This page contains a summary of the post-program evaluation Dr. Leah Q. Peoples conducted in 2023 and 2024. Visit https://www.treelcenter.org/ to learn more about her research.
Evaluation Insights from the SHARE-CSD Program
Introduction
The SHARE-CSD evaluation was designed to explore the program’s effectiveness in achieving its objectives and to understand participants’ experiences. They are conducted by an external independent program evaluator. Each year, the evaluation captures successes, lessons learned, and challenges from the summer research experience via a pre- and post-survey, pre- and post-focus groups and interviews, observations, and alumni surveys. Through the lens of Cohort 1 (Summer of 2023) and Cohort 2 (Summer of 2024), the evaluations offer valuable insights into outcomes associated with participation in SHARE-CSD. This overview highlights key takeaways from the first two years of the SHARE-CSD evaluation.
Key Findings at a Glance:
| Most participants reported that SHARE-CSD exposed them to career possibilities in CSD that they might not have otherwise known about and helped them to confirm, refine, or align their career interests. | As a result of participating in SHARE-CSD, most participants are more confident in the research abilities across 15 research skills.* | 100% of alumni maintain access to mentors and faculty support one year after participating in SHARE-CSD and are satisfied with their experience in the program |
*Research skills encompass areas such as: defending arguments, analyzing and interpreting data, oral presentation, locating relevant journal articles, conducting searches, preparing scientific posters, conducting observations, designing a research study, and more.
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What We Evaluated:
Question #1:
To what extent did the SHARE-CSD program increase depth and breadth of participants’ understanding of CSD research?
Question #2:
To what extent did the SHARE-CSD program increase participants’ preparedness for graduate school?
Question #3:
To what extent did the SHARE-CSD program provide participants a community of mentors and peers?
Question #4:
To what extent did the SHARE-CSD program contribute to alumni’s college and career trajectory one year after completion?
Report Highlights
| Selected Evaluation Findings | Year 1 | Year 2 |
| SHARE-CSD increased participants’ depth and understanding of communication sciences and disorders (CSD) through hands-on experiences, interactive workshops, and meaningful engagement with professionals. | ||
| SHARE-CSD demonstrated the research career possibilities in CSD that were responsive to participants’ interests. | ||
| SHARE-CSD increased participants’ research skills and attitudes about research. | ||
| Participants gave some consideration to navigating race and culture within SHARE-CSD, the field of CSD, and personal experiences. |
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| Participants began to develop an understanding of the ways that race, culture, and inequities impact CSD in practice and in research. | ||
| SHARE-CSD increased all participants’ understanding of graduate school and the application process. | ||
| SHARE-CSD fostered a sense of community amongst participants, most notably through the establishment of mentoring relationships and networking opportunities. |
Emerging Impact
One year after participating in SHARE-CSD, cohort 1 alumni overwhelmingly reported high satisfaction with their experience in the program. Many alumni have maintained connections with the community they established in SHARE-CSD, emphasizing lasting influence. Alumni maintain feeling well prepared to apply to graduate school, with many currently navigating that process in the 2024-2025 school year. Although some participants are pursuing an education that will support research careers in CSD, others are pursuing other career paths. Regardless of their career trajectory, almost all alumni who participated in the survey rate their progress toward their chosen career path as very well or extremely well.
Participant Perspectives
| Selected Quotes About Participants’ Overall Experiences | |
| Year 1 | Year 2 |
| “I liked [the summer research experience]. I thought it was fun. It was really informative. We learned a bunch like not just the faster way to read an article, but a more efficient way of how to do it. And then the discussions we had, they were just so good.” – Participant #11, Cohort 1 | “I’m really grateful and happy that I got to do [this program]. Because you get so much out of this one experience. Someone that’s not from New York, I love New York, it’s great. I had fun here. Then being in the lab gave me a lot of experience that I probably wouldn’t get back at my school because it’s a [different type of school] and they don’t have this kind of research, so I’m really happy. Oh, and we also had our lab tours, which helped a lot because you get to see what it looks like in different fields related to this.” – Participant #9, Cohort 2 |
| Selected Quotes About Exploring CSD Research-Involved Career Possibilities | |
| Year 1 | Year 2 |
| “I kind of knew what speech language pathology was but I didn’t know audiology, that was very new. Oh, that was something I wanted to mention… [I liked] seeing different paths into the PhD or research or as a clinician. Seeing how you don’t have to [take] one [path, that you don’t have to have all the] answers. You can figure it out in your 30s, figure it out in your 50s, 40s. That was amazing. That was really amazing part of this program. Yeah, seeing CSD and how it relates to psych and how it may relate to [our interests] … seeing how CSD is not just speech language pathology, there’s so much more. It’s just science at the end of the day and it’s just like a specific niche of science.” – Participant #3, Cohort 1 | “We did a lot of lab tours. Also, I think that that was my favorite part. I think that the most engaging was the swallowing one… I had the opportunity to participate in the live demonstration of a high resolution pharyngeal manometry. It’s a really long name, but basically a catheter probe is stuck through your nose all the way down to where your pharyngeal cavity is and it would measure the pressures throughout your tract to see if you’re contracting or not contracting enough in a successful swallow. We also got to see MRI scans, or at least like a mock scan, which was interesting. For most of the labs, the PI was also able to join us, which adds more of a personal approach to it.” – Participant #10 |
| Selected Quotes About Establishing Community and Network in CSD | |
| Year 1 | Year 2 |
| “[One of the program directors] specifically has helped me with thinking of future projects and future things that I can do. I’ve actually actively applied for research positions at my school. Through her help, she helped me look at my CV. She also told us about possibly still working in the lab with her and doing more future research. So, I think as a mentor, to encompasses, everything that I mentioned should be even though we’ve only known each other for six weeks, I feel like I’ve known her a lot longer. Just because I feel like I feel very comfortable just asking the questions. I feel like there’s never ever, ever, a stupid question. And that in itself is everything because I know I’ve had mentors in the past where I was scared of asking a question. I don’t know how you would think of me down the line. But I know that because [the program directors] have our best interests in their heart regardless, and I can ask whatever and it doesn’t seem crazy.” – Participant #6, Cohort 1 | “Honestly connecting with people [was one of my favorite parts] because we got to meet so many different faculty members and other PhD grad students; not just in CSD, but also on the lab tours where we got to visit other labs. I don’t know, it’s just been so helpful to meet with so many different people especially because getting to meet with them and talk about the same thing with multiple people and getting different perspectives, that’s what I’ve enjoyed the most is connecting with so many people.” – Participant #6, Cohort #2 |
Read the full reports:
Have questions about the information shared on this page? Email share-csd@nyu.edu!