Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
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Description
This paper considers what factors influence student interest, motivation, and continued engagement. Studies show anticipated extrinsic rewards for activity participation have been shown to reduce intrinsic value for that activity. This might suggest that grade point average (GPA) has a similar effect on academic interests. Further, when incentives such as scholarships, internships, and careers are GPA-oriented, students must adopt performance goals in courses to guarantee success. However, performance goals have not been shown to correlated with continued interest in a topic. Current literature proposes that student involvement in extracurricular activities, focused study groups, and mentored research are crucial to student success. Further, students may express either a fixed or growth mindset, which influences their approach to challenges and opportunities for growth. The purpose of this study was to collect individual cases of students' experiences in college. The interview method was chosen to collect complex information that could not be gathered from standard surveys. To accomplish this, questions were developed based on content areas related to education and motivation theory. The content areas included activities and meaning, motivation, vision, and personal development. The developed interview method relied on broad questions that would be followed by specific "probing" questions. We hypothesize that this would result in participant-led discussions and unique narratives from the participant. Initial findings suggest that some of the questions were effective in eliciting detailed responses, though results were dependent on the interviewer. From the interviews we find that students value their group involvements, leadership opportunities, and relationships with mentors, which parallels results found in other studies.
ContributorsAbrams, Sara (Author) / Hartwell, Lee (Thesis director) / Correa, Kevin (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
In recent years, companies have been expanding their business efforts on a global scale. This project explores this expansion of American-based multinational corporations (MNCs) in Ireland, and the comparison of how their culture motivation in the workplace. We did a cultural study using Hofstede and Trompenaars' cultural dimensions of the two countries then used McClelland's Needs Theory, Equity Theory, and Herzberg's Motivation-Hygiene Theory in order to create three research questions. (1) How does the manager define success for the firm as a whole and for their employees, (2) How is the definition of success reflected in the company's corporate culture (i.e. values, norms and practices), along with how cultural values, norms and practices affect the company, and (3) How do external forces (i.e. governmental factors, workplace technology, etc.) affect the workplace environment and motivation for employees? With these we hypothesized that for research question 1, we hypothesized that from our study of Hofstede's and Trompenaars' cultural frameworks, Irish employees will show a greater tendency to favor affiliation, nAff, as opposed to a need for achievement, nAch, in American employees, according to McClelland's Needs Theory. For research question 2, we predicted that motivation would be administered through style of feedback to employees and office norms, such as autonomy, flexible hours, and work-life balance. For research question 3, we hypothesized that Ireland would have an impact from external factors such as government and technology, whereas the U.S. employees would face no clear impact. We conducted eight, qualitative interviews using a questionnaire, either in person or via video conference. The interviewees were all managers in some facet and have all had some international experience. Through the analysis of the interviews, we found that the Irish employees focused on how employees are able to help or contribute to a group (nAff), instead of looking at how the contribution of a group can be used to meet individual goals (nAch). The American companies reflected Trompenaars' definition of individualism in which employees focus on collaborating in teams, as long as individual goals are met, and benchmarked collaboration as a performance measure, tying in the need for achievement, for research question one. For the second research question, we found that employees in Ireland had a focus on teamwork in the workplace and much higher respect for work-life balance. American firms, in contrast, had a greater focus on making sure employees were contributing, meeting their goals, and getting their work done. While American firms did acknowledge work-life balance and its importance, there was a priority for coming in early and/or staying late to make sure a job got done. Findings for our third question showed that government factors did impact Ireland more, due to labor laws such as required vacation days in Ireland, and that technology had less of an impact than expected, for both countries. More importantly was our finding that the companies in Ireland were greatly impacted by the decisions made by the business executives in the United States.
ContributorsSong, Jenny Jungwon (Co-author) / Brown, William (Co-author) / Arrfelt, Mathias (Thesis director) / Moore, James (Committee member) / Department of Marketing (Contributor) / Department of Management and Entrepreneurship (Contributor) / W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
Description
Transient Receptor Potential (TRP) ion channels are a diverse family of nonselective, polymodal sensors in uni- and multicellular eukaryotes that are implicated in an assortment of biological contexts and human disease. The cold-activated TRP Melastatin-8 (TRPM8) channel, also recognized as the human body's primary cold sensor, is among the few TRP channels responsible for thermosensing. Despite sustained interest in the channel, the mechanisms underlying TRPM8 activation, modulation, and gating have proved challenging to study and remain poorly understood. In this thesis, I offer data collected on various expression, extraction, and purification conditions tested in E. Coli expression systems with the aim to optimize the generation of a structurally stable and functional human TRPM8 pore domain (S5 and S6) construct for application in structural biology studies. These studies, including the biophysical technique nuclear magnetic spectroscopy (NMR), among others, will be essential for elucidating the role of the TRPM8 pore domain in in regulating ligand binding, channel gating, ion selectively, and thermal sensitivity. Moreover, in the second half of this thesis, I discuss the ligation-independent megaprimer PCR of whole-plasmids (MEGAWHOP PCR) cloning technique, and how it was used to generate chimeras between TRPM8 and its nearest analog TRPM2. I review steps taken to optimize the efficiency of MEGAWHOP PCR and the implications and unique applications of this novel methodology for advancing recombinant DNA technology. I lastly present preliminary electrophysiological data on the chimeras, employed to isolate and study the functional contributions of each individual transmembrane helix (S1-S6) to TRPM8 menthol activation. These studies show the utility of the TRPM8\u2014TRPM2 chimeras for dissecting function of TRP channels. The average current traces analyzed thus far indicate that the S2 and S3 helices appear to play an important role in TRPM8 menthol modulation because the TRPM8[M2S2] and TRPM8[M2S3] chimeras significantly reduce channel conductance in the presence of menthol. The TRPM8[M2S4] chimera, oppositely, increases channel conductance, implying that the S4 helix in native TRPM8 may suppress menthol modulation. Overall, these findings show that there is promise in the techniques chosen to identify specific regions of TRPM8 crucial to menthol activation, though the methods chosen to study the TRPM8 pore independent from the whole channel may need to be reevaluated. Further experiments will be necessary to refine TRPM8 pore solubilization and purification before structural studies can proceed, and the electrophysiology traces observed for the chimeras will need to be further verified and evaluated for consistency and physiological significance.
ContributorsWaris, Maryam Siddika (Author) / Van Horn, Wade (Thesis director) / Redding, Kevin (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Department of English (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
Description
A series of mitochondria targeting probes was synthesized for the purpose of exploring the feasibility of a mitochondria targeting fluorescent sensor. Of the probes, the probe with a two carbon spacer showed the best co-localization from staining with the established MitoTracker Red® FM, indicating a potential development of the probe into mitochondria targeting sensor. However, cytotoxicity was observed for the probe with a six carbon spacer. Three additional mitochondria targeting fluorescent probes of longer spacer groups were synthesized, but the cytotoxicity was not observed to be as high as that of the probe with a two carbon spacer. The cytotoxicity was characterized to be that of caspase dependent cell death. To screen for a possible effect on apoptosis due to the mitochondrial probe, three fluorescent fusion proteins binding the anti-apoptotic proteins were designed and expressed. Each purified fusion protein was then incubated with the cytotoxic mitochondrial probe, and the mixture was isolated by running an affinity column. The fluorescence analysis of eluted fractions showed preliminary data of possible interaction between the protein and the mitochondrial probe.
ContributorsLee, Fred (Author) / Meldrum, Deirdre R. (Thesis director) / Tian, Yanqing (Committee member) / Zhang, Liqiang (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The purpose of this thesis is to explore if any correlation exists between the proposed components of happiness with overall self-perceived happiness. This thesis also explores how introversion and extraversion, gender, and working status affects the proposed components of happiness for college students and how their happiness influences engagement, motivation, preference of organizational culture, and the activities that they engage in. This research was gathered from secondary sources and a survey that was given to undergraduate students at Arizona State University. We found that well-being, gratitude, achievement, psychological empowerment, and affection contribute to both extraverts and introverts' happiness. In addition, we found that extraverts reported higher means than introverts in each factor; including happiness in general and what contributes to it. Contrary to popular belief, our research shows that autonomy either had no correlation or negatively correlates with happiness. In addition, we found that both extraverts and introverts participate in social and nonsocial activities rather than solely on their expected type of activity. Our research also shows that females reported higher means than males on gratitude, achievement, and autonomy. One significant implication of this study is that it can help individuals to better understand themselves and people they interact with.
ContributorsVasquez, Delia (Co-author) / Lopez, Miguel (Co-author) / LePine, Marcie (Thesis director) / Arce, Alma (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Supply Chain Management (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
This research looks at a group of students from Tumaini Children's Home in Nyeri, Kenya. The purpose of this paper is to explore why this particular group of students is so academically successful. Quantitative research was taken from the average 2013 test scores of Tumaini students who took the Kenyan Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) exam in comparison to the scores of students who are not residing in the orphanage. Qualitative research involves interviews from those students who live in Tumaini and interviews from adults who are closely connected to the orphanage. The purpose is to understand why the students are performing so well academically and what support they have created for themselves that allows them to do so.
ContributorsTooker, Amy Elizabeth (Author) / Puckett, Kathleen (Thesis director) / Cocchiarella, Martha (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The Latino population is the fastest growing minority group in the United States (U.S Census Bureau, 2003). Such a rapidly changing demographic stresses the importance of implementing strategies into the community social framework to accommodate for cultural and language differences. This research paper seeks to answer: what factors influence the sense of community among Latino families in Phoenix? The following questions will help to assess the dynamic relationship between sense of community and literacy 1) what is the perceived importance of literacy among Latino families living in Phoenix? 2) How is language development reflected among the family dynamics within a predominantly collectivist culture? It is hypothesized that both collectivism and literacy are the main influences on sense of community among this population.
ContributorsBennett, Julie (Author) / Glenberg, Arthur (Thesis director) / Restrepo, Laida (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
As prices for fuel along with the demand for renewable resources grow, it becomes of paramount importance to develop new ways of obtaining the energy needed to carry out the tasks we face daily. Costs of production due to energy and time constraints impose severe limitations on what is viable. Biological systems, on the other hand, are innately efficient both in terms of time and energy by handling tasks at the molecular level. Utilizing this efficiency is at the core of this research. Proper manipulation of even common proteins can render complexes functionalized for specific tasks. In this case, the coupling of a rhenium-based organometallic ligand to a modified myoglobin containing a zinc porphyrin, allow for efficient reduction of carbon dioxide, resulting in energy that can be harnessed and byproducts which can be used for further processing. Additionally, a rhenium based ligand functionalized via biotin is tested in conjunction with streptavidin and ruthenium-bipyridine.
ContributorsAllen, Jason Kenneth (Author) / Ghirlanda, Giovanna (Thesis director) / Francisco, Wilson (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Chemical Engineering Program (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
The present study investigates the differences in the academic motivation of traditional and non-traditional students according to Self Determination Theory. Additionally, the study explores the relationships between academic motivation and academic, career, and family stress in traditional and non-traditional students according to the Challenge and Hindrance Stress Framework. A survey was administered to 744 undergraduate students at Arizona State University. An independent samples t-test indicated significant differences between several student groups. According to the results, non-traditional students are more intrinsically motivated "to know" and traditional students are more extrinsically motivated by "identified regulation" and "external regulation". Additionally, a correlation matrix indicated that academic stress is positively related to extrinsic motivation, family stress is related to both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in all students, and career stress is related to intrinsic and extrinsic motivation in working students.
ContributorsBickle, Jessica Aaron (Author) / LePine, Marcie (Thesis director) / Clemons, Jamie (Committee member) / Batac, Jo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Accountancy (Contributor) / WPC Graduate Programs (Contributor)
Created2014-12
Description
Understanding glycosaminoglycans’ (GAG) interaction with proteins is of growing interest for therapeutic applications. For instance, heparin is a GAG exploited for its ability to inhibit proteases, therefore inducing anticoagulation. For this reason, heparin is extracted in mass quantities from porcine intestine in the pharmaceutical field. Following a contamination in 2008, alternative sources for heparin are desired. In response, much research has been invested in the extraction of the naturally occurring polysaccharide, heparosan, from Escherichia coli K5 strain. As heparosan contains the same structural backbone as heparin, modifications can be made to produce heparin or heparin-like molecules from this source. Furthermore, isotopically labeled batches of heparosan can be produced to aid in protein-GAG interaction studies. In this study, a comparative look between extraction and purification methods of heparosan was taken. Fed-batch fermentation of this E. coli strain followed by subsequent purification yielded a final 13C/15N labeled batch of 90mg/L of heparosan which was then N-sulfated. Furthermore, a labeled sulfated disaccharide from this batch was utilized in a protein interaction study with CCL5. With NMR analysis, it was found that this heparin-like molecule interacted with CCL5 when its glucosamine residue was in a β-conformation. This represents an interaction reliant on a specific anomericity of this GAG molecule.
ContributorsHoffman, Kristin Michelle (Author) / Wang, Xu (Thesis director) / Cabirac, Gary (Committee member) / Morgan, Ashli (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2015-05