Social robots may be an effective and appropriate technology to help reduce stress in adolescents, thereby improving mental health. Previously, we designed a social robot that teens found engaging and desirable to help them with stress. Moving forward, we were curious about how different robot platforms affected adolescents’ stress levels and robot preferences. We conducted an exploratory study with seventy-one US adolescents (ages 14-21) comparing interactions on three different technology platforms: computer screen, physical robot, and immersive, virtual reality. Participant stress levels and attitudes towards robots were measured along with their momentary ratings of stress and levels of verbal engagement. Finally, participants completed an exit survey and interview in which they identified and discussed their preferred platform. The physical robot was rated most comfortable and resulted in significantly reduced momentary stress. However, after experiencing all three platforms, most adolescents preferred the virtual reality environment, with significant gender differences among preferences. 

Design awareness is the practice of being cognizant of the steps one takes in the design process and how one moves through them. Design awareness can help designers make more informed choices and find the best pathway through their design processes. In a quarter-long seminar, students explored the concepts of design awareness and created prototypes for a design awareness tracking tool to help them stay aware of the design process while fully immersed in it. The goals of this research are to explore methods of teaching students design awareness and to determine the effectiveness of these methods at demonstrating concepts of design awareness and the tools that can help them stay aware. The seminar began with students keeping a journal as they engaged in a design project over the spring break. The students closely examined their own design processes while exploring other methodologies of design. The seminar culminated in student presentations of their sketched prototypes for an artifact designed to increase their personal design awareness. Students reflected on their experiences and were found to have new definitions and understandings of the design process and what it meant to them. Follow-up research explored one design awareness tracking tool and the development of a physical working prototype. The design awareness tracker could record a design process through the different design activities that were engaged in. Data from paper prototypes of the device demonstrated that using the device increased users awareness as engaged in the design process. Further work is being done to widen the scope of design awareness teachings to reach a broader audience.

As the Latinx student population continues to grow in public K-12 institutions, it is increasingly important to center this student group within educational research studies. Existing research shows that Latinx students face challenges that discourage them from continuing on to higher education, such as apathetic teaching, language barriers, and institutionalized cultural erosion. The bulk of such findings come from studies conducted in larger urban cities, thus excluding students from the many small farmworker communities that exist in rural agricultural areas such as those in eastern Washington. My research aims to include such populations in the educational discourse, using an asset-based model. Instead of asking students from these rural populations what went wrong for them, the current research project focuses on what went right for them in their paths to higher education. The present study asks the following question: What familial, social, and aspirational forms of cultural capital aid Latinx students in their transition from rural school districts to higher education institutions? To answer this question, I analyzed the retrospective accounts of first year Latinx students from small schools in central and eastern Washington state. Following the Grounded Theory approach, I used semi-structured interviews to collect data, which will later undergo transcription and analysis. I anticipate that results will highlight cultural resources such as community bonds, familial support, and encouragement as helpful resources in the pursuit for higher education. The findings of this research will aid rural secondary-school educators and staff to provide resources that support the educational attainment and success of Latinx students.

At the University of Washington where Indigenous (Pacific Islander, Native American and Alaskan Native) students make up 2.4% of the student population, Indigenous students continue to maintain close relationships with their kin and non-kin families while shaping new ones at school. This study explores fluid definitions of “family” that emerged from my research. I interviewed 20 Indigenous students at the University of Washington to learn more about how they express "family" in the college context. The study brings forth diverse voices of Indigenous students who express the importance of kin and non-kin “family” in their retention and successes at UW. Findings suggest that UW families support students to heal from traumas, maintain community continuity, and build relationships. My data also suggests culturally relevant definitions of families are important yet lacking in UW's efforts to recruit and retain Indigenous students. This research is important because it highlights, for UW faculty and professional staff who work with Indigenous students, the inseparability of “family” and academics and its relationship to community wellbeing.

While some high school students are able to make the transition to higher levels of education, if they so aspire, other students have great difficulty achieving the goal of higher education. This study broadly examines barriers to higher education for students who face challenges graduating from high school and continuing to higher education. For example, students who become truant, attend poorly funded schools, of color, and/or are court-involved face real challenges and barriers in the transition to college. This research explores a variety of sustainable education-driven interventions that have the potential to widen the pathway wherein these populations of young adults can find success in transitioning to a college or university setting. Through multiple interviews with community stakeholders (including governmental, non-governmental, for-profit, and non-profit agencies), I have explored and assessed interventions and programs that are making an impact. These include student to advisor ratios, being surrounded by diversity in leadership positions, family support, neighborhood environments, and additional outside of school influences that ultimately effects these students’ lives every day. Yet, for all these interventions and programs some students still fall through the cracks. There remains a significant lack of equity. This research contributes by drawing attention to the best programs and practices that successfully widen the path for young adults to achieve higher education.

The Indian education system, like many countries, focuses strongly on annual national exams. This results in an emphasis on rote learning, discourages student participation and engagement in lessons, and yields a lack of motivation to learn. Prioritization of rote learning is ubiquitous across India, but is especially detrimental for students from adverse backgrounds and resource-poor settings. Parikrma Humanity Foundation is a non-profit school in Bangalore India that serves students from “the poorest of poor” backgrounds. The school integrates a “360-degree” model that prioritizes student happiness, while emphasizing student and family health as central to learning. Despite these well-established values, students at Parikrma are not exempt from national exam requirements and are also subject to the implications of the heightened importance of exam results. We sought to understand whether key stakeholders perceived that exclusive focus on rote learning hinders development of social-emotional life skills. We conducted over 70 interviews with students, teachers, school faculty, and alumni and analyzed these qualitative results through a method of conceptualization. From this we developed a scale to determine the degree to which the absence of explicit instruction of psychosocial skills impacts overall well-being. Respondents overwhelmingly reported that the lack of material to develop psychosocial skills such as teamwork and active listening results in students with less established life skills and limits access to future opportunities. We aim to develop a curriculum that promotes psychosocial skills key to professional success and overall happiness to be integrated within the context of Parikrma by establishing a cross-aged peer mentorship program that encourages students accountability to each other and themselves. We seek to engage teachers and students through the administration of comprehensive surveys that empowers individuals to self- report the impact of the program in order to assess results.