Sharday Ewell

Assistant Professor of Biology

• Faculty
• Instructor

• Email:

  snewell1@olemiss.edu

• Office Location:

  214 Shoemaker Hall

• Phone:

  662-915-7203

• Office Hours:

  2:00 pm-3:00 pm WF

• Website:

  Google Scholar Publications

• Research Lab:

  Sharday Ewell Lab

Research Interests

Dr. Ewell conducts discipline-based education research focused on biology education and STEM equity through investigations of classroom and social influences that shape student learning. She is especially interested in investigating how educators can design their courses to minimize student barriers to success, improve academic outcomes for all students, and encourage STEM persistence.

Biography

I am an assistant professor in the department of Biology at the University of Mississippi. I currently conduct discipline-based education research on biology education and STEM equity. While my interests are broad, I am especially interested in self-regulated learning and identifying strategies that improve the development of these skills for all biology students. Prior to starting at the University of Mississippi, I completed a postdoctoral research position in the Ballen Lab at Auburn University. I completed my doctoral degree in neurobiology in the Theibert Lab at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. Following the completion of my degree, I was a Teach for America corps member and middle school science teacher in North Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C.

Publications

Ewell SN, Josefson CC, Ballen CJ. 2022. Why Did Students Report Lower Test Anxiety during the COVID-19 Pandemic?. J Microbiol Biol Educ. 23:e00282-21.

Test anxiety is a common experience shared by college students and is typically investigated in the context of traditional, face-to-face courses. However, the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic resulted in the closure of universities, and many students had to rapidly shift to and balance the challenges of online learning. We investigated how the shift to online learning during the pandemic impacted trait (habitual) and state (momentary) test anxiety and whether there was variation across different demographic groups already vulnerable to performance gaps in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) courses. Quantitative analyses revealed that trait and state test anxiety were lower in Spring 2020 (COVID semester) than in Spring 2019 and were higher overall in women than men. We did not find a difference in either trait or state anxiety in first-generation students or among persons excluded because of ethnicity or race. Qualitative analyses revealed that student priorities shifted away from coursework during Spring 2020. While students initially perceived the shift to online learning as beneficial, 1 month after the shift, students reported more difficulties studying and completing their coursework. Taken together, these results are the first to compare reports of test anxiety during a traditional, undisrupted semester to the semester where COVID-19 forced a sudden transition online.

Courses Taught

• BISC 327 Introductory Neuroscience