Undergraduate Research
Undergraduate Research Experience
Undergraduate students can participate in research in the Comprehension and Language Learning (CALL) lab by enrolling for course credit in SPLH 498: Departmental Research (Independent Study) or SPLH 499: Directed Study in Speech-Language-Hearing (Independent Study).
Undergraduate Research Details
Students who wish to enroll in SPLH 498 should watch for an email mid-semester (Fall and Spring) from Dr. Panying Rong with the application for an undergraduate research experience in SPLH. Students who wish to complete this experience should then complete the application by the deadline and then Dr. Rong will review the application and match mentors.
Students wishing to pursue an undergraduate research experience through SPLH 498 in the CALL lab will need to take 2-3 credits each semester for 2-4 semesters (can include summer). Additionally, students must have completed SPLH 466: Language Science. SPLH 565: Language Sample Analysis, SPLH 566: Language Development, and SPLH 660: Research Methods in SPLH are helpful but not required to begin.
All students completing a research experience through SPLH 498 must complete a minimum of 6 credits (max 8 credits) and present on a mentored student research project and presentation at the end of their experience.
Students who wish to enroll in SPLH 499 are permitted to enroll with instructor (Dr. Davidson) permission. Students who wish to pursue an undergraduate research experience through SPLH 499 should reach out to Dr. Davidson in person or via email to discuss their goals for their individual research experiences.
What does an undergraduate research experience look like?
All students, regardless of whether they are enrolled in SPLH 498 or 499 will participate in weekly undergraduate research and project meetings. Undergraduate research meetings are focused on skills and training in research as well as learning about a diverse array of topics such as language development in autism, ethics in autism research, how to apply to graduate school, and what does it take to start a research lab. Project meetings are focused on reporting on lab responsibilities and ensuring that the project is running smoothly. Students are also expected to participate in twice-a-semester all-lab meetings where we take a look at all of the projects ongoing in the lab and complete team building.
Lab Responsibilities
On a day-to-day basis, students are expected to complete lab responsibilities and work on their individual projects. Lab responsibilities and individual projects are determined based on each individual student's interests. Examples of lab responsibilities include data entry, data transcription, data coding, area of interest drawing, and stimuli creation. Don't worry if you don't know how to do any of these things...we train you! You can find examples of student projects in the section below. Students receive one-on-one mentoring with PhD students in the lab and/or Dr. Davidson. Students are expected to work in the lab for the number of hours based on their credit enrollment each week (Fall/ Spring: 1 credit = 3 hours per week, 2 credits = 6 hours per week, 3 credits = 9 hours per week; Summer: 1 credit = 6 hours per week, 2 credits = 12 hours per week, 3 credits = 18 hours per week). Lab meeting time counts toward hours each week.
Why become an undergraduate researcher?
Our student research experience will provide opportunities to learn about research, work with participant data, and lead an individual research project.
"I am very happy that I got involved in undergrad research. At first, I was a little intimidated by research, but I was put at ease in the CALL Lab because I received lots of support and helpful resources. I have found that the CALL Lab is very organized and well-managed, so it was a seamless process to join the team. Lastly, I really appreciate this lab’s flexibility to work with everyone’s schedules. The CALL Lab has offered me some great exposure to research and has engaged me in many thought-provoking conversations. "
The CALL Lab Team
The CALL Lab team includes graduate students, PhD students, undergraduate students, and staff.
Present Your Research
As a graduate researcher, you will have the opportunity to lead and present your own individual research project.
Gain Valuable Experience
Becoming a part of the KU CALL Lab research will team will give you valuable experience and insight into the research process.
Student Projects
Student researchers the opportunity to lead an individual research project. Here are some of our past student project:
Using Text Analysis to Determine Text Socialness and Text Easability of Reading Comprehension Assessments
Brief Description: Completed text analysis on reading comprehension assessments to determine if assessments were using best practices based on linguistic and social information in texts for comprehension.
Key Finding(s): Because currently available reading assessments differ in both text and socialness factors, interactions between reader characteristics and text factors may benefit or hinder different readers. Assessment developers that seek to create assessments that identify specific strengths and weaknesses of readers should consider the effects of text factors impacting text difficulty when developing assessment passages and questions.
Determining the Feasibility of Using Eye-Tracking Technology to Examine Listening Comprehension
Brief Description: Conducted an experimental study to compare if face masking (surgical mask, KN95 mask, or none) affected eye tracking data quality and outcomes across the face masking conditions.
Key Finding(s): For fixation count, the masked versus unmasked groups did not significantly differ, but the two masked groups (surgical vs. KN95) significantly interacted with area type with the surgical group looking more and for longer to the nonsocial areas than the KN95 group. Across both groups, number of looks and durations were comparable across the more and less social for the more social stories, but participants looked more at the nonsocial AOIS compared to the social AOIs in the less social story type.
The Use of Visual Supports in Spoken and Written Language Comprehension Interventions
Brief Description: Completed a secondary coding and analysis of a systematic review to determine if visual supports are used in spoken and written language comprehension interventions for autistic school-age children.
Key Findings: Many studies reported using visual supports but insufficient details were provided to determine the type of visual support or what role the visual support played in the intervention. Future intervention studies that incorporate visual supports in the intervention should provide sufficient details about the type of visual support and how it is being used (active or inactive component) in the intervention.
