2008 Proceedings - St. Cloud State University

Abstracts
Session A All Disciplines Ballroom
FYE-Pre-Medicine
Scores of students enroll at St. Cloud State University as pre-medical students. These students usually declare Biology or Chemistry as
their majors. In an effort to increase the awareness of such students of the medical profession and enhance their preparation and
competitiveness for admission to medical schools, the first-year experience (FYE) – pre-medicine program was started under the auspices
of the Dean of Undergraduate Studies. A cohort of students enrolled in introductory Biology and Chemistry courses (BIOL 151, BIOL 152,
CHEM 210, CHEM 211) formed the foundation stock for the FYE pre-med program. Students share the same lecture and laboratory
groups and also participate in weekly review sessions with an academic resource mentor. In addition, weekly seminars are attended by
students where they discuss study skills, listen to the experiences of former students who are successfully enrolled in medical schools,
interact with and benefit from the experiences of practicing physicians. Further, staff and faculty of medical schools‘ admission offices are
invited to discuss factors crucial for success in medical school admissions. The experiences of students that are participating in this
program at St. Cloud State University during the fall of 2007 and spring of 2008 will be discussed.
Presentation Index: A48
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: Biological Sciences
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Mareini, Fatuma; Bennett, Michael; Deuermeyer, Hank; Gazal, Oladele
Hendrickson, Katie; Rochat,Nicole
A Comparison of Two Testing Methods for Knee Extension Endurance
Berg established an isometric knee extension task for testing skiers‘ force production and muscle endurance. This test is typically
conducted with cable tensiometry (CT) at a knee angle of 120°. Upon recording the maximal voluntary contraction (MVC), 60% of the MVC
is used in the endurance test. However, in field testing or testing a large numbers of skiers, CT is problematic. For years, skiers have
conducted their own endurance testing via wall sit test (WS). This test is conducted with the subjects leaning against a wall with hip and
knee angles of 90° and feet flat on the floor. What is not known is if the WS and CT tests will yield similar results and therefore, make the
WS an acceptable testing method. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate whether the 90° WS test would yield similar results to
the 120° CT test. Ten healthy students volunteered to participate in four trials where they completed endurance tests of WS with knee
angles of 90° and 120° and two CT tests with knee angles of 90° and 120°. Maximal voluntary isometric contractions were performed for
CT, with 60% of MVC used for the endurance tests. Time to volitional exhaustion was used as the performance criterion. Testing of
conditions was balanced. ANOVA testing revealed that no difference (p=.13) existed between the 90° WS (96.2+/- 35.9 sec) and 120° CT
(75.6+/-35.07 sec) endurance tests. When similar knee angles were compared between WS and CT, subjects maintained contractions for
significantly longer times with WS compared to CT. Although the 90° WS test result has somewhat longer endurance times than the 120°
CT, the difference between WS and CT was not statistically significant. In specific cases, a WS test appears to be sufficient for testing leg
endurance which would give similar results to the accepted method of CT.
Presentation Index: A49
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: Health, Phy Ed, Rec, & Sport Science
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Bjorklund, Andrew
Bacharach, David; Seifert, John
Integrating Client and Family Considerations Into Speech-Language Pathology Services
The purpose of the present study was to investigate how speech-language pathologists (SLPs) integrate their clients‘ and families‘ values
into their clinical services. We wanted to find out about the following: (1) the ways in which SLPs consider their clients‘ and families‘
cultures, goals, and needs in therapy and (2) the expectations, values, and sources of information that SLPs perceive their clients and
families bring to therapy. Participants included 36 SLPs, 2 males, 34 females, who worked primarily in the Midwest. Their work experience
ranged from one to 33 years (mean = 11.8); 24 participants worked in a school setting and 12 worked in a medical/other setting. The SLPs
were interviewed and surveyed by student researchers. Results indicated that the majority of SLPs consider their clients‘ and families‘
cultures when providing speech therapy, even though many SLPs only have a few culturally diverse clients. Results also indicated that the
SLPs consider their clients‘ and families‘ own therapy goals as well as the amount of family support. Less than half of SLPs consider the
clients‘ and families‘ financial situation, and less than half offer their clients a variety of service options. Finally, SLPs reported that the top
four client and family expectations are that: (1) they make progress in therapy, (2) the problem will be fixed, (3) the SLP is competent, and
(4) their questions will be answered.
Presentation Index: A50
Time: 9:00 a.m.
Department: Communication Sciences and Disorders
Project Sponsor(s):
Student Presenter(s): Knutson, Katie; Overfield, Rachel; McCarthy, Fay;
Whites, Margery
Blomstrom, Susan; Hilsgen,Heather
St. Cloud State University Student Research Colloquium 31
April 22, 2008