Lawrence senior named an Intel semifinalist

Edan Packin, a Lawrence High School senior, was named a 2014 semifinalist in the prestigious Intel Science Talent Search. The announcement was made today.

Packin’s study “Procrastination and Academic Level as Factors Influencing Academic Integrity” is comprised of two components.

Experiment I established a powerful link between overall academic dishonesty and procrastination, but could not isolate a specific procrastination-plagiarism connection.

Experiment II was structured around a “Boggle” task asked subjects to use the letters of nonsense words to form as many real words as possible in 30 seconds. Groups of average and gifted students were assigned to control (no goal) or experimental (unreasonable goal) groups. Gifted students self-reported scores significantly higher than their actual scores, but only under highly pressurized, “unfair” experimental conditions. Average students did not artificially (dishonestly) inflate their scores under either condition.

Lawrence High science teacher Stephen Sullivan guided Packin through his resaerch.

The Intel STS is program run by the Society for Science & the Public. STS alumni hold more than 100 of the world’s most distinguished science and math honors such as the Nobel Prize and National Medal of Science.

Annually, 300 semifinalists are recognized. From that group, 40 finalists are invited to Washington, D.C. in March to take part in final judging, publicly exhibit their work, meet notable scientists and compete for the $100,000 grand prize.

Look for a more comprehensive story on Packin's achievement in the Jan. 16 Nassau Herald.