Casey Haney ‘18, a current graduate student in the engineering education program at Purdue, earned her undergraduate degree in engineering-technology teacher education. She began performing undergraduate research during her junior year. Working for the DeBoer Lab, Haney studied a Backyard Brains kit that was used in high schools to teach principles of neuroscience using cockroaches and worms. Her work focused on determining whether or not the lab kits made it easier for students to understand complex subjects.
“We have seen that the lab kits improve self-efficacy and basically help students feel more like scientists,” said Haney.
Haney initially decided to take advantage of this research opportunity because it sounded interesting and would be a nice way for her to earn some extra money for expenses.
“To be honest, I didn’t think that it would go much further than that,” said Haney. “I never expected to pursue a doctoral degree before starting my research. Go all in and try something new that sounds interesting to you. It can lead to amazing things.”
After discovering her passion for research, Haney switched her major so that it better aligned with her research interests. She is now the first in her family to pursue a doctoral degree and the first in her immediate family to receive a bachelor’s degree.
“Undergraduate research gave me a safe place to grow my research skills, nurture my curiosity, and test if it was something that I wanted to do,” said Haney. “When I decided to apply to graduate school, I had already presented two conference papers, been an author on a journal paper, and knew how to talk about my research.”
Undergraduate Research Blog 