While most can agree that STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) experiences outside of school can be exciting and engaging for young people, there is much that isn’t known about its impact on short-term and long-term learning. How can it best be connected to what students are learning in school? How can young people have equitable opportunities to access quality informal science education? How do you measure this kind of learning? The National Science Foundation (NSF) wants to address these questions and has recently awarded Kent State University, and its collaborative partn...

Today’s smartphones are designed to entertain and are increasingly marketed to young adults as leisure devices. Not surprisingly, research suggests that young adults most often use their phones for entertainment purposes rather than for school or work.   With this in mind, three Kent State University researchers, Andrew Lepp, Ph.D., Jacob Barkley, Ph.D. and Jian Li, Ph.D., and a Kent State graduate student, Saba Salehi-Esfahani, surveyed a random sample of 454 college students to examine how different types of cell phone users experience daily leisure.   The trio from Kent State’s ...

Kent State University will hold its Fall Commencement ceremonies for the Kent Campus at 9:30 a.m. and 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 13, at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center (MAC Center). Kent State will confer 2,423 degrees, including 1,528 bachelor’s degrees, 448 master’s degrees, 65 doctoral degrees, 381 associate degrees and one educational specialist degree.  The 9:30 a.m. ceremony recognizes graduates receiving bachelor’s degrees. David Webster, president and CEO of Electrical Components International, based in St. Louis, Missouri, will be the speaker for this ceremony. &nb...

Acknowledging that all undergraduate students are required to take science courses as part of their Kent State University education, and that Kent State’s faculty conduct world-class scientific research that advances knowledge and contributes to Ohio’s economic development, the university’s Board of Trustees today (Dec. 3) approved a $94.75-million investment in science facilities that will benefit virtually every member of the university community. The Board approved construction of a $37.55-million Integrated Sciences Building for the College of Arts and Sciences, and in a separate action, t...

Kent State University’s College of Business Administration and Department of Economics are ranked in the top 25 percent of research institutions in Ohio by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis. In addition, Kent State’s Lockwood Reynolds, Ph.D., an associate professor of economics, is ranked in the top 100 economists worldwide whose first publication was five or fewer years ago. “The Department of Economics at Kent State University is ranked among the top 25 percent of institutions in Ohio in a study which analyzes data on authors of scholarly work done by the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Lou...

The documentary film May 4th Voices: Kent State, 1970, created by two Kent State University collaborators, is a recipient of the 2014 Oral History Association’s Oral History in a Nonprint Format Award. The Oral History Association is an organization that seeks to bring together all people interested in oral history as a way of collecting and interpreting human memories to foster knowledge and human dignity. Kenneth Bindas, Ph.D., professor and chair of the Department of History, and David Hassler, the director of the Wick Poetry Center, both in Kent State’s College of Arts and Sciences, worke...

A new on-campus mediation service is underway at Kent State University for students experiencing conflict. Student Mediation Services, which began this fall, is led by Jacquelyn Bleak and is located at 118 Twin Towers on the Kent Campus. Although the office is providing services now for students, its main focus this semester is conducting a needs assessment of all students. The assessment includes formal and informal surveys, as well as focus groups, to narrow down the particular needs of Kent State students. “If I know how students deal with conflict in their everyday life, I can ...