COE Special Education major presents research at statewide event
A student from Georgia Southern’s College of Education was selected to attend Posters at the Capitol on February 27. Caroline Ray, a senior majoring in Special Education, traveled to Atlanta to present her research poster titled, “The Use of Behavior Specific Praise in a Secondary Math Classroom.” Ray’s poster was one of 40 selected from a record number of undergraduate research submissions across the state. There was only one other education research poster selected for the event.
Ray’s poster was based on observations she and her clinical supervisor made during her placement for her student teaching experience. Using a control group and an experimental group, Caroline observed her clinical supervisor’s use of Behavior Specific Praise to increase desired behaviors in the classroom during group guided practice.
Kymberly Harris, Associate Professor of Elementary and Special Education, mentored Ray and accompanied her to the event. Ray had developed a similar research project for middle schoolers while taking Harris’ Classroom Management course. Harris says, “People often say these methods won’t work on older kids, so Caroline wanted to try it in high school.” Harris encouraged Ray to complete the research and submit a poster for Posters at the Capitol, but emphasizes that Ray was already motivated, “She didn’t need any pushing on my part.”
Ray’s poster was also selected for Georgia Southern’s Student Scholar Symposium Statesboro event on April 18.
Other Georgia Southern students selected for Posters at the Capitol were:
- Valesia Davis presenting “A Development of a Novel Pump Design for a Miniaturized High Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC)”
- Joshua Bunting and Jonah Henry presenting “An Elasto-Hydrodynamic Seal for Supercritical Carbon Dioxide Power Plants”
- Victor Buitimea and Madison Procyk presenting “A Novel Magnetorheological Elastomer-Based Artificial Pancreas”
The Posters at the Capitol event is sponsored by the Georgia Undergraduate Research Collective and hosted by Georgia College & State University Mentored Undergraduate Research and Creative Endeavors.
Posted in Faculty Highlights, Student Highlights