A research outreach project at RiskLiteracy.org, which is headed by Edward Cokely (CLS), was recently featured in a New Scientist article entitled, “Hidden talent: What’s your superpower?” Visit newscientist.com for the shortened article.
From Tech Today.
The psychology undergraduates at Michigan Tech have published their research as Volume 1 of the Journal of Midwest Undergraduate Behavioral Research (JMUBR).
The research is the outcome of a two-semester series of upper-level courses (PSY 3000/3001 Experimental Methods and Statistics I and II) required for the Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology. The courses in 2012-13 were taught by Assistant Professor of Psychology Shane Mueller.
Research topics were selected by students during Fall 2012, which they saw through from initial concept, two rounds of experimentation (including IRB approval, data collection, and analysis), and final documentation. The educational goal it serves is to motivate the students to think beyond “school” projects, to gain experience doing research, and to write for an audience beyond their classroom. Also, it allows their hard work to get broader exposure, potentially having an impact on the field and yielding concrete material on their vitae/resume for graduate schools and employers to view.
Some highlights from Volume 1 of JMUBR, which is edited by Shane Mueller.
* Two different projects examined the cognitive and personality factors of marijuana users, surveying hundreds of self-identified users, and finding little impact of frequency of use on impulsivity, short-term memory, reaction time, or executive function.
* Two research projects examined how real or perceived task difficulty interacted with personality factors. A third project examined whether physical stressors impacted the perceived or actual difficulty of cognitive tasks.
* Several groups examined very applied problems:
Take a look and see what they have accomplished.
The Use of Infographics to Increase Awareness of Student Debt
James N. Greydanus
Michigan Technological University
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Kristyna J. MacKinnon
Michigan Technological University
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
The Influence of Positive and Negative Verbal Feedback on Task Productivity and Self-Evaluation
Rachel Franchock
Robert Damico
Michigan Technological University
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Houghton, MI 49931 USA
Assessing Reasons for College Students’ Attendance and Participation in Class
Victoria Hanus
Madeline Peabody
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Houghton, MI 49931 USA
Marijuana’s Effect on Reaction Time and Response Accuracy
Nick Gravlin
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Houghton, MI 49931 USA
Assessing the Effects of Physical Demands on Mental Performance
Rachael Huff
Elizabeth Nigro
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Houghton, MI 49931 USA
The Effects of Music and Environmental Noise on Reading Comprehension
Thomas Gemignani
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Houghton, MI 49931 USA
Failure Events and their Effect on the Stability of Personality Self-Assessments
William Lehman
Abbey Westphal
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Houghton, MI 49931 USA
The Effects of Eating Healthy and Unhealthy Food on Recognition Skills
Macy McDonnell
Michael Way
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Houghton, MI 49931 USA
Assessing Impulsive Personality traits and Short-term Memory Among Self-reported Marijuana Users
Alysa Cherubini
Department of Cognitive and Learning Sciences
Houghton, MI 49931 USA
The Effects of Attentional Cuing and Input Methods on Reaction Time in Human Computer Interaction
Brad Nelson
Michigan Technological University
Assistant Professor Pasi Lautala (CEE/MTTI) and Coordinator Joan Shumaker Chadde (CEE/MTTI), “CFIRE University Transportation Center-Tier 1,” University of Wisconsin-Madison, USDOT.
From Tech Today.
2013 Green Film Series: Issues and Dialogue
Chasing Ice (76 min.)–7 p.m., Thursday, May 9, last film for spring 2013.
Location: Fisher 135–New Location
Time: 7:00-8:30 p.m.; enjoy coffee, dessert and facilitated discussion
Cost: FREE
Discussion Facilitator: Sarah Green, Chair, Dept. of Chemistry
We’ll host Green Lectures in the Fall and the 2014 Green Film Series will start in January 2014. Send suggestions for future films to Joan Chadde at jchadde@mtu.edu
ENG 5200 June 17-28, 2013
This is a great chance for current or future teachers to experience real-world engineering projects first hand, and then see how to integrate a scaled down version into a class project for students to solve physical science problems.
Learn more at Teacher Professional Development Summer Institutes.
Fall 2012 4.00
Huff, Rachael M JR SPSY
Shull, Catherine E FR SPSY
Veach, Emma G SR SPSY
Fall 2012 3.99-3.50
Bokor, David T SR SPSY
Cherubini-Sutinen, Alysa R JR SPSY
Deane, Katrina E JR SPSY
Dunham, Charles L SR SPSY
Evans, Zachary R FR SPSY
Harter, Kayla R SO SPSY
Lehman, William E JR
Mauer, Tessa K SR SPSY
Nelson, Bradley D SR SPSY
Nigro, Elizabeth A SR SPSY
Santerre, Cassaundra D SO SPSY
Westphal, Abbey M SR SPSY
Joan Chadde conducted a Transportation Teacher Workshop on ” Traffic Operations and Safety,” for two dozen Detroit Public School Teachers on April 20 in collaboration with Tech CEE graduate Peter Savolainen, associate professor, civil and environmental engineering, at Wayne State University. This is a 3-part workshop series funded by the University of Wisconsin Madison Center for Freight Infrastructure Research and Education.
From Tech Today.
Stuck in Chicago? Check out Stuck Huskies on Facebook
Audrey Mayer (SS) has started a new resource for the Tech community called “Stuck Huskies.” It is an open-to-the-public page where people who are on cancelled flights to/from Chicago can post on the wall to find ride shares back up to Houghton (or down to Chicago), buses, etc.
“I decided to establish it after a conversation with Shari Stockero (CLS),” Mayer said, “as we were both taking the bus up from Chicago after our flights were cancelled to Hancock.”
Visit the Facebook open group “Stuck Huskies.”
From Tech Today.
Adam Blankenbicker, a Peace Corps Master’s International alumnus in geology, writes a science education blog called SciEd for the Public Library of Science (PLoS) web site.
From Tech Today.
View some recent articles from Sci-Ed:
STEM and Liberal Arts: Frienemies of the State
April 1, 2013
Rolling your eyes at climate change education
March 4, 2013
The Metric System, the United States of America, and Scientific Literacy
January 28, 2013