Aaron Miller
For a student with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), typical academic tasks - filling in answers on bubble sheets, listening to long lectures, and even doing research on the Web - can become next-to-impossible.Christine Chan is very familiar with the complexities of school work for a person with ADHD. When Chan was applying for graduate school, she had trouble focusing on the multiple choice answers on the bubble sheet and ended up with a low score on the trial exam. When it came time to officially take the test, she did so on a computer, where only one question showed at a time. She ended up with a much higher score.
Now, Chan is a doctoral student at MSU, and is researching ways to use technology to help people with ADHD. She's currently looking for 24 students with ADHD who will volunteer to participate in a research project.
The project will take less than two hours and involves the use of a software program called Nestor, which is an experimental Web browser that draws navigation maps - sort of like road maps - while surfing the Web.
While the program was designed primarily for teachers as a way to track their students' Web-research methods and avoid "Web dependence," users such as Chan see bigger possibilities in store for Nestor.
"My hypothesis is that ADHD users who utilize this program will really find a difference," Chan said. "I believe Nestor will help complete tasks easier by giving the Web more visual structure and captivating students' attention for longer periods of time."
She believes that partially because the program has that effect on her.
"For me as a very visual person, this visual software, which is accompanied by text, really helps me navigate and cut down on losing myself in cyberspace," Chan said.
"But I really need volunteers who can help with this research."
The data from the research will be kept confidential, and participants will get one-on-one feedback from Chan about their results.
If students are interested in participating in Chan's research project, they can e-mail her as soon as possible at chanchri@msu.edu. Participants need to have certified documentation of ADHD.