Research Notes
College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences
Professor Publishes New Chapter
Department of History Professor Robert Batchelor, Ph.D., recently published a new chapter in the book Collecting Across Cultures. Batchelor’s latest publication, “Crying a Muck: Collecting, Domesticity and Anomie in Seventeenth-Century Banten and England” explains London’s rise from a city of 75,000 in the 1540s to one of 575,000 in 1700, and he reveals how London changed and flourished from its many connections and trade with East Asian cities. Batchelor also has published other chapters including “On the Movement of Porcelains: Rethinking the Birth of the Consumer Society as Interactions of Exchange Networks, China and Britain, 1600-1750” in Consuming Cultures, Global Perspectives: Historical Trajectories, Transnational Exchanges.
College of Business Administration
2015 Outstanding Paper Award
Professor of Management Misty L. Loughry, Ph.D., and Dean Allen C. Amason, Ph.D., of the College of Business, received the 2015 Outstanding Paper Award from the Emerald Group Publishing Literati Network for “Why Won’t Task Conflict Cooperate? Deciphering Stubborn Results,” which was also selected as the best paper published in the International Journal of Conflict Management. The purpose of the paper was to suggest why research on the presumed positive relationship between task conflict and team performance has generated mixed results. The research found high levels of correlation among task, relationship and process conflict, but measurement and data analysis issues have made it difficult to isolate the effects of each type of conflict. The complex relationship between conflict and trust may cause mixed effects on performance while individual differences and conflict management approaches also affect this. Other relevant influences acting on this relationship are related to time-based issues and stage of group development.
College of Health and Human Sciences
Nursing Awarded $1.6 Million Grant
The School of Nursing received a $1.6 million grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) to help fund advanced nursing education. The University is using the grant to establish an Advanced Practice Nurse-Psychiatric Mental Health Nurse Practitioners (APN-PMHNP) track to uniquely serve the psychiatric and mental health needs of rural and underserved communities. Georgia Southern is the only university in Georgia to focus on telemedicine training. The track consists of seven courses that partner with clinical environments to provide team-based care. The courses also include sessions with national content experts and provide simulation-learning experiences. The first students were admitted into the program in the fall of 2015.
Allen E. Paulson College of Engineering and Information Technology
Students Design Award-Winning App
A group of IT students from the college’s IT Capstone course won first place in the Charleston Defense Contractors Association Student Mobile App Competition as well as Best in Show with their Allerg-Ease app, which allows people with food sensitivities to identify safe menu options at six popular restaurant chains. While the competition winners are determined by judges, all attendees at the meeting vote on Best in Show among all the presented apps. The team received an additional cash award for its Best in Show win. The competition sponsor also donated $1,000 to the IT department, which the students decided to apply to scholarships.
Jiann-Ping Hsu College of Public Health
Researchers to Study Water Quality at Jekyll Island Beaches
College of Public Health Professors Asli Aslan, Ph.D., and Jeff Jones, Ph.D., have received a $273,694 two-year grant to study water quality at Jekyll Island’s recreational beaches. The grant from the Georgia Department of Natural Resources and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration will allow the researchers to examine the nonpoint sources of potential pollutants from wildlife on and around the island. In addition to partnering with the Jekyll Island Authority, their research will provide an opportunity for Georgia Southern students to gain hands-on field and laboratory experience.
College of Science and Mathematics
Research Cooperative Membership Approved
The College of Science and Mathematics and the Institute for Coastal Plain Science recently submitted a successful application for Georgia Southern membership in the Piedmont-South Atlantic Coast Cooperative Ecosystem Studies Unit (PSAC-CESU). The PSAC-CESU is one of 17 cooperative research units across the United States that provides research, technical assistance and education to resource and environmental managers at such federal agency partners as the U.S. Geological Survey, National Parks Service, U.S. Forest Service, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Though they are called “ecosystem studies” units, work within this cooperative ranges from anthropology to zoology. As a member, University faculty and students will be provided with unique opportunities to conduct research on federal and state projects, and will have significantly enhanced opportunities for research funding. Georgia Southern is one of only four institutions in Georgia approved for membership in the PSAC-CESU.
College of Education
Honors Student Studies STEM Influence
College of Education and University Honors Program student Courtney Hartman presented research at the Georgia Educational Research Association and the University Honors Symposium. Her research explores the influence of elementary school teachers on encouraging students’ interest and participation in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM). Hartman used a mixed methods study to understand what methods teachers use in their classrooms to encourage students to participate in STEM subjects and programs. As Hartman states in her research conclusion, “Because teachers are such an influential factor in students’ decisions, it is important that teachers not only regard encouraging students to participate in STEM as important, but it is just as important that teachers be equipped to effectively teach the content to their students and be able to make these subjects engaging to the students.” Hartman recently earned a B.S. in Education with emphasis in Early Childhood Education and Teaching.