Previous Nashman Prize for Community Based Participatory Research Winners

Undergraduate and graduate students who present their research at the annual GW Research Days event are invited to submit for consideration for the Nashman Prize, which recognizes excellence in Community-Based Participatory Research. First and second prize are $300 and $200 respectively.

2019 Nashman Prize Recipient

Colleen Packard

Parent & Student Knowledge, Attitude, and Perceptions of Youth Sports Injuries the Feasibility of Expanding Athletics Activities Diversity in a Community Non-Profit Organization

Colleen did research with Beacon House, a community non-profit organization located in the Edgewood Commons complex of Washington, DC whose mission is to close the education achievement gap for children in Ward 5. Beacon House’s athletics program is a signature offering of the organization, and the tackle football program is the largest and most successful of the sports offered. However, with increased awareness of concussion risk in youth sports, Beacon House requested this research be done in order to adequately inform any future action by its administration. The purpose of this study is to conduct an assessment of parent and student perceptions of youth sports injuries.

Ms. Packard is a graduate student pursuing a Master's of Public Health in Community-Oriented Primary Care, in the Milken School of Public Health.

2017 Nashman Prize Recipients

Market Manager Relationships Around Financial Incentive Programs at D.C. Farmers Markets

"The purpose of this study was to explore market manager relationships with both farmers and customers at urban D.C. farmer'smarkets where local financial incentives (ie. the Produce Plus Program, and matching programs) are accepted. Utilizing both qualitative interviews and 5-Point Likert Scale questionnaires, the study reflected the lived experiences of D.C. market managers from over 6 market organizations city-wide. In addition to filling a gap in academic research around financial incentives at farmer's markets, this research presents the best practices of relationship and community building currently utilized in these spaces as voiced by participants in this study. These best practices were compiled into a toolkit and distributed to farmers market organizations across the city with the intent to encourage continued community building around financial incentive programs."

Ms. Policastro is an undergraduate in the Human Services and Social Justice program, in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

Black Reproductive Freedom: Contraceptive Counseling

"Through semi-structured qualitative interviews, this research sought to understand the decision-making process of young Black women of the ages 18-24 regarding how they choose a contraceptive method. The study specifically focused on the role that contraceptive counseling played in making contraceptive decisions. This study differs from majority of existing research by answering the research questions through the incorporation of voices from the marginalized group."

Ms. Smith is an undergraduate in the Human Services and Social Justice program, in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

2016 Nashman Prize Recipients Eighteen studies were submitted to compete for the inaugural Nashman Prize.

Aging through Change: Gentrification, Social Capital, and Senior Citizens of Washington DC's Wards 1 and 6

"This mixed-methods study analyzed quantitative data from 600 responses to the Age-Friendly DC 2015 Livability Study identifying needs across all 8 wards of the city. Second, qualitative data collected during focus groups with seniors from Wards 1 and 6 provided deeper understanding of the first-person experience of aging through gentrification. Initial themes include affordability, respect and inclusion, interracial and intercultural relations, and the deep desire for independent, purposeful, and supported aging. In an era of unprecedented growth of the senior demographic, the results yielded by this study may inform policymakers and direct service providers in Washington, DC."

Ms. Heff is an undergraduate in the Human Services and Social Justice program, in the Columbian College of Arts and Sciences.

CAPITAL Words: Algorithmic Generation of Reading and Spelling Exercises for Low-Literacy Users

"The goal of the CAPITAL project is to make high-quality learning resources accessible to users of all literacy levels. The project aims to automatically create exercises that will help users improve their reading skills. CAPITAL Words is a mobile application designed to deliver and evaluate responses to exercises aimed at improving a novice reader’s phonemic awareness. Three types of exercises can be automatically generated: Phoneme Swap, Pick the Misspelling, and Spell the Word. Survey results strongly suggest that our algorithms generate questions that are comparable to human-generated exercises."

Ms. Stasaki and Ms. Turcan are undergraduates in Engineering, in the School of Engineering and Applied Science.