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Undergraduate Research

DeVito Scholars program | Undergraduate Research Trainee program

DeVito Scholars

College of Education (COE) scholarship recipients may be invited to participate in the Alfred DeVito Scholars Program, a first year seminar class that includes an opportunity to research with a COE professor during the second semester of your freshman year. Examples of recent DeVito Scholar projects include:

  • The Role of a Mathematical Incubation Period and Mathematical Creativity within a Classroom Setting
  • The Effects of Massive Multiplayer Online Role Playing Games (specifically “World of Warcraft”) on Civic Engagement
  • Developing Psychological Safety in the Classroom
  • Total School Cluster Grouping Project
  • Project HOPE (Having Opportunities Promotes Excellence)
  • Lesson Planning Using “Darfur Is Dying” and “3rd World Farmer”
  • Perfectionism in the Gifted
  • Video vs Word/Picture Directions for Special Need Students
  • School Counseling and Child Development Mock IEP Project
  • Identity Development in Gifted Individuals
  • Science Learning Through Engineering Design
  • Differentiating Instruction
  • Teacher Self-Efficacy
  • Science Picture Books in Early Elementary Grades
  • Effects of Video and Text on Memory Recall
  • Use of Audio Recorders in Grocery Shopping by Special Needs High School Students
  • How Music Affects Learning
  • How Governments Influence Standards and Content in Teaching Social Studies
  • Literacy Access
  • Tag Pen Research

 

Undergraduate Research Trainee (URT) Program

The Undergraduate Research Training Program (URT) in the College of Education provides research experiences for qualified undergraduate students at the sophomore, junior or senior level in any academic discipline who are interested in research on teaching and learning. Selection for the program is based in academic credentials and interest in the program. Generally, a cumulative index of 3.00 is expected for admission to the program. The program consists of two components.

1. Research Experience

Each trainee works with a professor in education for a period of two semesters, approximately 6 hours per week, in much the same manner as a graduate assistant. In assigning trainees to professors, consideration is given to the student's background and interests as well as to the professor's needs. Professors are encouraged to involve their trainees in as many of the tasks related to doing research as possible. These tasks may include defining a research problem, creating research materials, collecting data, analyzing data, and writing research reports. Trainees receive a stipend of $900 for the academic year. Due to the extensive time demands that are typical for those students who are student teaching, it is recommended that students who plan to student teach should not plan to participate in the URT program during the academic year in which they plan to student teach.

2. Course on Research Methods in Education

Each trainee participates in a weekly course for which he or she receives three credits per semester (EDPS 53300 in the fall and EDPS 53400 in the spring semester). Due to the variety of disciplines represented by students in the program the course takes a broad, interdisciplinary approach in considering the various ways of investigating human behavior.

Project Examples

Examples of recent project involving URT program students include:

  • Supporting written expression in secondary students with and without disabilities using leveled procedural facilitators
  • Language-based Content Approach for English Language Learners: Academic Language in the Content Areas in Elementary School
  • Cross-cultural Validation of Translated My Class Activities (MCA)
  • Leadership Development Program Evaluation: Formative and Summative Assessment of Research and Training Related to Special Populations
  • Body-Type Bullying
  • Reading and Social Imagination: A Developmental Study
  • Preparing to Teach Algebra: A Study of Teacher Education
  • Preservice Teachers and the Study Abroad Experience
  • An empowering social and emotional learning curriculum for urban youth
  • Evaluating the use of iPads in communication intervention for learners with autism
  • Nurturing Multiplicative Reasoning in Students with Learning Difficulties in a Computerized Conceptual-Modeling Environment
  • The vocabulary acquisition of preschool ELLs through multimedia storybook reading
  • Constructing a dataset to support policy analysis in gifted education
  • The Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts
  • Scientific Literacy Project
  • Get Your Mind Right: A qualitative investigation of a critically conscious altrenative high school for urban youth
  • Preparing teachers for the common core
  • The mediating role of stereotype threat and achievement goals in the regulation of scientific motivation
  • Leadership development program longitudinal follow-up participant evaluation
  • The POET Project: Investigating the use of visualization to effectively teach optimization modeling skills
  • Examining elementary teachers' civic identities
  • Developing higher-education/career-exploring curricula for gifted, Native American HOPE+ scholars
  • Preparing tomorrow's teachers for diverse classrooms: Attitudes, beliefs, and service learning

Application

The call for applications for the following academic year is issued in the spring. Applications are usually due around the first of April. You can apply by completing an application online at http://tiny.cc.URTapp.

Contact Information

For more information, contact:

Professor Youli Mantzicopoulos
Department of Educational Studies
Phone: 494-7247
E-mail: mantzi@purdue.edu