Office of
Research and Sponsored Programs

Nicholls Research Week
Monday, April 14 - Friday, April 18

Cutting-edge research and fascinating discoveries are on the agenda for the 2008 Research Week. Bring your bag lunch and an appetite for learning as Nicholls faculty and students reveal the results of their latest research projects.

Download the Research Week 2008 brochure (pdf).

College of Arts and Sciences

11 a.m. - 1:30 p.m. Monday, April 14
Ellender Room, Ellender Memorial Library

Drinks and dessert will be served.

• “Little Zion/ St. Luke’s Church” by Dr. James Butler
• “Crazy Crawfish Chromosomy: What It Means and Does It Taste Good” by Dr. John Doucet
• “Nuclear Legacy of Hanford and the Design of a Proposed Waste Treatment and Immobilization Plant” by Dr. Henry Foust
• “Current Status of Crustacean Toxicology and Physiology in the Department of Biological Sciences” by Dr. Enmin Zou
• “Factors That Reduce the Math Anxiety of Pre-service Elementary Education Teachers” by Dr. DesLey Plaisance
• “The Physics of Movies” by Dr. Chad Young

Noon - 1 p.m. Tuesday, April 15
Ellender Room, Ellender Memorial Library

Drinks and dessert will be served.

• “The Application of the Lean Production System II, the Food Services Industry” by Dr. Alton Doody
• “Information Literacy Programs” by Dr. Tony Fonseca
• “The Library as a Cultural Center” by Dr. Melissa Goldsmith
• “Local History Research in the Nicholls Archives” by Carol Mathias and Clifton Theriot
• “Marketing the Library” by Van Viator
• “Unfolding Mysteries Through Service Learning: Little Zion Baptist Church” by Olinda Ricard

College of Business Administration

Noon - 2 p.m. Wednesday, April 16
208 Powell Hall

Drinks and dessert will be served.

• “An Empirical Analysis of the Regulatory Standards for Section 109 of Riegle-Neal” by Dr. John Lajaunie and Dr. Ronnie Fanguy
• “Computer Assisted Training for Interpreting Dental Radiographic Images” by Dr. En Mao
• “Facility Location” by Dr. M. Khurrum Bhutta and Dr. Ronnie Fanguy
• “Are All Lotteries Regressive? Evidence from the Powerball Reconsidered” by Dr. Chad Turner
• “Bribes and Ballots” by Dr. R. Morris Coats
• “Text Messaging Acronyms and Shorthand - What Do Our Students Know and Think?” by Dr. Betty Kleen and Dr. Shari Lawrence
• “An Experimental Study on Archive Learning Versus Traditional Teaching Presentations in an Introductory Business Course” by Dr. Jim Carter and Dr. Norbert Michel

College of Nursing and Allied Health

8:30 - 11:30 a.m. Thursday, April 17
Ayo Hall Auditorium

Breakfast will be served.

• “Take a Walk in my Shoes” by Amanda Eymard and Brandi Crawford
• “A Pilot Study to Assess Food Costs in the Rural Parishes of South Louisiana” by Simone Camel and Alicia Sample
• “The Engaged Mind: The Benefits of Wireless Student Response Systems in the Classroom” by Dr. Adrienne Bethancourt, Bridgette Dufrene and Michelle Dufrene
• “Literature Review Update on the Human Papillomavirus Vaccine (Gardasil)” by Denise Pellegrin
• “The Response of the National School Lunch Program and Food Stamp Program in Southern Louisiana in the Wake of Hurricanes Katrina and Rita” by Emily Whelan
• “Impact of Redesigning Food Bank Client Basket Composition to Improve Overall Nutritional Quality” by Simone Camel and Amanda Bourgeois, Lauren Bourgeois, Brookes Brazan, Allegra Butler, Kira Guidry, Christina Lapeyrouse, Mutsumi Nakajima and Cammie St. Germain
• “Enhancement of Emergency Resuscitation Response” by Angelique Allemand, Dr. Adrienne Bethancourt, Michelle Dufrene, Kellie Graffagnino and Bridget Guidry
• “Enhancement of Nursing Students Learning Through Maternal-Child Simulation” by Michelle Patterson and Pamela Williams-Jones
• “Reflections of Katrina” by Dr. Adrienne Bethancourt, Michelle Dufrene, Dr. Cheryl Franklin, Kelly Graffagnino and Pamela Williams-Jones
• “An Exploration of Competencies and Description of Differences Between Novice and Expert Nurse Educators” by Carol Hession

College of Education

Noon - 1:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17
125 Polk Hall

Drinks and dessert will be served.

• “Empowering Educators through Action Research” by Dr. Deborah Bordelon
• “An Examination of Inquiry Trained Pre-Service Elementary Teachers’ Effectiveness in the Science Classroom” by Dr. Sumita Bhattacharyya
• “Monitoring Progress of Early Math Interventions” by Dr. Carmen Broussard
• “Teachers as Strategic Scientists of Pedagogy” by Dr. Grant Gautreaux
• “Self-Paced Mastery Learning in Psychology 101″ by Dr. Chris Rachal
• “The Philosophy of Praxis: Hermeneutical Research into Human Action” by Dr. Stephen Triche

Student Research Poster Displays

9 a.m. - 3:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17
First Floor Lobby, Ellender Memorial Library

A poster display describing the research efforts of Nicholls students is open for viewing.

Student Display Judging

3:30 - 4:30 p.m. Thursday, April 17
First Floor Lobby, Ellender Memorial Library

Nicholls students explain their research projects during the judging of their research poster presentations.

Research Week Reception

5 - 7 p.m. Thursday, April 17
Ellender Room, Ellender Memorial Library

The closing ceremony of Nicholls Research Week includes the presentation of awards to student and faculty researchers. Guest presenters are Dr. Mark Zappi, dean of engineering at the University of Louisiana at Lafayette, and Dr. Raj Boopathy, Nicholls distinguished service professor of biological sciences. Zappi will speak about the energy crisis and biotechnology solutions, while Boopathy will discuss biotechnology research at Nicholls. A reception, sponsored by the Nicholls Student Programming Association and the Nicholls chapter of Sigma Theta Tau Honor Society of Nursing, follows.

University College

8:30 - 9:30 a.m. Friday, April 18
211 Elkins Hall

Breakfast will be served.

• “A Study of Student Perceptions of Tutorial Learning Using the MBTI” by Dr. Angela Alexander
• “Engaging Freshmen: Making the Nicholls Connection” by Cathy Richard

University Honors Program Thesis Research Symposium

9 a.m. - 5 p.m. Saturday, April 19
101 Gouaux Hall

Coordinated by Dr. John Doucet, Nicholls director of the University Honors Program, the symposium features some of the university’s top students publicly defending the findings and conclusions of their independent research.