From cyber-sickness investigation to culvert optimization, TCNJ research caters to all tastes

As the official Undergraduate Mentored Summer Experience program at TCNJ draws to a close, many projects are just the start of great things to come this academic year.

Check out this week’s roundup of ongoing projects – where they’ve been and where they’re heading next:

PROJECT Investigate the effectiveness of a visual questionnaire on cyber sickness
FACULTY Sharif Mohammad Shahnewaz Ferdous, IT
STUDENTS Andrew Michael ’24, Kyla Ramos ’24

WHAT WE PUT IN MOTION Cyber ​​sickness is a form of motion sickness that occurs as a result of exposure to immersive experiences such as virtual and augmented reality. This team is developing a web application that combines questions and animations to facilitate the understanding of the symptoms of cybermalaise. “Other researchers have collected data on cybersickness, but we have noticed that their method of assessing the severity of a patient’s cyberth disease may not be optimal,” says Michael. -User-friendly interface to facilitate the process of studying the adverse effects of cyberth disease for both researchers and future study participants.

THE NEXT STEPS Using the app they are developing, they will compare cyber sickness between children and adults.

PROJECT 1 School readiness and the social determinants of health: a collaboration with teachers and parents in the community
PROJECT # 2 Health disparities: the effects of race / ethnicity and maternal education on infant mortality
FACULTY Rashida Atkins, nurse
STUDENTS Afia Hinckson ’22 and Damilola Aromolaran ’22

READY, PLACE, GO For the first project, they will use community-based research methods to engage parents and develop and implement strategies to help them improve school readiness in their preschool children.

AND NOT LESS Using knowledge and research from the study of the second project, the team will explore and explain disparities in infant mortality related to race / ethnicity and education. They perform secondary analysis of existing data from New Jersey tables and run advanced statistics to explore relationships between variables.

PROJECT Experiences of first generation students at the School of Education
FACULTY Nadya Pancsofar, Special Education, Language and Literacy
STUDENT Nature Elmore ’22

WHAT WILL OCCUPY US Analyze the interviews of 20 first generation students that were conducted in the spring semester 2021 to better understand their experiences and challenges.

END OF GAME The results of this study will inform the Resources, Opportunities, Supports, and Collaborations for Equity Educators program, which will be piloted during the 2021-2022 academic year and connect first-generation first-year students with a mentor teacher and a peer. mentor at the School of Education.

PROJECT Determining the Peak Rate Factor for the Natural Resources Conservation Service Dimensionless Unit Hydrograph Equation for the Northeastern United States
FACULTY Michael Horst, Civil Engineering
STUDENT Isabella Lamboy ’24

TO DIVE IN THE WATER Using historical data available online through the United States Gelogic Survey and the National Weather Service, Horst and Lamboy work to recalculate a variable in an engineering equation that can help determine features – like area or slope – watersheds in the northeastern United States. .

MAJOR PROJECTS If they are able to draw definitive conclusions, their work will greatly improve the accuracy of engineering calculations used in the analysis and design of hydraulic structures such as bridges, culverts and dams.

Check back next week for the fourth and final MUSE roundup at TCNJ. Learn more about other MUSE projects here and here.