Highlight on Undergraduate Education Abington to hold undergraduate symposium By Nancy Crabb Penn State Abington From computational chemistry to the death penalty in 20th century America, Penn State Abington students will showcase an array of research projects during the college's first undergraduate research symposium on April 29.
Students can see the structure, organization and operation of a real research project.
One such student is senior Wendy Reczek, who is working with Judith Newman, associate professor of human development and family studies, in assessing the psychological adjustment of children with Tourette's Syndrome. Both Reczek and Newman have family members diagnosed with Tourette's, so their mutual interest sparked a successful and productive collaboration. Reczek, who plans to attend law school and study family law, wondered if adolescent boys with Tourette's are more likely to engage in deviant behavior, and whether early intervention could perhaps lessen this tendency. Life can become difficult to handle when you are trapped in a body over which you have lost control. Reczek and Newman conducted extensive literature reviews on Tourette's and will soon be recruiting subjects to take part in a study.