A profile of the college’s Institute on Community Integration aired on the Discovery Channel on Monday, June 27, 2011. It provides a brief overview of the positive societal changes in attitudes toward, and life options for, people with disabilities in recent decades, and how the work of the institute supports those changes. Included are interview excerpts with institute director David R. Johnson; Martha Thurlow, director of the institute’s National Center on Educational Outcomes; and the institute’s founder and current University President Bob Bruininks.
The profile is part of a television program called “The Profiles Series,” which is hosted by Lou Gossett Jr., and focuses on stories about people and organizations that are making a positive impact in the world. See the series website for more information.
Literacy education Ph.D. candidate awarded dissertation fellowship
Candance Doerr-Stevens, Ph.D. candidate in the literacy education program (Curriculum and Instruction), was awarded a 2011-12 Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship by the University of Minnesota Graduate School. These prestigious fellowships are given to select graduate students to allow them to devote full-time effort to their dissertations during their final year of study.
Doerr-Stevens’s research examines the use of multiple modes of communication, such as image, sound, music, and motion, as students collaboratively create radio and film documentaries.
Ngo and Sato receive promotion
Bic Ngo (culture and teaching, C&I) and Misty Sato (science education, C&I) were both promoted from Assistant to Associate Professors, effective in fall 2011. Please congratulate them on their accomplishment.
U invests in Multi-Sensory Perception research facility
Juergen Konczak and Thomas Stoffregen, professors in the School of Kinesiology, are among the recipients of an award from the Office of the Vice President for Research’s (OVPR) Infrastructure Investment Initiative.
Working in collaboration with the University’s academic leadership, OVPR identified 11 key infrastructure projects in support of research and scholarship at the University. “This funding will help support high-end research and scholarly needs that will benefit the entire University community [and] will provide fiscally stable infrastructure that will have a long-term impact,” said Vice President for Research Tim Mulcahy.
The award supports the creation of a new Multi-Sensory Perception research facility “to allow researchers to present visual, auditory and haptic stimuli to human subjects in an acoustically and electrically shielded environment, and to measure responses via behavioral (body and eye movement tracking), physiological (heart rate, skin conductance, ECG), and neural responses (EEG techniques).This facility extends the uni-modal capabilities of individual investigators to permit multi-modal experiments, support existing collaborations, and lead to new initiatives.”
The award includes the Principal Investigator, Andrew Oxenham, College of Liberal Arts, and 25 co-investigators including Yuhong Jiang, Psychology; Hubert Lim, Biomedical Engineering; Peggy Nelson, Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences; and Stergios Roumeliotis, Computer Science and Engineering.
Weiss recognized with The First Tee Founders Award
Maureen Weiss, professor in the School of Kinesiology and co-director of the Tucker Center for Research on Girls & Women in Sport, was chosen as the 2011 recipient of The First Tee Founders Award for her “extraordinary contributions that have allowed The First Tee initiative to grow and flourish into one of America’s premier youth development organizations.” The First Tee is a physical activity-based youth development program, wherein golf is used as a vehicle for teaching children and adolescents life skills and core values. Over 250 Chapters of The First Tee exist in the United States and many others are established in Asia, Canada, and Europe.
Weiss and her graduate students conducted a four-year evaluation study of The First Tee that demonstrated how the life skills curriculum and coach training program were making a positive impact on youth development. Findings from the study were also translated to strengthen curricular lessons and their delivery in order to further “impact the lives of young people in a meaningful way.”
Social Work Ph.D. candidate awarded dissertation fellowship
Jennifer Simmelink, Ph.D. candidate in the School of Social Work, has been awarded a Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship for 2011-12 from the University of Minnesota Graduate School. The $22,500 fellowship is intended to enable outstanding Ph.D. candidates to devote full-time effort to the research and writing of the dissertation. Simmelink’s study is titled “An Exploration of the Social Construction of Drug and Alcohol Use in Displaced Karen Refugee Communities.” The fellowship funds will help support her travel to Thailand for research.
Leon shares exercise science expertise around the world
Arthur Leon, M.D., professor of exercise science in the School of Kinesiology, will be presenting at the International 21st Puijo Symposium to be held in Kuopio, Finland, June 29 to July 2. His invited paper is titled “Interaction of exercise and natural aging on the cardiovascular system of healthy adults.” Leon has also had an article accepted for publication by the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine on the same topic. The article will be the centerpiece for a themed issue on Lifestyle Medicine and the Physiology of Aging. The journal representative said, “This is the best review that I have read on the physiology of exercise in aging individuals.”
Last year Leon presented at the National Annual Meeting of the American Heart Association in Chicago, at the EPS Global International Cardiovascular Forum in Nha Trang, Vietnam, and at the 6th Annual International Conference on Kinesiology and Exercise Sciences in Athens, Greece.
Ph.D. graduate publishes as lead author in Research in Developmental Disabilities
Fu-Chen (Kidd) Chen, Kinesiology Ph.D. graduate, has published an article as lead author. Dr. Chen is an advisee of Dr. Michael Wade and Dr. Tom Stoffregen and graduated in May with an emphasis in Motor Learning/Motor Development.
Chen, F.-C., Stoffregen, T. A., & Wade, M. G. (2011). Postural responses to a suprapostural visual task among children with and without Developmental Coordination Disorder. Research in Developmental Disabilities, 32, 1948-1956.
How (not) to say ‘I’m sorry’
Family social science professor William Doherty shared some thoughts recently on how high-profile figures like Anthony Weiner should (or should not) apologize for their behavior. “A mistake is turning the wrong way down a one-way street or forgetting to get an anniversary present,” Doherty said in “Better safe than sorry” in the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “A pattern of online relationships with multiple women requires more than ‘I regret my mistakes, and I know I’ve hurt you.'”
The article captures the opinions of Doherty and two other local experts on the recent stories of celebrity missteps and subsequent mea culpas, including Weiner, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Gilbert Gottfried, Charlie Sheen, and Lindsay Lohan.
Stohlmann seeks to improve perceptions of mathematics
Micah Stohlmann, a current doctoral candidate in the Department of Curriculum and Instruction (C&I) at the University of Minnesota, serves as a Research Assistant with the STEM Education Center as a Haugo Fellow.
Stohlmann’s interest in mathematics developed early. He enjoyed his education, and thought that mathematics made a lot of sense as a model of how the world works. He realized that through teaching, he could help others learn to use math in their everyday life. Stohlmann sought to teach mathematics in a way that makes it accessible and less intimidating.
Continue reading “Stohlmann seeks to improve perceptions of mathematics”
Reynolds leads long-term study supporting importance of early childhood programs
High-quality early education has a strong, positive impact well into adulthood, according to research led by Institute of Child Development professor Arthur Reynolds. The study is the longest follow-up ever of an established large-scale early childhood program.
In “School-based Early Childhood Education and Age 28 Well-Being: Effects by Timing, Dosage, and Subgroups,” published in the journal Science, Reynolds and his colleagues report on more than 1,400 individuals whose well-being has been tracked for as much as 25 years. Those who had participated in an early childhood program beginning at age 3 showed higher levels of educational attainment, socioeconomic status, job skills, and health insurance coverage as well as lower rates of substance abuse, felony arrest, and incarceration than those who received the usual early childhood services.
Continue reading “Reynolds leads long-term study supporting importance of early childhood programs”
Harwell receives distinguished service award
Educational Psychology professor, Michael Harwell, received the Distinguished Service Award given by the AERA Educational Statisticians Special Interest Group at their April business meeting in New Orleans. The award is given annually in recognition of an individual’s service and contribution to the field of educational statistics and to the Educational Statisticians’ Special Interest Group.
Everson contributes to TEL blog
Michele Everson, lecturer in Education Psychology, recently contributed to the Technology Enhanced Learning blog on her experience as a reviewer for Quality Matters (Quality Matters is a nationally recognized, faculty-centered, peer review process designed to improve and certify the quality of online course design. Faculty at colleges and universities across the country use the QM rubric in developing, maintaining and reviewing their online courses.)
Leon to present invited paper at symposium in Finland
Dr. Arthur Leon, Kinesiology professor in exercise science, will be presenting at the International 21st Puijo Symposium to be held in Kuopio, Finland, June 29 to July 2. His invited paper is entitled “Interaction of exercise and natural aging on the cardiovascular system of healthy adults.”
Kinesiology graduate students present at ASCM
Three Kinesiology graduate students traveled to Denver, Colorado last week for the American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting held May 31-June 4. Justin Geijer, Ph.D., Kara Marlatt, M.S., and Meghan McCue, Ph.D., gave presentations at the conference. All are advised by Dr. Don Dengel.
Mr. Geijer and Ms. Marlatt gave their poster presentations on June 1. Mr. Geijer’s was on “Comparison of Bone Density Measures in Adults with Down Syndrome, Intellectual Disability, and Non-Disabled Adults.” Ms. Marlatt’s thematic poster was on, “Endothelium-Independent Dilation in Children and Adolescents.” Ms. McCue presented her poster titled “Evaluation of Endothelium-Independent Dilation Using Peripheral Arterial Tonometry” on June 3.
Dengel gives spring conference presentations
May and June have been busy for Dr. Don Dengel, associate professor in Kinesiology, who has been giving presentations in Minnesota and Colorado:
“Monitoring Bone Density Preoperatively: Is It Practical?” 7th Annual Bariatric Education, Department of Surgery, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, May 25, 2011.
“Longitudinal Effects of Screen Time and Physical Activity on Blood Pressure in Adolescents,” American College of Sports Medicine Annual Meeting, Denver, Colorado, June 1, 2011.
“New Frontiers in Adolescent Obesity and Vascular Function,” invited seminar, Integrated Vascular Biology Laboratory, University of Colorado, Boulder, Colorado, June 3, 2011.
Leon to publish centerpiece article in Journal of Lifestyle Medicine
Dr. Arthur Leon, exercise science professor in Kinesiology, has had an article accepted for publication by the American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine. The article, “Interaction of Aging and Exercise on the Cardiovascular System of Healthy Adults,” will be the centerpiece for a themed issue on Lifestyle Medicine and the Physiology of Aging. The journal representative commented to Dr. Leon, “This is the best review that I have read on the physiology of exercise in aging individuals.”
Bigelow collaborates with English educators in Vietnam
Martha Bigelow, associate professor in the second languages and cultures program (Department of Curriculum and Instruction), was invited to Hanoi, Vietnam recently by the U.S. State Department and Hanoi University to work with six teams of English teacher educators on developing new courses for their undergraduate teacher education program.
For more information and photos, see the University of Languages and International Studies’ blog story.
Kinesiology professor Dr. Juergen Konczak awarded NIH grant
Dr. Juergen Konczak, biomechanics professor in Kinesiology, and Dr. Peter Watson, associate professor in the Dept. of Speech-Language-Hearing Sciences, were recently informed that their grant proposal, “Kinasesthetic Loss as a Marker for Spasmodic Dysphonia,” will be funded by the NIH. The project will examine if patients with spasmodic dysphonia, a neurological voice disorder, have a generalized deficit in their sense of body awareness. If verified, kinaesthetic testing could be used to differentiate between this disease and other voice disorders with similar symptoms that require a different treatment. Much of the testing will be done in Dr. Konczak’s Human Sensorimotor Control Laboratory. The two professors are co-PIs on the grant, which has a funding level of $376,000.
Greg Rhodes, Kin PhD, blogs on physiology testing for cyclists
Greg Rhodes, Kinesiology PhD, contributed last month to the TRIA Orthopaedic Center blog, Your Cycling, with an entry on physiology testing. To read Greg’s discussion of the types of physiology testing to develop and assess cyclists’ training programs, go to this link:
http://triablog.naturevalleybicyclefestival.com/2011/05/physiology-testing-is-not-only-for-the-pros/
Greg does testing in the School’s Human and Sport Performance Laboratory under the guidance of lab director Dr. Stacy Ingraham.