2005 Outreach and Engagement Funded Grant Proposals

Oral Health Literacy Pilot Project

The Oral Health Literacy Pilot project provided oral health education and health literacy to adult immigrants of central Ohio through partnership with Columbus Literacy Council and many refugee organizations. Through this project, oral health literacy workshops were presented to 332 students in 12 ESOL, 2 Adult Basic English, and 3 Somali literacy classes. The workshops offered oral health education and free dental screenings performed by the Ohio State University dental and dental hygiene students. Participants identified with dental needs were assisted in finding affordable dental care programs. This project also developed a health literacy curriculum for dental students to increase their awareness about this important issue and educate them about community outreach. The students learned how to communicate with their patients who are at low literacy levels or do not speak English. Project staff shared materials and information with College of Nursing students, who used the data on Somali participants to further their research on oral health literacy in the Somali population in Columbus and presented their findings to the Columbus Health Department.

Partners:

Homa Amini, Assistant Clinical Professor, Department of Pediatric Dentistry, College of Dentistry
Paul Casamassimo, Pediatric Dentistry
Columbus Literacy Council
Community Refugee and Immigration Services
Acculturation Program
Somali Senior and Family Services
Columbus Childrens Hospital

Art in the Service of Science: Enhancing Science Education in K-12 Classrooms through Arts Integration

The goal of this project was to use the arts (dance, music, poetry, and computer graphics) to illustrate fundamental biological principles for K-12 classrooms to enhance learning and retention in science. Two DVDs were created: TBDBITL Marches the Krebs Cycle, in which members of the OSU Marching Band performed the Krebs Cycle of cellular metabolism, and Football and Photosynthesis, in which members of the OSU football team perform the Z-scheme of photosynthesis while Coach Jim Tressel narrates. Two middle school teachers wrote lesson plans to use along with the DVDs in K-12 classes. The DVDs have been disseminated to K-12 teachers across the state and to attendees at the State Science Fair in Columbus. The DVDs have been posted on three servers (Knowledge Bank, WOSU and OIT) and have been made available to ITSCO, which provides digital teaching material to K-12 teachers in several states.

Impact on Teaching. The teaching of Biology 101 has been greatly facilitated by having the DVDs to illustrate key biological concepts in a manner that is more palatable to nonmajors. The success of using art to explain science has led to the creation of two new sections of Biology 101 lab/recitations. In one section, students illustrate a biological concept of their choosing using art, music, poetry, dance, creative writing or some other artistic medium. In the other section, students use Photoshop, iMovie and iPhoto to create a digital story about some biological idea, controversy, or concept. The latest enhancement of Biology 101 using the arts is a rock opera created in collaboration with a music doctoral student.

Impact on Research. An evaluation specialist was engaged to measure the learning of nonmajor as a result of viewing the DVDs in Biology 101 and improve biology teaching. Information gleaned from testing Biology 101 students and their reactions to the DVDs to further the goals of two emerging teaching paradigms: Universal Design for Learning and 21st Century Literacy.

Impact on Partnerships. A new alliance was forged with COSI by this grant to develop Biology Unbound: Stuff of Life, an informal learning presentation for visitors to COSI. An interactive prototype has been developed and installed at COSI in downtown Columbus. The exhibit is designed to help museum visitors understand the structure of DNA and the process of its formation. It includes a multiuser DNA touch screen workbench and a wall projection that lets users engage their entire body in exploring the concepts. Funded by the Battelle Endowment for Technology and Human Affairs, Biology Unbound engages all five senses in teaching biology to informal learners in age-appropriate, interactive events.

Partners:

Susan Fisher, Professor, Department of Entomology, College of Biological Sciences
Vita Berezina-Blackburn and Maria Palazzi, Advanced Computing Center for Art and Design
Rachel Boggia, Department of Dance
Marcelita Haskins, WOSU Public Media
ITSCO (Instructional Technology Services of Central Ohio)
COSI-Columbus

Community-Based Service Learning for Dental Students through Collaboration with Head Start and Give Kids a Smile! Day

This project provided required dental screenings, oral health education, and fluoride varnish for 5,000 children, ages 1-5, enrolled in Early Head Start, Head Start, and Head Start Plus in Columbus by dental students. It also gave dental students first-hand experience of the oral health needs of underserved populations and issues surrounding access to dental care.

Partners:

Hilary Soller, Clinical Assistant Professor, Section of Primary Care, College of Medicine and Public Health
Canise Bean and Jessie Tudor, College of Dentistry
Polly Mowrey, Columbus Dental Society
Columbus Childrens Hospital Pediatric Dental Residency Program
CDC Head Start Program
CDI Head Start Program

Risk Assessment Directed Treatment Planning for Chemically Dependent Adolescents

The purpose of this project was to form a community partnership between Maryhaven, Franklin Countys largest addiction treatment provider, and OSU to improve the quality of care that is provided to adolescents with addiction disorders. Ohio State faculty trained the counseling staff at Maryhaven's Adolescent Treatment Program for Substance Abusing/ Mentally Ill children in assessment and diagnosis of disorders, treatment planning and counseling interventions, and the use of the Global Risk Assessment Device (GRAD), a computer-driven screening and assessment tool devised to help identify the severity of the adolescents issues from the perspective of the family and the primary clinician. Maryhaven staff greatly increased their knowledge of current assessment and intervention strategies and are now able to compare individual case severity and to access a database that shows comparison over time. Maryhaven has also developed a best practices committee to review assessment and intervention strategies for all patients served, including the youth and families described in this project. The grant served to establish a strong relationship between the Counselor Education program and Maryhaven that has resulted in clinical internships and paid employment for OSU students.

Partners:

Paul Granello, Associate Professor, College of Education
Darcy Haag Granello, Counselor Education, College of Education
Steven Gavazzi, Human Development and Family Science, College of Human Ecology
Grant Schroeder, Maryhaven

Planners Day in School

This seed grant funded a pilot Planners Day in School (PDIS) effort. The primary purpose of this project was to engage middle school students in the world around them through an understanding of city and regional planning. The project brought 23 graduate students in The Ohio State Universitys City and Regional Planning (CRP) program into sixth-grade social studies classes at a local middle school to discuss what planning is, what planners do, and how someone becomes a planner. Additionally, the CRP students facilitated two map-oriented exercises with the middle school students. The mapping exercises helped middle school students identify what they liked and disliked about their community and envision what they would like to see. These exercises coincided with sixth-grade social studies curricula addressing regional change and consequences of change, helped build critical thinking, and set the foundation for a more engaged youth citizenry. Toward the goal of institutionalizing the Planners Day in School process, a lesson plan aligned with the state level sixth-grade social studies curriculum was created. The lesson is incorporated into a manual developed by the project to help others replicate a PDIS program.

The seed grant continues to bear more fruit. A CRP masters student serves as the PDIS coordinator and makes contacts with area middle schools. In academic year 2007-2008, more than 20 MCRP students have participated in the 2-day programs for 6 social studies classes at Monroe Middle School and visits to Mifflin Alternative School.

Partners:

Maria Manta Conroy, Assistant Professor, City and Regional Planning, Knowlton School of Architecture
City and Regional Planning Student Association
Ohio Planning Conference
Clintonville Area Commission

Rebuilding the Mississippi Gulf Coast

With this special Outreach and Engagement and Service-Learning grant, city and regional planning students in a service-learning course prepared community plans for rebuilding DeLisle and Saucier in Harrison County, Mississippi, areas that were devastated by the 2005 hurricanes.

Team Lead: Jennifer Evans-Cowley, Assistant Professor, City & Regional Planning, Knowlton School of Architecture