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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- Creators: O'Flaherty, Katherine
- Creators: Kozicki, Michael
Description
This thesis project examines the likely factors that cause students to drop out of Barrett, the Honors College. Honors literature regarding retention and attrition suggests four areas encompassing individual student attributes and honors program characteristics which may impact a student's decision to stay or leave an Honors College. The primary question in focus is, "Why do students leave the Honors College?" followed by the tertiary questions of, "what can be done to mitigate this occurrence?" and, "how does this affect the quality of an honors education?" Assessing attrition can be broken down into biographical, cognitive-behavioral, socio-environmental, and institutional-instrumental components. Students who graduated with honors and those who did not graduate with honors were assessed on these four components through survey methods and qualitative interviews to investigate specific reasons why students leave the honors program. The results indicated a wide array of reasons impacting student attrition, the most significant being negative perceptions towards (1) honors courses and contracts, (2) difficulty completing a thesis project, and (3) finding little to no value in "graduating with honors." Each of these reasons reflect the institutional-instrumental component of student attrition, making it the most salient group of reasons why students leave the Honors College. The socio-environmental component also influences student attrition through peer influence and academic advisor support, though this was found to be within the context of institutional-instrumental means. This project offers solutions to ameliorate each of the four components of attrition by offering standardized honors contracts and more mandatory honors classes, mandatory thesis preparatory courses instead of workshops, and emphasizing the benefit Barrett gives to students as a whole. These solutions aim at increasing graduation rates for future honors students at Barrett as well as improving the overall quality of an honors education.
ContributorsSanchez, Gilbert Xavier (Author) / Parker, John (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Undergraduate on-campus residential education is a topic of significant inquiry within the field of higher education, and specifically student affairs. It has become commonplace for institutions of higher education in the United States to leverage the intersections between academics and residence life in order to promote student success by offering on-campus housing options that strategically place students in residential communities that provide additional connection to the students' academic experience, often by major, college, department, or other focus areas. Such models vary by institution, but are often referred to as living-learning communities or residential colleges, depending upon their structure and goals. For example, Barrett, the Honors College on the Tempe campus of Arizona State University implements a residential college model within its student housing; honors students live and study together, with the addition of three "special communities" designed for students majoring in Engineering, Business, or the Arts. This honors thesis case study describes and investigates the impact the visual and performing arts Barrett residential community has upon its residents in their first-year college experience. Through the lens of student development theory, this research focuses upon examining this specific residential community in detail in order to gain an understanding of its effect upon residents' academic and personal well being.
ContributorsBieschke, Sara Danielle (Author) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Thesis director) / Rendell, Dawn (Committee member) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description"Writing the Races" is a documentary exploring how two writers talk about race in their comedy television shows. http://www.writingtheraces.com/
ContributorsTyau, Nicole Jenice (Author) / Rodriguez, Rick (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Communication between the physical and digital world via software, embedded sensors and network connectivity is referred to by the term, the "Internet of Things" (IoT) [1]. The IoT transforms natural objects into "smart devices" to improve accuracy, reduce human intervention, and provide real-time data [1]. Smart weather stations that upload information, including temperature and humidity, to the Internet are already available. However, these products are often expensive and programmed only for single-purpose use. The LoRa Weather Station is a low cost, low power and low maintenance IoT solution that combines Microchip Technology's LoRa RN2903 module along with Mikroelektronika's Weather Click sensor. This report discusses how the LoRa Weather Station was created, primarily focusing on the LoRa gateway setup by a Raspberry Pi local web server. This project was completed by four electrical engineering students in the EEE 488 and 489 Senior Design courses at Arizona State University from Fall 2016 to Spring 2017. Total expenses for the project were $717.84, including the LoRa gateway which amounted to $104 (see Appendix C for the Bill of Materials).
ContributorsLeon, Miranda Cristina (Author) / Kozicki, Michael (Thesis director) / Balaban, Mehmet (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Every year, millions of people find themselves displaced from their homes because of fear or threats of violence. Some of these people will become refugees, who will then be resettled in the United States. In order to help with the resettlement process, refugees are given cultural orientations through their resettlement organizations. The Phoenix Police Department teaches one of these cultural orientations for local resettlement agencies in order to dispel some of the fears refugees have about law enforcement and build a stronger relationship with the refugee community. Past research on this topic has been limited within the United States, but communities are still trying to figure out how to interact with refugees despite not knowing how to do it. There are various possible complications inherent in the integration process and many potential methods of trust building available to the refugee community and public services like law enforcement. This project seeks to understand the refugee resettlement process through field observation of the cultural orientation taught by the Phoenix Police Department and interviews with detectives familiar with the process in Phoenix. Cultural and language differences as well as lack of education and research on the topic of refugee resettlement are all key points in comprehending what the police, refugees, and resettlement organizations are doing during the integration process. Once these issues are addressed to alleviate gaps in knowledge about refugees, it may be possible to adjust the process to be easier for stakeholders involved in refugee resettlement.
ContributorsBaumgartner, Rachel Paige (Author) / Telep, Cody (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
This creative project is a collection of profiles focused on Arizona nonprofits and refugees. The profiles share stories of refugees, volunteers, employees and others involved in the community serving refugees. Nonprofits are a vital resource for refugee resettlement. These organizations offer services to support refugees as they transition into new communities. Some services include: housing, English language learning, cultural orientation, job placement, medical treatment, education, and farming. Each of these programs support resiliency for refugees and for the communities in which they live. We Are Resilient was created first, to show the important role nonprofits have in serving refugees. Second, to connect people to a few of the stories and experiences within the Arizona refugee community. And third, to build understanding of the strength refugees bring to communities of Arizona and by extension the country. Visit weareresilientaz.com to learn more.
ContributorsGray, Elizabeth (Co-author) / Johnson, Kelcie (Co-author) / Shockley, Gordon (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of Community Resources and Development (Contributor) / School of Sustainability (Contributor) / Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communication (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Postmodernism has been one of the dominant modes of thought in literature and philosophy since the 1960s, but its roots go back much further. This thesis is an examination of Brechtian frameworks in an assortment of popular postmodern works. Both literary texts, such as novels, films, and music, and philosophical texts are used to form a general understanding of the postmodern project, and these concepts are then placed in conversation with ideas from the works of the 20th century German playwright Bertolt Brecht. I found that despite certain differences, the central ideas of postmodernism can be seen as the extension of Brecht’s philosophy, especially his concept of the Verfremdungseffekt. First, multiplicity—in perspectives and understandings—can be seen as an attempt to achieve this Verfremdungseffekt in the reader, and second, transgression in these texts can be used to evoke the same feeling. Many of the identifying techniques of postmodernism, e.g. juxtaposition, unreliable narrator, self-reference, and so on, can be interpreted as the extension of ideas pioneered by Brecht in the 1920s and 1930s. My thesis illustrates these connections.
Keywords: Postmodernism, Bertolt Brecht, Verfremdungseffekt
Keywords: Postmodernism, Bertolt Brecht, Verfremdungseffekt
ContributorsTeipen, Jakob Corry (Author) / Gilfillan, Daniel (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-12
Description
Having the proper biomechanical and neuromuscular kinematics while performing an athletic motion is essential for athletes. Deviations from proper form in execution of the kinetic chain of an athletic movement may result in suboptimal performance and oftentimes an elevated likelihood of injury. The solutions currently available to athletes to account for digression from proper form are limited to sight and feel analysis of movement by the athletes and coaches and basic medical and athletic analysis equipment that is unsuitable for real-time analysis, the rigor and speed of dynamic athletic motions, and in-field use. The solution proposed herein is one of an in-shoe force measurement and foot positioning system designed to measure the ground reaction force generated by and alignment of an athlete's feet during an athletic motion. Research into various sports has found that the feet play a foundational role in proper execution of the kinetic chain, wherein the alignment, positioning, force generation, and timing of the feet may dictate proper execution of subsequent segments in the kinetic chain. The goal of the present design is to provide athletes with a solution to allow for real-time kinematic analysis of athletic motions using an in-shoe force measurement and foot positioning system. An understanding into the compensatory effect of foot misalignment, mismatched timing, and under or overcompensated ground reaction force generation by the feet on ensuing segments of the kinetic chain in conjunction with the present design can allow for athletes to measure and determine their degree of accuracy in form execution and to predict potential injuries resulting from deviations in form. Our design of an athletic shoe comprising an in-shoe force measurement system provides a dynamic solution to sports-related injuries presently unavailable to athletes.
ContributorsKiaei, Nima (Co-author) / Makhija, Abhay (Co-author) / Kiaei, Sayfe (Thesis director) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
The Solar Powered Amphibious Transport (SPAT) is an amphibious hovercraft that uses solar energy as a power source and is fully controlled via iOS application on a phone or tablet. The hovercraft field is relatively unexplored with a solar power source, and one of the goals of the SPAT was to spark interest in sustainable hovercraft design. By challenging the potential of solar power, the SPAT proves that solar energy can be used in high power transportation applications. The second motive behind the creation a hovercraft was for it to serve as a disaster relief vehicle. A hovercraft can traverse both ground and water, which makes it ideal in flooded areas. With the SPAT being remote controlled it can allow the operator to stay at a safe distance while sending supplies or rescuing a person. The SPAT design covered multiple size options, however a small prototype version was built to serve as a proof of concept that a larger solar hovercraft is possible. Our analysis suggests that a larger craft will be able to carry more weight, and be more power efficient. A larger SPAT could help deliver supplies or rescue stranded people after a flood or hurricane. One issue faced however, was that many hovercrafts are highly expensive. The SPAT prototype was designed on a tight budget that did not exceed $800. The possibility of achieving this cost levels allows hovercraft to be a reasonable option for disaster relief agencies. After many long hours spent the SPAT became a fully operational remote control solar powered hovercraft.
ContributorsDavis, Parker William (Co-author) / Clenney, Jacob (Co-author) / Nachman, Michael (Co-author) / Melillo, Nick (Co-author) / Bertoni, Mariana (Thesis director) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
Description
Year after year, babies are dying after being left behind in cars that reach dangerous levels of heat. This project, conducted by the Hot Babies Senior Design Team, aims to solve this growing issue with the development of a hot car baby monitor. This device is integrated with multiple sensors: temperature, sound, carbon dioxide, and motion in order to detect life inside of a hot car. By using different sensors, a combination of threshold activated signals can be used to provide high quality monitoring and reduce false alarms from outside noise. Once the algorithms predict the presence of a living being inside a dangerously hot vehicle, the baby car monitor will send out text messages warning designated parents and/or guardians of the issue. The baby car monitor is further optimized with a low battery indicator and a sleep mode feature. The schedule of the project is separated into the fall and spring semesters. For the fall semester, all of the sensors and the microcontroller were purchased and tested individually. For the spring semester, all of the sensors were integrated together on a PCB and tested under hot car environments. Additionally, features such as the text messaging interface and the sleep mode were added. The budget of the final working product is roughly ~ $200. The cost includes the different sensors, microcontroller, data plan, text messaging module, and PCB. When mass produced, the cost is expected to go down.
ContributorsQin, Eric C (Co-author) / Luc, Andrew (Co-author) / Cheung, Wai (Co-author) / Moore, Jenna (Co-author) / Vittal, Vijay (Thesis director) / Kozicki, Michael (Committee member) / Electrical Engineering Program (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05