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The Downtown ASU campus Bio 201 and 202 anatomy labs are planning on revising the method in which students are presented and evaluated on lab material for the Fall 2016 semester. The goal of this thesis project was to analyze the methods used in previous semesters in order to determine

The Downtown ASU campus Bio 201 and 202 anatomy labs are planning on revising the method in which students are presented and evaluated on lab material for the Fall 2016 semester. The goal of this thesis project was to analyze the methods used in previous semesters in order to determine which method, if any, proved to be the most effective means of evaluation for the students. The general setup of the anatomy labs is that the students come to lab, receive that week's instruction, and then are quizzed on that week's material at the beginning of their next lab. Then roughly every five new segments there is a practical covering the cumulative information from the last five segments. Therefore it is imperative to analyze the current and previous methods of evaluation in order to find which one has the strongest correlation with an individual's quiz performance and their practical grade. Since the Fall 2014 semester three different quiz types have been used in lab while the practical has remained the same. The three different types of quizzes are written, turning point, and no quiz; in order to determine which method was most effective overall practical averages for each student was compared to their corresponding quiz average. This data was put into Excel and used to generate a graph in order to determine the r-squared values to determine which had the strongest correlation. The results showed that no matter what quiz type was used there was no statistically significant correlation between quiz performance and practical performance; in fact practical averages were nearly identical between semesters for Bio 201 and 202. However, visual analysis of the graph demonstrated that certain quiz methods did seem to be more effective than others. For Bio 201 it seemed that written quizzes were the most effective means of evaluation, while in Bio 202 the turning point quizzes were best.
ContributorsOlson, Zachary G (Author) / Kingsbury, Jeffrey (Thesis director) / Legere, Jenny (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
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The college textbook is the most commonly required component of almost any college course, regardless of a student's academic discipline. Professors often expect students to have access to the textbook and to use it to complete assigned readings. Textbooks often contain features that are designed to facilitate active reading, or

The college textbook is the most commonly required component of almost any college course, regardless of a student's academic discipline. Professors often expect students to have access to the textbook and to use it to complete assigned readings. Textbooks often contain features that are designed to facilitate active reading, or critical engagement with the information being read, to enhance learning of the material. However, students often do not read or prioritize reading the textbook. Students who do read, tend not to read the textbook as intended or use many of the features designed to promote active reading and enhanced learning of the material. Educational studies of textbooks tend to focus on aspects related to topics more relevant to publishers or professors with less research on aspects of the textbook applicable to students at the college level. The purpose of this study is to evaluate students' textbook use and their attitudes toward the textbook in an introductory biology course. Results of this study indicate students hold positive attitudes toward their textbook in an introductory biology course and majority of students do not use components meant to facilitate active learning. Although students report completing assigned readings, students may actually be reading select portions of what is assigned in using the textbook to prepare for exams. These results suggest that students may only be using their textbook to enhance their understanding of materials they expect to be tested on. The findings of this study help to understand the role of the textbook from the perspective of the student and provide insight for improving textbook design and use in science courses at the college level.
ContributorsRudolph, Alexia Marion (Author) / Vanmali, Binaben (Thesis director) / Chen, Ying-Chih (Committee member) / Yoho, Rachel (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2016-05
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This study aims to produce efficient and effective group writing workshops for students within the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University. To balance two opposing theories in writing center pedagogy - the direct instruction theory and the student-led/ collaborative theory - this study also aims to determine whether a

This study aims to produce efficient and effective group writing workshops for students within the Barrett Honors College at Arizona State University. To balance two opposing theories in writing center pedagogy - the direct instruction theory and the student-led/ collaborative theory - this study also aims to determine whether a balanced combination of these approaches in writing workshops will increase student confidence in their writing abilities. Several writing workshops were held over Zoom utilizing a combination of direct teaching methods and collaborative techniques. Students were then surveyed to determine whether they found the workshops helpful, learned new skills, and/or grew more confident in their abilities. The student responses proved the hypothesis that a combined approach leads to an increase in student confidence.

ContributorsGuido, Julia (Author) / Graff, Sarah (Thesis director) / Popova, Laura (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description

The incidence of childhood obesity has become increasingly prevalent in the United States in recent years. The development of obesity at any age, but especially in adolescence, can have lasting negative effects in the form of cardiometabolic disease, increased incurred healthcare costs, and potential negative effects on quality of life.

The incidence of childhood obesity has become increasingly prevalent in the United States in recent years. The development of obesity at any age, but especially in adolescence, can have lasting negative effects in the form of cardiometabolic disease, increased incurred healthcare costs, and potential negative effects on quality of life. In recent years, a rising trend of obesity, in both adults and adolescents, has been observed in lower income and ethnic groups. Increased adiposity can be influenced by modifiable factors -(physical activity, caloric intake, or sleep) or by non-modifiable factors (ethnicity, genetic predispositions, and socioeconomic status). The influence of these factors can be observed in individuals of all ages, including infants. A common indicator of the development of childhood obesity is rapid weight gain (RWG) within an infant’s first year of life. The composition of the gut microbiome can act as a predictor for RWG and the development of childhood obesity. Infants are exposed to an immense microbial load when they are born and their gut microbiome is continually diversified through their method of feeding and the subsequent introduction to solid foods. While currently understudied, it is understood that cultural and socioeconomic factors influence the development of the gut microbiome, which is further explored in this analysis. The DNA from 51 fecal samples from infants ranging from 3 weeks to 12 months in age was extracted and sequenced using next-generation sequencing, and the resulting sequences were analyzed using QIIME 2. Results from alpha-diversity and beta-diversity metrics showed significant differences in the gut microbiome of infants when comparing groups based on baby race/ethnicity, household income, and mom’s education. These findings suggest the importance of sociodemographic characteristics in shaping the gut microbiome and suggest the importance of future studies including diverse populations in gut microbiome work.

ContributorsGallello, Chloe (Author) / Whisner, Corrie (Thesis director) / Petrov, Megan (Committee member) / Redding, Kevin (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Mathematical and Statistical Sciences (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description

Intellectual property (IP) is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Despite being an important motivator for innovation, IP laws and IP protections are largely unknown by most individuals outside of the legal field. The purpose of this work is to condense some of the most fundamental concepts in U.S. intellectual

Intellectual property (IP) is the lifeblood of the U.S. economy. Despite being an important motivator for innovation, IP laws and IP protections are largely unknown by most individuals outside of the legal field. The purpose of this work is to condense some of the most fundamental concepts in U.S. intellectual property law and describe them in an understandable way for non-lawyers. This thesis covers basic information on U.S. patents, copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, and the ways in which they impact both science and society. Additionally, this thesis discusses the need for better IP education and presents a solution to this problem in the form of a partly completed draft for an educational book. The book itself is meant to illustrate how the research of this thesis can be utilized in introductory educational materials while also demonstrating the potential for presenting IP law concepts in a fun and visual way.

ContributorsBlanks, Zachary (Author) / Farmer, Bethany (Co-author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Prosser, Eric (Committee member) / Irving, Tom (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsBlanks, Zachary (Author) / Farmer, Bethany (Co-author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Prosser, Eric (Committee member) / Irving, Tom (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05
ContributorsBlanks, Zachary (Author) / Farmer, Bethany (Co-author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / Prosser, Eric (Committee member) / Irving, Tom (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor)
Created2023-05
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Description
Coral reefs are diverse marine ecosystems, where reef building corals provide both the structure of the habitat as well as the primary production through their symbiotic algae, and alongside algae living on the reef itself, are the basis of the food web of the reef. In this way, coral reefs

Coral reefs are diverse marine ecosystems, where reef building corals provide both the structure of the habitat as well as the primary production through their symbiotic algae, and alongside algae living on the reef itself, are the basis of the food web of the reef. In this way, coral reefs are the ocean's "forests" and are estimated to support 25% of all marine species. However, due to the large size of a coral reef, the relative inaccessibility and the reliance on in situ surveying methods, our current understanding of reefs is spatially limited. Understanding coral reefs from a more spatially complete perspective will offer insight into the ecological factors that contribute to coral reef vitality. This has become a priority in recent years due to the rapid decline of coral reefs caused by mass bleaching. Despite this urgency, being able to assess the entirety of a coral reef is physically difficult and this obstacle has not yet been overcome. However, similar difficulties have been addressed in terrestrial ecosystems by using remote sensing methods, which apply hyperspectral imaging to assess large areas of primary producers at high spatial resolutions. Adapting this method of remote spectral sensing to assess coral reefs has been suggested, but in order to quantify primary production via hyper spectral imaging, light-use efficiencies (LUEs) of coral reef communities need to be known. LUEs are estimations of the rate of carbon fixation compared to incident absorbed light. Here, I experimentally determine LUEs and report on several parameters related to LUE, namely net productivity, respiration, and light absorbance for the main primary producers in coral reefs surrounding Bermuda, which consist of algae and coral communities. The derived LUE values fall within typical ranges for LUEs of terrestrial ecosystems, with LUE values for coral averaging 0.022 ± 0.002 mol O2 mol photons-1 day-1 at a water flow rate of 17.5 ± 2 cm s^(-1) and 0.049 ± 0.011 mol O2 mol photons-1 day-1 at a flow rate of 32 ± 4 cm s^(-1) LUE values for algae averaged 0.0335 ± 0.0048 mol O2 mol photons-1 day-1 at a flow rate of 17.5 ± 2 cm s^(-1). These values allow insight into coral reef productivity and opens the door for future remote sensing applications.
ContributorsFlesher, David A (Author) / Neuer, Susanne (Thesis director) / Redding, Kevin (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
The Scientist in Me is an original children’s book, authored by Annmarie Barton and illustrated by Alison Lane, that explores the lives and specialties of five remarkable scientists from historically underrepresented backgrounds: Mary Anning, James Pollack, Temple Grandin, Percy Lavon Julian, and Ayah Bdeir. In the book, each scientist has

The Scientist in Me is an original children’s book, authored by Annmarie Barton and illustrated by Alison Lane, that explores the lives and specialties of five remarkable scientists from historically underrepresented backgrounds: Mary Anning, James Pollack, Temple Grandin, Percy Lavon Julian, and Ayah Bdeir. In the book, each scientist has an “Experiment” section that is meant to encourage children to immerse themselves in activities relating to the scientists’ areas of study. We believe that diversity in science is crucial for advancement, and therefore hope to inspire the next generation of scientists through immersion and representation.
ContributorsLane, Alison (Co-author) / Barton, Annmarie (Co-author) / Klemaszewski, James (Thesis director) / Fette, Donald (Committee member) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
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Description
Menstruation - a stigmatized topic and a social taboo- has led to a lack of menstrual hygiene awareness and improper practices impacting women’s health adversely over generations in India. Akshara aims to increase menstrual hygiene education and reduce stigma in India. A creative children’s illustrated book, and interactive workshop curriculum

Menstruation - a stigmatized topic and a social taboo- has led to a lack of menstrual hygiene awareness and improper practices impacting women’s health adversely over generations in India. Akshara aims to increase menstrual hygiene education and reduce stigma in India. A creative children’s illustrated book, and interactive workshop curriculum about menstruation were designed and published in Hindi and English. Menstrual hygiene workshops, utilizing the designed tools, were conducted in Delhi and Ghaziabad, India to over 230 students through NGO partnerships in December 2018. The response to the menstrual hygiene and stigma workshops was overwhelmingly positive, and a significant increase in the knowledge and awareness survey scores was observed after the curriculum teachings and classroom discussions. This evaluation highlights and provides a potential solution path to eradicate the root cause of the menstruation stigma in underprivileged women through education and open conversations on the topic starting at a pivotal young age. The main aim of the workshop was to help eradicate the stigma associated with menstruation and menstrual health in India through education.
ContributorsBhalla, Jahnavi (Co-author) / Dani, Advika (Co-author) / Schuster, Roseanne (Thesis director) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05