2005-06 WSU Undergraduate Research Grant Application

Cover Sheet

Amount Requested: $2713

Student Information

Project Information

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Student Signature                                                                                                                                Date

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Project Mentor Signature                                                                                                                   Date

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Campus Mail                                         Phone Ext.

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Undergraduate Research Committee Representative                                                                     Date

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Faculty Mentor Department Chair                                                                                                    Date

2005-06 Undergraduate Research Grant Application

Additional Students Form

Project Title: Travel grant request to present: “Blogging in a Community of Dental Hygiene Students”

Student Information

Student Information

Student Information

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Student Signature                                                                                                                                Date

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Student Signature                                                                                                                                Date

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Please make additional copies of this form for additional students.

Project Description:

The purpose of this proposal is to secure funding to present findings from our baccalaureate research project on the use of blogging in a community of dental hygiene students.  We have submitted an abstract (under the division for works-in-progress) of our project to the American Dental Educators Association (ADEA) for approval to present at the annual session to be held in Orlando, FL., March 8-11, 2006.  We anticipate hearing of our acceptance to present by the end of November 2005.  The ADEA annual session will allow us to present our baccalaureate research to other dental hygiene students, dental students and educators as well as clinicians in the field of dentistry.

Abstract of Project submitted to ADEA (written in 3^rd person)

* Please refer to mentor note – Question 3*

The purpose of this project is to investigate peer-to-peer learning in a virtual community of dental hygiene students.  This research will build on conducted research that took place last year on the utilization of emergent technologies in the development of virtual case studies for community oral health.  Research findings indicated that students engaged in positive interactions via the use of online weblogs (blogs).  Examples of such interactions were incidences of resource sharing, complimentary feedback, critical reflection and resultant discourse.  While researchers were able to draw conclusions based on research outcomes, it was posited that a longer period of study would produce more substantive results. As a result, this research project will investigate the use of blogs by dental hygiene students for an entire academic year.  Research questions include: 1) Can dental hygiene bloggers be classified as a community of practice?  2) Will student bloggers benefit academically and/or personally?  And, 3) How will virtual “blog” communications compare to students face-to-face interactions?

Fifty-nine University dental hygiene students will blog for the academic year 2005-2006.  Students created personal blogs and linked them to a student website; thus allowing for easy access to the aggregate collection of blogs at all times.  The usage of blogs was built into the dental hygiene curriculum for this academic year, as such students will post as required for academic purposes as well as for personal.  In addition, peer comments will remain unstructured and considered indicative of emergent peer interactions.  Data collection methods will include post-treatment survey and the analysis of written blog content according to a rubric developed by researchers.

            It is expected that student bloggers will qualify as a virtual community of practice beneficial to participants.  Further, virtual interactions will allow for a different level of communication than can be observed face-to-face.  Conclusions are pending

Previous Experience: 

In June 2005, Crystal and I (Monica) were able to attend the National Dental Hygiene meeting in Las Vegas, Nevada.  We presented our research on blogging and the impact it had and will have on the education of dental hygiene students and the profession of dental hygiene.  It was a great opportunity for us to inform not only educators, but other students and clinicians about blogging and its use as an effective tool in the class room setting.  After this experience we decide to expand the project to look at blogging as a community practice of dental hygiene students as a combined baccalaureate project.  Our baccalaureate project methods will allow for a larger time frame for research, will produce more substantive results, and thus, be a larger contribution to the community of dental hygiene.

Dependent______________________________________________________X____________Independent

(student helping faculty do research)                                                             (student doing own research)

Budget Narrative

Two students will be traveling to Orlando Florida to present research findings at the American Dental Educators Association (ADEA) on March 8-11, 2006.  Students will need to leave on March 7, 2006 and return on March 12, 2006.  Two round trip tickets estimated at $510.00 each, times two will total $1020 for travel expenses.  Lodging at $224.00 a night for 1 room will total $896.00.  We plan to lodge at the hotel where the  ADEA conference will be held, the Swan and Dolphin Hotel and Conference Center on the Disney properties in Orlando.  Each student will need per diem of $36.00 a day for 6 days times 2 for a total of $432 for per diem.  The registration fee is $120 for each student for a total of $240 for 2 students. 

Timeframe:

            Students will blog throughout the semester as noted in the methods section.  We will conduct an analysis of blogs and student survey in February to present initial findings at ADEA and then continue the project until April 2006 for final results.  We plan to write-up our findings as a final document for our baccalaureate thesis and present at the WSU Undergraduate Spring Symposium.  In addition, we plan to work with our mentor to write a paper for publication in May, 2006.

2005-06 WSU Undergraduate Research Budget Worksheet

NOTE –         Equipment and left-over materials purchased with this grant will remain the property of WSU

2005-06 WSU Undergraduate Research Faculty Mentor Recommendation Form

Student Name (last, first): Peterson, Monica & Oberg, Crystal

Project Title: Blogging in a Community of Dental Hygiene Students

1.  How long and in what capacity have you known this student?

I have known Crystal and Monica since they started the dental hygiene program in the fall of last year.  I had the pleasure of involving Monica and Crystal in a research project that was conducted last year involving both senior and junior students on the use of blogging and the development of virtual case studies for community oral health.  Because the undergraduate committee decided not to fund the graduating seniors on this project to present at the American Dental Hygienists Association’s annual session last year, Monica and Crystal did so in their place as continuing students.  This was a real change in protocol for us in the dental hygiene department because we have always focused on our senior students and assisted them to disseminate their research findings.  So, for the first time junior students presented at ADHA’s annual session and it was a huge success.  The students received such positive feedback with a high level of interest on the use of blogging that they wanted to make blogging the focus of their senior research.  Both Monica and Crystal have become the leaders of their class in the use of blogging and other computer mediated communication tools and are excited to share their experiences with others.

2.  Briefly describe the proposed project.  Is this part of a larger research project? Is this part of a course?  If so, how is the project apart from the nature and scope of activities normally taken for the course?

As mentioned, the idea of utilizing blogging in dental hygiene was conceptualized last year and involved multiple senior dental hygiene students and 2 juniors (Crystal and Monica).  The results were promising so the dental hygiene faculty decided to more fully utilize and embrace the idea of blogging and wikis as tools to drive interaction and communication among students with the hope that conversations would drive a greater degree of learning.  As a result, Frances McConaughy, Susan Alexander and I have engineered a larger project that involves the use of blogs, wikis, the student created “clubs” site and RSS aggregators to investigate the use of emergent technologies to build and nurture a dental hygiene virtual community of practice.

Because Crystal and Monica were involved with last years research, they have instigated their role as the individuals that manage and drive student blogging.  In addition, much like last year, they will conduct the data collection and analysis with me as the mentor to help analyze ethnographic data.  The time spent and on this research goes beyond the nature and scope of their regular academic duties.  The final result of this project will be the completion of their baccalaureate thesis project and the presentation of findings at the WSU symposium and hopefully at ADEA’s annual session in March 2006.

An interesting note is that through Crystal and Monica’s enthusiasm and interest in their project, they have recruited 2 more seniors and 4 junior to participate in the larger components of the project.  Please keep in mind that while there is a larger project that involves both faculty and students, Crystal and Monica have carved out of that and, in fact, built the piece of the project that is theirs.  They deserve tremendous credit for instigating and driving that project as independent student researchers.

3.  Give an assessment of the project’s significance to the student’s discipline and of the project’s educational and/or professional benefit to the student.

We were able to garner from last years initial presentation that there is a huge interest in this topic and in this research that I expect Crystal and Monica’s presentation will have a large impact on the dental hygiene profession.  In addition, an emergent outcome of blogging is that we are slowly but surely developing a virtual community of dental hygienists on a global level discussing issue related to dentistry and education.  I expect that Crystal and Monica will lead, as have two of our past graduates, as mentors in our profession.

*NOTE* Crystal, Monica and I worked together to craft their abstract submission to ADEA.  While Crystal and Monica have prepared this RFP, I did assist them in preparing a cogent document for their submission to ADEA, which they have chosen include in the body of the project description.

4.  Comment on the qualifications of the student to successfully complete this project, both in terms of the project’s scope and its time frame.

Crystal and Monica have been working hard on this project all semester.  I have confidence that they will complete their research as stated and be ready to disseminate their results at the stated venues.

5.  Comment on the justification and appropriateness of the project budget.

Crystal and Monica have requested funding to travel to present in Orlando.  The budget lists those expenses that will make that possible.  I believe the budget to be justified and fair.

6.  Describe your role in the project.

While I am involved in the larger research project (as stated in question 2), my goals and objectives for that research are different than what Crystal and Monica have chosen to look at.  Frances, Susan and I plan to investigate incidences of transformational learning theory and communities of practice with a purposeful look at emergent core tensions (or illuminative dualities).  Specifically our research questions are:

1)   Can the student virtual network be defined as a community of practice (CoP)?

2)   How will essential tensions manifest and be dealt with in the group?

3)   Will the student virtual CoP enable transformational learning?

As you can see, Crystal and Monica’s project is different from ours but can effect and contribute to the project at large.

7.  Include anything else that you think will be helpful to the committee in evaluating this application.

This project __X_ DOES ____ DOES NOT require review by the WSU Institutional Review Board for Human Subjects or the WSU Animal Care and Use Committee.

* The IRB proposal for this project has been submitted on November 3, 2005, notification of approval pending.

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