MONTEVALLO—Almost 40 students participated in the University of Montevallo’s 16th annual Undergraduate Research Day, held recently in Harman Hall on the UM campus. Students from all four colleges at UM were invited to engage in research, scholarship and creative activity with faculty mentors, demonstrating their research via posters, oral and PowerPoint presentations.
The goal of Undergraduate Research is to involve students in their own learning; to develop teamwork and pride; to enhance interdisciplinary learning; and to share in the exhilaration of discovery.
This showcase of research projects featured topics ranging from “Bullying: The Experiences of College Students” to “Protein Kinase G Expression in Human Breast Cancer;” from “The Effects of Dividends and Free Cash Flow on Market Returns” to “Visibility of a Rectangle: Analyzing Card Design in Deck-Building Games;” and more.
Faculty mentors assisted students as needed. At Montevallo, where more than 95 percent of the faculty hold the Ph.D. or other terminal degree in their field, almost all the advisers on these research projects have doctoral degrees.
Students participating in UM’s Undergraduate Research Day from Madison County included Steven Sartor of Huntsville, whose topic was “Synthesis and Characterization of Zinc 5,10,15,20-tetrakis-(3,4-bis-benzyloxyphenyl) Porphyrin”; Yulia Shvetsova of Madison, whose topic was “The rate at which banks don’t lend to each other — examination of the Libor crisis”; Jennifer Gabel of Huntsville, whose project was titled “The Dialogue of Literacy: Tutoring Outside the Classroom”; Charles Smith of Harvest, whose project was titled “Visibility of a Rectangle: Analyzing Card Design in Deck-Building Games”; and Josh Womack, whose topic was “Spartan Fortitude: An Auto-Ethnographical Account of Hunger and Stamina.”