Research

One of NHRI's research initiatives is in the CLIFTON Project, endowed by the late Dr. Donald O. Clifton. The research conducted on CLIFTON assesses the investment relationship between juniors and seniors in teacher education and freshmen and sophomores who plan to enter teacher education. The CLIFTON Project research also involves continual assessment of these students once they enter the field of education to see if this investment relationship experience has any impact on their classroom teaching methods. The endowed professors who have conducted research on the CLIFTON Project include: Dr. John Creswell (2002 - 2007) and Dr. Margaret MacIntyre Latta (2007 - present).

A more recent research endeavor is that of Lindsay Hastings' doctoral research, "Generativity in Young Adults: Comparing and Explaining the Impact of Mentoring." The purpose of this research is to examine the imact of mentoring relationships (such as those demonstrated by NHRI students) on generativity in college students. The hypothesis is that the presence of a mentoring relationship will positively impact generativity. Using the Loyola Generativity Scale, a behavior checklist, and an open-ended Report of Personal Strivings to gather quantitative data, Lindsay will compare college student leaders concern for future generations ("generativity") with NHRI students concern for future generations.