Buxton

A University of Georgia College of Education research team has received a $2.65 million grant from the National Science Foundation to test a new teaching model that improves science learning for middle school educating English language learners and perhaps for all students.

Led by UGA faculty member Cory Buxton, a professor in the department of educational theory and practice, the project will further explore and demonstrate the effectiveness of the teaching and learning model he and his COE colleagues have developed over the past three years.

Buxton is the principal investigator for the grant—and the project is focused specifically on increasing competitiveness among Latino populations as well as other English language learners.

Because of unprecedented growth in the Latino population in the U.S. over the past five decades, the international competitiveness of the nation will depend on the academic success of Latino students, Buxton said. Unfortunately, Latinos’ educational attainment has not kept pace. With Georgia among the top 10 states for fastest-growth in and largest share of Latinos, the need for educating English language learners is a critical priority.

The new study will focus on teaching as it influences the critical student transition from middle school to high school.

Buxton and his team worked with students, teachers and parents in three area middle schools to help students improve their science inquiry practices, use academic language in and beyond science class and understand that success in science can lead to broader academic success. The team also designed, tested and refined methods to determine the effectiveness of the teaching-learning model.

“English language learners are often pulled out of class to learn conversational English and miss their grade-level content classes, or they are left to sink or swim with unsupported immersion in all-English instruction,” Buxton said. “We use a co-teaching model, often used with special education students, which involves an English as a second language teacher collaborating with a content-area teacher.”

In the new four-year study, Buxton and his colleagues will focus on teaching as it influences the critical student transition from middle school to high school. The college’s team will work with select area teachers in grades 7-10 with a focus on life and physical sciences, and an emphasis on biotechnology as a critical science, technology, engineering and mathematics field.

“The middle school to high school transition is a period in which many students lose interest in science, and many English language learners drop out of school,” Buxton said. “Our research will help us understand the aspects of professional learning that can support teachers in helping (these students) learn to use science, engineering and academic language practices to gain college and career-ready skills in science.”

In their previous study, Buxton and his team worked with students, teachers and parents in three area middle schools to help students improve their science inquiry practices, use academic language in and beyond science classes and understand that success in science can lead to broader academic success. The team also designed, tested and refined methods to determine the effectiveness of the teaching-learning model.

In addition to Buxton, the project team includes Martha Allexsaht-Snider, an associate professor in the department of educational theory and practice; Zhenqui Lu, an assistant professor of educational psychology; and Allan Cohen, a professor of educational psychology and director of the college’s Georgia Center for Assessment.

Lauren Peterson, a second-year graduate student in kinesiology from Twinsburg, Ohio; leads a step aerobics class at the UGA Center for Physical Activity and Health. Photo by Paul Efland

For more than 30 years the University of Georgia Fitness Center has provided supervised exercise programs for adults with heart disease and training for students to work as exercise specialists in cardiac rehabilitation programs.

Now, the center based in the College of Education and located in the Ramsey Center, has transitioned into a contemporary fitness program with a new mission and a new name—the UGA Center for Physical Activity and Health.

Ellen Evans, its new director and an associate professor of exercise science in the department of kinesiology, is leading the Center’s transformation. The Fitness Center was first established in 1980 by Harry Duval, a professor in the department of physical education in the College of Education. It was designed as an outreach program which also served as a teaching/learning lab for student practicums and internships.

“I worked in the Fitness Center as a PhD student when it was a Phase III cardiac rehab center,” said Evans. “Through the years, it has only served two of the university’s three missions—teaching and service. Now, we will be serving all three missions—research, teaching and service.”

The Center has also broadened its mission to include programming for various populations with an emphasis on the prevention and management of chronic diseases and conditions which benefit from physical activity.

Evans (PhD ’98) is the perfect person to lead this transition. She earned her doctorate in exercise science at UGA under the guidance of Kirk Cureton, professor and head of the department of kinesiology. She is a recognized researcher in body composition and exercise. Since joining the UGA faculty in 2010, she has secured $1.8 million in new external funding, $1.3 million as principal investigator.

Evans says the changes she is bringing to the UGA Center for Physical Activity and Health will benefit individuals from the Athens community as well as UGA researchers, faculty, staff, and students. “The goal is to provide community outreach programs and learning opportunities for our students while simultaneously providing infrastructure for research in physical activity,” said Evans.

“Employee health and wellness programs, which always include exercise, are of high interest because the health benefits translate into a more productive employee and reductions in health care costs,” said Evans. “We plan to reach out to UGA employees. We want the Center to be a resource for the “Working Dawgs” who prefer a smaller fitness facility with greater one-on-one attention. Right now, we’re the best-kept secret on campus for faculty and staff. For about a dollar a day, members receive a very comprehensive program.”

The Center is an excellent option for individuals who prefer a high trainer-to-participant ratio and/or a higher level of supervision for safety reasons.

“In addition, the social aspects of membership are really important. Social support is a primary reason why many people adhere to an exercise program,” said Evans.

There are exercise sessions in the early morning, mid-day and early evening on weekdays. The Center offers group-based exercise classes for cardio-respiratory endurance, muscle strength and flexibility and individualized personal training is also available.

Evans says her work in developing the Center for Physical Activity and Health really excites her because it’s a vehicle through which she can have the most impact to help people enhance their health through physical activity.

“It’s on my professional bucket list,” she said. “When I’m dead and gone my goal is that UGA will have an established Center with sustainable physical activity programs that will make a difference in people’s lives.”

For more information, visit: www.coe.uga.edu/CPAH/
or contact uga.cpah@gmail.com

 Sept. 16 Columns story

UGA’s graduate programs in secondary education, which include science education, are perennially ranked among the Top 10 in the nation in U.S. News and World Report’s annual “Best Graduate Schools” survey.

University of Georgia College of Education faculty members were ranked among the most productive faculty in science education research published during the first decade of the 21^st century, according to a study in the March 2013 edition of the Journal of Education and Learning.

UGA science education faculty were ranked third in the nation in research productivity from 2000-2009 when data were adjusted for the acceptance rates of the four top science education journals studied and fourth when data were adjusted for raw number of publications.

UGA science education faculty published 55 articles in the top four international science education journals during the 2000s. Only science education faculty at the University of Michigan (84), Indiana University (66) and Purdue University (59) published more during that period.

UGA’s graduate programs in secondary education, which include science education, are perennially ranked among the Top 10 in the nation in U.S. News and World Report’s annual “Best Graduate Schools” survey.

Oliver

“Science education faculty members have been leaders in the field dating back to the 1970s,” said Steve Oliver, professor and science education program coordinator during much of the last decade. “Those of us who replaced those earlier individuals came of age in the 2000s and wanted to participate fully in our professional field. A number of individuals who are no longer at UGA—Tom Koballa, Lynn Bryan and Carolyn Wallace—were very important to the success we had in those years.”

Today, UGA’s faculty members in science education continue research to develop new and better methods for instruction to enhance each student’s education from elementary school through doctoral studies.

Shen

For instance, researcher Ji Shen is pursuing a synthesis of the achievements and challenges of modeling-based instruction (MBI) in K-12 science education over the last three decades to identify the most effective MBI practices for successful student learning, with an emphasis on technology-enhanced ones.

Shen is directing another study to design and implement technology-enhanced formative assessments to help college students integrate scientific knowledge and solve complex problems across disciplines. Specifically, researchers are targeting fundamental biological processes in physiological contexts that are closely related to physics. The assessments will be administered to college students enrolled in introductory physics, biology, physiology and science education courses.

Oliver is one of five UGA researchers leading a five-year, multi-discipline, partnership project among scientists and science educators at UGA, science teachers in high school and the national Biological Sciences Curriculum Study to create and evaluate curricular materials that use highly interactive 3-D models and animations of physiological processes that could set new standards in science education.

Crawford

Luft

Two new senior faculty members who joined the College of Education in 2012—Barbara Crawford and Julie Luft—both bring groundbreaking research projects to UGA.

Crawford’s research focuses on how to move the essence of inquiry into the science classroom, how to support teachers in engaging students in authentic science, and how to alter and shape views of science in students generally underrepresented in the sciences (including English language learners).

Luft, the inaugural Athletic Association Professor of Mathematics and Science Education, was named the 2012 Outstanding Mentor of the Year by the Association for Science Teacher Education last fall.

Her current research focuses on beginning secondary science teachers and the development of their knowledge and instructional practices during their first five years in the classroom. Her work reveals the importance of content knowledge during induction programs and suggests new roles for science educators in higher education. In 2012, research from this project received the Journal of Research in Science Teaching Award for the most significant publication of the year.

Research published in science education journals impacts a wide range of areas, ranging from teacher education to curriculum development to assessment to policy. This study identifies the places where science educators are producing new knowledge, which can inform faculty, current and future graduate students, teachers of science, and policymakers for United States K-12 science, according to authors Lloyd Barrow and Nai-en Tang, both of the University of Missouri.

See abstract, link to full text of the science education research productivity study:
www.ccsenet.org/journal/index.php/jel/article/view/25011

Assistant professors Jessica Bishop and AnnaMarie Conner, both in the department of mathematics and science education, are working on separate five-year studies documenting student-teacher interactions and assessing other classroom factors that may influence mathematics learning. Two CAREER Awards from the National Science Foundation that total $1,207,853 fund the studies.

A former high school mathematics teacher, Bishop often wondered what aspects of her teaching made a real difference in student learning. Much of the time in math classrooms was spent talking, she noticed, but not all of the talk was “mathematically productive.”

Bishop

“What elements of mathematics conversations encourage students to generate, explain and defend mathematical ideas and to make connections between concepts?” asked Bishop. “We need to be able to identify what it is that teachers and students are doing in productive mathematics conversations so we can better support practicing and prospective teachers.”

Over the next five years, Bishop will use an NSF CAREER award of $672,846 to systematically document the small details of student-teacher exchanges in elementary and middle school math classes. She will analyze shifts in student-teacher interactions across different curricular topics, grade levels, school periods and teachers, and in schools with student populations from a wide variety of backgrounds.

“This project should help determine the common elements of successful communication and describe the teaching patterns that correspond to success,” said Bishop.

Conner will use NSF funding of $535,007 over five years to observe and document how college mathematics education majors and new teachers help students create and critique mathematical arguments, or proofs. Conner will study a learning process known as collective argumentation, whereby students—with teacher guidance—discover ways to answer particular mathematical questions.

Connor

“Prospective teachers often come to class believing that math involves memorizing rules and the teacher’s role is to communicate those rules,” said Conner. “If a teacher can foster student involvement in creating mathematical arguments and proofs, however, students learn something more valuable: reasoning skills.”

“Creating and critiquing mathematical arguments is an increasingly important part of mathematics classes,” said Conner. “This will lead to students having better mathematical preparation for college.”

Conner’s research team will follow college mathematics education majors through their coursework and into their first two years of teaching. The team will record how novice educators’ support for collective argumentation evolves over time, said Conner. In addition, the research team and educators will use the data they collect to develop more effective ways to support this learning method.

“These projects address critical areas in the teaching and learning of mathematics, particularly in the area of discourse,” said Denise Spangler, head of the department of mathematics and science education. “We are very excited to have two CAREER Awards in the same year.”

The NSF CAREER Award is among the most competitive grants available from the National Science Foundation. The acceptance rate for NSF CAREER proposals submitted over the last four years to the directorate for education and human resources, which oversees Bishop’s and Conner’s projects, averages 10 to 13 percent.

Current instruction often fails to connect with immigrant children’s learning potential and does not make the most of the cultural capital these children bring to our education system, said Pedro Portes, The Distinguished

See CLASE video

University of Georgia education researchers are seeking the final cohort of 3^rd and 5^th grade teachers in northeast Georgia to participate in a $2.9 million project examining the effectiveness of a teaching method in improving English language learners’ achievement toward Common Core standards.

Funded by a grant from the Institute of Education Sciences, the project examines the effectiveness of the Instructional Conversation method (IC), an evidence-based, regularly-scheduled, teacher-led, small-group instructional strategy. The IC has been shown to improve the academic achievement of all upper-elementary students, but is especially effective with English language learners (ELLs).

Ninety teachers representing school districts in Barrow, Clarke, Clayton, Colquitt, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Hall, Jackson, Newton and Rockdale counties, along with Gainesville City, are currently participating in the first two cohorts.

Participating teachers receive monetary compensation from $1,000 to $3,000. Selected teachers receive training in the IC teaching strategy, with weekly coaching and support for a full year in order to master it. There is no cost or work for school administrators but teacher commitment must be for two years.

“Current instruction often fails to connect with immigrant children’s learning potential and does not make the most of the cultural capital these children bring to our education system. The Instructional Conversation pedagogy makes those connections and, in doing so, provides a richer learning environment for all students,” said Pedro Portes, The Goizueta Foundation Distinguished Chair of Latino Teacher Education and Executive Director of the College of Education’s Center for Latino Achievement and Success in Education (CLASE).

The Common Core Standards for English-language arts and mathematics for grades K-12 were developed to establish clear and consistent goals for learning that will prepare America’s children for success in college and work in collaboration between content experts, states, teachers, school administrators and parents in 2010. They have been adopted by 45 of 50 states including Georgia.

However, because they do not mandate any particular strategy or method, educators have felt some concern about how to reach them.

“Because Instructional Conversation stresses in-depth critical thinking, increased student talk, improved language understanding and collaborative problem-solving, it is a perfect platform for reaching Common Core goals,” says Paula Mellom, assistant research scientist for CLASE.

“We have definitely seen an increase in conversation among our students and it’s purposeful talk, not just talking about the weekend,” said one participating teacher from Gainesville City School District.

“It fits in with the Common Core and the kind of deeper understandings that the Common Core is demanding that we teach versus the way we may have been teaching before,” said another participating teacher from Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Any Georgia elementary school administrator or 3^rd or 5^th grade teacher who is interested in participating in the project should contact Marcy Nejat mnejat@uga.edu or Paula Mellom pjmellom@uga.edu by February 15, 2013. To sign up online go to: www.coe.uga.edu/clase/confirmation-of-interest-form/.

David Gast, a professor of special education, says he is recruiting students across disciplines to apply for fellowships that will pay for their graduate education. Photo by Peter Frey

An innovative University of Georgia graduate program in special education, that has prepared dozens of area elementary school teachers to work with children with autism over the past several years, has received a new federal grant of $1.2 million to continue its work through 2017.

The Collaborative Personnel Preparation in Autism (COPPA) project is a partnership between UGA special education faculty and four area public school systems: Clarke, Gwinnett, Madison and Oconee counties.

Over 70 percent of the funding will be used to fund 45 highly qualified and adaptive curriculum certified public school teachers to serve children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) in grades K–5.

“I’ll be looking to recruit students across disciplines–education, psychology, child and family development, and related fields–who have an interest in and experience with children with Autism Disorder and would like to compete for fellowships to pay for their graduate education in special education,” said David Gast, professor of special education and director of the COPPA Project.

Applicants for the fellowships will be considered from across the nation. Priority will be given to persons with ASD experience, who are from underrepresented groups, and who are not currently certified in special education.

The graduate students will learn how to: 1) use evidence-based practices when serving children with ASD in inclusive educational settings; 2) provide consultation, in-service training, and disseminate evidence-based information; and 3) conduct applied research with children with ASD and/or their families.

It is anticipated that six full-time students, who will receive full funding ($22,000 in the first year), will be admitted each year, and another five part-time students will be admitted and receive partial funding. Students will be prepared to teach children with ASD who, when diagnosed, function in the moderate to profound range of intellectual disabilities. Funded students will enroll in three ASD didactic courses, two ASD practica, and an ASD internship, along with other courses required for Georgia state certification in Adapted Curriculum. Program course work can be used toward being a Board Certified Behavior Analyst (BCBA).

To broaden the impact of the project, non-funded students from special and general education, as well as students from related fields (psychology, child/family development, social work, speech pathology, etc.) will be recruited to enroll in one or more of the ASD grant-supported courses. In addition to offering ASD courses on UGA’s main campus, core ASD courses will be offered at UGA’s satellite campus in Gwinnett and, in the future, on the Web. UGA courses will be taught by Gast, Jennifer Ledford, and Kevin Ayres, and ASD courses at UGA’s Gwinnett campus will be taught by Diana Hammond, co-director of the COPPA Project, coordinator of ASD programs for Gwinnett County Public Schools.

Gast and Deanna Luscre, who coordinated the ASD program for Gwinnett County Public Schools from 1996-2003, developed COPPA in 2003 with an initial four-year grant of $894,000 from the U.S. Department of the Education. It received a second four-year grant of $793,000 in 2007.

For more information on the COPPA Project and graduate studies in ASD, degree (M.A, M.Ed., M.A.T, Ed.S, Ph.D.) and non-degree, contact David Gast at dlgast@uga.edu. Additional information regarding the COPPA project and other special education programs offered at UGA is available at: www.coe.uga.edu/csse/academic-programs/special-education/.

In addition, information on the Study Abroad in Ireland: Developmental Disabilities six-week summer program, which includes placements serving children with ASD, can be accessed on this website.

Founded in 1908, the UGA College of Education is one of the largest and most diverse institutions of its kind in the nation, offering 14 undergraduate majors and more than 34 graduate programs leading to careers as educators, counselors, psychologists, administrators, researchers, and educational and health-related specialists.

Kevin McCully, a professor of exercise science in the College of Education’s department of kinesiology, is leading the biomarker study.  UGA Photo by Andrew Tucker

A new optical method using light to measure muscle energy production in people trying to recover from debilitating injuries and diseases has been developed by University of Georgia kinesiology researchers, and it could save patients 100 times the cost of getting the same measurements through magnetic resonance imaging.

Kevin McCully, professor of exercise science in the College of Education’s department of kinesiology, said he and his team of researchers have a patent pending and recently published a paper on the method. They hope use of the method will expand the ability to test diseased and injured populations.

The work is part of a collaboration between UGA, Georgia Health Sciences University, and Biogen Idec, a Cambridge, Mass., pharmaceutical company looking to develop new drugs to treat Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s disease, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord.

McCully recently received a $263,000 contract from Biogen Idec to conduct a biomarker study of skeletal muscle energy metabolism on healthy volunteers and patients with ALS. He is exploring the feasibility of using magnetic resonance spectroscopy and the new optical near-infrared spectroscopy as biomarkers of skeletal muscle energy metabolism in clinical trials in healthy volunteers and patients with neuromuscular disorders, such as ALS.

A biomarker, or biological marker, is a measurement or test substance used as an indicator of a biological state. It is a characteristic that is objectively measured and evaluated as an indicator of normal biological processes, pathogenic processes or pharmacologic responses to a therapeutic intervention. It is used in many scientific fields.

“One of the main purposes of the Exercise Vascular Biology Laboratory is to develop noninvasive ‘biomarkers,’ so this is an exciting partnership for us,” said McCully. “When I came to UGA we didn’t have the resources available for me, as we didn’t have a magnet. With the establishment of the Bioimaging Research Center (BIRC) in the Coverdell building and the ability to perform multinuclear spectroscopy, my lab was able to establish our muscle mitochondrial measurements. What we really worked on was the ability to test people with injuries and diseases, such as spinal cord injury and now ALS.”

The results of this study evaluating the new optical method as well as the more traditional multinuclear spectroscopy approach will lead to the improvement of the quality of drug trials to treat patients with muscle and nerve diseases, according to McCully.

“One example is a drug that was created to treat patients by improving energy metabolism, and they only found out later that the drug actually didn’t improve energy metabolism,” he said. “Our testing will make sure that drugs that are supposed to improve energy production in nerves and muscles, actually do that.”

McCully said UGA researchers are hoping to expand this study, and anticipate that there will be more studies in the future. The project represents the start of collaboration between UGA researchers and drug companies around ‘biomarkers’ for testing drugs.  There are other related projects that researchers hope to start in the biomarker area.

“There are some potentially important treatments for nerve-related diseases that involve reduced energy production,” said McCully. “It’s hard to detect improvements in nerve energy production, but much easier to detect muscle energy production. So we can use muscle measurements to tell us whether the nerves would also benefit.”

Article: “Noninvasive evaluation of skeletal muscle mitochondrial capacity with near-infrared spectroscopy: correcting for blood volume changes” (Terence E. Ryan, Melissa L. Erickson, Jared T. Brizendine, Hui-Ju Young and Kevin K.McCully) Published in Journal of Applied Physiology, 113: 175-183, May 10, 2012
http://tinyurl.com/ugabiomarker

James

How do we prepare our children for full civic participation in a 21st century world? What cognitive, interpersonal and intrapersonal skills will they need?

These are some of the questions University of Georgia College of Education researcher Jennifer H. James is hoping to answer as she begins a two-year study in a local third grade classroom.

“The need to name 21st century skills, thoughtfully engage teaching toward their development and measure the impact of our work is real,” said James, an associate professor in the department of elementary and social studies education. “Our efforts to address this need will likely benefit not only the students in our focus classroom, but other students and teachers throughout the school and district, offering research-based recommendations for policy and practice.”

The study is funded by a $40,000 grant from the Spencer Foundation. There are two aims of the research project:

• to develop a theoretical framework and corresponding measures for capturing and understanding elementary students’ 21st century skills;
• to identify specific pedagogical methods that foster elementary students’ 21st century skill development.

The research team’s framework for 21^st century skill building focuses on three dimensions of students’ civic learning: cognitive (creative thinking, meta-cognition, reasoning and critical thinking), interpersonal (perspective taking, symbiotic relationship building, and collaboration) and intrapersonal (self-esteem, self -knowledge, and efficacy).

“We call our framework ‘Head, Heart and Hands’ – a name we adopted so that we can talk with children about our work,” said James. “The Head is cognitive. What do I know? How do I know it? What do/can I not know? What does it mean to know? The Heart is intrapersonal. Who am I? What do I care about? What are my strengths? What role do/can I play in my community? How can I express myself? The Hands are interpersonal. Who are the people in my community? How do I know them? What does it mean to be in community with others?”

In the process of conceptual refinement, the researchers plan to develop a variety of qualitative and quantitative measures for capturing students’ understanding across time and space, and to identify effective strategies for fostering children’s civic growth within the context of the school day.

James, the on-site instructor and principal researcher, will collaborate with Barrow Elementary teacher researchers Glennda Shealey and Rita Foretich. Shealey teaches 3^rd grade and Foretich teaches art education. Jessica Kobe and Chang Liu, UGA graduate students in the college’s department of elementary and social studies education, will serve as research assistants.

The project will involve a classroom of about 21 students at David C. Barrow Elementary School, one of several schools participating in the Clarke County Professional Development School District.

Ellen Rolader, Georgia Outreach Coordinator for Hamilton Relay, presents the award to Patterson at an Aderhold Hall reception.

University of Georgia College of Education lecturer Christopher Patterson is different than other faculty at UGA. His lectures do not drone on. In fact, he doesn’t speak at all.

Patterson, who is deaf, uses sign language to deliver his lectures, advise his students and communicate with others on and off campus.  He has become a force for advocacy for individuals who are deaf, devoting countless hours of his time on a local as well as national level.

His work encouraging empowerment for individuals who are deaf was recently recognized when he received the 2012 Georgia Deaf Community Leader Award from Hamilton Relay, the service provider for telecommunication relay services in Georgia.

Patterson, an American Sign Language (ASL) Lecturer and advisor to the ASL Dawgs Club since 2011, is a faculty member in the college’s department of communications sciences and special education.

The communication sciences program at UGA prepares students to become professionals who provide prevention, evaluation and intervention services for clients from birth to adult with speech, language, voice, resonance, swallowing or hearing disorders. The program in Speech-Language Pathology is accredited by the Council on Academic Accreditation in Audiology and Speech-Language Pathology of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association and approved by the Georgia Department of Education.

The award was recently presented to Patterson at a small gathering of his friends, students and colleagues at Aderhold Hall in which sign language was almost exclusively used in both the presentation and his acceptance.

In accepting the award, Patterson, signed that he could tell there was more public awareness of people with hearing disability in the Athens community and that the UGA program was responsible for much of that.

“I went to My Pie the other day and I began to point at pictures of the stuff I wanted on my pizza because I’m used to having to do that to communicate,” he signed as a colleague interpreted. “But I was pleasantly surprised, when the person at the counter started signing back. And I thought, wow. That’s really cool. The awareness is really growing. ”

Patterson has been a strong advocate for communication accessibility and interpreting services for individuals who are deaf. He was actively involved with the Georgia Advocacy Office to ensure that medical professionals have the resources to provide effective communication. He also worked to partner Georgia Association of the Deaf (GAD) and Georgia Registry of Interpreters for the Deaf to host workshops for deaf individuals looking to become Certified Deaf Interpreters. Additionally, he advocated for the State of Georgia to accept ASL as a foreign language in the public schools.

Patterson advocated for the state to adopt the Deaf Child Bill of Rights and was co-chair of the first Deaf Children’s Literacy Benefit Gala in Atlanta, which gained exposure to ASL and literacy issues surrounding children who are deaf and hard of hearing.

From 2011-12, Patterson served as director of the Junior GAD, a program which offers deaf and hard of hearing students in 7th through 12th grade opportunities to develop leadership skills, learn and demonstrate citizenship, and interact with students from other schools and states. He has served as a Region III representative to the National Association of the Deaf (NAD) and will serve as conference chair hosting the NAD Conference in Atlanta in 2014.
He also served as board member, officer, vice president and president of the GAD from 2004-10 and has served as chair of fundraising and conferences since 2003.

Before coming to UGA, Patterson was a teacher at Atlanta Area School for the Deaf from 2005-09 and a lecturer at Troy University in Troy, Ala., from 2010-11. During his tenure, he served as an advisor to Troy University’s Interpreter Training Program before coming to UGA in 2011.

Patterson received his B.A. in special education from Armstrong Atlantic State University in Savannah, GA., in 2000, his master’s in deaf education from Georgia State University in 2008 and an educational specialist degree from Mercer University in 2010. He is currently working on a doctorate in elementary education at UGA.

McCulley

The refrain from health professionals around the world remains unchanged: In order to win the war against obesity, Americans must become more active.

For people with physical or developmental disabilities, finding ways to be active isn’t always as easy as joining a gym or taking up a new sport; they may require instruction and guidance to create a fitness plan tailored to their needs and abilities. People with disabilities, especially those with limited mobility, are nearly 60 percent more likely to become overweight or obese, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Unfortunately, few programs exist to help those with disabilities get the exercise they need.

But students at the University of Georgia provided just such a service this summer thanks to a new class developed by Kevin McCully, a professor of kinesiology in the College of Education. The class pairs preclinical UGA students with disabled participants recruited from the local community.

The students get hands-on experience working with their partners, while participants from the community are taught new and innovative ways to get more exercise.

As part of the UGA Obesity Initiative, McCully said he wanted to design a class that would help reduce obesity and improve the health and wellness of people in the community.

“We focus particularly on people who have special needs because they need more help,” he said.

Students in this summer’s class guided their disabled partners through activities like wheelchair crunches, stretching exercises, weight lifting and aerobics. They monitored their progress and recorded the data throughout the semester.

Workout routines were tailored to fit each disabled partner’s individual abilities.

Athens resident Joseph Weaver was born legally blind, but he and his service dog Moose went for long warm-up walks before beginning a circuit training workout routine designed to elevate his heart rate and strengthen his muscles.

UGA student Andres Giraldo, an exercise science major, assists class participant Kim Keeney along with Melissa Erickson, a graduate student in kinesiology.

“The class has been tremendous,” said Weaver, who has lost nearly 10 pounds since joining.  “One of the problems I used to have was with self-esteem, and I think that’s probably pretty common with a lot of people with disabilities. After losing the weight and starting to tone up, I’m actually feeling better and better about myself.”

Mark Christensen, a rehab assistant for the UGA Athletic Association, must use a wheelchair to move around, but he and his student partner devised a program of stretches, abdominal crunches, and aerobics that allow him to incorporate his wheelchair into his daily workout.

“This program has been really great,” Christensen said. “I was a little overweight for my height, and they taught me how to get it down.”

This inaugural class met to gauge the levels of interest among community members and the student population. After just a few weeks, all the participants have expressed a desire to rejoin in the fall, and the first round of students left with some invaluable experiences.

“I’ve always been shadowing or watching other people work with patients,” said Chelsea Metzger, a biology major who one day hopes to be an anesthesiologist. “This class was the perfect opportunity for me to actually work with someone, ask questions and make a plan to help them have a better life.”

Ultimately, McCully hopes his class can one day serve as a model for universities across the U.S.

“I think that this class can serve as a springboard,” he said. “The class has been very enjoyable, but I still view this as step one; there are a lot of things we can still do.”

For more information on the class and the results seen in participants, watch a video at www.youtube.com/watch?v=QGaChg1avyc&feature=plcp