Award Data

Purpose: Students who fail to achieve proficient levels of literacy are at increased risk for grade retention, referral to special education, and dropping out of high school. The kindergarten through 3rd grade years are particularly important for students to gain a strong foundation in reading as those who continue to struggle with reading are significantly less likely to achieve reading proficien ...

Purpose: Students who fail to achieve proficient levels of literacy are at increased risk for grade retention, referral to special education, and dropping out of high school. The kindergarten through 3rd grade years are particularly important for students to gain a strong foundation in reading as those who continue to struggle with reading are significantly less likely to achieve reading proficien ...

This project team is developing a prototype of a web-based pre-algebra math game for middle school students for use on tablet and personal computer platforms. The game, called Empires, will be story-based, strategic, and will enable peer-to-peer interactions. The games will be integrated within classroom practice. Pilot research in Phase I will seek to demonstrate that the gaming prototype functio ...

This project develops FluentBuddy, a prototype application for iOS and Android platforms to assist in the treatment of speech and communication disorders with a focus on the physiological and anatomical system (i.e. voice disorders, speech sound disorders, motor speech disorders, and other disabilities in children and adults). The project has three goals: (1) enhancing sensory and motor function t ...

This project develops an ambulatory remote operated Tactile Awareness Prompting (TAP) system to be used within educational and clinical environments for students who have social skills deficits. Individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) exhibit deficits related to social initiations and conversational skills. Children with such disabilities often do not have the necessary social skills to m ...

This product develops and evaluates a proof-of-concept, mobile speech-to-sign translator that integrates continuous speech recognition software with natural language processing and Vcom3D’s Signing Avatar animated American Sign Language technology. This speech-to-sign the application is designed to run on iPhone/iPod or Android smartphones, providing Deaf and hard of hearing (D/HH) learners the ...

Deaf and Hard-of-Hearing (Deaf/hh) persons rely heavily on facial movements for communication, whether in American Sign Language (ASL), Signed English (SE), or Spoken English. In ASL, signers add “mouth morphemes”, similar to speech movements, to signs to distinguish concepts that use the same manual sign. Hard-ofhearing persons who use spoken communication, read mouth shapes to distinguish si ...

We have designed a lightweight, sturdy, user adjustable ergonomically designed backrest support for ultralight weight wheelchairs that will provide necessary postural support and provide a variety of positions to ease dressing, propulsion, and seated comfort. The backrest will improve user comfort, function, and posture during multiple activities of daily living. The innovative design will enable ...

The Phase I Empower Math Project (EMP) will result in a technology capable of delivering authentic, engaging, and relevant mathematics studies and understanding to a 9-12 grade audience. EMP is the result of fusing two existing complementary computer-based learning systems, developed by the proposer, called PenMATH and Lord Kelvin. By channeling student interests with authentic experiences, EMP ca ...

Children with significant hearing loss continually exhibit low reading levels, due in part to the difficulty they face upon entering school of understanding basal reading vocabulary, especially early critical “service words.” Service words are those words that cannot be learned through the use of pictures or objects (e.g., apple) but that constitute up to 75% of all words used in basal readers ...