Poster Sessions

Assistant Professor Ji Yae Bong 

Associate Provost Leslie Zenk

Director Brad Yeckley 

A plethora of research has examined how COVID-19 affected the health and well-being of low income neighborhoods and it is well-known that COVID-19 has greatly impacted student achievement across the country. This research aims to examine if there is a relationship between COVID-19 losses in student achievement in schools based on the median income of their residents. Using various demographic data, such as median income, each school in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg School District’s student achievement school average will be evaluated and compared to determine if, and how much, of a relationship exists. Using a one-way ANOVA, this research will examine if a relationship exists, and using linear regression, it will examine the rate of decline in achievement scores based on median income for the various zip codes. Researchers hope this study will shed light on the impact COVID-19 had on the opportunity gap within K12 school settings.

Gifted education experts recommend that teachers use research-based curriculum units and lessons that are differentiated to meet the academic and intellectual needs for a diverse range of K-Grade 12 gifted students. However, understanding the scope of available research-based curricula and the corresponding outcomes can be challenging. It is also difficult to make comparisons across studies if researchers do not define and operationalize “differentiation” in the same ways. Therefore, the aim of our scoping review study was to compile and then analyze over 2,000 peer-reviewed research studies published across four education databases from 2010-2022 to identify the following: (1) characteristics of research-based differentiated curricula for gifted students (e.g., types, subject areas, grade levels, differentiation strategies, research methodologies), and (2) how the researchers conceptualized “differentiated curricula” in their respective studies. The findings of this study will help gifted education directors, specialists, teachers, and researchers understand the scope of the literature around research-based differentiated curriculum for gifted students. An important research implication of this study is that it will lead to more in-depth systematic reviews that could inform policies related to curriculum for gifted students and next directions for curriculum research. 

Black Women Educators (BWE’s) are the proverbial unicorns in the structural arrangement of higher education. The literature reports that in addition to navigating racial battle fatigue from colleagues, managing teaching, community service and research requirements of their occupational contracts they also serve as surrogate mothers and mentors to students and combat a great deal of secondary Traumatic Stress( Jackson- Preston et al., 2023). While many of the aforementioned qualities support the BWE’s opportunity to take on career advancement in the pursuit of tenure or various occupational achievements they are also at risk for occupational burnout. Occupational burnout also defined as burnout syndrome is an individual response to chronic work stress that develops progressively and can eventually become chronic which can create health alterations. Damage from burnout can extend to cognitive, emotional and attitudinal levels which manifests itself as a negative attitude towards work, peers, beneficiaries of the occupation and the job itself (Edú-Valsania et al., 2022). The purpose of this pilot study proposal is to identify the common experiences that are associated with occupational burnout in higher education by BWE’s at Predominantly White Institutions in the South Eastern part of the United States. While the study for this survey (adapted from Maslach's Burnout Inventory) will not be released until March 2024, the expectation of the data collected in this survey will establish support for institutional level advocacy of Occupational Burnout management initiatives to support the retention of BWE's in higher education. 

Experiential learning takes on a new meaning in the context of immersive study abroad programs. In May of 2023, 16 strangers came together with the same interest in mind: studying how migration impacts education for students and families. This study abroad course was designed to explore and unpack a problem of practice amongst the experiences of immigrants over the last century, and how their experiences impact their education in a new environment. Over the period of two and a half weeks, we traveled through New York City, in the United States; Hamburg, Germany; Bremerhaven, Germany, and Stutgart, Germany in search of knowledge and empathy. Through our studies, we worked to answer the research question: how can educators better support students who come from a migrant background? his paper explores the auto-ethnographic experience of three educators who participated in the immersive, immigration simulation. Through analysis of journals and group discussions, this paper explores how the experiential learning opportunity produced change in the cultural situatedness in the three participants, as it pertains to their educational practices. Additionally, this paper will analyze how the study abroad experience catalyzed personal and collective global citizen advocacy, global citizen identity development, intercultural leadership, self-awareness, identity formation, resilience, and coping strategies. 

Research has acknowledged the transition to life after college as one of the most impactful developmental stages for college students, as they explore their next steps in adulthood. (Reuter et al., 2022). For student-athletes, this transitional period can come with many challenges. Specifically, the post-graduate transition for student-athletes is a multifaceted and crucial phase that warrants careful attention from researchers as they navigate identity shift, career development, skill development, mental health, and other elements that contribute to the success of their transition (Comeaux & Savage, 2023). Many studies conclude that the majority of student-athletes go on to pursue careers that do not align directly with their sport (Foster & Huml, 2017), therefore, it is crucial for ongoing research to emphasize the importance of maintaining a balance between academics and sports, all the while recognizing the requirements for a smooth transition post-sports. While there is existing research that explores the factors influencing the post-graduate transition among various populations, there is a lack of empirical studies that specifically examine the nature of this transitional period for Black women athletes. There is also limited research that explores the value of the sense of belonging for this population of women as they navigate multiple identities on White campuses. Exploring Black women student-athlete experiences, specifically as they relate to their transition to life after sports, will provide institutions with insights needed to adequately support the nuances of the Black women student-athletic experience as they approach the transition away from collegiate sports.