Undertaking research is a core element of The University of Tulsa’s speech-language pathology master’s program. Students may choose to complete a systematic review of published research on a particular topic or design and undertake their own original research.
“Tackling original research requires designing a qualitative or quantitative study, obtaining IRB approval, gathering and analyzing data, and completing a final paper summarizing the project,” explained Suzanne Stanton, Chapman Clinical Professor of Speech.
Post-concussion sound tolerance
While completing her undergraduate studies in speech-language pathology, Isabella Nolley (B.S.S.P. ’24, M.S. ’26) became interested in how the brain functions after concussion, especially the relatively understudied topic of sound tolerance in the wake of mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). “Sound tolerance refers to a person’s ability to tolerate everyday sounds without discomfort or distress,” said Nolley. “Many people who have experienced a concussion report increased sensitivity to ordinary noises, such as hearing others chew, keyboard typing and the hum of household appliances. For these individuals, such sounds can cause discomfort and interfere with daily life.”
Nolley is investigating whether heightened sound sensitivity is linked to changes in cognitive abilities, such as attention, memory, processing speed and inhibitory control. Study participants complete standardized cognitive tests alongside self-report measures of sound tolerance. “By analyzing these results, we aim to better comprehend how concussions impact both the brain’s processing of information and the ability to tolerate everyday sounds,” Nolley noted. While participant recruitment and data-gathering are still underway, early data suggests a correlation between lower cognition and worsened sound tolerance. This research, she believes, could one day guide strategies for managing sound sensitivity and support cognitive recovery after a concussion.
The project is supervised by Rachel Hildebrand, clinical associate professor of athletic training, and Laura Wilson, associate professor of speech-language pathology, who serve as directors of UTulsa’s Concussion Center. Nolley’s study forms part of Wilson’s own larger exploration of TBI and cognitive communication disorders and helps augment its findings.
“Isabella has done an excellent job of integrating the fundamental concepts from her master’s coursework with the hands‑on clinical experience she gained in the Concussion Center to inform her research and make a meaningful contribution to our understanding of sound intolerance,” Wilson remarked. In November 2025, Nolley presented a poster sharing her methodology and preliminary findings at the Oklahoma Speech-Language-Hearing Association conference.
Assessing speech intelligibility
Across the country, speech-language pathologists are treating more patients in less time. In this context, one of the most challenging aspects of clinical work is evaluating speech intelligibility, which rates how well a speaker can be understood and how effectively they are communicating in their everyday life.
During her undergraduate speech-language pathology studies at UTulsa, Brenna Golden (B.S.S.P. ’24, M.S. ’26) became concerned that many speech-language pathologists use a brief, subjective assessment method. “This approach entails listening to a patient for just a couple of minutes and then estimating how intelligible they are,” she explained.
“Speech intelligibility can be influenced by a wide range of disorders and conditions, which makes it complicated and dynamic,” noted Golden. “The goal of my research is to find an efficient and objective assessment tool that can be applied across settings and populations in order to increase assessment accuracy.”
Her project is supervised by Wilson and Christy Hedges, clinical assistant professor of speech-language pathology. “Through her undergraduate and graduate research endeavors, Brenna demonstrated innovation through her consideration of technology and an identified clinical need in the field,” Hedges commented.
The potential solution Golden landed on is the speech-to-text transcription feature in Microsoft Word. She hypothesized that by identifying words that are incorrectly transcribed during a session with a patient, she would be able to generate a speech intelligibility score for that speaker.
In order to calculate a patient’s intelligibility using speech-to-text software, Golden has them read from a script while the software transcribes what they are saying. She then divides the number of words transcribed correctly by the total number of words in the script, arriving at a percentage-based intelligibility score.
“To test whether this is a viable approach, I needed to ensure there’s a high level of agreement among speech-language pathologists with regard to the accuracy of speech-to-text transcription software,” Golden said. She recruited 138 speech-language pathologists to complete an online survey that had them rate the transcripts for eight speakers. Averaging their responses, Golden found a high level of agreement between speech-to-text transcription software and perceptions of a speaker’s intelligibility.
“This is really exciting evidence supporting the benefits of deploying speech-to-text transcription software in clinical practice,” she remarked. To date, she has presented her findings at the 2024 and 2025 national conferences of the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association.
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