Linda Rueckert - US grants

The purpose of the proposed study is to determine whether there is a relationship between the efficiency of communication between the left and right cerebral hemispheres, via the corpus callosum, and the ability to sustain attention over an extended period of time, in normal adults. Previous research has suggested such a relationship in normal children, and in clinical populations with impaired callosal transfer. In addition, differences between the left and right hemispheres in performance on a sustained attention task will be assessed. The efficiency of interhemispheric communication will be measured on two separate tasks. A visual tachistoscopic task that requires subjects to compare two stimuli when one is presented to each hemisphere will measure the efficiency of the posterior callosum. A motor task that requires coordinated movement of the left and right hands will assess the efficiency of the anterior callosum. Sustained attention will be measured on a simple reaction time vigilance task that requires subjects to detect infrequently-occurring targets over a period of time. Sustained attention can be defined either as a decline in performance (increase in reaction time or proportion of targets missed) from the beginning of the task to the end, or as the difference in detection of targets presented after long and short interstimulus intervals. Differences between the left and right hemispheres in sustaining attention will be assessed on a similar vigilance task on which the targets occur in either the left or right visual fields, rather than in the center. Correlations will be calculated between performance on all of these tasks. It is expected that adults who exhibit greater callosal efficiency will perform better on the vigilance task. It is also expected that the lateralized vigilance task will show that the right hemisphere can maintain accurate performance over a longer period of time than the left. This study will help to shed light on the function of the corpus callosum in normal adults, and will suggest a possible mechanism behind impaired attention in adult clinical populations.

This project is advancing undergraduate STEM education through the expansion of the well-established Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) model, which has proven to be successful in the natural sciences, into courses in the social sciences. The work is being conducted at Northeastern Illinois University (NEIU), a Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) with a highly diverse student body, in which 56% of the students are minorities and roughly 60% of incoming freshmen are first-generation college students. NEIU is a commuter school with a sizeable number of non-traditional students who work full- or part-time, and have difficulty getting to campus outside of regular class periods.

The psychology department is one of the largest departments on campus and is challenged to meet the needs of the numerous students and the diverse body of majors and minors in the department. Within the psychology courses and major, some of the most acute challenges include retaining minority students, creating common learning spaces and communities, and making course support accessible to all students. This project is evolving a modified PLTL model that relies on online technology to address the departmental challenges. Further, this project is allowing the faculty to determine whether the modified PLTL model is successful in expanding access for the many non-traditional students that comprise the NEIU student body. The project builds upon an existing Peer Mentor program in the STEM fields and now piloted in psychology. Ultimately, the work will add in-person and online PLTL-style workshops to three entry-level psychology courses and inject the careful use of technology to augment access, communication, and learning groups. In addition to enhancing access, the project team expects the small-group, peer led interactions - both in-person and online - to improve student retention via the development of collaborative learning communities.

Project proposal objectives are to:
- design, implement and disseminate a modified PLTL model that is tailored for psychology courses and may be easily adapted for other social sciences;
- design Peer led workshops that can be delivered online in order to increase access for non-traditional students;
- investigate and evaluate the success of online Peer led interactions and small group activities; and
- evaluate the program's effectiveness for improving student performance, retention and increasing participation of non-traditional students.

This project has potential interest for social science departments that would like to draw upon the success of the PLTL model and for institutions serving non-traditional students.