RESEARCH PROPOSAL MEMORANDUM 

Date: September 27, 2021

To: Steffen Guenzel
From: Nicole Figulski
Subject: Research Proposal: Stress, Anxiety, and Motivation in Classrooms in Times of
COVID-19
Topic description: The topic I have chosen to do my research study on is how COVID-19
has impacted students. I would like to research specifically how students’ stress, anxiety,
and motivation levels have changed since before the pandemic to now. My argument is
that stress and anxiety levels in students have increased since the pandemic started, and
that motivation has decreased. I would like to investigate the way teachers have been
conducting classes and see the rhetorical situation that is being created on a day-to-day
basis. I would also like to see if discourse has gotten worse or better since the pandemic.
Finally, I would like to see how grades and attendance has been impacted by the crisis.
Documentation Style: The style guide I am choosing to use is APA, because it is more
commonly used in the Psychology field.
Purpose: I am a psychology major, so my questions ties perfectly to my area of research.
I also plan to become a therapist, so it is important for me to understand how current
events can have an impact on mental health.
Intended audience: TED audience in the class.
Research Question / Preliminary Thesis / Argument: How have stress and motivation
levels relating to school been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic? Another potential
question is “How has Mental Health and School Been Impacted by COVID-19?”. I would
like to focus in on anxiety and potentially depression, so I may add that to my research
question.
Types of research areas: As of right now, I plan to research in all areas of scholarly,
internet, and field research. I would like to mainly use scholarly research, however I have
found a couple articles on the internet that I feel would be beneficial to my research. I
also think that finding field research that has been done, or potentially doing my own,
would build upon the argument. This would especially help with my psychology major, as
field research is often done to collect data. I would like to potentially do a survey on
feelings towards schooling before and after/during the pandemic. 
Keywords: Stress, Motivation, COVID-19, Anxiety, Grades, Classroom, Zoom
Tentative List of Artifacts that can become part of the research / analysis:

Tentative List of References: 

Yasmin, H., Khali, S., & Mazhar, R. (2020). COVID 19: Stress Management among
students and Its Impact on Their Effective Learning. International Technology and
Education Journal, 4(2), 65-74.
Lan, H. T. Q., Long, N. T., & Hanh, N. V. (2020). Validation of Depression, Anxiety, and
Stress Scales (DASS-21): Immediate Psychological Responses of Students in the
E-Learning Environment. International Journal of Higher Education, 9(5), 125-133.
Lu, P., Yang, L., Wang, C. et al. Mental health of new undergraduate students before and
after COVID-19 in China. Sci Rep 11, 18783 (2021).
https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-98140-3
Durak, G., & Çankaya, S. (2020). Undergraduate Students’ Views about Emergency
Distance Education during the COVID-19 Pandemic. Online Submission, 5(1), 122
147.
Malinauskas, R. K., & Pozeriene, J. (2020). Academic Motivation among Traditional and
Online University Students. European Journal of Contemporary Education, 9(3),
584-591.
Visuals, graphs or charts: I have not found any/made any charts or graphs yet that I feel
would effectively help the reader understand the argument.

Research Schedule: Below is a schedule of my classes and their major assignments.

Date Class/Major Assignment

10/2 MUN3113 – UHS Exhibition
10/4 ENC1102 – DPT
10/6 ENC1102 – Respond to other’s Writing
10/6 FRE1120 – Final Script
10/9 MUN3113 – Football Game
10/11 ENC1102 – Workshop Draft
10/12 FRE1120 – Chapter 3 Test
10/13 ENC1102 – Peer-Review Workshop
10/16 MUN3113 – BOA Performance
10/18 ENC1102 – Final Draft Research Dossier
10/22 MUN3113 – Football Game
10/24 FRE1120 – Digital Project #2 Quiz
10/26 PSY3204 – Lab Quiz 2
10/29 PSY3204 – Exam and Quiz 2
11/1 ENC1102 – Peer-Review 2
11/1 ENC1102 – Workshop Draft Rhetorical
Analysis
11/3 FRE1120 – Digital Project 2
11/3 ENC1102 – Final Draft Rhetorical
Analysis
11/3 ENC1102 – Pitch Your TED Talk
11/5 PSY3024 – Course Project Parts 1 and 2
11/6 MUN3113 – Football Game
11/10 ENC1102 – Workshop Draft 1 Research
Paper
11/13 MUN3113 – Veterans Day Parade
11/14 FRE1120 – Final Project Script
11/15 ENC1102 – Peer-Review Workshop Draft
1 Research Paper
11/17 ENC1102 – Workshop Draft 2 Research
Paper
11/22 ENC1102 – Workshop Draft Self-
Assessment/Reflection and e-portfolio
feedback
11/23 PSY3204 – Lab Quiz 3
11/23 FRE1120 – Oral 2
11/25 Thanksgiving
11/26 MUN3113 – Football Game
11/29 ENC1102 – Workshop Draft 3 Research
Paper
12/1 ENC1102 – Final Draft Argumentative
Research Paper
12/1 ENC1102 – Peer-Review Workshop Draft
3 Research Paper
12/3 PSY3204 – Exam and Quiz 3
12/3 PSY3024 – Final Exam
12/3 ENC1102 – Peer-Review Workshop E-
portfolio Draft
12/8 ENC1102 – E-Portfolios
12/8 ENC1102 – TED Talk Presentations
12/10 ENC1102 – Feedback to Research
Presentations