Matching Items (254)
Description
Undergraduate Student Government Downtown (USGD) is the student advocacy organization on Arizona State University’s Downtown Phoenix campus. Its primary purpose is to appoint representatives, known as senators, to represent students in a specific ASU college and meet with university officials to discuss student needs. Senators compartmentalize their roles in various ways and do not always adhere to the expectations of their role outside of USGD meetings. This research study sought to examine how members of USGD compartmentalized their roles as student leaders. It also sought to examine the degree of separation senators placed between what they view to be their authentic selves versus the self-aspects they associate exclusively with USGD duties. The research determined compartmentalization of roles differed between levels of authority within USGD. Senators who had no other roles within the organization found it easy to remove themselves from the role after their USGD duties were completed for the day. Senior members of the organization, those who held higher positions of authority within the organization, found it less likely for them to separate their personalities from their roles. It also examined USGD’s continued use of highly structured meetings via the use of Robert’s Rules of Order. While they can provide structure in large group settings, when overused these rules cause the organization to suffer from a lack of information exchange and the ability to freely engage in debate. Robert’s Rules of Order act as a gatekeeper, making meeting language inaccessible to student constituents which leads to low amounts of constituent engagement.
ContributorsFishkind, Annaleez Gomez (Author) / Maday, Renee (Thesis director) / Gneiting, Gary (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
A comparison of the total phenolic content, total vitamin C, and concentration of arsenic were tested in leafy vegetables (basil and kale) grown in aeroponic systems and conventional agriculture soil acquired from local supermarkets. In general, the study shows that plants grown in aeroponic systems show comparable yield of Vitamin C and phenolic content, with absence of significant amounts of arsenic in aeroponically grown samples compared to those grown conventionally in soil.
ContributorsCarlton, Christopher (Co-author) / Harper, William (Co-author) / Huffman, Holly (Thesis director) / MclLwraith, Heide (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-05
Description
My thesis/creative project is a series of videos, supplemented by a paper documenting all the research. The project focuses on domestic and feral cats through the viewpoint of the “warrior cats” book series. The use of a particular fandom as a vehicle for science communication is a unique platform for use as a thesis/creative project. The narrated videos are made with the intention of being presented on YouTube or a similar viewing platform to an audience that is already familiar with the book series. The videos would fit on the site as a form of educational film known as video essays. The videos cover a range of topics to relate this book series to real situations with domestic animals, particularly cats, and wildlife. Each video is around ten to twenty minutes long and presented as episodes in a series.
The objective of my thesis project is to help bridge the gap between entertainment and science. I grew up reading the warrior cats, and I assume I was similar to many other children and young teens who did not understand domestic cats or ecology enough to question anything in the books. I know that much of these books are fictional, but that does not mean that it can’t be analyzed and used as a tool for teaching. The goal is to reach common ground with those people who have an interest in the warrior cats series, and help them understand it in a new light, as well as the world around them. I aim for the takeaway of this series to encourage people to explore the concepts I discuss and consider expanding upon the ideas within the Warriors universe or with their own cats.
The objective of my thesis project is to help bridge the gap between entertainment and science. I grew up reading the warrior cats, and I assume I was similar to many other children and young teens who did not understand domestic cats or ecology enough to question anything in the books. I know that much of these books are fictional, but that does not mean that it can’t be analyzed and used as a tool for teaching. The goal is to reach common ground with those people who have an interest in the warrior cats series, and help them understand it in a new light, as well as the world around them. I aim for the takeaway of this series to encourage people to explore the concepts I discuss and consider expanding upon the ideas within the Warriors universe or with their own cats.
ContributorsGarcia, Johnny Nico (Author) / Bateman, Heather (Thesis director) / Meloy, Elizabeth (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor, Contributor) / School of Art (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
Enzyme Replacement Therapy (ERT) is a treatment often used for patients with disorders that affect the production of various enzymes within the body, such as Cystic Fibrosis and Fabry Disease. ERT involves the use of artificially-produced enzymes, which can be derived from humans, pigs, and bacteria. Generally, enzymes derived from porcine and bacterial sources are much less expensive and more accessible than those derived from a human source. This, and the ethical implications that porcine enzymes carry, make the decision of choosing treatment simple to some and complex to others. Ethically, human-derived enzymes are often considered more ethical, while not conflicting with religious beliefs and practices as porcine-derived enzymes do.
In order to further compare porcine and human-derived enzymes, a determination of the enzyme effectiveness was done via digestion simulation. The digestion for both the human and porcine-derived enzymes consisted of three steps: oral, gastric, and intestinal. After the digestion, the absorbance for each enzyme class as well as a dilution curve of the formula used was read and recorded. Using the standard dilution curve and the absorbance values for each unknown, the formula and thus enzyme concentration that was lost through the reaction was able to be calculated.
The effectiveness of both the human and porcine enzymes, determined by the percent of formula lost, was 18.2% and 19.7%, respectively, with an error of 0.6% from the spectrophotometer, and an error of about 10% from the scale used for measuring the enzymes. This error was likely due to the small mass required of the enzymes and can be prevented in the future by performing the experiment at a larger scale.
In order to further compare porcine and human-derived enzymes, a determination of the enzyme effectiveness was done via digestion simulation. The digestion for both the human and porcine-derived enzymes consisted of three steps: oral, gastric, and intestinal. After the digestion, the absorbance for each enzyme class as well as a dilution curve of the formula used was read and recorded. Using the standard dilution curve and the absorbance values for each unknown, the formula and thus enzyme concentration that was lost through the reaction was able to be calculated.
The effectiveness of both the human and porcine enzymes, determined by the percent of formula lost, was 18.2% and 19.7%, respectively, with an error of 0.6% from the spectrophotometer, and an error of about 10% from the scale used for measuring the enzymes. This error was likely due to the small mass required of the enzymes and can be prevented in the future by performing the experiment at a larger scale.
ContributorsBlevins, Brianna R (Author) / Martin, Thomas (Thesis director) / McILwraith, Heide (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / School of Molecular Sciences (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The relationship between user experience, learning, and psychology is complex. There are many rules and concepts that guide experience design. It is likely that some of the guidance is valid whereas other guidance is not. This explores some of that guidance and evaluates how they are linked to learning. Do the guidance’s made 25, 50, 100 years ago still hold true today? Additionally, the psychological background behind the way someone holds memory is important. Knowing how information is stored and processed helps educators provide the best learning experience possible. With an eye toward perception and cognition, this paper examines the relevance of the various pieces of guidance. The results suggest that, overall, this guidance is still valid and valuable to current learning trends and designs. This suggests that user experience designers for education need to pay attention to the guidance provided by psychology when designing learning management systems, placing content in a course, and choosing which aesthetics to follow.
ContributorsLapujade, Lily Ann (Author) / Branaghan, Russell (Thesis director) / Roscoe, Rod (Committee member) / Human Systems Engineering (Contributor, Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The purpose of this study is to understand if there is a demographic variable that predicts science literacy, and if science literacy makes one less likely to believe in pseudoscience. The demographic variables that were tested were age, gender, religion, political affiliation, highest degree completed, field aforementioned degree is in, and industry in which one is employed. Participants were given 40 statements in total and asked to select whether they strongly agree, somewhat agree, neither agree nor disagree, somewhat disagree, and strongly disagree with that given statement. Statements ranged from scientific facts to historical conspiracies, superstitions and myths. All the data was examined as a whole, followed by comparisons between demographic data and statements. Overall, men were more likely to answer science related questions correctly, while women believed more in conspiracies and myths. Although some trends were identified in the other demographic data sets, the beliefs were either too inconsistent or lacked enough data points to be considered significant. Thus, gender was the only demographic that could be used to predict one’s beliefs.
ContributorsMiller, Dana (Co-author) / Shrum, Madelyn (Co-author) / Sukharev, Maxim (Thesis director) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
In 2019 the beauty industry was valued at $532 billion and is continuing to grow at lightning pace (Biron). Clearly, the beauty industry is profitable, so why have so few people bothered to study it? In the Barrett thesis database, as of 2020 there were less than half a dozen theses addressing the cosmetic industry, compared to nearly 50 projects concerning football. In response to the lack of study in academics and general public knowledge concerning the history and impact of cosmetics, the multi-part podcast series, Making Ourselves Up: The History and Impact of Cosmetics/Makeup was created by Kaley Scott, a fashion and sociology student. The personal nature of makeup and cosmetics, making the intimate forum of a podcast the perfect medium. The podcast operates in five episodes. First is: Making Ourselves Up, Makeup Fueling our Memories and Selfhood which contains personal narratives of makeup through interviews, establishing the intimate and wide-reaching effects of cosmetics and makeup. The second and third episodes: How We’ve Made Ourselves Up, from Cleopatra to Helena Rubenstein and How We’ve Made Ourselves Up, from Elizabeth Arden to Glossier cover the entirety of the history of makeup and cosmetics, focusing on western beauty. The third episode: Making Faces, Applying Makeup, the Theories that Let Us Create which focuses on techniques and theories of color and makeup application. Lastly is, Making Change, Cosmetics as a Current of Social Change which reveals how cosmetics have led to social change and continue to allow us to reinvent our society and ourselves. Makeup and cosmetics have been incredibly important for the creator for much of her life and she created this project with the aim of proving how important they are to the rest of the world.
ContributorsScott, Kaley Wynter (Author) / Sewell, Dennita (Thesis director) / Aiello, Diane (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
The Tale of the Tigers is a children’s picture book in which a tiger named Guava is transported from his world of Serenia to our world. In an attempt to find someone to help him with this situation, Guava meets another tiger named Papaya. After having his prey scared away by Guava, Papaya begins to explain the different hardships and dangers that tigers face in their natural habitat. Papaya also teaches Guava about the different programs and activities that humans have been doing to help increase and restore tiger populations. At the end of the story, Guava returns to his world and spreads awareness to those that live in Serenia about how tigers are threatened in other places and what’s being done to help them. Papaya uses basic ecological concepts to explain the importance of tigers in their ecosystem. These concepts include habitat loss, trophic levels, landscape fragmentation, and poaching. The story also incorporates different conservation methods, including captive breeding and the use of camera traps.
ContributorsMooney, Lena (Author) / Jesse, Lewis (Thesis director) / Meloy, Elizabeth (Committee member) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
A phenomenon of intense transmission of light has been observed from optical response to subwavelength structures in metal film. Using numerical simulation, an incident plane wave propagates toward a thin film of silver with a subwavelength slit and groove. This thesis explores parameters, such as slit-groove distance, location of placed molecules, and molecule resonance, which affect the transmission of light through the slit. It is shown how the eigenenergies of the system vary with slit-groove distance. Two scenarios were investigated; a) molecules placed inside groove and b) molecules placed inside slit. It is found that the most dramatic effect on transmission by molecules is with molecules inside slit.
ContributorsGilbert, Alia (Author) / Sukharev, Maxim (Thesis director) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / Engineering Programs (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
FCU4Health is an adaption of an evidence-based program to address the pediatric obesity epidemic in the United States. Qualitative interviews were conducted with nine program providers to understand possible cultural variation in family engagement with the program. Interviews were coded to develop a scheme that identifies themes among the coordinators’ experiences through a grounded theory approach, narrowing the scope of topics discussed to create a specific theoretical framework that integrates categories of coordinator experiences. Results showed that the prioritization of what families’ needs are and what resources/parenting modules coordinators utilize followed Maslow's hierarchy of needs, putting child health and safety at the forefront. Barriers to family engagement with the program and with coordinator recommendations are largely cross-cultural and socioeconomic in nature due to not having enough time to follow-through with work/family obligations. However, there were some specific cultural groups such as Latino multigenerational families and immigration status that did pose similar barriers across multiple families that allowed for more generalized themes for those particular cultural groups. Other individualized case studies presented by coordinators showed nuances in barriers to resource utilization between cultural groups at the familial level. In addition, multiple coordinators stated that their most successful resources in engaging families have come with resources that have collaborations with other organizations. In order to address the barriers to accessing health-related services for low-income families that are disproportionately individuals of minority cultural groups, it is vital to have cross-sector collaboration as a mindset towards finding effective and all-encompassing resources for these vulnerable individuals. The non-profit, public, and private sector each have unique strengths that can contribute to reducing health disparities for those suffering with pediatric obesity.
ContributorsThompson, Adam Richard (Co-author) / Berkel, Cady (Thesis director) / Gutierrez, Veronica (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Watts College of Public Service & Community Solut (Contributor) / College of Integrative Sciences and Arts (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05