JW
Julie Wach
  • Class of 2012
  • Chicago, IL

Julie Wach participated in Celebration of Learning

2012 May 7

More than 75 Augustana students from all academic areas shared their advanced research projects on Saturday, May 5, at the Celebration of Learning. This on-campus research symposium annually gives students an opportunity to show off their academic accomplishments to their families and the Augustana community.

Among the students involved:

Julie Wach, a senior from Chicago, Ill., majoring in communication sciences and disorders. The research was titled Expanding the Boundaries of Teacher Candidates in General Education: An Immersion Experience. Elementary education and communication sciences and disorders majors worked together to gather research for appropriate classroom accommodations when teaching exceptional children. Research was gathered during an immersion experience at The Florida School for the Deaf and Blind. Students researched literacy, technology, and a variety of accommodations as they worked with students with special needs within the school. The two majors worked together in order to effectively research ways to better meet the needs of exceptional children.

Celebration participants presented their research through a poster display or an oral presentation. Many students expounded on the results of their Senior Inquiry, a multiple-term research project required for most academic programs. Other students shared honors capstone projects or student-faculty research findings. Because of the advanced level of research involved, most of the presenters are upperclass students.

Anne Earel and Stefanie Bluemle, Augustana reference librarians and the event's co-directors, said the Celebration of Learning provided an outlet for students to showcase their accomplishments.

Presentations topics varied greatly and included anthropology, biology, physics, geography, gender studies, theater and more.