Kassidy Hansen, a senior in communication sciences and disorders, was recently awarded the FIREbird Research Grant through the Illinois State University’s Office of Student Research. This grant supports Hansen’s research project titled, Phonological Awareness in Action: A Case Study. Her project focuses on supporting a young student’s early literacy development through structured and systematic phonological awareness and word decoding interventions.
Hansen first became interested in literacy development and interventions while observing a speech-language pathologist in her hometown.
“I have always described that experience as ‘a veil lifting off my eyes’ because suddenly, I knew exactly what I wanted to do when I started practicing as a clinician,” she said.
Hansen’s research project will allow her to work with a client that has language and literacy difficulties and gain knowledge of evidence-based literacy interventions. She looks forward to expanding her understanding of the research process, including how to design and implement a research study, as well as how to collect, analyze, and report research data.
Hansen is working under the direction of her faculty mentor, Dr. Ciera Lorio, and they expect the project to be completed in December 2022. Hansen will present the results of her study at the Illinois State University Research Symposium in spring 2023.
Best of luck, Kassidy, and congratulations on winning the FIREbird Research Grant!
