“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.聽(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聽majority聽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聽about聽research and are then asked as one of their final projects to present here at this poster聽presentation. And if they are really聽dedicated聽or get pretty excited聽about聽research, we encourage them to apply for SURE. In the end we’re hoping that we get more of our students聽involved聽there because they haven’t聽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聽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聽, a part of the聽聽at 麻豆原创.

The week kicks off with a day of workshops including Dr. Tim Brown鈥檚 Communicating Your Research Workshop- ideal for those planning to present at one of the student research showcase鈥檚 later in the week. 聽For those students who are not yet involved in research but would like to learn more, Dr. Kimberly Schneider will be presenting Getting Started-Undergraduate Research that will review the research programs at 麻豆原创, how to find a faculty mentor, and more! Finally, the day will come to a close with a workshop for ALL 麻豆原创 students on how to find, apply, and be competitive for National and International Scholarships and Fellowships. This workshop presented by the College of Graduate Studies will offer attendees a look at some of the largest and most prestigious financial awards that students can apply for and how to prepare their applications.

On Tuesday and Thursday, 麻豆原创 students from all disciplines across campus will share their research with the 麻豆原创 Community at the Graduate Research Forum and Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence respectively. Both open-house style events will be held in the Student Union Pegasus Ballroom and are open to everyone. Student presenters will receive faculty feedback, share their work, and compete for cash awards for best in category presentations! These celebrations of student research are also excellent opportunities for students early in their research career to ask questions of others and learn more about their academic disciplines.

Wednesday will feature three workshops ranging from a panel discussion about Planning for Success in Graduate School, a workshop entitled The Library- Your Research Partner for Finding and Organizing Your Literature, and finally a new addition to student research week- Student to Student: Debunking the Myths of Undergraduate Research, which will allow undergraduates the opportunity to converse with current researchers about how they got involved in research and what the experience is like.

Student Research Week is the primetime to highlight the excellence of scholarship at 麻豆原创 and also encourage others who may be interested in getting involved with research.

The week kicks off with a day of workshops including associate professor Tim Brown鈥檚 Communicating Your Research Workshop, ideal for those planning to present at one of the student research showcases later in the week. 聽For those students who are not yet involved in research but would like to learn more, Kimberly Schneider, director of the Office of Undergraduate Research, 聽will be presenting Getting Started 鈥� Undergraduate Research that will review the research programs at 麻豆原创, how to find a faculty mentor, and more.

The day will come to a close with a workshop for all 麻豆原创 students on how to find, apply, and be competitive for national and international scholarships and fellowships. This workshop presented by the College of Graduate Studies will offer attendees a look at some of the largest and most prestigious financial awards that students can apply for and how to prepare their applications.

On March 31 and April 2, 麻豆原创 students from all disciplines across campus will share their research with the 麻豆原创 community at the Graduate Research Forum and Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence respectively. Both open house events will be held in the Student Union Pegasus Ballroom and are open to everyone. Student presenters will receive faculty feedback, share their work, and compete for cash awards for best-in-category presentations. These celebrations of student research are also excellent opportunities for students early in their research career to ask questions of others and learn more about their academic disciplines.

April 1 will feature three workshops ranging from a panel discussion about Planning for Success in Graduate School, a workshop entitled The Library- Your Research Partner for Finding and Organizing Your Literature, and finally a new addition to student research week: Student to Student: Debunking the Myths of Undergraduate Research, which will allow undergraduates the opportunity to converse with current researchers about how they got involved in research and what the experience is like. 聽

Student Research Week is to highlight the excellence of scholarship at 麻豆原创 and also encourage others who may be interested in getting involved with research.

The , a semi-annual event in the College, offers undergraduates in every track the opportunity to present current research findings and academic projects related to the field. From school uniforms to teacher training to educational access and more, students explore their particular areas of interest, review current literature, and present their findings to their fellow students as well as a panel of faculty judges.

Pryia Persaud, junior in mathematics, was the organizer for this fall’s showcase, and was overly impressed with the work that her fellow students brought forward.

“The event on the whole came about because we need to start introducing research to the undergraduate students,” Pryia tells us about this year’s event. “What we’re trying to do is bring people in and help them understand both what research is and why it is important, especially in the field of education. 麻豆原创 is all about research, and we want to make sure our college is on track with that focus. We want to make sure that we have more participants attending the Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence, and we want to make sure we’re promoting research possibilities as much as we can within the College of Education and Human Performance.”

As for her experience running this fall’s event, she said “When it is all complete it’s extremely rewarding to see what everyone has put together and the different ideas they have regarding what needs to be researched or what problems need to be looked into.”

Future opportunities for undergraduate CEDHP students include presenting education research at regional conferences and continuing to explore current topics in numerous education fields. Learn more about the Showcase of Undergraduate Research Findings at the link above, and visit the to learn more about campus-wide opportunities for students.

The student researcher recorded the cranes鈥� movements, patterns, nesting locations, food sources, and other information to establish a baseline of understanding about the birds and how to help provide for their protection on campus. She worked on the project through 麻豆原创鈥檚 Research and Mentoring Program at the Arboretum, and presented her findings at the recent Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence.

Zimmerman said she found 16 birds living on the campus, including one pair she named Bonnie and Clyde that live northwest of the CFE Arena. Although not migratory, some of the birds apparently wander during summers, when the campus population sometimes dips down to two birds, she said.

Even though twice a week she traveled an observation route that snaked around and through the 1,415-acre campus, she said she couldn鈥檛 have had such a detailed account of the birds without the help of others.

Last fall she enlisted the help of 鈥渃itizen scientists鈥� and asked them to help photograph sightings of the birds for her study. In all, she amassed 560 photos of the cranes, more than 400 of them submitted by 麻豆原创 students and employees from their cellphones.

鈥淭hat was critical to help the study,鈥� she said.

The species is known for living around urban areas, and the birds are listed as threatened because of loss of habitat, mostly because of development. The聽heron-like birds stand about 4 feet tall with a patch of bald, red skin on top of their heads, and they聽usually are seen in small family groups or pairs.

鈥淚 thought they would be more repelled by people and traffic, but they weren鈥檛,鈥� Zimmerman said.

Scheduled for Tuesday, April 2, 2013, in the Student Union, the Graduate Research Forum is an excellent opportunity for you to showcase your research and creative projects in poster format while receiving valuable feedback from faculty judges. Cash awards of $800 for best poster submission in each category are given, and all participants receive university-wide recognition.聽Current 麻豆原创 graduate students from all studies and disciplines are encouraged to participate.

Brandon Lojewski, a previous Graduate Research Forum winner, took what he learned from the Forum and went on to win a $100,000 competition for his 鈥済reen鈥� research-based company. 鈥淲inning the Graduate Research Forum supported and substantiated my research, proving that this research is not only potentially commercializable, but it is also academically important,鈥� shares Lojewski. Winning the Graduate Research Forum gave him the boost he needed, encouraging him to pursue his research further, and he was rewarded greatly for it.

If you have a research or creative project that you would like to share with the world, submit your proposal today! All you need is your abstract of 250 words or less, along with your name, contact information, and the title of the presentation. There is no cost for submissions. Proposals must be received by Monday, February 11, 2013. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Don鈥檛 wait鈥攕ubmit your proposals today and share some of the success of former Graduate Research Forum winners!

For more information on the Graduate Research Forum and submission guidelines, please visit www.graduate.ucf.edu/ResearchForum or email researchweek@ucf.edu.

麻豆原创鈥檚 Student Research Week is a time to celebrate the research and creative projects of 麻豆原创 students. From April 1 鈥� 4 at the 麻豆原创 Student Union, you can check out the remarkable cutting-edge research 鈥� many times using the most advanced modern technology 鈥� that students are undertaking to explore community challenges and help solve real-world problems. Research presentations will be displayed during the Graduate Research Forum and the Showcase of Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE). Student Research Week also features a great assortment of helpful professional development workshops and The State of STEAM, a unique art exhibit containing STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) inspired artworks. All events are free and open to the public. For more information and a complete schedule of events, please visit .

Starting with just three students enrolled in the Class of 2006-2007, now the College of Nursing’s HIM students account for 20 percent of the entire Class of 2009-2010 and span three 麻豆原创 campuses (Orlando, Cocoa and Daytona).

Established in 1989, HIM is the oldest and most prestigious undergraduate research program at 麻豆原创. Designed to encourage students to undertake original and independent work in their major field, each student selected into the HIM program must research, write, defend and publish an original honors thesis that serves as the capstone project of their undergraduate career. The research is then eligible to be presented in competitive research events such as 麻豆原创鈥檚 Showcase for Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE).

For more information on how to enroll in the College of Nursing’s Honors in the Major program, contact聽assistant聽professor and HIM coordinator,聽Dr. Victoria Loerzel, at victoria.loerzel@ucf.edu.

The College of Nursing’s Honors in the Major (HIM) students swept all four awards given in the Health Sciences category at the Showcase for Undergraduate Research Excellence (SURE) on April 1, 2010. Out of 22 entrees in the Health Sciences category, 10 were from the College of Nursing, and four won awards.

Jamie Bigler, who was mentored by assistant professor Dr. Victoria Loerzel, won first place. Her research explored, 鈥淚nterventions to Improve Psychological Sequelae in Women with Ovarian Cancer.鈥�

Corrine Caswell-Riley collaborated with assistant professor Dr. Pamela Ark in exploring, 鈥淣ursing Interventions for Adolescent Substance Abuse Use.鈥� Caswell-Riley placed second.

Lydia Watkins and Maureen Woodman were awarded honorable mention in the category. Watkins, a student on 麻豆原创’s Cocoa campus,聽worked with聽nursing instructor Stephen Heglund on 鈥淚mproving Nonverbal Communication Between Nurses and Deaf and Hard-Hearing Children,鈥� and Woodman worked with聽nursing instructor Betsy Guimond and associate professor Dr. Maureen Covelli on 鈥淔ertility Awareness-Based Methods of Avoiding and Achieving Preganacy: An Effective Means of Family Planning and Promoting Women鈥檚 Empowerment.鈥�

Established in 1989, HIM is the oldest and most prestigious undergraduate research program at 麻豆原创. Designed to encourage students to undertake original and independent work in their major field, each student selected into the HIM program must research, write, defend and publish an original Honors thesis that serves as the capstone product of their undergraduate career. The research is then eligible to be presented in competitive research events such as SURE.

SURE is hosted annually by the Office of Undergraduate Research.聽The event provides an outlet for undergraduate students to present their research and to practice their communication skills to a broader audience. The Showcase demonstrates how student research builds upon and enriches the 麻豆原创 undergraduate experience. Visit for more details.

Contributing writer: Kristin Soto, 麻豆原创 College of Nursing communication intern