Emmelien Merchie, a doctoral student at Ghent University in Belgium, is wrapping up a 5-week visit in which she collaborated with MCPER researchers and presented findings from her 4-year intervention study on using mind maps to foster graphical summarization and text-learning strategies for middle grade students.
Merchie traveled to Austin at the invitation of MCPER Executive Director Sharon Vaughn. The two met at the beginning of Merchie’s research, when upon reading several publications by Vaughn and colleagues during an initial literature review, Merchie asked Vaughn to serve as an international member of her dissertation committee.
“And she agreed, without even knowing me,” Merchie said. “I am honored that such an important researcher is part of my committee.”
Merchie applied for funding for her visit from the Research Foundation – Flanders, highlighting the unique expertise she could access at MCPER, such as knowledge about response to intervention, treatment fidelity, data analysis, research collaborations, and bridges between research and practice—particularly translating materials for teachers and parents.
But Merchie has also enriched the MCPER staff with her knowledge. On August 11, she presented an engaging brown bag session on her dissertation and 4-year study, “Measuring and Fostering Graphical Summarization Skills and Text-Learning Strategies: Using Mind Maps in the Middle Grades.” The study was conducted with students in more than 30 classes in Belgium, using informational texts with two experimental conditions (researcher-provided mind maps and student-generated mind maps) and a control group. During the research, Merchie also developed and validated measurement instruments.
“This has been a wonderful experience for me, coming from a small country to work with such important researchers,” she said. “I will take this knowledge back to Belgium to both explore research to practice and expand my own research.”