The Center for Early Education and Development’s co-director, Amy Susman-Stillman, has co-authored a new article based on her work on the QUINCE project. “Treatment Fidelity Challenges in a Five-State Consolidation Study” (Wesley, et al., 2010) appears in the October issue of the Journal of Educational & Psychological Consultation and is available online through Informaworld.
Goh presents keynote and workshop in Beijing
Michael Goh, educational psychology associate professor, was the invited keynote speaker at the 2010 International Forum of College Student Career Planning, October 29 – November 2, in Beijing, China. The forum was organized by the China Ministry of Education. His keynote was titled “Developing Career Services For University Students in China.” Goh also conducted a one-day workshop for 350 Chinese college student affairs counselors on career development skills for China in the 21st century.
Goh’s interpreter for the forum was Gulan Zhong, a CEHD alum and a counseling and student personnel psychology graduate, who is a career development master trainer, mental health counselor, and author in China. Minnesota’s presence at the forum was further pronounced by another workshop presenter, John Krumboltz, who is a CSPP alum, University of Minnesota Distinguished Alumni Award recipient, and currently a professor at Stanford University.
Graduate student gives advice in Runner’s World
Laura Polikowky, M.A. student in Kinesiology and advised by Prof. Beth Lewis, was quoted in the November issue of Runner’s World. Ms. Polikowsky, who also is a running coach, was the consulted expert in the Challenge Q&A section of the magazine on whether pushing a stroller while running counts for extra miles. Ms. Polikowsky responded that while you don’t earn extra miles, there are other benefits of pushing a stroller, such as burning more calories. “The effort of pushing a stroller can also strengthen your deltoids, pectorals, and biceps,” she added.
Stoffregen gives invited address in Seattle
Tom Stoffregen gave an invited address on Monday, November 8, at the University of Washington School of Oceanography in Seattle. His talk was titled, “Getting your sea legs: Body posture and visual performance at sea.”
Digital and media literacy white paper lauds DigMe program
The white paper-Digital and Media Literacy: A Plan of Action [.pdf] by The Aspen Institute and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, highlights the DigMe program in its report, which outlines a 10-point action plan with specific steps that policymakers, education officials, media professionals, and community advocates can take to develop a community education movement for digital and media literacy. A partnership between the University of Minnesota and Roosevelt High School (students pictured above) in Minneapolis, the DigMe program is designed to empower students to think critically, build meaning, and demonstrate their understanding across subjects through the use of digital media and technologies.
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Partnership publishes new book on impact of early childhood interventions
Professor Arthur Reynolds, Institute of Child Development, is co-editor of a new publication on the cost-effectiveness and impact of early childhood interventions. The publication, released by the Human Capital Research Collaborative (HCRC), offers a multidisciplinary approach to improving interventions, practices, and policies to optimize success from childhood into adulthood. “Childhood Programs and Practices in the First Decade of Life: A Human Capital Integration” is based on research presented at the 2007 conference of HCRC, a partnership of the University of Minnesota and the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis.
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Gilgun to discuss disseminating research on the Internet
School of Social Work Professor Jane Gilgun will discuss how she uses the Internet to disseminate her research to the general public.
Although Dr. Gilgun places a high value on publication in refereed journals and believes such publishing is essential to social work’s mission, she also believes that the general public is an important force for change to which social work is committed. She therefore publishes articles and produces videos for the general public and makes them available on the Internet. She will present her efforts to reach the general public–and an international audience–using Amazon Kindle, scribd.com, and YouTube.
Her talk, part of the School of Social Work’s Research in Progress series, will be Wednesday, November 17, from noon-1 p.m., in Peters Hall, Room 280. If you have questions, please contact Professor Jeff Edleson, (612) 624-8795.
Kinesiology receives donation from fitness equipment manufacturer for physical activity research
FreeMotion Fitness™, a global manufacturer of fitness equipment, has donated six pieces of fitness equipment to the School of Kinesiology’s new research facility, the Human and Sport Performance Laboratory (HSPL).
The donation will enable Kinesiology researchers and students to use specialized equipment to conduct their studies in strength and cardiovascular training and interventions; metabolism and bioenergetics (how fat and carbohydrates in food enable human movement); kinetic chain recruitment patterns (how muscles work in unison); the use of vibration in exercise warm-up and recovery; and functional movement patterns related to balance, gait, and preventing falls.
Eric Statt, Ph.D. student in Kinesiology, contacted FreeMotion Fitness for information about a specific piece of equipment, the Incline Trainer, to use in his dissertation research on bioenergetics. Mr. Statt’s initial contact with the company led to the donation, which includes an incline trainer; a vibration plate used in muscle activation and recovery; and four pieces of strength equipment. All equipment will be used in research related to human performance and movement.
“The donation from FreeMotion will allow us to develop our sports performance research with state-of-the-art equipment,” says Dr. Stacy Ingraham, Kinesiology lecturer and one of the lead scholars in the HSPL. “The donation facilitates our lab and our graduate students to pursue important questions specific to human and sports performance, which will contribute to the body of knowledge in the very visible world of athletics and the science of physiology related to sports performance.”
Ph.D. student receives Tekne award for innovations in K-12 teaching
The Tekne: Innovation in Teaching Award recognizes innovative classroom use of technology in K-12 science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) education, and expands opportunities for students to be successful in technology-related careers.
Scot Hovan, Ph.D. student in science education (Department of Curriculum and Instruction) and engineering coordinator for the Mahtomedi school district, has been instrumental in the creation of the Mahtomedi Engineering Leadership Program (MELP). It currently consists of three facets: engineering curriculum, engineering integration, and community engagement. Through Hovan’s relationship with the University of Minnesota’s STEM Education Center, he has helped incorporate the use of Model Eliciting Activities (MEAs) in several non-engineering classes. Hovan also has led evening engineering events to promote awareness and excitement around engineering, regularly attracting over 500 community members. The community engagement activities of MELP also include engineering summer camps for kids and extracurricular engineering activities.
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Stoffregen explains how movies can make you sick
ABC News/Entertainment.com has bestowed Dr. Tom Stoffregen, movement science professor in the School of Kinesiology, an additional 15 minutes of fame.
Stoffregen was contacted by ABC to comment on “movies that make you ill.” He was interviewed as part of an article on the upcoming movie “127 Hours,” a true story about a hiker in Utah whose arm became trapped by a boulder, forcing him to amputate it to free himself. The scene was so difficult to watch that six film goers collapsed during the screening. Stoffregen, who was cited for his expertise in motion sickness, discussed the effects on audiences of movies such as “The Blair Witch Project,” “Cloverfield,” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.”
Kinesiology undergraduate awarded UROP
Kinesiology major Lauren Hemingway has received an award from the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program (UROP). She will be working on projects with Prof. Tom Stoffregen in his Affordance Perception-Action Laboratory (APAL).
Vikings players visit Cooke Hall to swim with kids
This past Tuesday three Minnesota Vikings players came to Cooke Hall to swim with a group of children in a program sponsored by the Vikings Children’s Fund and run by the Department of Pediatrics (Dr. Aaron S. Kelly) and the School of Kinesiology (Drs. Don Dengel & George Biltz). The three-year project—Vikings Fitness Playbook: A Weight Management and Physical Fitness Program to Improve Heart Health and Quality of Life for Children—pairs School of Kinesiology undergraduate and graduate students with children from the University of Minnesota Amplatz Children’s Hospital Pediatric Weight Management Clinic. Every Tuesday night for 12 weeks, the children and their parents come to Mariucci Arena where a meal is provided and a dietician helps families learn about making changes for a healthier lifestyle. After dinner, the children participate in physical activity with the Kinesiology students who act as their personal trainer. Between weekly sessions, students follow up with the families via telephone to check in and provide support. After the 12-week supervised phase, children and their families will be followed for another six months and encouraged to continue with the new diet and physical activity behaviors that they learned during the course of this program. The program will start with another group of children and their families in the fall of 2011. This week Minnesota Vikings Colt Anderson, Freddie Brown, and Hank Baskett joined the kids in the pool for a little fun and education about the benefits of physical activity. For more on this event, tune into Vikings Weekly on Fox Sports North.
Doherty talks in Psychology Today about unhappiness in marriage
Family social science professor Bill Doherty spoke to Psychology Today about how couples’ expectations of marriage — and what they feel they “should” be getting — can affect the health of the relationship and often lead to divorce.
Doherty speaks to the idea of entitlement in American consumer culture, and how that can translate to marital problems. “We believe in our inalienable right to the intimate relationships of our choice,” says Doherty. “[People] badger their partners to change, convince themselves nothing will budge, and so work their way out of really good relationships.”
First Gopher Adventure Race is a success
On October 22, under an unseasonably warm sun, scores of University students, faculty, and staff participated in the U of M’s first Gopher Adventure Race. The race, conceived and organized by Dr. Connie Magnuson, Kinesiology lecturer in recreation, park and leisure studies program, was so successful that plans are already being made for the GAR 2011.
For more details, check out the Gopher Adventure Race Web page (http://www.cehd.umn.edu/kin/adventure/) and watch the video at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zKdEf38EXfo.
Kinesiology Ph.D. student to present poster at COSP symposium
Jessica Galvan, Ph.D. student in Kinesiology with an emphasis in exercise physiology, has been selected to present her research poster at the Research Poster Symposium sponsored by the Community of Scholars Program this Friday, November 5, at the Campus Club in Coffman Memorial Union.
Ms. Galvan’s poster is titled “Analysis of Aerobic Capacity Prediction Equations for the Shuttle Run Test in Hispanic Elementary School-Aged Children.” Eighteen posters were chosen for the symposium from departments across the University. The poster presentations will be held from 10:00 a.m.-11:30 a.m., followed by lunch and roundtable discussions from 11:30 a.m.- 1:00 p.m.
Ms. Galvan is advised by Prof. Daheia Barr-Anderson.
Gewirtz receives $3.2 million grant from National Institute on Drug Abuse
Researchers at the University of Minnesota and the Minneapolis VA received a $3.2 million grant award from the National Institute on Drug Abuse to develop and test a web-enhanced parenting program for families with parents returning from deployment to Iraq or Afghanistan.
The program, “After Deployment, Adaptive Parenting Tools/ADAPT” is based on Oregon Parent Management Training, a well-validated parenting intervention. Over the 5-year grant period, researchers will work closely with MN Army National Guard (MNARNG) personnel, to develop and test the parenting program among 400 MNARNG families in which at least one parent has been deployed. Earlier research led by one of the project’s co-investigators, Dr. Melissa Polusny, showed that worries about family were an important predictor of soldier wellbeing during deployment, and that effective parenting during the period of reintegration was diminished among soldiers suffering from symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder.
Dr. Abigail Gewirtz, assistant professor of Family Social Science and the project’s Principal Investigator notes that, “This program builds on the considerable strengths of military families, the success of prior research among our investigative team, and our strong collaboration with the MN ARNG and its nationally recognized Beyond the Yellow Ribbon reintegration campaign. This is the first National Institutes of Health-funded study that we know of to specifically address deployment-related parenting challenges and child resilience among National Guard families. We are very pleased to have the opportunity to work to support the families of our nation’s military.”
Avery addressed international audience in China
Pat Avery (professor, social studies education, Department of Curriculum and Instruction), gave a keynote speech at the 2010 Beijing International Forum on Citizenship Education for Children and Youths in China on October 22. The title of the presentation was “Deliberating About Controversial Public Issues as Part of Civic Education.”
Researchers, educators, and practitioners attending the conference exchanged perspectives, views, innovations, and best practices nationally and globally in addressing school-based Interventions for the promotion of citizenship education for children and youths of diverse cultural backgrounds.
Xiaohui (Sophie) Li awarded Goebel-Macklin Award
Family Social Science graduate student Xiaohui (Sophie) Li was awarded the Goebel-Macklin Award at the 2010 Groves Conference on Marriage and Family in Seattle, Washington.
The award supports a promising graduate student who presents at the annual conference. Li gave a presentation entitled “Asian Perspectives on Human-Animal Connections,” and presented a poster entitled “Chinese and Americans: Boundaries in Couple Relationships.”
Intergenerational Engagement in the Child Welfare System
Registration closes November 4 for the Katherine and Arthur Sehlin Lecture on “Intergenerational Engagement in the Child Welfare System: Implications and Opportunities for Policy and System Reform.” Dr. David Hopping, research associate in the Department of Sociology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and executive managing director of Generations of Hope Development Corporation, will be the keynote speaker at the November 9 event.
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Sato comments in national news story on new Teacher Performance Assessment program
Misty Sato, assistant professor in curriculum and instruction, discusses Minnesota’s leadership in adopting a new Teacher Performance Assessment program in a story that appeared in The Washington Post and several news sites across the country. Under the new program, teacher candidates will be required to meet more demanding standards, including video evaluation as student teachers in the classroom and assessment by teams of evaluators outside the college. Minnesota will be the first state to implement the new program in 2012.