Author: Alexis Garner                  Major: Kinesiology

Alexis Garner

My name is Alexis Garner and I am in the College of Education and Health Professions pursuing a degree in Kinesiology with an emphasis in Exercise Science. I spent the spring semester of 2021 working on my first semester of research under my mentor, Dr. Erin Howie Hickey, who is part of the Health, Human Performance, & Recreation department. I plan to complete my project and defend my thesis by the spring semester of 2022. After graduating, I aim to attend dental school in the fall of 2022. My research includes an evaluation of posture while working, which will be beneficial for me in my future career so I can best protect my body from work-related strain.

My research evaluates students’ reported pain and their technology use to identify if there is any correlation. Based on images submitted by parents, the research will also assess the typical posture in which students use technology. An ergonomic professional will aid my team and me in assessing the joint angles of students to determine if those angles could be attributed to the pain that the students report. My research will not include any intervention, but I hope the data lead other researchers to try interventions in an attempt to reduce reported pain by students and better their overall health at a younger age.

I chose this topic because I feel it is relevant in the current remote learning environment and will continue to be relevant with the increased use and reliance on technology in educational environments. My mentor, Dr. Howie Hickey, helped me decide on this topic by aiding me in assessing my interests and making achievable plans to evaluate those interests. Dr. Howie Hickey became my mentor because our academic lives overlapped, and she is someone I work really well with. Dr. Howie Hickey was my professor and the advisor to the registered student organization I was in (and later became president of) before being my research mentor. I felt Dr. Howie Hickey’s research interest overlapped well with mine and that she would be a great mentor for me.

The biggest challenge I faced while working on my research project was creating the survey and deciding what exactly I wanted to evaluate. We wanted the survey to be extensive in the information it gathered so we could have a well-rounded view of the students, but we did not want it to take a substantial amount of time and possibly deter participants because of its long length. As I worked on my project this semester, I learned how to break daunting tasks into smaller, more manageable pieces and set deadlines for myself. My mentor helped keep me on track by meeting with me to evaluate my progress and encourage me to continue my work. Dr. Howie Hickey also helped guide me in planning the survey and deciding how to recruit participants.

My next steps will be recruiting participants and gathering data. At the start of the next school year, I plan to send out the recruitment material and survey the elementary schools across Arkansas to start gathering data. I will gather data for the first few months and then start analyzing the data and seeing what trends are apparent