Peter V. Paul
1
Deaf Education/Deaf Studies
Peter V. Paul
The Ohio State University
A.
Recent/current doc students + existing recruiting efforts &
support
Currently, I have three doctoral students whose interests are specifically in ‘deaf
education/deaf studies’. [Note: I also have doctoral students in visual impairment (1),
teacher education in general (1, who recently graduated), and technology education in
general (1)].
One student, J. Wolf, has just completed her dissertation on ‘Author’s Voice and Middle
School Students’ and will graduate Fall Quarter, 2007. Dissertation has been approved
and defended. Ms. Wolf is a teacher/coordinator in the public school district and will
remain there for the present.
I have two other students, both of whom are deaf and from South Korea (C. Lee and J.
Seo). Lee started in Fall, 2004 and Seo started in Fall, 2005. Lee’s dissertation topic will
be on Mathematics Development, and Seo’s will be on Vocabulary Development.
Lee is supported by funds from the School; that is, she has a Graduate Assistantship. Seo
has a scholarship from the Rotary Foundation. The research efforts of both students are
supported by my faculty funds (e.g., presentations at conferences, data collection and
analysis costs, etc.).
The complete list of all students and dissertation topics are below:
Nagata, N. (2005). Characteristics of Teacher Preparation Programs and The Issue
Perceptions of Teacher Educators in Deaf Education.
Hung, H-L. (2005). Inclusion of Students who are Deaf or Hard of Hearing: Secondary
School Students’ Perspectives (tentative title).
Wang, Ye. (2005). Literate thought: Metatheorizing in literacy and deafness.
Back, Y. (1999). The ability of children with developmental disabilities, typically
developing language ability matched, cognitive ability matched, and
chronological age matched children to respond to clarification requests.
Fillman, R. (1999). A study of the relationship among rubella syndrome, academic
achievement, and cognitive performance of deaf students.
Lin, Y-H. (1997). A study of the lexical decision ability of students with hearing
impairment.
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Ahn, S. (1996). A study of incidental vocabulary learning by students with hearing
impairment.
Chien, J. (1993). Cognitive addition: Strategy choice in young children with normal
hearing and children with hearing impairment.
Tzeng, J. (1993). Speech recoding, short-term memory, and reading ability in immature
readers with severe to profound hearing impairment.
Lemley, P. (1993). Deaf readers and engagement in the story world: A study of
strategies and stances.
B.
Program design
Our School has developed and is continuing to redesign our PhD programs. At present,
there is an ongoing discussion to place the Deaf Education/Deaf Studies specialization in
the area called Language, Education, and Society (see handout). Paul is in dialogue with
others to craft the specific requirements for DE/DS in addition to those required for other
students in LES.
Mission of the PhD program specialization in Deaf Education/Deaf Studies
Students will be exposed to a variety of perspectives regarding cultural, educational,
linguistic, and policy issues on deafness and disability. This specialization aims to
produce future researchers, university professors, and/or policy makers in educational
programs or agencies serving individuals who are deaf/hard of hearing. It is expected that
students will view individuals who are deaf/hard of hearing and those with disabilities to
be part of the larger community of people who contribute to the panorama of human
diversity and the human condition. All students, with their advisor, are required to
develop a strong research component (courses and experiences) that fits the requirements
of their strand.
In addition to the required core courses in the School and LES, students are expected to
take an array of courses in research (both quantitative and qualitative); language and
literacy development (with Paul and others in LES); and teacher education (courses in
supervision, NCATE policy and regulations; standards, etc.). Student may also select
courses in one other content area (math, science) and/or in a special education area (e.g.,
core courses for ABA, etc.).
C.
Faculty expertise and research interest
Peter V. Paul
Specific areas of expertise/interest: vocabulary, reading, and literate thought.
Degrees:
BA in Elementary Education
MS in Aural (Re)Habilitation (alias Deaf Education)
PhD in Interdisciplinary Program in Hearing Impairment
Peter V. Paul
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[Focus on reading and psycholinguistics]
Brief Description and Thrusts of My Work
During the first half of my career (1984-1996), my research thrusts involved two major
areas/concepts: reading vocabulary knowledge and the qualitative-similarity hypothesis.
With respect to reading vocabulary knowledge, I was interested in the relationship
between vocabulary and comprehension, especially what was called the knowledge
hypothesis within the purview of a cognitive-interactive framework. With respect to the
qualitative-similarity hypothesis, I attempted to argue that the development of reading is
basically the same for deaf/hard of hearing and hearing students. Nearly all of my work in
this area consists of translative research syntheses—that is, synthesizing research to offer
implications for educational practices.
By far, most of my research syntheses (1989-2003) have focused on the reading
development of deaf or hard of hearing individuals. My most recent work (2003-2007) is
in the area of literate thought, including how it relates to the ‘new literacies’. Again,
nearly all of these are research syntheses; however, we are beginning a line of empirical
research.
Other Faculty in My School
Faculty who will be working with me and my students have expertise in all content areas
(language, reading, mathematics, science) and specific education areas related to general
education such as early childhood and middle childhood. We have some notable faculty
in the content areas. For example, two of our faculty—Bloome and Wilkinson—are
editors of Reading Research Quarterly. We have others who are the current editors of
Language Arts. Several of our faculty in the math and science areas have current funded
grants from NSF.
This program is located in the School of Teaching & Learning, which houses all licensure
programs in general education and in two special education programs—deaf education
and vision impairment education. My students will have access to and interactions with
students in other special education programs, which are located in a different School in
the College. The Special Education faculty also has a currently funded leadership grant
for their doctorate program in Applied Behavior Analysis.
D.
Existing & emerging technologies that can be used to facilitate collaborative work
and course offerings
OSU has a strong supportive technological network. In addition to a system that permits
students to do research analyses (SPSS, etc.), we also have online capability via the use
of a system called CARMEN. We would need—as per another project with NCLVI-- to
be able to gain access to all listserve information as well as access to a message board
system provided by the host university - such as our Carmen system. Faculty and
students at OSU on this project would also have access to the system. With respect to
NCLVI, I (Peter Paul) and my PhD VI student have been able to access and participate in
discussions regarding issues. All of the instructors and students in the VI program (not
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HI) have been exposed to online courses via CARMEN. We have not set this up for the
students in the Deaf Education program, yet.
E.
Suggested areas of collaboration, i.e., course work, doctoral committees, teaching
& research opportunities, externships, etc.
I would be willing to develop and offer coursework online or otherwise in reading,
including visual phonics (already in progress), and literate thought. I expect to be
involved in leading discussions on specific issues in deafness (similar to what was set up
for NCLVI) via the use of ‘discussion boards’. These topics need to be a consensus of our
group, but I anticipate issues such as research, HQT, and teacher education/deaf
education, etc.
As per other universities’ rules, I can serve on external doctoral committees and would
welcome others to serve on my students’ committees.
If students from other universities of our collaborative project have research interests
similar to my current and prospective students, I am willing to not only serve on their
doctoral committees, but can assist/support their research efforts—in some fashion.
F.
Needed administrative and technological support to establish/sustain a
collaborative effort
I think I have addressed this in G and H.
G.
Key decision makers who will need to support the collaborative effort
As with any other collaborative project, I will need the support and approval of my
School Director as well as other faculty members of the PhD group in LES. I have
already had several dialogues with faculty and Director about the purported nature of this
project. The Director is familiar with my involvement with NCLVI. Given the nature of
the grant provided by NCLVI, I had to provide financial support (benefits) for our one
funded doctoral student. This was not and will not be a problem because I have ample
funds in my account to support incidental costs and to provide support for my PhD
students with their research efforts. Typically, our funded PhD students have access to an
office (shared by our PhD students in the program) and computer/supplies.
H.
Barriers to the collaborative effort and steps needed to resolve those
barriers
As long as the technology is in place, I do not foresee any barriers. I would recommend
the use of telephone conferences in addition to any planned ‘group’ meetings.