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In This Issue
Dean's Note
Student News
Researchers Get Real
Actually What's an Actuary?
Faculty News
Upcoming Events
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Dear Friends of CSSME:
I don’t need to explain to you how the coronavirus pandemic has disrupted our normal operations here at UT, as it has disrupted virtually all of our daily lives. As you know, during our week of spring break it became apparent that for the safety and welfare of our students, faculty and staff, we needed to move all instruction to a remote format for the remainder of the semester. Too be honest, I did not know how easy or difficult such a transition would be given the speed that the transition occurred. It’s usually not that easy for everyone to change gears so quickly and all at once. And while there were a few rough patches here and there as we made this change, we are now in our third week of teaching and learning remotely and I am very impressed with everyone’s resiliency and determination to make it work.
As I look back on how things changed so quickly over the past three weeks I am reminded that the most important component to any successful transition is communication. During times of rapid transition there is no such thing as over-communicating. It’s true as it relates to my communication with our faculty; faculty with their students; students with their professors … well you get my point. Almost every issue that I had to resolve over these past three weeks can be traced back to someone not being fully aware of what others were doing or what they should be doing.
It is for that very reason that I wanted to get our college newsletter out at this time. I wanted to communicate two simple messages: First, I wanted all of the friends of our college to know that while we had to make some quick adjustments, we are doing well and we will all successfully get through this together. And second, I felt the need to share that our students and faculty continue to do amazing work together; and highlighting that can help bring a sense of normalcy during these unusual times.
Lastly, I want to take a moment to congratulate the hundreds of CSSME students who will be graduating in May. I know this is not the graduation celebration that you and your family planned, and I am heart-broken about it. I have always said that graduation day is by far the happiest day of the year. So I too felt a deep sense of loss when it became apparent that our typical commencement ceremony had to be cancelled. But that does not lessen the accomplishments of our graduating seniors and their wonderful journey ahead.
In closing, I only want to wish you good health. During times like this there is nothing more important. Stay safe, stay healthy, and know that soon our campus will be bustling again. #SpartanProud!
Sincerely,
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Jack M. Geller, Ph.D., Dean
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CSSME Students Present at 2020 Florida Undergraduate Research Conference
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Several CSSME majors presented their research at the 2020
Florida Undergraduate Research Conference (FURC), which was held at Florida Gulf Coast University in Ft. Myers, FL on February 21 and 22. FURC is one of the nation's largest multi-disciplinary research conferences. The annual conference provides an opportunity for undergraduate researchers in the state of Florida to present their research in a poster forum.
Elementary Education major
Caldeira Ripine and faculty mentor, Associate Professor of Education
Enilda Romero-Hall, presented "How Prepared are Faculty to Teach in a Synchronous Online Format?"
Under the guidance of faculty mentor, Assistant Professor
Benjamin Marsh, several psychology majors presented their research at FURC.
Michelle Mooney,
Olivia Terranova,
Nia Dyson,
Lauren Sass, and
Adelina Primavera presented "Face Memory in Diverse Spaces."
Bruna Ferreira,
Ashley Myers, and
Daniella Zarate presented "Spanish Words Facilitate Gazing to Latino Faces."
Olivia Terranova,
Michelle Mooney, and
Alyssa Wence presented "The Cost of Racial Salience on Face Memory."
CSSME would like to thank UT's Office of Undergraduate Research and Inquiry for supporting our students with funding to participate at FURC.
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Student delegates
Carmella Brazzale, Abigail Guy, Tiffany Kiarie, Alex Kirsch, Diana Robinson, Katie Sturmer and
Peter Will represented the country of Mongolia at the Harvard National Model United Nations (HNMUN) on February 13 - 16 in Boston. The delegates participated in various committee meetings to tackle global problems such as civil conflict, climate change, trade, and privacy. Students got to practice negotiating skills while interacting with three thousand students, half of whom traveled from international institutions. More important than the resolutions drafted were the friendships formed over the non-stop four-day conference.
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Participation at the HNMUN was part of the PSCH 212 Decision-Making in the United Nations (Honors) course taught in the Fall 2019 semester with Chair/Associate Professor
Liv Coleman and Assistant Professor
Ryan Welch of the Political Science and International Studies department.
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History Majors Present Their Research
In February, UT history majors
Jim Gallatin,
Liz Ho-Sing-Loy and
Samantha Richter presented papers at the Florida Conference of Historians, as part of a panel titled "Natural and Unnatural Disasters in World History." Professor Alison Bruey of the University of North Florida served as discussant and chair; UT Associate Professor
Charles McGraw Groh and Professor of Instruction I
Kelly Palmer
were also in attendance. Gallatin's presented his paper titled "The 1812 Caracas Earthquake: Aftershocks and Revelations in U.S. Foreign Policy." Richter presented "The ‘Black Death’ and the 1381 Peasant’s Revolt in England." Ho-Sing-Loy discussed her paper titled "The 1666 Great Fire of London and the Concerns of John Snow."
Associate Professor
Elizabeth Littell-Lamb presented, in a separate panel, her own work titled "Engendering Women’s Identity as Modern in Republican China, 1915-1930."
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Jim Gallatin, Liz Ho-Sing-Loy and Samantha Richter presenting their research at the Florida Conference of Historians.
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Education Majors Show-and-Tell
Rachel Cacace (Biology EDU),
Emily Champagne, (Math EDU) and Professor
Theoni Soublis shared their research titled "Digital Applications as Comprehension Tools in the Math and Science Classroom" at the Eastern Educational Research Association Conference that was held in Orlando on February 19-22. Their research provides insight regarding how to incorporate the use of technological apps that make science and mathematics instruction applicable to students’ lives and thereby increasing the effectiveness of instruction to support student learning gains. They discussed four traditional literacy skills: vocabulary, reading, comprehension, and writing and reviewed web-based applications that support these skills though the math and science curriculum-based instruction.
According to Soublis, "The students were so well received by our colleagues around the country. They couldn't believe these students are undergraduates."
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Left to right: Professor Theoni Soublis, Rachel Cacace and Emily Champagne
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Champagne stated, "My favorite part of attending this conference was not only being able to present the research that we have been working on for the past year, but have the opportunity to listen to so many other educators’ presentations."
Carace stated, "At the conference, we received valuable feedback from other educators from around the country... I loved hearing what other educators are doing to help their students and how I can adapt their ideas in my own teaching."
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Instructional Design and Technology alumni
Penni Eggers and
Angela Ward and Assistant Professor
Suzanne Ensmann's paper "
Augmented Reality in Paramedic Training: a Formative Study" was published in the
Journal of Formative Design in Learning. In their study, the researchers sought to determine whether the use of augmented reality to learn the flow of blood through the heart improved paramedic students' performance on assessment, perception of their performance, and retention of the information for a long-term compared with the paramedic students in the traditional lecture.
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Suzanne Ensmann posted on LinkedIn
Hot off the press! Congrats, @UT_IDT alumni! https://lnkd.in/ehNXBqX Penni Eggers Paramedic, M.Ed, CHSE, Angela W., & Ensmann, S. Augmented Reality ...
Read more
www.linkedin.com
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Actually, What's an Actuary?
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On February 6, Tiffany Tatsumi, Academic Administrator for the Society of Actuaries, along with Matt Lamb, Senior Actuarial Analyst at Sagicor here in Tampa, met with over 40 UT students to discuss UT’s new B.S. degree program in Actuarial Science. Their presentation titled, “Actually … What is an Actuary?” discussed the role of actuaries in risk management for insurance companies and financial firms. They shared the Society’s path from Student Actuary, to Associate Actuary, to becoming a Fellow in the Society of Actuaries.
The new program in Actuarial Science begins this fall 2020. Students interested can contact Dr. Angela Angeleska in the Department of Mathematics at
aangeleska@ut.edu.
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Criminology & Criminal Justice
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Congratulations to Chair/Professor
Kathryn Branch for being inducted into the University of South Florida Criminology Department's 2020 Wall of Fame as a distinguished alumni. The Wall of Fame honors a select group of criminology alumni who have distinguished themselves by attaining the highest level of professional accomplishment while demonstrating strong personal integrity.
Read more about Professor Branch here.
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Assistant Professor/Coordinator of Educational Leadership
Adrianne Wilson presented "Examining Educational Leadership Dispositions: A Valid and Reliable Assessment of Leadership Dispositions, a Cumulation of a Multi-Year Study" at the Eastern Educational Research Association that was held in Orlando on February 19-22. The disposition assessment is currently used in UT's Master's of Educational Leadership program as well as other university educational leadership programs across the nation. The disposition assessment was designed and developed with colleagues Professor
Gina Almerico, Associate Professor
Pattie Johnston, and Assistant Professor
Suzanne Ensmann in the education department.
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Congratulations to
Stephanie Branham
who was approved by the UT Board of Trustees to receive promotion to Lecturer II of Mathematics beginning in the Fall 2020 semester.
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Political Science & International Studies
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On February 25, Assistant Professor
Brittany Harder hosted a sociology workshop for sociology faculty and graduate students at the University of South Florida to learn ways to implement applied sociology and community engagement into their own research, teaching, and service activities.
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Assistant Professor
J. Sumerau co-authored "
Generational Variation in Young Adults’ Attitudes toward Legal Abortion: Contextualizing the Role of Religion" that was published in
Social Currents. The researchers compared Baby Boomer, Generation X, and Millennial cohorts’ attitudes concerning legal abortion in the United States and examined how religion influences young adults’ attitudes toward legal abortion between cohorts. Co-author Mandi Barringer, Ph.D. is a 2009 graduate of The University of Tampa's sociology program and currently serves an assistant professor of sociology, anthropology and social work at the University of North Florida.
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Providing our students with outstanding out-of-classroom experiences is a hallmark of the College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education. This may include participating in an overseas travel course; being mentored on an undergraduate research project; or traveling with faculty mentors to present research findings at an academic conference. But of course, these important out-of-classroom activities take additional resources. The College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education is committed to assisting all students gain the benefits of these experiences. Help support these experiences for all students. Make a small contribution today.
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If you have an upcoming event that you would like advertised in the newsletter, please send your event information to Laura Gicker at
lgicker@ut.edu.
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