CMD Students Selected to Present Research at NCUR 22 Conference
Three papers authored by communication management and design (CMD) students have been selected for presentation at the 22nd National Conferences on Undergraduate Research (NCUR 22), April 10-12, 2008, at Salisbury University, in Salisbury, Maryland. NCUR 22 will bring together undergraduates involved in scholarly and artistic activities from more than 300 colleges and universities, promoting undergraduate research in all fields of study.
The papers include "Exploring Virtual Worlds," by senior Jason Soon, and "Organizational Effects of AAC Devices as Emerging Technologies in Primary and Secondary Education" by junior Sarah E. Brylinsky. "They were written as part of their requirements for the CMD senior capstone course STCM 450 Emerging Technologies in Organizations during the fall semester," explains Professor Tammy Shapiro. "Students submit abstracts in the fall for review and are informed of their acceptance in January."
"My paper," says Soon, "studies the rise and implementation of virtual worlds in various industries--medical technology, marketing and promotions, online collaboration--including the social, psychological, artistic and ethical aspects associated with use of the technology, through various conceptual lenses such as activity theory and electronic togetherness. I then made recommendations for policy."
Soon thinks that virtual worlds will greatly impact and shape the way of the future. "I got advice and feedback from students and faculty in my class and their input really helped me out a lot."
He is "very excited and privileged" to be selected to go to NCUR 22 conference. "Going to a national conference naturally enhances my resume and improves my chances of finding employment or getting accepted into graduate school," says Soon. "The future is hard to predict, but I promise to make the most of this opportunity to present myself and my paper in the best light possible and make the entire college community proud!"
Brylinsky describes her paper as focusing "on the individual and organizational impacts of augmentative and alternative communication devices (AAC) on cognitively high-functioning students and their inclusive-classroom teachers. Benefits included rapid expansion of symbolic output for real-time classroom interaction, user-center design as a means of empowerment, increased autonomy, social inclusiveness, partner acceptance, and heightened digital exchange. Detriments ranged from multimodality as a social inhibitor and lingering issues of mentor to student psychological power imbalances."
The third paper, "S.O.S via SMS: Text Messaging as a Communication Strategy in Hurricane Crises" was a class collaboration in fall 2006. Leanne Gabinelli ’08 and Kellie Hoverter ’08 will represent the 20 co-authors, along with faculty advisor, Dr. Cory Young, at NCUR 22.
NCUR was established in 1987 and is dedicated to promoting undergraduate research, scholarship, and creative activity in all fields of study by sponsoring an annual undergraduate student conference. In this unique environment student achievement is both celebrated and promoted, while providing models of exemplary research and scholarship. Among the keynote speakers scheduled to address NCUR 22 are American Broadcasting Corporation Executive Vice President for Documentaries Rudy Bednar and Anne Foerst, ethicist and computer science professor.
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