Everything Nac

Lannette Burlingame, a Stephen F. Austin State University special education graduate student, and orientation and mobility alumna Kimberly Bittick have been named Whitehouse Independent School District Innovators of the Year for their “Learning in Three Dimensions” project.

“There are so many wonderful educators in our district, and I am very humbled to be selected for this award,” Burlingame said. “Most of all, I am ecstatic to have the opportunity to provide the innovative teaching materials that a 3-D printer can provide to our students.”

During the fall, Burlingame and Bittick, who is a contract orientation and mobility instructor, completed a grant and project proposal for their “Learning in Three Dimensions” initiative, which seeks to find creative ways to transform 2-D into 3-D learning for students with visual impairments.

In their grant proposal to the Whitehouse Education Foundation, the educators explained that a 3-D printer would provide them with better opportunities to directly teach abstract concepts to students, as well as support teachers and parents of students with visual impairments. The foundation awarded the pair the grant.

“The 3-D printer has opened up new ways of delivering instruction to our visually impaired students. We can now think about the various instructional materials needed to teach concepts in new and innovative ways because the sky is the limit with 3-D printing,” Burlingame said. “If we can imagine it and design it on the computer, the 3-D printer can make it a reality.”

Burlingame, who has been a special education teacher for more than 20 years and teaches students with visual impairments from birth to age 22, is pursuing a master’s degree in special education with a specialization in visual impairment at SFA.

Through the grant, Burlingame was granted additional funding to help purchase a 3-D scanner to accompany the printer. Using this technology, Burlingame and Bittick are able to print 3-D models to help students with body, environmental and spatial concepts, perceptual, sensory, mobility, orientation and decision-making skills, organization and time management.

An especially impressive function of the technology is its ability to create tactile maps.

“The detail and portability of the tactile maps we can produce rival other forms,” Bittick said. “One of our most exciting projects involves helping students prepare for a trip to Washington D.C. with the band. We produced a map of the National Mall that fits in the palms of their hands. I am going to use this map to project the route of the monument tour.”

Top Master’s in Healthcare Administration, an online resource for finding up-to-date and easy-to-understand information about receiving a degree related to health care management, has ranked Stephen F. Austin State University among the top 30 institutions in the nation for its bachelor’s degree program in health science.

Top Master’s in Healthcare Administration ranked eligible colleges and universities based on tracks offered, breadth of options, program popularity and cost of attendance.

With jobs in the health care industry rapidly on the rise, Dr. DawnElla Rust, SFA professor of health science and program coordinator, said earning a bachelor’s degree in health science is a smart choice.

“When I arrived at SFA 20 years ago, the health science program had two tracks with only 60 majors and no minors. Today, we have more than 200 majors in one track and more than 80 minors with 145 percent growth in the last five years,” Rust said. “SFA’s health science program is among the top five undergraduate programs with the highest number of graduating seniors. This recognition provides evidence that faculty members are providing our students with meaningful experiences.”

SFA’s health science program offers a community health track, which provides students with health educator entry-level knowledge. Students are required to take courses in diverse content areas, such as epidemiology, social and emotional health, and substance abuse.

Faculty members also work with local agencies to provide students service-learning opportunities, such as working with the Boys and Girls Club, Healthy Nacogdoches Coalition, Greater East Texas Community Action Program Head Start and more.

Additionally, students are required to complete a 145-hour internship, which varies from local to national health organizations and agencies, such as MD Anderson Cancer Center, American Red Cross, Methodist Health System in Dallas, Hewlett Packard Health, Texas A&M Agri-Life and others.

For more information about SFA’s health science program, contact Rust at drust@sfasu.edu or visit http://www.sfasu.edu/kinesiology/102.asp.