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WVU using virtual reality technology to innovate training for clinical rehabilitation and mental health counselors

A student sits with a virtual reality headset with fall foliage in the background.

In 2019, even before the pandemic and many lives and professions turned into hybrid worlds, Margaret Glenn and her colleagues were investigating the use of novel technologies in simulation education. Glenn readily admits she was not familiar with much of the technology that existed then but saw a presentation about how immersive videos could help people expand their experience of different subject matter via a virtual reality headset. Five years later, WVU is leading the way in the field of Clinical Rehabilitation and Mental Health Counseling with its innovative use of virtual reality technology.

Glenn, a professor in the School of Counseling and Well-Being, serves as the principal investigator in the development of the Accessible, Innovative, & Relevant Training for Vocational Rehabilitation (AIR4VR) project. It is funded by the US Department of Education, Rehabilitation Services Administration’s Innovative Training Program. Glenn’s team also includes David Smith from the Reed College of Media who serves as a co-principal investigator. The project is in its fifth and final year and recently received funding for an additional year.

Center for ActiveWV receives funding to improve nutrition and physical activity

Young child in a green t-shirt sifting through freshly picked blueberries.

The Center for ActiveWV in the West Virginia University College of Applied Human Sciences is pleased to announce the receipt of a $768,000 grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's High Obesity Program. The grant, awarded under a five-year cooperative agreement, will support the growth of CAHS's existing HOP grant and the implementation of the Be Wild, Be Wonderful, Be Healthy: Expanded program.

The Be Wild, Be Wonderful, Be Healthy: Expanded program aims to enhance the capacity and partnerships of CAHS in developing and implementing targeted approaches to improve access to healthy foods and physical activity opportunities for residents in eight counties across three distinct geographical regions of West Virginia. These counties include Clay, Braxton, Calhoun, Logan, Boone, Lincoln, Summers, and Monroe.

Center for ActiveWV earns grant from CDC to address pressing health challenges for schools and students

Three children playing soccer outside in a park.

The Center for ActiveWV in the West Virginia University College of Applied Human Sciences received $390,000 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the first year of a five-year cooperative agreement for its WV Healthy Schools in Action project. The initiative, which aims to address the pressing health challenges faced by West Virginia schools and students, is anticipated to have $1.95 million in funding over five years.

The WV Healthy Schools in Action project aims to develop targeted approaches that enhance physical activity, healthy dietary behaviors, and self-management of chronic health conditions among underserved students statewide, with a special focus on Mercer County. By implementing comprehensive knowledge and capacity-building strategies aligned with the "Whole School, Whole Community, Whole Child" framework, the project seeks to improve school health policies, practices, programs, and services that promote healthy behaviors and health equity practices.

WVU research shows students with disabilities will benefit from COVID-19's fast-tracking of app-based learning

A desk that shows two phones on with applications running.

After COVID-19 moved classes online in 2020, a West Virginia University expert in adapted physical activity discovered that apps aren’t created equal when it comes to accessibility.

Even so, Samantha Ross, an assistant professor in the College of Applied Human Sciences, knew apps like Chrome or YouTube could still benefit users with disabilities, delivering multiple alternative ways to access information, from screen readers that turn written words into spoken language, to closed captions that convert spoken words into text. And once schools reopened classrooms, she observed that apps continued to be a big part of how K-12 teachers engaged classes.

CAHS study to look at Facebook for health education promotion

Image with Facebook website in a browser showing the URL.

Leveraging the power of social media, a new study led by WVU College of Applied Human Sciences is tapping into Facebook to deliver health education and promotion programs to a digital audience.

Professor Peter Giacobbi is leading a research study funded by Facebook/Meta via its non-profit foundation, Global Impact. His team is investigating the feasibility and impact of a physical activity and sleep intervention for adults ages 50-65 in private Facebook groups.

Research spotlight on Reagan Curtis

Reagan Curtis headshot.

Reagan Curtis, the Chester E. and Helen B. Derrick endowed professor of education psychology at the College of Applied Human Sciences, along with colleague Johnna Bolyard, associate professor of mathematics education, and Darran Cairns, formerly an associate professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, presented a new approach to teaching mathematics, engineering, science and literacy in the book “Design Thinking in the Middle Grades: Transforming Mathematics and Science Learning.” 

Student research shows need for increased AEDs

Abbey Clark stands with her research poster at the capitol.

Abbey Clark, a senior health and well-being student from Clarksburg, W.Va., recently visited the West Virginia capitol to present her findings on the availability of automated external defibrillator in classroom buildings at WVU.

Clark’s father, who was in the family’s driveway after returning home by bus in June 2021, had gone into cardiac arrest two years ago, and largely survived due to her sister promptly performing CPR and emergency services administering the AED. Since her father had nearly gone into cardiac arrest on the bus, she and her family led a successful effort to make AEDs standard in all new state public vehicles in West Virginia.

McHenry-Sorber helps set rural education research agenda

Headshot of Erin Mc-Henry Sorber

The National Rural Education Association recently announced its five-year research agenda, and West Virginia University’s Erin McHenry Sorber is at the center of the team that helped develop the major priorities and for current and future rural education research.

McHenry-Sorber is one of six members of the NREA’s subcommittee that designed a research agenda to help plot a path for rural education with the goal of shedding light on innovative rural practices, addressing unique rural challenges and continuing to build on the strengths of rural people and places.

Project TRAIN lays a new track to support children affected by addiction at home

Frankie Tack talks in front of teachers as part of the train the trainer program

One of every four children in the United States has a parent wrestling with drug or alcohol addiction, based on national data, and is at risk of developing a substance use disorder later in life.

To begin to break that cycle and give adults in those kids’ lives the tools to make a difference,  West Virginia University’s  Project TRAIN has expanded its program, originally focused on helping K-12 teachers support students affected by addiction, to youth camps statewide.