Sabbatical Showcase shares insights

More than two dozen faculty members at Grand Valley State University will share research and creative projects completed during recent sabbatical leaves on Friday, April 18,  from 1-4 p.m. in the Grand River Room, 250 Kirkhof Center, Allendale Campus. Media are encouraged to attend.

The College of Liberal Arts and Sciences Sabbatical Showcase is designed to provide a forum for faculty and staff to browse through the exhibits and engage in intellectual discussion with their colleagues, even those outside their departmental focus.  Among those exhibiting are:

Rick Albrecht, from Movement Science, will present highlights from his investigation and subsequent book about common coaching practices that are frequently passed from one generation of coaches to the next, though many are inconsistent with what are now known scientifically based best practices.

Christen Pearson, English, studied second language acquisition in internationally adopted children and plans to publish her results in a book. Previous research focus has been on children adopted during their first three years of life, while Pearson focused on the seldom studied language development of children between the ages of 3-16.

Bruce Ostrow, Biology, spent the winter 2007 semester on sabbatical leave at the University of Michigan Medical Learning School to learn the techniques of plastination of anatomical specimens. The process offers an alternative to the potent preservatives currently used, such as formaldehyde, and provides specimens that are odorless, durable and safe to handle.