Tuesday, February 25, 2020

URSP Student Julie Demyanovich Researches the Factors Associated with Student Game Development Success



In Spring 2019, I was selected for undergraduate funding, and I conducted an exploratory study about the factors associated with student game development team success. Students in team projects were asked to fill out surveys at three different points of the game development process. This project was founded on the idea of finding creative ways to take a multi-disciplinary approach that blend the fields of psychology and computer game design in an academic setting. An interesting finding was the progression of skill confidence between the beginning, middle, and end of team projects. The continuing research this semester is an investigation into the relationship between experience, confidence, and expectations of obtaining a job upon graduation. The biggest difference between this study and similar studies is that the participants are undergraduates, graduate students, and alumni from 4-year game design programs within the past 5 years. 

As a game producer and psychology researcher, I want to find creative ways to engage others and motivate them towards achieving higher levels of success. Through this study, I am gaining insight on how game design students view their skills before and after graduation in a cross-sectional study. I will use this knowledge to contribute to the game design program here at the university and continue to enhance my experience in working with others through organizational leadership.

Every Week, I communicate with my mentor, Dr. Seth Hudson. I am also working with the professors in the game design program and recent graduates to gather responses to the survey. Upon receiving the responses, I analyze and write-up the data for publication. This semester, I have become better acquainted with research methodology and publishing findings. I have also become familiar with the process of applying to conferences. I would like to thank Dr. Seth Hudson, the Computer Game Design program, and OSCAR for their continued support throughout my studies.

Monday, February 24, 2020

URSP Student Julia Baines Explores the Relationship between Advice-Seeking Propensity and Self-Efficacy at Work





My enthusiasm for industrial and organizational psychology and my work with my advisor Dr. Dalal and PhD student Balca Alaybek helped inform the topic of my OSCAR project. The goal of this study is to expand research on advice-seeking by providing necessary insight into the relationship between advice-seeking propensity and self-efficacy (self-perceived competence) at work. My research will examine the conditions under which asking for advice from others results in people feeling more versus less confident about their own abilities. I hope to address the concern that habitually asking other for advice might lead to lower perceptions of one’s own efficacy at work. My study will examine employees in jobs of varying levels of complexity and employees with different lengths of job experience (i.e., tenure). These two variables are likely to have considerable moderating effects on the relationship between advice-seeking and self-efficacy (self-perceived competence) in the workplace. 

This project is closely related to my long-term goals in that I would love to further pursue the topic of advice-seeking or related topics in a PhD program. Conducting this project has allowed me to develop my passion for research and explore my specific research interests in greater detail. I meet with my advisor to discuss my project and go over status updates weekly. Since I am currently collecting data, there is a lot to talk about! My daily schedule includes checking incoming data to make sure there are no (or minimal) abnormalities and trying to stay up to date on relevant literature. On a large scale, this project has impressed upon me the value of organization! When conducting research, it is important to have a name and a place for every document, paper, and data set. Staying organized is instrumental in productive and successful research.