On Friday, April 11, the 27th annual University Undergraduate Research and Arts Forum (UURAF) was held at the Breslin Center. UURAF provides hundreds of students around Michigan State the opportunity to present their own finished or in progress research to faculty, staff and external audiences.
This year, there were 24 presentations from students inside ComArtSci. Highlighted are the student presentations that won 1st place.
Wellbeing of Head and Neck Cancer Patients
Ella French is a junior from Shorewood, Illinois, majoring in communicative sciences and disorders with a minor in cognitive science. Isabel Pascua is a sophomore from Rochester Hills, Michigan, majoring in communicative sciences and disorders. They worked together under the mentorship of Jeff Searl, Ph.D. to research the topic and create the poster that won first place.
“Dr. Searl was very helpful with giving us guidance with our poster,” Pascua said.
French and Pascua presented research focused on the overall well-being of total laryngectomees. They used the Five Factor Wellness Inventory to survey two groups of participants matched by age and gender. They found that in 22 out of 24 scores they collected, the laryngectomy group had significantly worse scores than their control group.
“We worked so long on this specific project, and I just wanted to properly show everyone what we learned and discovered.” French said.
How I Told the Story of my Grandparents and The Creative Process to Creating Film Posters
Mia Burghardt was a senior from Holland, Michigan, majoring in creative advertising. She drew inspiration for these projects from the rich storytelling found in diverse cultural experiences.
Burghardt had the privilege of working with her mentor, Jeana-Dee Allen, in a journalism independent study course. Her presentation, "How I Told the Story of My Grandparents," focused on her grandparents, Sone and La Panya-Oudom, and how their lives in the United States today reflect their past — highlighting their escape from Laos during the post-Vietnam War period.
“This project has brought me closer to my family and my ancestry, and I have learned so much about my heritage because of the opportunity to interview some of the most important people in my life,” Burghardt said.
For her presentation, "The Creative Process to Creating Film Posters," Burghardt’s mentor, Amol Pavangadkar, approached her with the opportunity to create a movie poster for his documentary about Amul Dairy. Her goal was to approach the project with compelling, culturally relevant visuals and a unique message.
“For the presentation, I described what a pitch looks like to a client and how I composed the pitch deck and continue to integrate client feedback and cultural relevance,” Burghardt said.
Asian American and Pacific Islander-Serving NPOs and Public Relations
Kassidy Do is a junior from Novi, Michigan, majoring in public relations and minoring in writing and graphic design.
Do presented research on the communication capacities of Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI)-serving nonprofit organizations and the potential for public relations application. Her study consisted of asking AAPI-serving nonprofits specific research questions.
“To answer the research questions, we contacted 246 AAPI-serving organizations across the nation and conducted 31 semi-structured interviews with participants,” Do said.
The idea for this research and project came from a conversation with her mentor, Chuqing Dong, Ph.D., in a dining hall. The conversation began with them talking about their identities as Asian Americans, which turned into a discussion about the specific challenges faced by the AAPI community.
When presenting her project, Do felt relief seeing her yearlong research come to life.
Disparities in Screening Rates for Autism Youth
Associate professors in the Department of Media and Information, Celeste Campos-Castillo, Ph.D. and Susan Bonner, collaborated as mentors for 16 Honors College students from diverse majors, one Honors College student within the College of Communication Arts and Sciences, and four master’s students in media and information.
Bonner mentored the students on designing the prototype with gamified strategies including animation, film and interactivity. Campos-Castillo mentored the students on reviewing the existing literature and analyzing transcripts.
While conducting research for the project, the team faced a challenge. “We discovered there was very little guidance. Moreover, few studies conducting focus groups about autistic youth were conducted with autistic youth,” Bonner and Campos-Castillo said.
As mentors, they helped reach a conclusion on what to do by brainstorming ideas with the students. The students came up with the idea to design a communication tool to enable someone who is nonverbal to participate. They did this by using playing cards with a thumbs up and thumbs down along with sayings including “I need a break,” or “I don’t want to answer.”
Bonner and Campos-Castillo hope that the students they mentored remember that they can steer projects and tackle problems no one else has before.
This article was originally published on the Communication Arts and Sciences website.