Research and Achievement at the Graduate Level
Like the professors they work with, graduate students at DU are doing research, creative work and scholarship that addresses real-world problems.
Here are a few of the ways our graduate students are working for the public good.
When Morgridge College of Education doctoral students want to put their research skills to work promoting social change, they often take on a project with DU's Colorado Community-Based Research Network (CCBRN). The network tackles research challenges presented by its dozen or so community partners.
Preventing pregnancy
In some high schools, teaching pregnancy prevention is next to impossible.
DU's Katie Melstrom wanted to know why. Melstrom, who earned a master's of social work, began exploring the topic after she taught a course in pregnancy prevention in a local school system. During her research, Melstrom found that a number of factors influence a school's thinking about teaching pregnancy prevention. Among the factors: the attitudes of staff and the kinds of prevention included in the syllabus.
Finding business solutions
Graduate students at the Daniels College of Business work with real companies to find solutions to their problems.
A graduate-level program called Integrative Challenge lets students delve deep into ledger books, stock listings and annual reports for businesses that need help embracing marketplace change. Students develop business and marketing plans, conduct product feasibility studies, analyze financial and pro forma statements, and study competition and strategic positioning.
Companies get world-class business expertise, while students learn valuable skills that stay with them long after graduation.
Effectiveness of restorative justice
Restorative justice focuses on having offenders make reparations to their victims or the community—perhaps through cash payments or community service. Richard Williams, a candidate for dual master's degrees in social work and divinity, is testing a survey that measures how effective restorative justice really is.
Williams is surveying offenders from the Boulder County Victim Offender Reconciliation Program before and after they participate in the program. His aim? To see how the program changes their feelings and attitudes. The results will help restorative justice agencies learn which tactics are most effective.
Support for children in poverty
Children living in poverty are exposed to a lot of stress, which makes them more likely to develop high reactivity. That means they have unusually strong physical responses such as increased heart rate, blood pressure and breathing due to environmental stressors.
Many DU graduate students do their research in the field, often with the people their research is intended to help.
To find out whether social support affects children's physical responses to stress, Brian Wolff, a PhD candidate in child clinical psychology, is working with children from Denver-area Head Start centers, all of whom come from families with income below the federal poverty line. Wolff is measuring how their reactivity changes when they spend time in a supportive social environment.
By finding out whether social support lowers low-income children's reactivity, Wolff is helping psychologists work toward lowering children's risk for anxiety disorders.