explore the impact of paper and digital children’s books on civic science conceptual learning for early readers, specifically Kindergarten or 1^st grade students. The findings can help teachers and teacher candidates understand better how to integrate both print and digital children’s books into curricula to affect meaningful learning.

• Payten Ewing | Elementary Education (Greensburg, IN)
• Kayla Pride | Elementary Education (Brownstown, IN)
• Maycie Asher | Elementary Education (Hope, IN)

10. Ergo-Can: A Better Way to Take Out Your Trash. Current trash can designs make users put unnecessary strains on their bodies by requiring them to lift the bag over the top of the trash can. The objective of this project was to design a trash can to make this household chore easier, specifically for those with back problems. The project resulted in a trash can, dubbed “Ergo-Can,” which meets all customer requirements and engineering constraints. 

• Maya Garcia | Mechanical Engineering (Shelbyville, IN)
• Elizabeth Lynch | Mechanical Engineering (North Vernon, IN)

11. Characterization of a Key Acinetobacter baumannii Iron Scavenging Protein. The purpose of this Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) approved project is to characterize the EntA protein from A. baumannii. This will provide a greater understanding of A. baumanniii’s ability to scavenge iron and to assess the potential of targeting the EntA protein with antibiotics.

• Ciara Phares | Biology (Columbus, IN)

12. Small Scale Weather and Climate Change Study in Columbus, Indiana. Climate change not only means warming temperatures and drought, but it also includes increased precipitation, severe weather, and cooler temperatures in some places. Through altering the soil, climate change will affect Indiana’s forest ecosystems and agriculture. The effects of severe weather such as extreme rainfall and temperature on soil health have not yet been adequately studied in order to predict and manage their effects. This study involved observing the effects of varying amounts of precipitation, sunlight, and temperature on grassy soil located in the recently built Student Experiment & Research Enclosure (SERE). Throughout the study, the concentration of nitrates in soil was tested in order to assess its health. The results allow a greater understanding of how the effects of human-induced climate change may affect Indiana’s forest ecosystems and agriculture.

• Ciara Phares | Biology (Columbus, IN)

For more information, contact Dr. Julie Goodspeed-Chadwick at 812.348.7270 or juligood@iupuc.edu.