Steele Research Symposium
Friday, April 24, 2026
John M. Clayton Hall
100 David Hollowell Dr, Newark, DE 19716
Free parking during the Steele Symposium is available at Clayton Hall.
The Steele Symposium is coordinated by the College of Education and Human Development and includes presentations by undergraduate and graduate students from the School of Education and the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences.
The Symposium is a great opportunity for students to showcase the research they are engaged in as part of their coursework, assistantship, or dissertation. Students may elect to present oral presentations of research or posters, and advanced graduate students may choose to be a discussant.
In recognition of the symposium’s roots in home economics and family and consumer sciences, students from the Fashion and Apparel Studies department and in the majors of Applied Nutrition, Dietetics, Nutritional Sciences and Nutrition are invited to participate, and faculty of these departments are invited to attend.
In addition, guests and community members are enthusiastically welcome to attend and hear the student presentations.
This Symposium is made possible by the generous donation by the Steele Family. Learn more about Marion H. Steele and the establishment of the Marion Steele Research Symposium.
Register:
Participant Resources:
2026 Schedule
Learning and Thriving Across the Age Spans
Facilitator: Abram J. Lyons
Chair: Roderick L. Carey
Discussant: Nia Hardy
Ekaterina Novikova Patterns and Timing of Eastern European Immigrant Families’ Child Care Participation
Kristin Chisholm Equity and Justice in STEM Making: A Review of the Literature
Sade Williams When I Think of Home, I Think of a Place: Black Students’ College Choices between HBCUs and PWIs
Discussant: Rebecca Memmolo
Chair: Lynsey Gibbons
Emily Mavroudakis Pizzas, Pies, and Proportions: How Teachers Talk About Fractions
Joshua Gonzales Exploring Attentive Behavior and Behavioral Disability Moderation of a Fractions Intervention on Self-Efficacy
Julianna Ashley Beyond The Ruler: Examining Changes in 6th-Grade Students’ Errors on Ruler Measurements Tasks after a Fraction Sense Intervention
Disscussant: Irene Post
Chair: Jen Gallo-Fox
Amy Santos Digital Children’s Media for Good: User Perspectives on a Web Platform for Ukrainian Children
Sotheara Veng Reade: GenAI-Assisted Reading Space to Support Statistics Reading Comprehension
Chair: Ann Aviles
April Vazquez Blurring Boundaries: An English Teacher’s Journey into the History Classroom
Sarah Ryan “She Can Do More Than What I Thought She Could Do: A Case Study of the Anytime, Anywhere Family Math Intervention”
Osmond Asiamah Preservice Teachers’ Meanings for Area Measurement
Justin Damsker An Analysis of Teacher Characteristics’ Impact on Student Mathematical Achievement
Discussant: Daniel Osgood
Chair: Sanford Student
Allison Olshefke-Clark Undergraduates’ Meanings for Speed in their Developing Ideas about Integration
Mina Sajjadi Instructor Buy-In and Instructional Practice in Corequisite Mathematics Reform: Evidence from a Mixed-Methods Study of Virginia Community College System
Abigail Quick College Students’ Creation and Use of Exam Note Sheets in Intermediate Algebra
Discussant: Jesse Eze
Chair: Rena Hallam
Lien Vu Applying Explanatory IRT to Math Word Problems
Wyatt Read On What Basis: Regularized Latent Growth Curve Models
Rachel Fischer Patterns of Early Care and Education Use in Rural Communities: Evidence from the NSECE 2019
Discussant: Vandeka Eze
Chair: Christina Barbieri
Noah Moore The Impact of Contextualizing Fractions on Sixth-Grade Students’ Estimation Accuracy
Amanda Man Negotiations of Capacity, Responsibility, and Threat in K-12 School Safety and Disaster Literacy
Yubin Jang Exploring Title II Expenditure and Allocation: A Mixed-Methods Inquiry into District Administrators’ Decision-Making
Discussant: Taylor-Paige Guba
Chair: Benjamin James
Ogochukwu Anisiobi Fraction Computational Errors Among Sixth-Grade Students With Mathematics Difficulties
Charlotte Yourk Fraction Representation Matters: Symbolic vs Non-Symbolic Estimation in Sixth Grade Students with Math Difficulties
Sarah Wardwell From Language to Confidence: What Drives Fraction Word Problem-Solving?
Discussant: Amanda Pickett
Chair: Raphael Travis Jr.
Zhixian Zhuang Academic Discourse Socialization as Institutional Risk: A Global South Perspective on Chinese Students in U.S. Higher Education
Ekaterina Bergwall Beyond Language: Preventive Care and Oral Health Gaps Among Children in Non-English-Speaking Households
Bita Moradi The Effectiveness of a Certification Program Focused on Multilingual Learners in Changing Delaware K-12 Educators’ Beliefs and Practices
Chair: Joy Esbolt
Andromeda Henderson Emotional regulation in individuals with developmental dyslexia
Julie Snipes Practice Makes Progress: The Impact of Ohio’s Readiness Assessments on Algebra I Performance
Daniel Osgood “Student and School Contextual Effects in Special Education Eligiblity for Learning Disabilities”
Chair: Ruth Fleury-Steiner
Ariel Chavers Trajectories of Literacy Growth Among Children Born to Adolescent Mothers
Man Jiang Making Student Reasoning Visible: Reconstructing Argument Structure to Support Writing and Revision
Victoria Coons “From Information to Support: Designing Caregiver-Centered Support for Developmental Language Disorder (DLD)”
Awards will be announced at 5:30 p.m.
Participant Details
All Student Participants
The Steele Symposium is a wonderful chance for undergraduate and graduate students showcase their work. If you are interested in presenting, please talk with your adviser or other faculty sponsor well in advance. All students from CEHD and affiliated UD departments are accepted to present at the Symposium.
Presenter Feedback Forms are distributed at each speaker session and the results will be shared with the presenters following the event.
Program Requirement for Ph.D. in Education and Ph.D. in ESRM Students
Participation in the research symposium is required for Ph.D. in Education and Ph.D. in ESRM students to provide experience with professional conference style presentations, and to share your work with your colleagues and faculty. Generally, first-year students attend the event, second year students provide a poster presentation, and students in their third and fourth years and beyond give an oral presentation of research (and now fourth year students have the option of being a discussant). However, Ph.D. students are welcome to present at any time.
- Oral presentations of research will be combined into panel sessions comprised of three to four students. Advanced students may serve as discussants.
- Students should register and provide the title of their presentation and abstract by Wednesday, March 27, 2026.
- For students who are choosing to compete for a monetary prize, their papers will also be due on March 27, 2026. Paper presenters should prepare an 8-10-minute presentation for the Symposium on April 24, 2026.
- Presenters who elect not to participate in the judging process need to register by March 27. Next, by April 3, they will need to share a summary of their presentation, PowerPoint slides or similar with the discussant. Lastly, they will prepare an 8-10-minute presentation for the Symposium.
- Students can present their research in graphic form during the poster session and select from participating in the judging process or simply presenting their posters at the Symposium. Registration is due by March 27 for this option.
- For students who will participate in the prize competition, they will need to submit their poster files by March 27.
- For students who do not want to participate in the poster judging process, they need to have their posters ready to present at the Symposium on April 24.
- It is recommended to develop your poster using one of the UD or CEHD research poster templates. You may download a CEHD template or a UD template using the links at the top of this page by the registration buttons.
- Students are responsible for having their posters printed. Printing may be done through UD’s Information Technologies, University Printing or Morris Library Multimedia center or by an off-campus vendor. Printing a large format poster can take 24 hours (or more), so please plan accordingly.
- At the event, students will be provided with an easel, a foam poster board (36 x 48 inches) and clips to display your poster.
- It is highly recommended to have posters printed on paper 36 x 48 inches. This can be rolled up for easy transport. Other materials are acceptable, but please keep the size above in mind.
- The role of discussant is possible for advanced graduate students who have previously presented a paper at the Steele Symposium and would like a new role. Advanced graduate students who want to be considered for a discussant role, please indicate that on the registration form (due March 20) and we will assign you to a session based on submissions and your area of expertise.
- We will notify those who applied to be discussants by March 27. If you are not accepted as a discussant but still required to participate, you may submit a late entry for paper or poster presentation, which will be due April 3.
- For students who are accepted as discussants, plan to receive summaries of papers by April 10, giving you two weeks to prepare your remarks for the Symposium.
- Discussants synthesize the papers to draw on common themes. Discussants typically provide critiques of the papers, pointing out strengths, areas that would improve the paper, and suggestions for future study. Some resources for discussants can be found here.
| Graduate Student Guidelines for Paper Submission | Undergraduate Student Guidelines for Paper Submission |
| Graduate-level papers have a 5-page limit. All submissions must be double-spaced, in Times New Roman font, 12-point size, with 1-inch margins, top, bottom, right, and left. Paper abstract is not part of the 5 page limit but should still be included in the submission document. | Undergraduate-level papers have a 3-page limit. All submissions must be double-spaced, in Times New Roman font, 12-point size, with 1-inch margins, top, bottom, right, and left. Paper abstract is not part of the 3 page limit but should still be included in the submission document. |
| May submit 2 additional pages of tables or figures, plus references. | May submit 2 additional pages of tables or figures, plus references. |
| A research report should provide background, rationale, questions, methodology, results, and implications of a completed study.
A theoretical or policy paper should provide a brief overview of the issue to be addressed, related research findings, conclusions, and implications. |
A research report should provide background, rationale, questions, methodology, results, and implications of a completed study.
A theoretical or policy paper should provide a brief overview of the issue to be addressed, related research findings, conclusions, and implications. |
- To be considered for an award, the student’s paper or poster submission must be the original work of the student. Co-authors may submit for award consideration, as long as the co-authors are UD students. Papers or posters co-authored with faculty may not be submitted for award consideration. Students can acknowledge a faculty member’s lab. Please discuss any questions with your faculty advisor or sponsor.
- Papers and posters that are being considered for awards must be blinded by the student prior to submitting the document with the registration form by March 27. Please ensure that you have removed all identifying information. Only the poster file needs to be uploaded by March 27.
Questions?
If you have any questions about the event, please contact Christina Johnston at cmj@udel.edu or 302-831-6955.
History of the Marion H. Steele Research Symposium
The Marion H. Steele Symposium honors the memory of Marion H. Steele, a 1928 graduate of the University of Delaware.
This symposium, sponsored by the College of Education and Human Development and the family of Marion H. Steele, in cooperation with the Delaware Association for Family and Consumer Science, features academic work by both undergraduate and graduate student in the fields of consumer and family sciences, human development, family sciences, education, fashion and apparel studies, nutrition, and hotel restaurant and institutional management.
At the University of Delaware, the study of home economics has evolved over time, previously residing within the Department of Family and Consumer Sciences, and is now located in the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences in the College of Education and Human Development (CEHD). CEHD is pleased to increase the scope of the symposium by including students’ research from both the Department of Human Development and Family Sciences and the School of Education.
Miss Steele dedicated her life to the field of home economics. She spent her 41-year career at the American Home Economics Association (AHEA) and served as longtime editor of the Journal of Home Economics (now The Journal of Family and Consumer Sciences), until her retirement in 1969.
She was a passionate supporter of this field, not only dedicating herself to producing a high-quality academic journal, but also taking an active interest in the development of the AHEA International Scholarship Program. She is credited to paving the way for dozens of students to engage in international study. Her groundbreaking support of international study is especially valued at the University of Delaware as we appreciate the significance that international perspectives provide within our fields of study.
Marion Steele’s legacy at the University of Delaware continues through this symposium, recognizing research that reflects the high standards of scholarly written work to which she dedicated her professional efforts.
We are grateful to the Steele family for their continued support of this symposium.
For more information on the American Association of Family and Consumer Sciences, visit www.aafcs.org.