First Prize: Jessica Lavine, Class of 2010
Title of Paper/Project: The Care and Treatment of Pressure Ulcers in Long Term Care Facilities
Faculty Member Supporting this Application: Dr. Alison Kris
Course Name: Geriatric Nursing
Course Number: NS 272
Jessica selected this topic of pressure ulcers after caring for a patient with the condition. She begins essay on research strategies by writing, "The researching process for this research paper was much more difficult than the research papers I had done in past semesters.... For this paper, I needed to work harder and learn new techniques and strategies to find high quality research articles that discussed an aspect of pressure ulcer treatment or prevention."
Jessica than goes on to explain how she created a list of keywords, employed appropriate nursing databases, such as CINAHL and PubMed, using advanced search features and consulted with a reference librarian.
Jessica ends her essay with, "After struggling through long days of research for a few high quality articles, I believe I was able to improve my researching skills while putting together a very interesting and well-organized paper, and I am very proud of that accomplishemnt."
Dr. Kris writes about Jessica, "Student wrote a beautiful paper on the care and treatment of pressure ulcers in long term care facilities. She was able to approach the topic with a level of sophistication beyond that which is usually seen at the sophomore level."
Dr. Kris also commented "Her ability to synthesize the research findings and reflect upon how the research should impact clinical practice will serve her well in her future career."
Honorable Mention: Kaitlin Noone, Class of 2008
Title of Paper/Project: The Female Protagonist's Struggle Between Modern and Traditional in Four Films of Pedro Almodovar
Faculty Member Supporting this Appliction: Dr. Jerelyn Johnson
Course Name: Spanish Capstone
Course Number: SP381
In her essay about her research process, Kaitlin writes, "When I first registered for my Spanish major capstone, the task of writing a 15 page paper totally in Spanish seemed more daunting than the research itself. However, I quickly learned that I was wrong." So begins Kaitlin's research process and after learning how to narrow her search results, Kaitlin "came across numerous critical sources that were perfect for my paper. The WorldCat database was my savior..."
Kaitlin watched many of Pedro Almodovar's films available at the DiMenna-Nyselius Library and selected 4 films to concentrate on. She searched the Literature Online/MLA database for articles, used the Best Bets for Modern Languages Guide to help her research and even took a trip to NYC Public Library to find more specific information.
Dr Johnson writes about Kaitlin," It had been quite a while since Kaitlin had embarked on such an ambitious research project - especially in Spanish culture. ... She showed surprising dexterity in navigating through the various on-line databases provided through Fairfield's library. ... She has come to some original and sophisticated conclusions on the tensions experienced by Spanish women, especially between the traditional Spanish culture and the new 'modern' urban woman, that are reflected in Almodóvar's films."
Dr. Johnson continues, "Her obvious enthusiasm and interest for the process have convinced me that she will continue to expand her knowledge through inquiry and research in the future."