Her research question: What are the differences between how hearing people think they view the deaf community and how they actually view the deaf community?

Wheatley is one of nine senior psychology majors selected to present their findings at the Virginia Association for Psychological Science annual conference April 20-22, 2016, in Newport News, Virginia. All of the students are classmates in a two-semester applied psychology research course taught by Professor .

For most students, their projects have led not only to the desired academic goals, but also to personal revelation and clarity of professional goals.

Wheatley, for example, is also involved in an independent study in Deaf culture and community, and she has plans to continue the research in graduate school. And that friend who shared the feelings that were the impetus behind Wheatley’s research? Her future mother-in-law.

With curriculum change, students enter research process earlier

A strength of the at EMU is that all students have the opportunity to conduct individual research on a topic related to their unique interests, says department chair . “These original projects introduce every student to the ins and outs of scientific inquiry.”

Senior psychology majors at EMU enter the research course with a “broad background in the field of psychology,” having fulfilled prerequisites of general, developmental, social and cognitive psychology, as well as a course on interpersonal relationships among others, Koop said. They all have been introduced formally to the research process in the Cognitive Psychology class, where each student formulates a research proposal.

Many of those proposals then develop into the independent research project required in Psychology 472/473, Koop says.

New curriculum that begins next year will introduce the design and analysis portions of the research process earlier, an emphasis which will not only build critical skills but quickly immerses majors in the intellectual rigor of their discipline.

Topics move students deeper into field

In Psychology 472/473, students delve into the research process while designing, developing and implementing their own project. The individualized research projects is intended to create “more critical consumers of scientific results” and “strong candidates for graduate programs,” Koop said.

Most of the classmates expressed both a new appreciation for the “intricacies of research,” as one student put it, and also for the seriousness of the endeavor. “It takes such precaution to make even basic claims,” says Rachel Bowman, who designed an experiment on racial bias.

“When you read a research article, it often seems as though the researchers easily attained the results they are sharing with the world,” said Emily Myers, who has used the project to familiarize herself with attachment theory in preparation for a career in counseling. “In reality, conducting research takes an incredible amount of background research, planning, gaining feedback, working with others, etc.”

In developing her research about developmental trauma associated with foster care and adoption, Bethany Chupp realized her project called for something “along the lines of a doctoral thesis…a longitudinal study of adoptive families over the course of several years.” Setting that aside, she scaled down to the question of whether “changing the vocabulary used to discuss adoption changes participants’ attitudes toward adoption and foster care.”

The title of her project is “Adoption as Trauma: Viewing Adoption Through a Restorative Lens.”

“It takes baby steps to get to bigger goals,” she said. “I need to start a basic level of examining attitudes and language before applying that to concrete case studies.”

 Meeting and networking at conferences

Attending conferences is an important professional development opportunity for undergraduate students, Koop said. “You get to test ideas, receive feedback and meet future colleagues. It’s a great experience not only to witness scientists discussing their original work, but to contribute to this exchange of knowledge and develop professional communication skills.”

Other students selected to attend the conference include

• Brooke Lacock, Does Anticipation of Smartphone Notification Interfere with Working Memory Performance?
• Mackenzie Lapp, High and Low Information-Load Music: Implications for Reading Comprehension;
• Kathryn Phillips, Self-Affirmation While Test Taking;
• Sam Swartzendruber, The Effect of Caffeine Deprivation on Sleep Deprived College Students;
• Wesley Wilder, Seeking Clarity: Violent Video Games, Image Quality, and Aggression.

In addition, two incoming students, Hannah Chappell-Dick, a senior at Bluffton High School in Bluffton, Ohio, and Charlie Good, a senior at Warwick High School in Lititz, Pa., were recognized as Yoder Scholars, the highest academic award an incoming student can receive.

“I’m very excited about the number and caliber of students who applied this year,” said Mark Sawin, program director and chair of history at EMU. “Hannah and Charlie are both wonderfully creative and curious people with wide-ranging interests and strong leadership abilities. I’m grateful they’ve decided to join us as next year’s Yoder Scholars.”

Honors student candidates are evaluated on academic performance, community and extra-curricular involvement, creativity, clarity of thought and leadership potential. In addition to being in the honors program, candidates submit a portfolio of their high school achievements, write a series of essays and meet with a member of the honors faculty for a one-on-one interview.

“The interaction with faculty mentors and each other in a variety of settings provides an opportunity for highly motivated scholars to develop as thinkers and wrestle with big questions,” says Sawin, a 2008-09 Fulbright Scholar at University of Zagreb in Croatia.

Chappell-Dick is an incoming biochemistry major while Good plans to major in chemistry.

The students accepted into the honors program are:

Alex Bender from Sarasota, Fla., Pine View School

Malachi Bontrager from Westbrookville, N.Y., Iowa Mennonite School

Rachel Bowman from Archbold, Ohio, Archbold High School

Kristoffer Broadley from Wichita, Kan., homeschooled

Anne Brothers from Rockville, Md., Montgomery Blair High School

Ashley Cox from Mountville, Pa., Hempfield High School

Melissa Cox from Mountville, Pa., Hempfield High School

Patty Danaher from South Chesterfield, Va., Matoaca High School

Isaac Driver from Harrisonburg, Va., Eastern Mennonite High School

Amy Feeser from Lancaster, Pa., Penn Manor High School

Rehana Franklin from Modesto, Calif., Modesto High School

Derek Harnish from Strasburg, Pa., Lampeter-Strasburg High School

Kate Harrold from Millersville, Pa., Penn Manor High School

Amanda Helfrich from Bradford, Ohio, Greenville Senior High School

Caitlin Holsapple from Harrisonburg, Va., Eastern Mennonite High School

Melissa Jantzi from Albany, Ore., Eastern Mennonite High School

Brianna Kauffman from Harleysville, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Andrea King from Lititz Pa., Warwick High School

Kari King from Harrisonburg, Va., Harrisonburg High School

Sierra Kiser from Stuarts Draft, Va., Stuarts Draft High School

Jaclyn Kratz from Telford, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Rachelle Kratz from Telford, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Brooke Lacock from Paradise, Pa., Pequea Valley High School

Olivia Mast from Lancaster, Pa., Lancaster Mennonite School

Katie Miller from San Antonio, Tex., Louis D. Brandeis High School

Maddie Miller from Wellman, Ia., Iowa Mennonite School

Elise Mitchell from Elkhart, Ind., Elkhart Central High School

Erin Nafziger from Archbold, Ohio, Archbold High School

Jolee Paden from Saint Joseph, Ill., St. Joseph-Ogden High School

Aaron Patterson from Midlothian, Va., homeschooled

Alicia Poplett from Plymouth, Minn., Wayzata Senior High School

Emilie Raber from Dalton, Ohio, Central Christian High School

Jesse Reist from Lancaster, Pa., JP McCaskey High School East

Jess Rheinheimer from Manheim, Pa., Lancaster Mennonite School

John David Satriale from Gap, Pa., Lancaster Mennonite School

Lauren Sauder from Smoketown, Pa., Lancaster Mennonite School

Michelle Sauder from Linville, Va., Eastern Mennonite High School

Carissa Sherer from Joy, Pa., Donegal High School

Kritika Shrestha from Germantown, Md., Clarksburg High School

Rachel Springer from Minier, Ill., Olympia High School

Seth Stauffer from Lebanon, Pa., Northern Lebanon Jr-Sr High School

Sarah Sutter from Urbana, Ill., University Laboratory High School

Kate Swartz from Spring City, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Sam Swartzendruber from Kalona, Ia., Iowa Mennonite School

Ryan Swartzendruber from Sellersville, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Stephanie Toth from Lake Milton, Ohio, Cardinal Mooney High School

Aaron Wile from Telford, Pa., Christopher Dock Mennonite High School

Alena Yoder from Elkhart, Ind., Bethany Christian High School

Kegan Yoder from Plaine City, Ohio, Jonathan Alder High School