NIDA Summer Research Internship Program
Overview: The NIDA (National Institute on Drug Abuse) Summer Research Program for Underrepresented Students at the University of Oregon is interested in the ways that families contribute to their children’s healthy and successful development. There are two research projects hosted by faculty in the UO College of Education and Prevention Science Institute.
*This research internship opportunity is available at institutions around the United States, including the University of Oregon. If you want to conduct research specifically at the UO you must select that location in the application’s “Site Selection” section.
Behavioral Research & Training Labs
Overview: Behavioral Research and Teaching is comprised of a small group of researchers conducting research and development in student academic assessment. The shop is funded from federal grants and state contracts and is comprised of faculty, staff, and students committed to the development of effective educational programs for all students. Contact BRT if you’re interested in getting involved.
Website: http://www.brtprojects.org/about/
Prevention Science Institute Human Subject Research
Overview: The Prevention Science Institute (PSI) at the University of Oregon is a multidisciplinary institute focused on understanding human development, preventing behavioral health problems, and implementing effective interventions in community settings. The core mission of the PSI is to improve the lives and well-being of children, individuals, and families throughout the lifespan. The PSI is a research institute designed for collaboration between faculty across disciplines, including psychology, social and affective neuroscience, development, and education, and others who are interested in prevention. The PSI has office locations in both the Eugene and Portland campuses.
Website: http://psi.uoregon.edu
Intervention-Focused Field Placement with Families and Children
Overview: Professor Elizabeth Skowron and her lab encourage motivated undergraduate students to apply to become FHS interns for the Coaching Alternative Parenting Strategies (CAPS) Project. As a member of our lab, you will gain valuable experience working with high-risk, DHS involved children and working in an intervention research setting. You would gain first-hand experience observing licensed therapists doing Parent-Child Interaction Therapy (PCIT), a type of family therapy.
This is an amazing opportunity for individuals interested in graduate school and in careers in the social sciences.
Website: https://education.uoregon.edu/users/elizabeth-skowron
KEEP-P Project at the SNAP Lab
Overview: The Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Laboratory is looking for several new research assistants to help us conduct intervention research in the community. As a research assistant in the SNAP lab, you will be gaining valuable experience for graduate school, and may be able to earn upper division credits.
Website: http://psychology.uoregon.edu/profile/philf/
Filming Interactions to Nurture Development (FIND) at the SNAP Lab
Overview: The Fisher Stress Neurobiology and Prevention (SNAP) Lab focuses on the effects of early life adversity, developing and examining preventative interventions to improve outcomes for children and families, and impacting policy and practices towards high-risk children and families.
The lab is looking for students who can work on our FIND programs. FIND stands for Filming Interactions to Nurture Development, and is a strength based video coaching program for parents and other caregivers of high-risk children. FIND uses video of naturally occurring child-parent interaction to encourage developmentally supportive caregiving.
Website: http://psychology.uoregon.edu/profile/philf/
Semi-Automated Music Therapy for Children with Severe Disabilities
Overview: Students specializing in early childhood intervention, music therapy, developmental disorders, special education, human services, and other related fields, are sought for a directed research project that will investigate opportunities for semi-automated music therapy in the homes of children with disabilities. The project will explore possibilities for computer-mediated music therapy, and focus largely on girls with Rett Syndrome, a severe motor and intellectual disability affecting girls and women. Musical interventions have been shown to ameliorate the regressive symptoms of Rett Syndrome (Elefant & Meir, 2004; and others). The project will explore how new interactive systems might be used to deliver (a) music therapy and music-motivated interactive activities and (b) opportunities for girls with Rett Syndrome to participate in fun social activities.
Website: https://www.cs.uoregon.edu/People/Faculty/Anthony_Hornof.php
Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect
Overview: Established in April, 2012, the Center for the Prevention of Abuse and Neglect is designed to develop, implement and research a collective impact and public health approach to child abuse and neglect prevention. Most CPAN research activities are directly related to the 90by30 Initiative (described below), though additional current projects include an evaluation of a child sexual abuse curriculum (Stewards of Children) and measurement of child abuse and neglect prevalence rates across Oregon (Oregon Prevalence Study).
Website: https://education.uoregon.edu/users/todahl
Positive Behavior Intervention Supports
Overview: The Technical Assistance Center on Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports is established by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to define, develop, implement, and evaluate a multi-tiered approach to Technical Assistance that improves the capacity of states, districts and schools to establish, scale-up and sustain the PBIS framework. Emphasis is given to the impact of implementing PBIS on the social, emotional and academic outcomes for students with disabilities. This internship will support the Technical Assistance Center by developing and publishing Evaluation Briefs based on the PBIS database of 40 million office discipline referrals. Please visit this website to view examples of evaluation briefs already completed to date: PBIS Evaluation Briefs
Website: http://ecs.uoregon.edu/
Science Instructional Coach
Overview: Project ESCOLAR is a five-year study conducted by the University of Oregon’s Center for Equity Promotion (CEQP). ESCOLAR is creating and evaluating high-quality Collaborative Online Learning (COL) units to help middle-school students explore science, collaborate with others online, and enhance learning. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
Website: https://education.uoregon.edu/users/rogers
Teacher Coach
Overview: Project S-SOAR is a five-year study conducted by the University of Oregon’s Center for Equity Promotion (CEQP). S-SOAR is testing and disseminating strategies for conducting effective online research and teacher professional development resources. The project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP).
Contact: Fatima Terrazas-Arellanes, Ph.D., fatima@uoregon.edu
SSET/NTACT Systematic Literature Review
Overview: The National Technical Assistance Center on Transition is conducting a systematic review of the literature to identify evidence-based, research-based, and promising practices in the area of secondary transition.
Contacts: Dawn A. Rowe, drowe3@uoregon.edu and Valerie L. Mazzotti, vmazzott@uoregon.edu
Multiple-choice Comprehension Assessment Project
Overview: The MOCCA Project is funded by the U.S. Department of Education through the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) to validate and refine a new measure (MOCCA) for diagnostic purposes in reading comprehension. MOCCA was originally developed to identify the cognitive processes that take place during reading comprehension, and whether such processes are associated with reading comprehension problems in struggling readers. To do so, readers are asked to complete a missing sentence in a short narrative text with the “best” sentence out of four options in the multiple-choice assessment. Each option represents a specific cognitive reading comprehension process that has been identified in previous research (e.g., paraphrase, different inferences). The “best” option completes the text in a causally coherent way so that the goal, subgoal, and resolution causally fit together. Preliminary results from the original development of MOCCA indicate that two types of struggling readers tend to overly-rely on processes that do not help them develop causal coherence during reading when they are not choosing that “best” option. Thus, in the current project, we will expand, test, and validate MOCCA by developing additional items that will range in grades 3-5. Each grade level assessment will have 3 forms and will be piloted each year, including with a nationally representative sample in Years 2 and 3. This is also a multi-site project in which data will be collected in Chico, CA with our partner Ben Seipel, Ph.D., and IRT analyses will be conducted at the University of Minnesota with our partner Mark Davison, Ph.D.
Website: https://ctl.uoregon.edu/
Mathematics eText Research Center (MeTRC)
Overview: MeTRC is funded by the U.S. Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) to investigate reading and writing in mathematics, particularly by students with learning disabilities or vision impairments. MeTRC is currently analyzing two large data sets from research projects conducted over the past two years. The first involves a database of student interactions with an online supplemental mathematics curriculum, and seeks to understand the patterns of student behaviors as they make use of the various features available in a digital reading and study environment.
The second data set is a collection of mathematical explanations written by students studying fractions. This study is focused on the differences between explanations written using traditional pencil and paper tools and those available in a multimodal digital writing environment.
Website: http://cate.uoregon.edu/
The Step Ahead Project
Interested in classroom-based research? Want to build your resume? Kate Ascetta, a doctoral student in the Special Education Department, is conducting an intervention study in preschool classrooms. The study will be exploring how different supports for teachers can influence their use of strategies with the children in their classroom.
Contact: Kate Ascetta – Kascetta@uoregon.edu
Undergraduate Research Fellowship Program
Overview: The Undergraduate Research Fellowship (URF) Program allows full-time juniors and seniors in Education and related fields the opportunity to work as Research Fellows throughout the University of Oregon. Admission to the program is competitive. Accepted students will work as valued members of a research team and will be granted a tuition waiver for the academic year. This program is specifically designed to encourage undergraduates to continue their studies in graduate school with a commitment to research and the process of scientific inquiry.
Website: http://ctl.uoregon.edu/research/urf
McNair Scholars Program
Overview: The McNair Scholars Program (TRiO) prepares qualified juniors and seniors for graduate study leading to PhD degrees. McNair Scholars receive comprehensive support to earn undergraduate degrees, complete research projects in their fields of study, and apply to graduate schools. The program’s limited size provides a close-knit community while helping students gain a broad understanding of research and university culture.
Website: http://mcnair.uoregon.edu/
CURE Student Travel Grants
Overview: 10 awards of $500 will be provided each year to students for the purpose of travel for research or a conference.
Website: https://cure.uoregon.edu/award-funding/
CURE Student Summer Research Fellowships
Overview: $4,000 Student Summer Research Fellowships will be provided to five students each year.
Website: https://cure.uoregon.edu/award-funding/
CURE Student Emergency Funding
Overview: A maximum of four students each year can receive up to $500 in emergency funding for research for special circumstances.