Education Commons^™

Kinematics Of Disease Progression In Bulbar Als, Yana Yunusova, Jordan R. Green, Mary J. Lindstrom, Laura J. Ball, Gary L. Pattee, Lorne Zinman

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

The goal of this study was to investigate the deterioration of lip and jaw movements during speech longitudinally in three individuals diagnosed with bulbar amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). The study was motivated by the need to understand the relationship between physiologic changes in speech movements and clinical measures of speech performance such as speaking rate and speech intelligibility. Movements of the lip and jaw were quantified with respect to their size speed, and duration. The data revealed several changes in lip and jaw movement that coincided with ALS progression. In two out of three speakers, the changes in measures of …

Age Effect On The Gaze Stabilization Test, Julie A. Honaker

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Impairments of the vestibular-ocular reflex (VOR) lead to a decline in visual acuity during head movements. Dynamic visual acuity (DVA) testing is a sensitive assessment tool for detecting VOR impairments. DVA evaluates accuracy of visual acuity during fixed velocity head movements. In contrast, the Gaze Stabilization test (GST) is a new functional evaluation of the VOR that identifies a person’s maximum head velocity (in degrees per second) a person can maintain with stable vision of a target (i.e. optotype). The objective of this study was to evaluate the effect of age on the GST in participants without vestibular disease. The …

A Cross-Sectional Comparison Of The Effects Of Phonotactic Probability And Neighborhood Density On Word Learning By Preschool Children, Jill R. Hoover, Holly L. Storkel, Tiffany Hogan

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Two experiments examined the effects of phonotactic probability and neighborhood density on word learning by 3-, 4-, and 5-year-old children. Nonwords orthogonally varying in probability and density were taught with learning and retention measured via picture naming. Experiment 1 used a within-story probability/across-story density exposure context. Experiment 2 used an across-story probability/within-story density exposure context. Results showed that probability and density interacted to create optimal learning conditions. Specifically, rare/sparse sound sequences appeared to facilitate triggering of word learning. In contrast, the optimal convergence for lexical configuration and engagement was dependent on exposure context. In particular, common sound sequences and dense …

Accuracy Of Perceptually Based And Acoustically Based Inspiratory Loci In Reading, Yu-Tsai Wang, Jordan R. Green, Ignatius S. B. Nip, Ray D. Kent, Jane Finley Kent, Cara Ullman

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Investigations of speech often involve the identification of inspiratory loci in continuous recordings of speech. The present study investigates the accuracy of perceptually determined and acoustically determined inspiratory loci. While wearing a circumferentially vented mask connected to a pneumotach, 16 participants read two passages. The perceptually determined and acoustically determined inspiratory loci were compared with the actual loci of inspiration, which were determined aerodynamically. The results showed that (1) agreement across all three judges was the most accurate of the approaches considered here for detecting inspiratory loci based on listening; (2) the most accurate pause duration threshold for detecting inspiratory …

Lip Movement Exaggerations During Infant Directed Speech, Jordan R. Green, Ignatius S. B. Nip, Erin M. Wilson, Antje Mefferd, Yana Yunusova

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: Although a growing body of literature has indentified the positive effects of visual speech on speech and language learning, oral movements of infant directed speech have rarely been studied. This investigation used 3-dimensional motion capture technology to describe how mothers modify their lip movements when talking to their infants.
Method: Lip movements were recorded from twenty-five mothers as they spoke to their infants and other adults. Lip shapes were analyzed for differences across speaking conditions. The maximum fundamental frequency, duration, acoustic intensity, and first and second formant frequency of each vowel were also measured.
Results: Lip movements were significantly …

Articulatory-To-Acoustic Relations In Response To Speaking Rate And Loudness Manipulations, Antje Mefferd, Jordan R. Green

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Purpose: This investigation determined the strength of association between tongue kinematic and speech acoustic changes in response to speaking rate and loudness manipulations. Performance changes in the kinematic and acoustic domains were measured using two aspects of speech production presumably affecting speech clarity: phonetic specification and variability.
Method: Tongue movements for the vowels /ia/ were recorded in ten healthy adults during habitual, fast, slow and loud speech using three dimensional electromagnetic articulography. To determine articulatory-to-acoustic relations for phonetic specification, we correlated changes in lingual displacement with changes in acoustic vowel distance. To determine articulatory-toacoustic relations for phonetic variability, we correlated …

Vowel Recognition From Continuous Articulatory Movements For Speaker-Dependent Applications, Jun Wang, Jordan R. Green, Ashok Samal, Tom D. Carrell

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

A novel approach was developed to recognize vowels from continuous tongue and lip movements. Vowels were classified based on movement patterns (rather than on derived articulatory features, e.g., lip opening) using a machine learning approach. Recognition accuracy on a single-speaker dataset was 94.02% with a very short latency. Recognition accuracy was better for high vowels than for low vowels. This finding parallels previous empirical findings on tongue movements during vowels. The recognition algorithm was then used to drive an articulation-to-acoustics synthesizer. The synthesizer recognizes vowels from continuous input stream of tongue and lip movements and plays the corresponding sound samples …

Orostiff: Face-Referenced Measurement Of Perioral Stiffness In Health And Disease, Shin-Ying Chu, Steven M. Barlow, Douglas Kieweg, Jaehoon Lee

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

A new device and automated measurement technology known as OroSTIFF is described to characterize non-participatory perioral stiffness in healthy adults for eventual application to patients with orofacial movement disorders associated with neuromotor disease, traumatic injury, or congenital clefts of the upper lip. Previous studies of perioral biomechanics required head stabilization for extended periods of time during measurement which precluded sampling patients with involuntary body/head movements (dyskinesias), or pediatric subjects. The OroSTIFF device is face-referenced and avoids the complications associated with head-restraint. Supporting data of non-participatory perioral tissue stiffness using OroSTIFF are included from 10 male and 10 female healthy subjects. …

Laryngeal Somatosensory Deficits In Parkinson’S Disease: Implications For Speech Respiratory And Phonatory Control, Michael J. Hammer, Steven M. Barlow

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Parkinson’s disease (PD) is often associated with substantial impairment of speech respiratory and phonatory control. However, the degree to which these impairments are related to abnormal laryngeal sensory function is unknown. This study examined whether individuals with PD exhibited abnormal and more asymmetric laryngeal somatosensory function compared with healthy controls, and whether these deficits were associated with disease and voice severity. Nineteen PD participants were tested and compared with 18 healthy controls. Testing included endoscopic assessment of laryngeal somatosensory function, with aerodynamic and acoustic assessment of respiratory and phonatory control, and clinical ratings of voice and disease severity. PD participants …

Subthalamic Nucleus Deep Brain Stimulation Changes Speech Respiratory And Laryngeal Control In Parkinson's Disease, Michael J. Hammer, Steven M. Barlow, Kelly E. Lyons, Rajesh Pahwa

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Adequate respiratory and laryngeal motor control are essential for speech, but may be impaired in Parkinson's disease (PD). Bilateral subthalamic nucleus deep brain stimulation (STN DBS) improves limb function in PD, but the effects on respiratory and laryngeal control remain unknown. We tested whether STN DBS would change aerodynamic measures of respiratory and laryngeal control, and whether these changes were correlated with limb function and stimulation parameters. Eighteen PD participants with bilateral STN DBS were tested within a morning session after a minimum of 12 h since their most recent dose of anti-PD medication. Testing occurred when DBS was on, …

Using Visual Scene Displays To Create A Shared Communication Space For A Person With Aphasia, Karen Hux, Megan Buechter, Sarah Wallace, Kristy S.E. Weissling

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

Background: Low-tech visual scene displays (VSDs) combine contextually rich pictures and written text to support the communication of people with aphasia. VSDs create a shared communication space in which a person with aphasia and a communication partner co-construct messages.

Aims: The researchers examined the effect of low-tech VSDs on the content and quality of communicative interactions between a person with aphasia and unfamiliar communication partners.

Methods & Procedures: One person with aphasia and nine unfamiliar communication partners engaged in short, one-on-one conversations about a specified topic in one of three conditions: shared-VSDs, non-shared-VSDs, and no-VSDs. Data included discourse analysis scores …

Tac-Cell Inputs To Human Hand And Lip Induces Shortterm Adaptation Of The Primary Somatosensory Cortex, Lalit Venkatesan, Steven M. Barlow, Mihai Popescu, Anda Popescu, Edward T. Auer

Department of Special Education and Communication Disorders: Faculty Publications

A new pneumatic tactile stimulator, called the TAC-Cell, was developed in our laboratory to noninvasively deliver patterned cutaneous stimulation to the face and hand in order to study the neuromagnetic response adaptation patterns within the primary somatosensory cortex (S1) in young adult humans. Individual TAC-Cells were positioned on the glabrous surface of the right hand, and midline of the upper and lower lip vermilion. A 151-channel magnetoencephalography (MEG) scanner was used to record the cortical response to a novel tactile stimulus which consisted of a repeating 6-pulse train delivered at three different frequencies through the active membrane surface of the …

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (Cbt), Rhonda Turner, Susan M. Swearer Napolitano

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) is a form of psychotherapy that focuses on the role of cognition in the expression of emotions and behaviors. CBT assumes that maladaptive feelings and behaviors develop through cognitive processes which evolve from interactions with others and experiences in the environment. The goal of therapy is to identify the maladaptive cognitive process and to learn new ways of perceiving and thinking about events. These new ways of thinking will lead to more positive behavioral and emotional responses.

CBT has rapidly increased in popularity over the last forty years. It enjoys strong empirical support, and the body …

Discontinuities And Differences Among Muslim Arab-Americans: Making It At Home And School, Loukia K. Sarroub

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

Cohen and Neufeld (1981) have remarked that schools are a great theater in which conflicts of culture get played out. The same can be said about homes and families in relation to schools. In fact, scholars and educators have attempted to understand, define, and refine the parameters and connections that bind schools and homes together. In this chapter, I explore the ways in which students’ success at home and school has been conceptualized in scholarly literature, and then connect this literature to the lives of Arab-American youth and their families. The underlying premise undergirding the ideas in this chapter is …

Teacher Education For Social Justice: What’S Pupil Learning Got To Do With It?, Marilyn Cochran-Smith, Ann Marie Gleeson, Kara Mitchell

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

There are many controversies related to the increasingly widespread theme of “social justice” in teacher education, including debates about whether and/or how promoting pupils’ learning is part of this theme. This article briefly discusses the concept of teacher education for social justice in terms of pupils’ learning and then considers this notion in terms of the current press to hold teacher education accountable for learning. The article then presents the results of the “Teacher Assessment/Pupil Learning” (TAPL) study, an analysis nested inside a larger qualitative study about learning to teach over time in a preparation program with a stated social …

Research-Based Strategies To Promote Academic Integrity, Michele Dipietro

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

A cursory glance at the literature on cheating paints a bleak picture. In the past decades, the prevalence of cheating has hovered at discouragingly high level, with about 75% of students admitting to some sort of cheating, and with peaks of over 90% in some prevalence studies. Given these figures, where does a wellintentioned instructor start? A good place to start untangling this complex problem is to understand it better. Academic dishonest behaviors vary in their frequency, seriousness, and motivations behind them, but they have been extensively researched, and we can abstract general principles to conceptualize this problem. Once we …

Deep/Surface Approaches To Learning In Higher Education: A Research Update, James Rhem

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Instead of looking at and trying to adjust to differences, the deep/surface researchers concentrated on observing commonalities. How did actual students actually study and what were the environmental cues that prompted them to take the approach (“deep” or “surface”) they chose? This research and renewed awareness of it here have had a powerful influence on thinking about teaching and learning in higher education in the United States especially with regard to assessment. Why? Because the research has found that students’ intention in studying/learning relates strongly to their perceptions of what they will be assessed on and how they will be …

Using Undergraduate Students As Teaching Assistants, Joseph "Mick" La Lopa

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Given the procedure for recruiting and selecting undergraduate students to be teaching assistants (TAs) and the pros and cons mentioned, there is every reason to continue using them to help administer my classes. I completely trust undergraduate TAs to keep an accurate record of attendance, grade assignments based on the rubric, and adhere to the course policies concerning attendance and assignment deadlines. Other educators should consider using the recruitment techniques suggested in this essay to select bright undergraduates to serve as a TA. They will reap many benefits from their work.

Facilitating Group Discussions: Understanding Group Development And Dynamics, Kathy Takayama

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Facilitating discussions requires the ability to engage different perspectives and skills in response to the needs of the group. How well a group works together depends upon the dynamics among participants and the ability of the facilitator to gauge and respond to these dynamics. An effective facilitator works to create an inclusive learning environment while being prepared to set boundaries and rules when necessary. Yet, even experienced facilitators can be confronted with situations or individuals that prevent the group from functioning. Such situations are even more daunting for new faculty and graduate student Teaching Assistants (TAs) who are new to …

The Value Of The Narrative Teaching Observation, Niki Young

Professional and Organizational Development Network in Higher Education: Archives

Narrative teaching observations allow educational developers to document a variety of teaching behaviors and, by framing these behaviors with the appropriate vocabulary, to highlight their pedagogical functions. We use the vocabulary not to obfuscate good teaching in educational jargon but to illuminate effective teaching behaviors using an agreed upon professional vocabulary and to make the teaching process more transparent (Hatzipanagos ND Lygo-Baker, 2006). Similarly, through its examples of narrative teaching observations, this essay adds to the literature by making our contribution as faculty developers more evident and making our professional practice more explicit.

A Preliminary Study: Body Dysmorphic Disorder In Division I Women’S Collegiate Soccer Players, Tammy D. Jones

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The prevalence of Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD) among collegiate athletes has not been clearly determined. The purpose of this study was to determine if there are symptoms of body dysmorphic disorder found in Division I women’s soccer players. The researcher hypothesized that there would be some symptoms found within the participants of sport and that there was a need to research this area further.

The study consisted of four participants who participated in semi-structured interviews. The subjects were asked a series of questions from the Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale Modified for Body Dysmorphic Disorder (BDD-YBOCS) to determine if they indicated …

The South Omaha Community Scholarship Program: A Qualitative Study Of Persistence Of Hispanic Students At Bellevue University, Tracy J. Mctavish

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this case study was to determine the impact of the South Omaha Community Scholarship Program on the persistence of the Hispanic students who participated. Previous research on Hispanic student persistence has focused on the reasons why students do not persist and more recent research has been conducted on programs and retention efforts, colleges and universities are implementing on their campuses. This study researched a specific program, The South Omaha Community Scholarship Program, designed to provide financial, academic and other needed resources to help Hispanic students persist to graduation. The researcher believes this study was important because it …

Properties Of The Generalized Laplace Transform And Transport Partial Dynamic Equation On Time Scales, Chris R. Ahrendt

Department of Mathematics: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In this dissertation, we first focus on the generalized Laplace transform on time scales. We prove several properties of the generalized exponential function which will allow us to explore some of the fundamental properties of the Laplace transform. We then give a description of the region in the complex plane for which the improper integral in the definition of the Laplace transform converges, and how this region is affected by the time scale in question. Conditions under which the Laplace transform of a power series can be computed term-by-term are given. We develop a formula for the Laplace transform for …

The Balkanization Of University Support Systems: Ferpa’S Chilling Effect On Campuses And How Honors Administrators Can Break The Ice, Amy Beth Cyphert, Keith Garbutt

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

One of the outcomes of the way FERPA has frequently been interpreted was the Balkanization of student support services that exist on a university campus, particularly at large universities. As the cabinet members noted in the Report to the President on the Virginia Tech tragedy, “information silos” at universities “impede appropriate information sharing” and “are heightened by confusion about the laws that govern the sharing of information” (Leavitt, Spellings, and Gonzales, 7). At our institution, by the first day of classes a first-year student will have signed up to five separate FERPA forms, each one pertaining to a particular aspect …