Two SECD undergraduate research posters selected for poster session at Nebraska State Capitol

10 Apr 2018     By Kelcey Buck

Four students in the Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders were among those selected from the 2017-18 Undergraduate Creative Activities and Research Experience (UCARE) program at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln to represent the university at the UNL Undergraduate Research at the Capitol breakfast and poster session at the Nebraska State Capitol Building.

Junior Christina Hamling, whose faculty sponsor is associate professor of practice Kristy Weissling, presented her poster, titled “Improving the inter-professional relationship between nurses and speech-language pathologists.” Seniors Madison Kenney and Lauryl McClintick and junior Taylor Johnson were also selected to present their research poster at the Capitol. Their project is titled “Predicting communication impairments in infants between 2-12 months using Communication in Infants Social Screener” and their faculty sponsor is Cynthia Cress, the Alan T. Seagren associate professor of education. The presentations were made at the Capitol the morning of Tuesday, April 10.

This marks the second year Hamling has worked on her research project about inter-professional relationships between nurses and speech-language pathologists. After focusing on creating and refining an educational handout about speech-language pathology to share with nursing students in the first year of the study, Hamling and Weissling went a step further during this academic year.

"During the fall semester we had both nursing students from the Bryan College of Health Sciences and undergraduate speech-language pathology students observe together at the Barkley Clinic," Hamling explained. "We wanted them to be able to talk to each other and get to know each other a bit if they had questions during their observation sessions."

In addition, the researchers continued to refine the educational handout, and also experimented with presenting it as an educational video to determine the best means of providing the information to the nursing students. In turn, the Bryan College of Health Sciences created an educational handout about nursing to share with the speech-language pathology students.

Hamling said she has learned several lessons from conducting her UCARE research project, including possibly altering her career path.

"When I first came into the field of speech-language pathology, I thought I was strictly going to work in an educational setting and didn't really want anything to do with the medical side. Through this experience, I'm leaning more toward the medical side now. I think it's really interesting how much of an impact nurses and speech-language pathologists can have on a patient if they work together and there's quality communication happening."

Kenney, McClintick and Johnson focused their UCARE research project on developing a screener to identify children as young as six months old with communication impairments. For the trio of students and Cress, it is an effort to detect communication difficulties at an earlier age in order to provide even earlier intervention. Currently, the only communication screeners are available for children above 12 months of age. Through their research, the screener at six months old is finding impairments in the same areas as the standardized screener given at 12 months.

"This is important because the earlier we can identify children with impairments, the more likely they are to receive quality early intervention. The earlier children can receive intervention, the more likely they are to have success later in school, and the more cost effective it is in the long run."

For all three students, the UCARE project has had a great impact on their career aspirations.

"This research has changed my interest in the field entirely," McClintick said. "Prior to being involved in this research, my only experience with infants involved working at a childcare center. I have a newfound passion for early intervention and intend to work with the infants detected once the screener is standardized. My current professional goals would not be possible without this research project and its findings."

Kenney agreed, adding that conducting the research helped build her confidence for the future.

"Working on this research project has had a huge impact on my confidence for my future career. It has given me valuable opportunities that I would not have had otherwise during my undergrad to work directly with children and their families, and to administer a variety of assessments with these children."

Meanwhile, Johnson appreciated the entire research process with helping prepare her for the future.

"This research will impact me immensely in my future career because it has helped me gather a better understanding of communication impairments, the importance of early intervention, how to work with young children and their families, and how to properly give assessments/record data. By working in Dr. Cress's lab and on this research project, I am more experiences, prepared and knowledgeable about my future career."

The two posters from SECD were among the 23 UCARE posters presented at the Capitol breakfast and poster session. Following the session, the posters will remain on display at the Capitol for two weeks.

In addition, the four students will present their posters as part of the Spring Research Fair on campus. The graduate student poster session will be held from 3:30-5 p.m. Tuesday, April 10, in the Nebraska Union's Centennial Room and Ballroom. Undergraduate posters will be presented from 3:30-5 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, in the Centennial Room, Ballroom and Regency Suite.

The complete list of SECD students presenting posters during the two-day research fair includes:

Graduate students

-Chad Bailey - "Use of hearing protection devices among big game hunters"

-Megan Bruce - "A systematic review of the interaction between hearing technology and listening effort"

-Tessa Culbertson - "Accuracy of AVA speech recognition software in group conversations"

-Kaitlin Lafreniere - "Systematic review of telepractice in audiology"

-Xin Lin - "Explore within mathematics difficulties: Comparing the linguistics and cognitive profile of problem-solving and calculation"

-Tessa Mannlein - "The effects of an induction loop education workshop on hearing impaired individuals in a variety of community settings"

-Anna Murphy - "A quality control study of hearing aid orientation procedures for older adults"

-Courtney Newland - "Readability and patient perceptions of written reports following evaluation in a university audiology clinic"

-Gabrielle Tachenko - "Audiometric findings in osteogenesis imperfecta: A review of literature"

Undergraduate students

-Lauren Brandeen - "Taste perceptions for liquids and dissolvable flavor films across age groups"

-Sarah Gervais - "Project WE-ELL: Writing Education for English Language Learners"

-Christina Hamling - "Improving the inter-professional relationship between nurses and speech-language pathologists"

-Elizabeth Hoffman (with Jacob Greenwood and Mohsen Hozan) - "Orofacial and hand force dynamics in neurotypical children"

-Rebecca Hutchinson & Emma Loberg - "Parent-child connectedness in at-risk children during the preschool years"

-Madison Kenney, Taylor Johnson & Lauryl McClintick - "Predicting communication impairments in infants between 2-12 months using the Communication in Infants Social Screener"

-Laura Munn, Ellie Watkins & Nicole Walters (with Fatima Sibaii) - "Brain connectivity related to executive function in children with an without familial risk for dyslexia"

-Kelsey Young - "Expiratory muscle strength training: Devices and outcomes"