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- Creators: School of Life Sciences
Description
Understanding the relationships between chemistry students' motivation, performance, and gender can help identify and inform ways in which chemistry education might be improved. Students from four CHM 101 classes with two different instructors were surveyed using an adapted Science Motivation Questionnaire II, and motivation data was analyzed with respect to final course performance. Gender data was available for two of these classes, and motivation results analyzed by gender for these classes. Exam scores and gender data was obtained from one of the instructors for CHM 101 courses taught over the past five years and were also analyzed. The motivational study involved small sample sizes, especially in the motivation by gender study. Career motivation, grade motivation, self-efficacy, and total motivation declined over the course of the semester in the four classes combined. Self-efficacy and career motivation were found to predict final course performance only at the end of the semester. Self-efficacy strongly predicted performance, and career motivation was negatively correlated with performance. Female students had higher grade motivation at the end of the semester and lost more self-efficacy over the course of the semester than male students. Gender-performance analysis showed that male students scored slightly higher on exams on average, but that female students received a higher percentage of "A"s and a lower percentage of "D"s, "E"s, and "W"s in the majority of the semesters.
ContributorsJohnson, Walter Gregory (Author) / Gould, Ian (Thesis director) / Wolf, George (Committee member) / Austin, Ara (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
The popularity of feminism is growing. Every day more people claim to be feminist and work is done to end the control of patriarchy. Feminism though, because of its different waves and isolated recognition in the media, the actual goals seem unclear to males in particular; it is predicted that this increase in popularity in conjunction with the lack of clarity contributes to the development of toxic masculinity. “Feminism” is defined by bell hooks as a movement to end sexism, sexist exploitation, and oppression and “toxic masculinity” is a specific model of manhood, geared toward dominance and control and fear of the opposite. To understand the relationship between the two, the documentaries The Mask You Live In and Miss Representation were reviewed as well as books by bell hooks and C.J. Pascoe. Popular culture articles contributed to contemporary views at the public level. Using the knowledge gained from the literature, further research was done through one-on-one interviews with males age 18 to 32. Much of the literature does support toxic masculinity being encouraged and reinforced in varying ways including through the lack of acceptance of femininity and society’s strict gender roles. The interviews were inconclusive in defining a direct relationship between feminism promoting the development of toxic masculinity.
ContributorsPorche, Jade M (Author) / Fedock, Rachel (Thesis director) / Alberts, Janet (Committee member) / Stoff, Laurie (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2021-05
Description
Identity is shaped through the integration of one’s beliefs, experiences, relationships, choices, and other such phenomena, and the resulting identity created by an individual continues to feed back into this process by influencing future identity formation. In consideration of the numerous factors contributing to identity, this Honors Thesis accumulates an interdisciplinary understanding of identity by pulling from 17 research disciplines and uses this knowledge to inform a collection of poems centered on the theme of my own identity exploration. The Repko (2008) model for interdisciplinary research was loosely followed and using this framework highlighted the interconnectivity of literature research and, from a broader perspective, knowledge in general. A second framework was chosen to further encapsulate this knowledge and apply it to my own identity. Marcia’s Identity Status Theory is a fluid model by which I was able to understand the different identity statuses I was illustrating through poetry (Marcia, 1966; Marcia et. al., 1980). The poetry component of this project included completion of a poetry workshop and creation of a twenty-eight-poem chapbook. Together, the interdisciplinary research and identity model offer insight into the identity connections presented in this collection of poems. However, the frameworks used in this project are limited in that they do not completely capture the true essence of identity. While many disciplines’ contributions to identity research were considered in this Honors Thesis, identity is such a large concept that it is difficult to completely capture my own identity, let alone the identities of others. While others may find research articles or poems they relate to and may possibly learn about themselves from what is presented in this document, identity is unique to each individual and a proper compilation of identity research would need to be far more extensive than the reach of this Honors Thesis.
ContributorsKodet, Aryn Mikaela (Author) / deLusé, Stephanie (Thesis director) / Dickens, Andrea (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
This is a series of three paintings all composed with oil paint. This series offers a unique and thought-provoking perspective on gender roles and the male gaze and how they are used as forms of oppression. This series challenges traditional notions of gender and spark meaningful conversations about the ways in which society shapes and reinforces gender norms.
ContributorsMobasher, Jasmin (Author) / Hogden, Heidi (Thesis director) / McGibbney, Michelle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor)
Created2023-05
Description
Mounting evidence suggests that gender biases favoring men and racial biases favoring whites and Asians contribute to the underrepresentation of women and underrepresented minorities (URM) in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM). Systemic issues caused by gender and racial biases create barriers that prevent women and URM from entering STEM from the structure of education to admission or promotions to higher-level positions. One of these barriers is unconscious biases that impact the quality of letters of recommendation for women and URM and their success in application processes to higher education. Though letters of recommendation provide a qualitative aspect to an application and can reveal the typical performance of the applicant, research has found that the unstructured nature of the traditional recommendation letter allows for gender and racial bias to impact the quality of letters of recommendation. Standardized letters of recommendation have been implemented in various fields and have been found to reduce the presence of bias in recommendation letters. This paper reviews the trends seen across the literature regarding equity in the use of letters of recommendation for undergraduates.
ContributorsKolath, Nina (Author) / Brownell, Sara (Thesis director) / Goodwin, Emma (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
By analyzing The Witcher and Game of Thrones fandoms, this research examines whether cosplayers adhere to social media or canon expectations of gender, sexuality, and violence. The study focuses on six canon female characters and how cosplayers emulate them on TikTok and Instagram. Along with a quantitative analysis, ten cosplayers were interviewed regarding their experiences with the fandom, source material, and cosplaying. The prediction was that cosplayers might conform to the standards of social media and the expectations of the social material; however, the findings implicate that fantrepreneurs mostly exclude sexualization and violence in their content, which suggests that cosplay continues to be used for transformative purposes.
ContributorsSears, Madison (Author) / Ingram-Waters, Mary (Thesis director) / McGibbney, Michelle (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor)
Created2022-05
Description
Caregiving for a disabled or ill relative can be an extremely stressful role, leading to increased acute physiological responses to stress and also chronic cardiovascular disease (CVD) outcomes. Furthermore, an important consideration for studying CVD and daily stress in caregivers is less is known about gender differences in the effects of caregiving. The aims of this study were to examine the associations between gender and daily stressors on cardiovascular health in caregivers. A sample of 1,841 respondents (ranging from 33-84 years) from the Midlife in the United States study answered a question about caregiving and participated in both a daily diary and biomarker subprojects. Within the sample, only 13.04% of respondents classified themselves as caregivers. Regression analysis was used to test 1. whether stressor exposure and stressor reactivity, which is the emotional response to stress, differ by caregiver status and gender, 2. cardiovascular health as indicated by the American Heart Association’s Life’s Simple Seven measure (on scale of poor, intermediate, or ideal) is predicted by caregiving status and gender, 3. whether daily stress is associated with Life’s Simple Seven, and 4. whether daily stress moderates the associations between caregiving and gender with cardiovascular health. Important findings of the study included that caregivers and women experienced more daily stressors, while caregivers and men had greater cardiovascular risk, but this was not related to experience of daily stressors. These results are discussed within the context of study limitations and opportunities for future research building upon daily stress and caregiving.
ContributorsBiernot, Kelsey (Author) / Koffer, Rachel (Thesis director) / Gómez-Morales, Abigail (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2024-05