Illinois State University doctoral student Wanda Turk recently achieved an academic milestone by presenting her research at the American Educational Research Association (AERA) conference. Taking place in Philadelphia last April, the AERA conference offers researchers from across the globe a platform to share innovative ideas and findings. For Turk, this opportunity provided a unique chance to showcase her work on literacy development, which comes from her practical experience as an educator and her time as a student in the teaching and learning doctoral program in the College of Education.
Turk’s research centers on the impact of literacy tutoring on elementary students, but she takes a broader approach than simply measuring reading skills. Her focus is on how the skills students develop through tutoring transfer across different aspects of their lives, including both at home and at school.
“I’m interested in looking at how the skills we work on with students transfer into other areas of their lives,” Turk explained. While currently a full-time student, her drive to help young learners stems from her long-time career of teaching second grade and working in seventh and eighth grade intervention.
Turk’s interest in literacy development began while working as a graduate assistant at ISU’s Borg Center for Reading and Literacy under the mentorship of Dr. Deborah MacPhee. Initially, Turk admitted to feeling like an outsider in the research community.
“I still feel a bit of impostor syndrome,” she confessed, “learning how to conduct proper research, what it looks like in the different fields, and what separates good from questionable research has been a really interesting process.”
However, her hands-on experience at the Borg Center combined with the support of her mentors helped guide her toward her current dissertation topic and build her confidence as a scholar.
The road to the AERA conference was not without its challenges. Turk shared that one of the most difficult aspects of her research was learning how to narrow her focus.
“My biggest surprise was that research really has to be done in chunks unless you have a huge research team and a lot of people involved,” Turk stated. However, her dissertation committee was of great help as she progressed through the stages of her research. Chaired by her mentor, Dr. MacPhee, Turk also included Drs. Amanda Quesenberry and Kate Peeples on her dissertation team, both of whom provided critical support throughout the process. While not an official member of the committee, Dr. Lara Handsfield also provided assistance by guiding Turk through the conference and giving a helping hand in an unfamiliar environment.
When it came time to take her research to the AERA conference, Turk’s presentation was part of a special roundtable session for graduate students, where she and her peers discussed their research-in-progress with both fellow students and experienced researchers. Turk found this setup to be particularly helpful, as it allowed her to connect with others in her field without the pressure of delivering a formal lecture. “Having it be a table talk so you’re not standing in front of a large group of people presenting made it more causal and more accessible, and we felt more supported,” she stated.
Turk also emphasized the importance of ISU’s resources for graduate students. Through the University’s Pinion grant and the College of Education’s student travel grant, Turk was able to cover most of her travel expenses for the AERA conference.
“Attending conferences is a great way to see other cities and meet people from other places,” Turk said of her travel experience. After graduation, she plans to continue working with children and helping them to develop literacy practices as well as researching the factors that contribute to early childhood literacy skills. Presenting at AERA was not just about sharing her research, it was about growing as a scholar and making connections that will shape her future as an educator.
