Undergrad researchers place at AGSERS exhibition

April 4, 2025

Each year the Graduate Student Education Council (GSEC) hosts its Annual Graduate Student Education Research Symposium (AGSERS).

Undergraduate Research Training Program students Jessica Wallace and Leah Miles standing besides their poster titled "Childhood Stuttering: Impact on Academic Performance and Effective Classroom Interventions"
College of Education Undergraduate Research Training Program students (l) Jessica Wallace and (r) Leah Miles presented their poster “Childhood Stuttering: Impact on Academic Performance and Effective Classroom Interventions” (All photos/Toni Rogat)

The 2025 event took place on March 7 in the Krach Leadership Building. The theme for this year was Innovating Education: Integrating Equity and Collaboration Across Disciplines, which aligns with current trends in education and emphasizes the importance of innovation, inclusivity, and collaboration in shaping the future of learning.

Since 2016, undergraduate researchers from the College’s Undergraduate Research Trainee (URT) program, with representation from education, social sciences, and speech, language and hearing majors have applied to enter the symposium. A newer development since 2024 has been the inclusion of undergraduate awards for their poster presentation at AGSERS.

“Undergraduates are more than welcome to submit, and we encourage it!” said Mitch Freeman, a PhD student in the College’s Learning Design and Technology program and Chair of this year’s symposium. “It is a way for them to experience putting their research out there in a professional setting and it gives them a way to network with others in the educational field.”

The 2025 undergraduate winners were:

1st place – Veronica Nnatubeugo (Psychological Sciences)

Poster title: “How can positive psychology and dynamic assessment methods help address the underrepresentation of diverse students in gifted education?”

Faculty Mentor: Dr. Kristen Seward

Veronica Nnatubeugo presenting her poster.

2nd place – Joel Berringer (Social Studies Education)

Poster title: “Building resilience: A study of trauma-informed support in AAU preservice-teacher programs”

Faculty mentor: Dr. Ofelia Schepers

Joel Berringer presenting his poster to Wayne Wright.

3rd place – Jack Weston (Psychological Sciences; no photo available)

Poster title: “Recommendations from parents and teachers on improving STEM identity development within gifted adolescents: A Qualitative study”

Faculty mentor: Dr. Nielsen Pereira

“Our undergraduate researchers have been mentored by our College of Education faculty across the year as part of the URT program, and AGSERS affords the opportunity for them to showcase their research from this internship experience,” said Toni Rogat, course instructor of the Spring 2025 URT cohort and the College’s undergraduate research coordinator. “They were enthusiastic to participate in this annual event and to discuss their research with the education research committee here at Purdue.”  

Congratulations to our undergraduate research winners – and to all participants of the 2025 AGSERS Symposium!

About the Undergraduate Research Training Program

Undergraduate research is important to the College of Education and is exemplified in the College’s Undergraduate Research Training Program. Qualified Purdue sophomores, juniors, or seniors in any academic discipline who are interested in undergraduate research on teaching and learning may apply to this two-part program, which includes research experience, a year-long course sequence on educational research methods, and working with an education professor mentor for two semesters. Participants may submit research to Purdue’s Fall and Spring Undergraduate Research Expos, the College’s AGSERS event, and the Journal of Purdue Undergraduate Research.

Sources: Mitch Freeman, rmfreema@purdue.edu; Toni Rogat, tkrogat@purdue.edu