Roanoke College Economics: Kassens wins fellowship for research project

Roanoke College Economics: Kassens wins fellowship for research project: "Kassens wins fellowship for research project <p><a href='http://roanoke.edu/News_and_Events/Campus_News/Kas..."

Roanoke College Economics: Congrats to Econ Minor Justin Tuma: ODAC POY

Roanoke College Economics: Congrats to Econ Minor Justin Tuma: ODAC POY: "Congratulating Econ Minor and senior Men's Lax star Justin Tuma for being selected as the 2011 ODAC POY. Justin_Tuma_POY"

Congratulations Researchers

Yesterday marked the end of the Honors defenses for our research group. Our group went 6 for 6! To date our group also had 6 conference presentations, one best paper award winner, and four award competition submissions.

Many seasoned researchers do not have stats like that for a semester or year!

We will wait to hear the outcomes of the award submissions and get some papers submitted to journals after exams are over.

I am so proud of our group. I thoroughly enjoyed our semester together and will keep everyone updated on additional awards and recognitions.

Stay tuned!

Brent Cox at the Alpha Chi National Convention - Photo

Dr. Julie Maina took the following picture of Brent Cox during his presentation in San Diego.  Great job again to you Brent!

Roanoke College Economics: Kassens awarded the 2011 Mednick Memorial Fellowsh...

Roanoke College Economics: Kassens awarded the 2011 Mednick Memorial Fellowsh...: "Alice Louise Kassens, Associate Professor of Economics, was awarded the 2011 Mednick Memorial Fellowship Research Award for her project rega..."

Brent Cox at the Alpha Chi National Convention

Brent Cox had a exciting weekend presenting in San Diego.  Below he shares his experience.  Congrats Brent!  He promises that there are photos to come!!

Here's a rundown of the past few days in San Diego!

I was in San Diego March 31-April 3 for the Alpha Chi National Convention where I presented my Honors Project, "Single-occupancy Patient Rooms: Administrator Awareness of Adoption Outcomes." Alpha Chi, a coed academic national honor society, sponsors a national convention every two years where students come together across disciplines to present independent research and projects. This year there were around 500 attendees.

My presentation went smoothly and I felt the audience was really engaged. After presenting, students asked numerous questions about the project, which gave me a great opportunity to practice my Q&A skills. I liked that a majority of the questions came from students and that they represented a wide range of disciplines (biology, health science, business, etc.). This was a great trial run for my honors defense that's coming up - and a great presentation/public speaking experience as well! Of the 16 presentations in the business category, I was fortunate enough to have been named "the most outstanding," and was awarded a $200 cash prize.

Three RC'ers were in attendance.  Dr. Julie Maina (HHP) was the adviser for the conference and Nick Bonenfant (Biochemistry) presented as well.  We had a lot of "non-academic" fun too! We went to the beach, Balboa Park, the Gaslamp Quarter, and the Old Globe Theater.  Also, we couldn't go to San Diego without enjoying some Mexican food as well as the city's famous fish tacos (and on numerous occasions)! It was a really fun time and I'm glad to have had the opportunity to attend.

Roanoke College Economics: Roanomics, Volume 1, Issue 1

Roanoke College Economics: Roanomics, Volume 1, Issue 1: "Roanomics, Vol 1, Issue 1"

Peer review of drafts

March 31 - Peer review of drafts
The semester is rapidly coming to a close and the defense of each Honors in the Major project will take place within the next three weeks.

Everyone has made significant progress on their papers.  Today's task was to read each others' drafts.  We had a small group today since Brent and Tyler are presenting their papers off-campus (Tyler at Ithaca College and Brent in San Diego), but enough to make it work.

We first discussed the status of data sets (Sara has over 450 responses to her online survey!; Justin has completed his data collection process) and the structure of the papers.  Jorge showed Justin and Sara how he presented results in his first draft via neat, tidy, and clear tables.

Jorge and I traded papers and Justin and Sara traded papers.  We took the rest of the hour reading the drafts and making comments.  Ultimately this led to some great conversations about the direction that the papers are taking.

I am very excited to see the final products!

Journal submissions

March 22 - Journal Submissions
It is my hope that many of the student researchers in our group will eventually submit their paper for publication in an undergraduate journal.  I took the time today to review the submission process.

I selected the undergraduate journal Undergraduate Economic Review (http://digitalcommons.iwu.edu/uer/) as the sample. 

Using the screen at the front of the room, I walked students through the web page and pointed out items that one must look for when considering a submission.  These items included:

1) peer review (I explained what it is and why it is important)
2) formatting guidelines (each journal can be different, and if you do not follow their requirements, your  paper can be rejected)
3) submission process (dates, online systems, etc.)

We also talked about how important it is to find a journal that is appropriate for your paper.  It is helpful to not only read the mission statement or journal description, but to also look through papers that have been accepted and published.

Now, let's hope everyone finds a home for their papers!

Presentations

March 15
The topic for today was the presentation.  Not only are each of the student researchers presenting in their defense at the end of the semester, but several students are presenting at conferences (RCCSRC, NCUR, etc.)  The purpose of this session was to teach everyone what to include in the presentation and the slides, how to present the material, and how interact with the audience in the presentation.

We had two visitors with us: Gio Forte and Nomin Baasandavaa.  Gio and Nomin are presenting their papers from Kassens' econometrics class at the 2011 Virginia Association of Economists' (VAE, http://www.vaecon.org/) annual meeting and needed to develop a presentation for the conference.

I brought a presentation that I had used in several presentations (2009 APPAM and SEA; 2010 ASHE).  I needed to modify the slides for my own presentation at VAEs, and I was able to point out these modifications.  I started with some tips, which included:

1) practice, practice, practice
2) make sure the practice falls within the time limits of the conference presentation
3) talk slowly
4) look at your audience and not at your slides or notes
5) use charts and graphs when ever possible rather than tables
6) less is better on the slides
7) remember that YOU are the expert in this tiny area of research


I then went through my sample PowerPoint pointing out the typical ordering of slides, the use of graphics rather than tables, etc.

I later saw some of the presentation used by the students at RCCSRC and was impressed!

March 3 - Abstracts

With the abstract submission deadline for the Roanoke College Conference for Student Research and Creativity (RCCSRC) approaching quickly, discussing and developing abstracts was an appropriate topic for today.  Abstracts were defined as a brief advertisement for a paper, that succinctly describes the importance of the topic, defines the hypothesis and data set, and provides a summary of the results (if generated.) 

Most conferences, including RCCSRC, require an abstract submission for a paper to be considered for presentation.  It is my hope that all students will submit their paper for presentation at least once before the end of the semester, making a strong abstract crucial.

I brought several academic journals with me so that students could see several examples of effective and successful abstracts.  Students then went to work on drafting an abstract for their paper.

While most students worked on their abstracts, I reviewed dynamic models with Tyler and Nic.  Tyler and Nic are expanding their papers from my econometrics course last semester.  The dominant expansion is the employment of more sophisticated time series models, including a model with a lagged dependent variable.  Within a few minutes we had lagged error terms and violations of the ZCM assumption all over the chalk board.  Great fun!

When the brief econometrics lesson was over, Nic and Tyler worked on incorporating the new modeling into their abstracts, and I worked with Sara on finalizing her survey questions.  Once Sara incorporates some fixes, she will be ready to take the online NIH course, get her certificate, and submit her application to the IRB.  Once we have IRB approval, she can send her survey out to the student body via email. 

I then read over Justin and Sara's abstracts that they pieced together during class and made some suggestions.  They had done a fantastic job. 

We also had some announcements for the group:
1) Nic Wright is going to graduate school!  He received his first acceptance letter for a PhD program in   Economics.
2) Brent Cox is also into two graduate programs for health policy.
3) Tyler Rinko is all over the RC web page, blog, and daily announcement for his acceptance for presentation at the NCUR later this month.

All in all, today was a fantastic day of work, with so many things going on.  Productivity was running high and students are doing well.

Roanoke College Economics: Tyler Rinko to present his ECON 448 paper at a nat...

Roanoke College Economics: Tyler Rinko to present his ECON 448 paper at a nat...: "http://roanoke.edu/news_and_events/campus_news/tyler_rinko_economics_paper.htm  Tyler Rinko '11"

Economics Major, Tyler Rinko, in the news

The following was just released to several news organizations around the region.  I am so very proud of Tyler.

DATE: March 1, 2011 #55
RELEASE: Immediately

Roanoke College student to present paper at national research conference 

SALEM, Va. — Tyler Rinko ’11, of Maple Glen, Pa., has been chosen to present a paper at the National Conference on Undergraduate Research at Ithaca College this spring. The abstract for his economics paper, "The European Debt Crisis and How It Has Influenced U.S. Real Exchange Rates," was chosen from 3,500 submissions.

Rinko, an economics major, will present his work to students, faculty and staff from around the world. The NCUR promotes undergraduate research, scholarship and creative activity in all fields of study, and the conference welcomes presenters from all institutions of higher learning and from all academic disciplines. 

Rinko developed his paper for an upper-level econometrics course taught by Associate Professor Dr. Alice Kassens. He currently is expanding his paper for his spring semester honors project by looking at the policies recently implemented by the European Union. He is one of seven students working with Kassens in a mentor demonstration model, a method in which Kassens works on her own research side-by-side with the students as she teaches them advanced research concepts.

“I was very surprised to be accepted for the conference,” said Rinko. “Dr. Kassens did a great job in preparing me for my research.” Kassens taught Rinko how to use specialized statistical software in order to analyze his data.

Kassens said, “The economics program has had students present at on-campus and regional conferences, but never at a national level conference like NCUR. I am so very proud of Tyler. He has grown as a student and a scholar in his tenure at Roanoke College, and this honor is a fantastic reward for that growth, dedication and hard work. I hope students coming into Econometrics next year see what hard work can bring.”

In addition to independent study and honors projects such as Rinko’s, Roanoke offers many other undergraduate research opportunities. Students may apply to the Undergraduate Research Assistant Program, where participants work with faculty mentors on an ongoing project throughout their undergraduate years, or to the Summer Scholar program, where students are awarded housing and stipends for summer research work. The Bondurant Fund underwrites undergraduate summer research in chemistry, and students involved with the Institute for Policy and Opinion Research help administer public affairs polling and survey research.
Roanoke College, an independent, co-educational, four-year liberal arts college in Salem, Virginia, combines firsthand learning with valuable personal connections in a classic, undergraduate setting. Roanoke prepares students for their futures through its commitment to providing a true classic college experience. Roanoke is one of just 280 colleges nationwide with a chapter of Phi Beta Kappa, the nation’s oldest and most prestigious honor society. The Princeton Review names Roanoke as one of the “best in the Southeast.”

For additional information, call the Roanoke College Public Relations Office at (540) 375-2282.

Peer review and prospectuses

Today everyone brought a draft of their prospectus and I brought in the evaluation forms I use on the prospectuses in ECON 448 (Econometrics.)  Each person read through two prospectuses of group members and made comments on the evaluation forms.  I evaluated both Sara and Brent's prospectuses.  Both did a great job of describing their projects and the steps that they need to take in order to have great papers by the end of the semester.  My prospectus addressed my project on the relationship between marathon performance and the recession/unemployment.  It was evaluated by Justin and Brent.  They both gave me some very useful feedback that I can use as I move forward on the project.

Peer evaluation can be very useful.  Your peers can be full of great ideas that you can incorporate into your own work to make it even stronger than if you worked alone.  It is also similar to how research is conducted beyond college.  When I present my papers at conferences there is a discussant who follows.  The discussant gives a presentation that evaluates my work and offers suggestions and criticisms.  Sharing your work with others as you progress through the early stages of the project can save you from making mistakes that others will find and criticise later (and perhaps in not in a manner as constructive and kind as your colleagues!) 

Additionally, sharing your work can be motivating.  I certainly did more work on my project this week than I otherwise would have since I knew my group mates would be doing their part and I would be a weak link in the group if I was not prepared.

I continue to be impressed with how much work everyone is doing and how prepared each person is when we meet. 

Each person left with an assignment unique to their project.  Tyler, Nic, and Jorge are to read appropriate sections in their Econometrics textbook dealing with the new modeling that they will employ.  Later I will review that material with them and show them the appropriate commands in Stata.  Sara is going to work with me on drafting her survey questions and getting her IRB form finished.  Brent is going to polish off his interview questions and start making contact with his potential interviewees.  He has already submitted his IRB form.  Justin is going to develop a list of the variables that he needs in his data set so that we can get together and put the spreadsheet together.  I am going to work more on my draft that I brought in today and continue to develop my data set.  I also need to get an IRB form completed for the survey portion of my paper.

Student help with a grant application

Dr. William M. Rodgers III (Rutgers University) and I are working on a project concerning the effects of clinical depression on labor market outcomes, such as unemployment and labor market participation.  The project requires funds for a variety of things including data, travel, etc.  My department chair (Chris McCart) is always very generous with travel funds, but these are limited. 

Grants are another potential source of funds.  I am in the process of applying for the Mednick Memorial Fellowship Grant, but needed fresh eyes to look over my application.  I brought my draft to our research group for help.  Reviewing a grant application is helpful for students, particularly those going to graduate school. Grants are commonly used to fund research, including that done during graduate school.  Obviously it was helpful to me as well to have a group of bright students reviewing my work.

The group was great!  We all read through the application and they called out issues that they found.  Many of them also had questions about how grants are used, how tightly the timelines must be followed, and how the budgets are calculated. 

After class, I incorporated their edits, finished off a few last pieces, and submitted the application.  I am so grateful to have such a great group of editors.  Keep your fingers crossed!

Great couple of weeks

The Mentor Demonstration/URE @ RC continues to make progress.  Below is a brief overview of our past few meetings:

1/27/2011
The topic for today was developing a hypothesis.  Everyone was asked to write out a description of their research topic.  We started by going around the room sharing these descriptions with each other.  I was impressed with the level of work that the students have already put forth (and glad that I had remembered to do my homework!)  There was a great deal of discussion about each project, and several great suggestions offered.

Next I described how a researcher might go about developing a hypothesis.  This process includes having a refined research question(s), looking to the literature pertaining to that research question(s), and then developing a hypothesis that is specific, precise and subject to verification and testing.

We then each worked for several minutes writing out specific research questions based on our topics and the literature that we had already reviewed.  We shared these questions with each other and offered comments and suggestions to each presenter.

We left with the goal for the next week being to continue to review the literature.  Our discussion next time is the literature review.

2/3/2011
The topic for today was the literature review.

First I described several reasons/uses of the literature review, including:
1) Informing/educating your reader/audience
2) Putting your work in context with existing work
3) Showing you (the researcher) what has already been done so that you can see how/if you are contributing to the existing body of work
4) Teaching you (the researcher) lessons learned by previous authors (mistakes not to make, heads up on difficulties/obstacles/likely criticisms)
5) Helping you (the researcher) refine your research question and build your hypothesis

Next, I logged onto the computer and showed the group some fruitful and respectable places to look for relevant literature, including WorldCat, EconLit, Jstor, and Google Scholar.

We then went around the room and shared the literature that we each had found over the previous week and talked about how it fit, or didn't fit with our research questions, and any other updates.

Brent: Spoke with Drs. Filer and Lyon about potential interview questions and set up a meeting with a potential contact for the interview

Nic: Looked at online resources but has not found many useful additions yet to the literature review that he did for his ECON 448 paper (it was a very good one!)  He is still hopeful. 

Tyler: Emailed Dr. Stauffer about where he should go with his paper; potentially a focus on monetary policy in Europe; looked at news articles about the European Debt Crisis and noted that there was an abrupt halt in the popular press on the subject (did a celebrity get married or something to take it out of the headlines?)

Sara: Found some great studies on obesity and productivity but all focused on children or adults (good for her...she is the first!)

Jorge: Keeps talking about this Jorge Friedman guy that Nic does not believe exists...too convenient a name we think.  He did review the literature and spoke with Dr. Nik-Khah about some potential angles for his paper.

Justin: Did a LOT of work searching the literature which is a new experience for him.  He is learning to sift through it all and pick out what is helpful.  So far he has found some great pieces.

Dr. Kassens: Found very little in the academic literature on the impact of the recession on marathon performance, but many articles from newspapers (including the WSJ article that got her thinking about the project); wondering if I should not only look at big marathons like NYC, but more "local" marathons as well

Finally, Brent Cox shared a draft of his literature review so that students in the early stages of their work can see a student sample.

Our goal for next week is to continue working on the literature review and the topic for next time is IRB Approvals.

Great session!

2/8/2011
There was a short turn around (Thursday to Tuesday) for our meeting this week, yet many students (and teacher) had done quite a bit of work.

The topic for today was IRB approvals.  I reviewed with the students the purpose of the approval and where to find the documentation.

Next I passed out the updated RC IRB form and reviewed the different parts.

I then passed out three sample IRB forms that I have completed in the past so that they could see how different types of projects must focus on different items.

Finally, since there are two students who need IRB approval in our group (Brent and Sara) we split into two groups to help them with their forms.  Nic and I helped Brent with his approval form while Tyler, Jorge, and Justin helped Sara.  I had several comments from colleagues that passed by the classroom while we were doing this about how hard everyone was working and how animated everyone was.  I take this as a good sign.  We are being productive and having fun!

Our topic next week is developing a prospectus.  Additionally everyone has the goal of posting a draft of their literature review on our SharePoint team site for peer review.

First day

I (Dr. Alice Louise Kassens) am working with 6 undergraduate students at Roanoke College on their research projects.  Some are for Honors in the Major in Economics and others are for the same distinction in Business.  In order to handle all six projects, we will meet as a group once a week, and then have additional individual meetings when needed. 

I am employing the mentor demonstration model proposed by McElroy.  Simply put, I will go through the research steps with them.  Additionally, they will serve as peer mentors. 

The seven (Nic, Sara, Justin, Tyler, Jorge, Brent, and Dr. Kassens) of us met as a group for the first time Thursday January 20th.

I handed out our "syllabus", discussed our goals, expectations, and purpose, and then allowed each person to introduce themselves and their project.

I am very excited about our semester.  The topics that are forming are so diverse and the students are so strong.

If you are interested in what we will be doing, check out our syllabus.  Send some comments if you have any that will make our experience even better.

Mentor demonstration model syllabus