Lorena Hernandez and Justin Gatens
For the past year, Nova Southeastern University head athletic trainer Dustin Gatens has dedicated his time and effort to taking part in the Advanced Placement Capstone Program by serving as a mentor to Hialeah Senior High School junior Lorena Hernandez.
The program is designed to teach students how to investigate real-world topics from multiple perspectives. Students learn how to collect and analyze research with accuracy and precision, develop arguments based on facts and credible evidence and effectively communicate them through multimedia presentations. In AP Research, students conduct their own original research experiment with the guidance of a consultant.
The focus of Lorena’s project was to answer the question “to what extent high intensity exercise would affect self-perceived stress levels in AP students”. As a consultant and mentor, Gatens communicated with Lorena via e-mail and phone every week and served as a resource throughout the project, providing feedback and guidance, holding work-in-progress interviews, lending his knowledge and expertise of the field to the subject matter and much more.
“Being that Lorena did her research project on exercise and its potential effects on health. I was able to offer Lorena guidance on her project to help focus her research question,” said Gatens. “Through the process, I was able to offer advice on her writing and help troubleshoot various logistical issue with her projects, i.e. methods of data collection.”
Lorena just completed her yearlong journey culminating in a presentation defending her research and conclusions in which Gatens was present to both ask questions and to help assess the quality of her presentation. According to Gatens, Lorena’s presentation and defense were exceptional and the quality of her work rivaled that done at the undergraduate level.
“This project would have been so much more difficult, if not impossible, without Mr. Gatens’ help and guidance,” said Lorena. “As for the gist of this research experience, I would describe it as enlightening. Not a lot of high school juniors are given the opportunity to conduct their very own research study on whatever topic they please. I feel extremely fortunate to have had this experience that separates me from my peers.”