by Olivia Huffman, Undergraduate Research Assistant
The P20 Motivation and Learning Lab is in full swing this fall semester. Our team is currently pursuing new, exciting research ideas. To highlight a few, Xiao-Yin Chen is proposing her Master’s thesis, which will examine a social psychological belonging intervention for first-year undergraduate students. Calah Ford is also in the proposal stage for her dissertation, and is completing her research on self-efficacy at an adolescent STEM camp. Bri Stanley, an undergraduate research assistant, is interested in research regarding environmental 
self-efficacy beliefs. Last, but not least, we are pleased to welcome our international Scholar, Başak Çalik from Turkey!
Başak is an international graduate student joining us this fall in the P20 Motivation and Learning Lab from Ankara, Turkey. Başak is completing her PhD in the Curriculum and Instruction Program at the Middle East Technical University (METU). She earned her Bachelor’s degree from the Department of Elementary Mathematics Education at Boğaziçi University, Istanbul, Turkey, and holds her Master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction from METU. Within the scope of the Faculty Development Program in Turkey, she has trained as a Research and Teaching Assistant between 2013-2018 at METU. She is currently a Research Assistant for the Education Sciences Faculty, as well as a Curriculum Development Specialist at Distance Education Application and Research Center at Istanbul Medeniyet University.
In 2019, Başak received the TUBITAK International Research Fellowship award, which aims to supports international research scholars in order to advance international cooperation of Turkey in science and technology. She will be a visiting research scholar in P20 Motivation & Learning Lab with the help of this award. Here is a little background to introduce you to our newest scholar!
In her Master’s thesis, which provided the foundation for the work she is doing now, Başak examined the relationship between middle school students’ mathematics achievement emotions and their mathematics self-efficacy beliefs and self-regulated learning strategies.
Başak’s PhD dissertation focuses on relationships between the students’ emotions and instructional teaching in the domain of mathematics. Guided by Pekrun’s Control-Value Theory, Başak conducted a mixed-methods study with quantitative and qualitative data from 6,000 students and more than 200 teachers. She also conducted semi-structured interviews with fourteen middle school mathematics teachers. At the University of Kentucky, her focus will be to complete data analysis for her dissertation research with the help of the P20 Motivation and Learning Lab.
Başak hopes to improve her skills in teaching and instruction, and prepare for teaching coursework at her home university in Istanbul. She plans to learn new techniques by shadowing professors within classes and attending lab meetings. Her academic goals include submitting papers to conferences, publishing papers, learning how to be an effective group member, and competing her dissertation.
Başak hopes to travel to many places in the United States, while trying as many coffee shops as possible. She would also like to attend Jazz concerts and see the horses races at Keeneland. Also, her favorite color is blue!
Congratulations Başak on your accomplishments! We look forward to your scholarly contributions to the P20 Motivation and Learning Lab!
