Research
Research
February 2008 - The eHealth Innovations Group, led by Dr. Robert Bensley, professor of Community Health Education in the Department of , Physical Education and Recreation, has been awarded in excess of $300,000 from the Heart and Stroke Foundation of Ontario for the development, implementation, and evaluation of Internet-based chronic disease management tools. Central to this project is a 12-week healthy weight management program that features a virtual interactive counselor as the guide for assisting users in increasing physical activity and healthy eating behaviors. “We wanted to create an artificial intelligence system that recreated the human experience for the client,” stated Dr. Bensley. “It has been an exciting venture and one that will possibly lead to numerous other applications of virtual behavior change approaches.”
Bensley, along with program manager Jason Rivas, MPA, are authors of the invention and are considering a number of funding avenues for continued study with this research. The effort of the eHealth Innovations Team includes the development of "Health on Track",a blood pressure management and intervention portal; to be available for Canadian public use March 1. “Health on Track has been well-received by the Canadian blood pressure experts,” commented developer Stephanie Pichan. “Nothing like this currently exists on the web and it is positioned to make a great impact on the lives of Canadians.” For more information contact Dr. Robert Bensley.
Dr. Marcia Fetters, associate professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning and Educational Studes, is a principal investigator for the $205,000 grant “Alignment of Secondary Science Teacher Practice and Materials in the Battle Creek Region Michigan” through the Department of Education Title II program for Improving Teacher . This program will focus on science teacher professional development for Battle Creek regional schools (four public schools plus two private schools). An interdisciplinary team of WMU faculty will research the promotion of best practices for test writing, homework construction, formative assessments, and supporting students in developing metacognitive skills. The project will also work to re-align Battle Creek regional curriculum with Michigan’s new High School Content Expectations.
Ms. Jodie Palmer, director of diversity wrote a grant proposal that was recently funded. The MHED (Morris Hood, Jr. Educator Development) grant intends to increase the number of under-represented students who enroll and complete the K-12 teacher education programs at the baccalaureate level.
WMU recently received notification that the MHED (Morris Hood, Jr. Educator Development) grant proposal was funded for 3 years with the opportunity to apply for a 2 year continuation. The MHED Program intends to increase the number of under-represented students, especially males, who enroll and complete the K-12 teacher education programs at the baccalaureate level at state-approved teacher education institutions. The project offers mentoring sessions and support to under-represented WMU students enrolled in pre-education and teacher education programs. There are also outreach services to under-represented education students attending KVCC, KCC, LMC and SMC. Ms. Jodie Palmer, director of diversity, wrote the grant proposal.
Researchers from the College of Education have been awarded a 3.4 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education, Early Reading First program to promote literacy among Head Start children in Battle Creek. The WMU-led effort involves a partnership between the COE departments of Family and Consumer Sciences and Special Education and Literacy Studies. The program will provide extensive professional development and help Head Start centers develop literacy-rich environments to facilitate development of phonological, print, alphabet, and book awareness. Dr. Esther Newlin-Haus, currently the evaluation coordinator of the GEAR UP grant, will serve as project director. In addition, co-principal investigators Drs. Karen Thomas, Shaila Rao, and Kristal Ehrhardt from the Department of Special Education and Literacy Studies will provide both formal workshops and weekly coaching for teachers. Lori Farrer, an instructor in Family and Consumer Sciences, will act as literacy coach. Kellogg Community College and WMU will both offer credit for full participation in the grant's professional development program. The grant also includes a family component and will fund a five-week summer school for approximately 300 children.
Western Michigan University researchers are working with a $190,200 Department of Defense Army Research Laboratory grant to create an environmental physiology laboratory that will be the only one of its kind in Michigan and will be used to study the effect of hot and cold temperatures on the human body in combination with other factors, such as nicotine intake. The grant is part of the Defense University Research Instrumentation Program. Faculty in the Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation have been busy buying and installing diagnostic equipment and creating an 11- by- 11 foot, state of the art laboratory, housed in the Student Recreation Center.
The environmental physiology lab can measure a subject's cardiovascular system, body temperature, blood flow and other physical reactions to heat and cold in high or low humidity, says Dr. Chris Cheatham, assistant professor, and the grant's principal investigator. Cheatham is being assisted by co-principal investigator Dr. Timothy Michael, associate professor. The Department of Health, Physical Education and Recreation and the College of Education each contributed $10,000 to cover renovation costs.
Cheatham says the body's physical response to high heat and nicotine might be of particular interest to the U.S. military, since soldiers today are often deployed to hot parts of the world. “Since upward of one-fourth of service people use tobacco products, the Army would be interested in funding further research on the combined effect of heat and nicotine on humans.”
Grant promotes effective use of K-12 education data
A one-year grant of $425,000 from the Wallace Foundation to Western Michigan University will support the development of education leaders in urban school districts to use data effectively to identify and implement teaching strategies that lead to improved student performance.
"Having access to sound information and knowing how to use it to improve student achievement is central to education reform in Michigan," says Dr. Jianping Shen, WMU professor in the Department of Educational Leadership, Research and Technology, who is one of the project's co-director along with Dr. Van Cooley. "If our children are going to be successful, we need to ensure that we develop the ability of our district and school leaders to be good consumers of data and help them use the information to drive changes in instruction that lead to student achievement."
WMU will lead a statewide coalition of educators to develop a new system to assist school leaders, who are often overwhelmed by massive amounts of data, in using data as a tool to making instructional decisions that lead to the improvement of student performance. The coalition includes the governor's office, the state Board of Education, the Legislature, major education organizations and other universities. More...
University Sources of Support
GEAR UP
Wallace Grant
Office of the Vice President for Research Funding Sources
WMU Library
WESTCAT
College of Education Library
Instructional Technology Center
External Resources
Chronicle of Higher Education
Michigan Department of Education
U.S. Department of Education
