Assistant Professor of Audiology Hua Ou was one of 10 recipients of the competitive ASHA Advancing Academic-Research Careers (AARC) grant for 2015.
The award is for junior-level faculty in communication sciences and disorders (CSD) to support their teaching and research proposals and carries a monetary grant of $5,000 to be used for those purposes. Each applicant must enlist the support of senior-level CSD colleague-mentors who will help the award recipient improve her or his teaching and who will collaborate with the recipient on research projects.
Ou’s mentors are Jean Sawyer, who will assist Ou in developing her course on evidence-based practice, and Julie-Ann McFann from ISU’s Center for Teaching and Learning Technology, who will act as a resource for Ou in teaching related matters.
Additionally, research mentors will be Professor Emeritus Joseph Smaldino and Kathleen Cienkowski at the University of Connecticut. Ou will collaborate with Cienkowski in Cienkowski’s lab as will also be a co-PI with Cienkowski on research proposals for external grants.
Ou’s current research aims to find a more efficient test battery for pre-fitting hearing aids. Several tests and subjective questionnaires are currently used clinically to evaluate a patient before dispensing hearing aids; Ou wants to determine the combination of tests that would result in the most efficient and effective use of appointment time.
Congratulations to Ou on receiving the AARC grant that will enhance her teaching and research skills!
