Garden EngAGEment
My first undergraduate research project started in the summer of 2022. I volunteered as a dementia friend in the Minnesota State University Garden EngAGEment program. After participating in this volunteer opportunity, I joined a team in carrying out a research project relating to volunteers and the impact that the Garden EngAGEment experience had on them.
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Garden EngAGEment is a program created by the College of Allied Health and Nursing at Minnesota State University, Mankato. The program is designed to provide individuals with dementia and their care partners with an opportunity to socialize with others whom they can relate to while experiencing the benefits of spending time in nature. At the same time, it gives volunteers an opportunity to serve in the community, gain experience interacting with individuals with dementia, and support these individuals.
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The research project began early in the summer of 2022 when the research team developed questions for volunteer surveys. I did not join the research team until the fall, so I did not help develop the survey questions. My professor who oversees this research project started the project for us to finish during the school year. Since joining in the fall, I have become an active member of the research team. In the fall semester, we began meeting weekly to discuss research articles relating to dementia, as these were the clients that we worked with in the garden. We each read the articles before our meeting and took notes on them. When we came together to discuss, we went over the basics of each study including purpose, population, materials, methods, results and discussion. Reviewing these articles taught me about different parts of the research process and helped prepare us for creating the research proposal we would make later in the spring.
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This also helped me learn more about the research process and see examples of implementing evidence-based practices. This is very important for the field of speech pathology. To be ethically competent, I will need to use materials and therapy strategies that follow the most recent research and evidence-based practice. Reading these articles also prepared us for creating a research question, learning objectives, a literature review, and all other parts of our research project.
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In the spring semester, we began organizing our data. The data we collected came from surveys that volunteers filled out as they came to the garden throughout the summer. The questions on the survey asked the volunteers to describe what they did in the garden and how they enjoyed it. Thus, our data for this project was qualitative. As a team, we then worked on grouping the responses into categories. In this process, we each read through the responses, looked for common themes, and created our own categories. We then brought our ideas together, found similarities among our categories, and combined them to create five categories. This collaborative approach was very beneficial for my first time analyzing data in a research project. We were able to think out loud and compare thoughts. I am a verbal processor, so this was very helpful for me.
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After putting our data into categories, we created our poster presentation. Through this process, we worked both collaboratively and individually. We met once per week to discuss the poster and delegate tasks. The part that I took on was the methods section. To create this, I reflected on each step of the process including development of the survey questions, how the garden was set up, and how we gathered the data. I learned that is important to write in past tense and third person when writing research presentations. This makes the writing sound more professional and easier to read. This applies to my future profession as well. I will have to write many progress reports where I will write in a similar scientific manner. Writing parts of the poster presentation has helped me prepare for my future career.
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Next, we prepared to present out research project. To prepare, we scheduled meetings to discuss who would talk about each part of the project and what we would highlight. We each chose to talk about the parts of the poster that we worked on. This helped us feel confident as we were already familiar with the sections we completed. We presented at three conferences, two of which were live and in person. The other conference required us to submit a pre-recorded presentation of our project. Preparing this presentation helped us prepare to present at the other two research symposiums. It helped build our confidence in presenting our findings because we had already done it once before. I think that even if we hadn’t done this pre-recording, it would have beneficial to run through it together and practice it. In order to share our findings in the most effective way, it is important to be confident in our ability to disseminate the findings.
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Next, we presented our findings at the two in-person research symposiums. At these symposiums, we each discussed a part of the project and answered questions that judges and attendees asked. Although we prepared for questions prior to presenting, responding to the questions we were asked required us to think on our feet and consider aspects of the project we hadn’t investigated as in depth. This also led us to reflect on things we could have done differently as well as future recommendations to further the project.
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This research experience helped me gain confidence in participating in research, which I may do as I continue into graduate school. I have also practiced reading, interpreting, and applying research, which will always be important in my profession as a speech therapist. It has given me excitement for participating in future research projects and exploring topics within speech therapy that I am not familiar with.
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As I am entering a profession that revolves around evidenced-based practice, research will always be important in my field. I am not yet sure what my role in research will be in graduate school, but no matter my involvement, I will always need to stay up to date on the latest research. Providing adequate care to my clients requires that I use the best, most effective treatment. When selecting resources to use with clients and plan their sessions, I will investigate all therapy materials available and the research behind them. This research project has given me a solid foundation to build on as I continue my education to become a speech therapist.