Grand Canyon University students are spending their summer conducting research in the EPIC Lab, part of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences. Psychology student Cierra Baca is among those working on projects while balancing a job at In-and-Out Burger. “I just really like it; I put my headphones on and just go,” Baca said. “I just really like understanding the things of the mind and constantly growing my knowledge, and this helps with that and is an outlet for my creativity.”
Baca is joined by nine other psychology students under the guidance of Dr. Magen Branham. The group continues its work through the summer as part of the Canyon Emerging Scholars Program to avoid falling behind in long-term research efforts. “These projects take a really long time, so if we didn’t do anything in the summer, it would really set us back for the fall,” Branham said. “So when the group of some 20 get back in the fall, we can hit the ground running and the grunt work is behind us.”
Branham highlighted that undergraduate research opportunities are rare at many universities but are important for students planning to pursue graduate studies. “Most universities don’t really facilitate undergraduate research, especially formally, which is unfortunate because a lot of master’s and Ph.D. programs want you to have some type of research experience,” she said. “So this is giving them a way to get that on their resume and actually learn the skills and get publications out of it.”
One project involves analyzing data from Red Light Rebellion, a Phoenix nonprofit focused on educating junior and senior high school students about sex trafficking and healthy relationships. The EPIC Lab created a survey to assess program effectiveness, with GCU students inputting responses from 400 high school freshmen.
The lab meets every Monday morning to plan weekly tasks according to each member’s interests or expertise. Senior Joseph Yepez has become knowledgeable about Institutional Review Board (IRB) processes concerning ethical standards for human subject research. He explained how IRB reviews help ensure participant safety: “It’s kind of a gateway to research ethics and research morality.” Yepez also described how participating in lab activities made research feel more accessible: “I put research on this pedestal that was so above me, that I couldn’t reach it without climbing to some astronomical ranks. But interacting in the lab brings it down to a level where it was peaceful and really kind of solidified it.”
Another project explores using virtual reality (VR) videos—such as tours through space or inside the human body—to study curiosity, pro-social behavior, or engagement with scientific material. Senior Eli Richard leads these technical efforts while senior Jacob Spurgiesz manages experimental controls for VR sessions used in pilot studies.
Spurgiesz reflected on managing variables during experiments: “Obviously, the controlling part is important, but you can’t control everything.” He added that VR holds promise as an educational tool: “VR is a great new technology that we haven’t really explored as a society very much… I think there is a lot of potential for a lot of positive emotions to be elicited from VR experiences… Personally, I think a lot can be done in the classroom that would be beneficial, and watching these videos can really get you inspired or motivated.”
Branham said future goals include determining whether exposure to such VR content increases curiosity or inspiration among students.
“Sometimes we can talk for two hours,” Branham noted about group discussions before members head off to other commitments.
