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Seven undergraduate students from UW Oshkosh will showcase their research April 11 at Wisconsin’s State Capitol as part of the 15th-Annual Research in the Rotunda event.

UW Oshkosh researchers study gender bias toward faculty, chemical conversion of carbon dioxide, product pricing effects, biomass degrading activity, word impact on ability and language, and phosphorus dynamics in a six-basin lake.

“For my project, I am interested in identifying if known-word initial processing could be used as a reliable predictor for identifying which children will have future delays and which children will not,” said Erin Seidler, a senior psychology student from Birnamwood. “My work examines ‘late talking’ children who are children classified in the lowest 25th percentile for productive vocabulary (words they say) for their age with no other delays present.”

UW oshkosh senior psychology students Erin Seidler, left, and Blair Braun, will present their work at Research in the Rotunda at the State Capitol.

Seidler said the work is important because research suggests that about 70-80 percent of “late-talking” children will catch up to their peers without any difficulty, while 20-30 percent will have delays throughout their life/lives. She said there is no reliable predictor for which children will catch up and which will not. For Seidler’s project, a six-month laboratory follow-up of late-talking children was done to see if a child’s initial processing of known words could predict future changes in vocabulary.

Fellow senior psychology student Blair Braun, who hails from Appleton,  is using the same dataset of children for an entirely different project. She said she first got involved in research on campus because she wanted to gain experience before applying to graduate school.

“I am so beyond thankful that I pursued a research experience as an undergraduate because it literally changed my career path,” Braun said. “Being able to apply the knowledge that we learn first-hand in the classroom to a research setting has exponentially developed my critical thinking skills—something I will take with me as a I pursue my Ph.D. in experimental psychology following graduation in May.”

Seidler said besides the projects she and Braun have worked on, there are at least three others going on in their lab that use the same dataset–a prime example, she said, of how a “little bit of funding can go a long way.”

Student work

Research in the Rotunda brings more than 100 students from campuses throughout the UW System, along with their faculty mentors to the Wisconsin Capitol Rotunda to share their research findings and creative projects with legislators, state leaders, alumni and members of the public. The event features a maximum of six research posters from each of the four-year institutions and a total of 15 posters from the two-year institutions

“For my particular project, I am interested in how children use their existing vocabulary and generalize it to atypical versions of object,” Braun explained. “For example, what makes a cup a cup?—is it the color, material, function, or shape? Overwhelmingly, the literature has shown that children begin to prioritize shape when making generalizations to novel solid objects.”

Braun’s work extends that finding to known objects: how do children use shape-based information to make generalizations to basic objects and also what she describes as “weird” objects.

Seidler said her research shows that the earlier an intervention or treatment takes place, the more likely it is to be successful. She said if initial processing of known words could be a predictor of language outcome, intervention could begin at younger ages.

“. . . it is plausible that significant future delays could be minimized for thousands of children. This research has the ability to change lives, and through continuing research, could have the ability to begin changing lives sooner…”

Seidler will graduate in May with a psychology degree with linguistics emphasis; and minors in journalism and business. She will attend UW-Madison for a post-baccalaureate capstone program in speech pathology, with hopes of being accepted to their speech pathology graduate program. Her long-term goal is to work as a pediatric speech therapist.

Braun said she will be attending Kent State University in Ohio in fall, to pursue a doctorate in cognitive psychology. Her ultimate goal is a career in academia.

Applying knowledge

“Undergraduate student researchers exemplify the transformative power of UW Oshkosh,” Chancellor Andrew Leavitt said. “The new knowledge and personal experiences our students and faculty mentors share at Research in the Rotunda are powerful reminders to UW System leaders and state legislators that the investments we all make in public higher education in Wisconsin are developing talent, delivering discoveries and honing the creativity we need to strengthen our state’s future.”

Stephen Kercher, interim director of the Office of Student Research and Creative Activity at UW Oshkosh, said students are encouraged to augment their experience pursuing research and creative work by presenting and sharing it with fellow students, other members of the academic community as well as members of the public.

Students at Research in the Rotunda are acting as advocates and ambassadors for the the university, Kercher added, and officials can see practical outcomes of the student research.

Research in the Rotunda students and faculty mentors from UW Oshkosh:

  • Sheena Gilbert, Kaukauna, senior, criminal justice/Victoria Beck (criminal justice): Gender Bias Among Students.
  • Kara Gillette, Oshkosh, junior, chemistry/Sheri Lense (chemistry): The Effect of Acid Strength on Catalytic Conversion of CO2 to Value-Added Chemicals.
  • Chris Smith, Winnebago, Illinois, senior, economics/Joshua Foster (economics): An Experimental Study in Zero and Negative Prices: Replications and New Evidence.
  • Samantha Nixon, Wadsworth, Illinois, senior, chemistry/biomolecular science/Sabrina Mueller-Spitz (biology): Characterization of Biomass Degrading Bacillus and Paenibacillus species from a Wet Fermentation Digester.
  • Brittany Lutz, Oshkosh, graduate student, environmental engineering technology/Marcel Dijkstra (engineering technology): Phosphorus Dynamics in Lake Decatur, Illinois.
  • Blair Braun, Appleton, senior, psychology; and Erin Seidler, Birnamwood,senior, psychology/Sarah Kucker (psychology): What Makes a Cup, a Cup? How Known Words Impact Generalization Abilities and Language Outcomes.

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