By Richard MacTough
Staff Writer
On Feb. 15, students and faculty gathered for the first provost colloquium of the semester.
Dr. Bonnie Green, co-chair of the provost committee and associate professor of psychology, welcomed students to have the opportunity to showcase scholarly endeavors in Beers Lecture Hall.
Simucase is cutting edge teaching research described by Green.
“Simucase allows for students to practice rare cases they normally wouldn’t have the opportunity to see in the field,” said Professor and Department Chair of communication and science disorders Elaine Shuey.
Simucase also allows for students to practice with cases that they may struggle to grasp, without the pressure of having a professor observe them the whole time.
The team of professors in the department of communication and science disorders presented a new software hosted by speechpathology.com.
Simucase is a new software program for students in Speech Pathology programs to provide them with clinical skills in low incidence disorders.
Users are able to interact with virtual patients to offer practices without risk. The software is available for a one-year subscription for a price of $69.
Professor Robert Ackerman guided the audience through the software. The program provided a clipboard which Ackerman described as a transcript of what the particular case is.
Users can ask virtual parents and teachers of the patient about important medical history. Simucase allows users to understand ethical issues as well.
The software runs 25 cases of a wide variety of disorders for students to learn. More cases are expected to be added throughout the year.
The platform offers to develop skills and critical thinking. One area allows for learners to get real time feedback.
In a variety of practices, feedback is given back to the user in what criteria they did well in and what can use improvement.
Professor Bason-Magnuson described the stimulation learning site as essential in a field of tough competition and big changes in health care that may come with the Trump administration looking to repeal and replace the affordable care act.
31 students of ESU were asked to assess their experiences.
Most students gave high ratings and positive feedback. Some described it as easy to access and convenient.
For over 50 years, graduate students supervised by faculty have also provided a special hearing clinic on the second floor of Monroe Hall.
“We’ve got hearing loss, language disorders, delay in children, loss of language from a stroke, people with Parkinson’s disease, just so many different things,” Green said of the afflictions of the clientele that go to the clinic.
People aged from infants to individuals over 90 years old are able to receive help. Students in the program are able to get extensive training.
Email Richard at:
rmactough@live.esu.edu
