Manuela Urbanske-Donnelly
Manuela is a Ph.D. student in Educational Psychology and Program Evaluation, where she serves as a Graduate Research and Teaching Assistant. Her academic journey began in Italy, where she completed her secondary education before relocating to the United States to pursue higher education. She earned an Associate of Science from the College of the Albemarle and a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Old Dominion University.
Manuela’s research experience spans Human Factors and Biochemistry, including contributions to water quality testing and analysis in the Chesapeake Bay. Currently a member of the MilLab, she has a particular interest in how students’ conceptions of assessment shape their emotional experiences, motivation, and engagement in learning, and in examining the emotions students experience in relation to artificial intelligence.
Eli Kohn
Eli is a first-year Ph.D. student in the Educational Psychology and Program Evaluation program at Old Dominion University. He received his B.S. in Psychology from George Mason University, where he worked under Dr. Todd Kashdan in GMU’s Wellbeing lab, studying curiosity, personality traits, and the psychology of happiness.
Working under the mentorship of Dr. Tony Perez at Old Dominion University, his research interests focus on the motivational processes that shape students’ engagement in career exploration. He is particularly interested in better understanding the intersection between motivation and well-being, and how these constructs influence students’ willingness to pursue exploration opportunities such as networking, internships, and outreach.
Samantha Rapacon
Samantha is a Ph.D. student in the Educational Psychology program at Old Dominion University. Alongside this, she is also a master’s student in the Experimental Psychology program at Old Dominion University.
Her current research interests focus on student motivation in higher education, specifically examining student interactions with university systems and technology, including course registration, advising, and artificial intelligence. She is also interested in further exploring motivation, identity and learning in students within online environments
