Standout Education Researchers

By Cori Anderson ‘18

A pair of Bradley English education majors made impressions as two of the only undergraduate research presenters at the fall Illinois Association of Teachers of English conference in Crystal Lake, Illinois. Under the mentoring of English Education Coordinator, Dr. McBee Orzulak, they were able to develop their presentation and the proposal for their presentation. 

Cole Stalter ’16, of Morton, Illinois, and Sumayya Qudrat ’16, of Lake in the Hills, Illinois, shared research on film and textual literacy. Their work adapted reading comprehension strategies to help teachers understand how to enhance students’ classroom engagement.

“When we presented, many of the audience members seemed surprised to see young, upcoming teachers getting an opportunity to present,” Qudrat said.

In addition to the presentation experience, students made valuable connections with educators, including IATE president Dr. Janice Witherspoon and IATE executive secretary Dr. Janice Neuleib.  In light of their successful presentation, the two students were asked by to submit their research to the IATE journal, Illinois English Bulletin, an opportunity that is not often even given to many working teachers.

The students were supported in their endeavor in several ways.  They applied for and received Sherry Endowment funding for their travel expenses.  Associate Professor of English Dr. Jeanne Muzzillo also attended their presentation at the conference and provided them with feedback afterwards.

“Teaching is a job where it helps tremendously to collaborate with other teachers in order to be successful and improve yourself,” Stalter said. “When teachers come together, they can bounce ideas off of one another to create a lot of insight for all involved in the discussion.”

The experience also equipped Stalter and Qudrat with tools that will help them communicate in their future classrooms.

“Teachers need to adjust to different moods in the classroom,” Qudrat said. It was beneficial to be in a setting with different people and know that I could change my discourse to the audience.”