Students and scholars presented their research at several events this spring at The Ohio State University’s Columbus campus, with topics including artificial intelligence’s ability to recognize English accents and the effects of caffeine consumption on student-athletes.
The university held the Edward F. Hayes Advanced Research Forum for graduate students and postdoctoral scholars, as well as the Richard J. and Martha D. Denman Undergraduate Research Forum for undergraduates, both at the Ohio Union in recent weeks.
President Ravi V. Bellamkonda said in his greeting to participants that these events offered “an exciting opportunity for you to showcase your commitment to excellence in research, and to demonstrate to your peers and the Ohio State community your commitment to the highest-caliber scholarship.” He added: “Through your studies, interactions with your professors and mentors and your leadership of younger Buckeyes, you are advancing the ideals that make Ohio State a hub for innovation and an academic powerhouse.”
Onur Ozkaynak, a graduate student in teaching and learning from the College of Education and Human Ecology, presented work examining how artificial intelligence tools interpret English spoken with different accents around the world. “AI tools have been very influential in the last couple of years. They’re everywhere, and are also [present] in educational tools,” Ozkaynak said. “I became interested in the language ideologies behind these tools. So that’s why I wanted to explore and understand what kind of ideologies they hold and what kind of assumptions they make about different speakers of English.”
Anna Hewitt, a human nutrition major who surveyed student-athletes’ caffeine habits found that 75% consume caffeine more than four to six times per week. “What I found so far is that female athletes do believe that caffeine suppresses feelings of hunger,” Hewitt said. “They also think that they can possibly skip meals.” She further noted correlations between body image perceptions among athletes who drink caffeine: “What I thought was interesting is when I correlated the two, all the caffeine drinkers who consume caffeine two to three times a week actually thought they were beautiful,” she said.
Kasey Stammen studied how effective a procedure called Y Balance Test is for measuring stability or injury risk among physical therapy patients as part of her exercise science education: “It was great tying in my injury prevention background with my exercise science education,” Stammen said.
The university competes in 36 varsity sports programs which have claimed numerous Big Ten championships along with national titles according to its official website. In addition to athletics achievements—including producing scholar-athletes—Ohio State features notable facilities such as Wexner Center for the Arts supporting academics alongside recreation centers according to its official website.
Beyond academics, Ohio State contributes through community engagement initiatives like raising funds for pediatric cancer research or facilitating annual global service trips according to its official website. The institution operates six campuses statewide plus 88 Extension offices serving every county across Ohio according to its official website, pursuing its land-grant mission through affordable education opportunities paired with innovative research efforts according to its official website.
