Research
Our research is interdisciplinary and ever-changing. We believe in exploring real world problems, particularly those impacting our community. As such, our current projects frequently. Below is a description of some of our focus areas:
- Resilience in Children: This project examines resiliency, socialization, bullying behaviors, and school cohesiveness in school-aged children. Some work utilizes data from The COREMatters Project, which incorporates physical training with SEL curriculum.
- University Belongingness: This project investigates feelings of belongingness as well as academic success and retention. Sometimes referred to as university integration, this area of research is typically conducted in large university settings. Our research looks at various factors impacting student success in a small-medium sized, teaching-focused, minority-serving institution.
- Mastering College: This is an ongoing program evaluation study of a required first year course intended to prepare students for the university experience. Findings from this research influence program changes and provide valuable information about college preparedness, particularly of first-generation college students.
- Student Projects: These vary by term. Advanced research assistants (RAs) have the opportunity to propose new research. These projects are supervised by Dr. Cipra. RAs in this investigative role learn crucial skills in project design, coding, and presentation of work. A current student project is titled Cognitive Dissonance in Major Declaration.