Digital Commons Network^™

Molecular Characterization Of Penstemon Scariosus (Plantaginaceae), Mikel R. Stevens

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The objectives of this project: Our objective was “to develop an understanding of the genetic structure of the varieties within P. scariosus. With a specific intent to test the hypothesis that P. scariosus var. albifluvis is distinct within P. scariosus” while mentoring no less than four undergraduate students. We have meet and exceeded the academic objectives proposed and then funded by this MEG as attested to in the following paragraphs and attachments to this report. As a result of our most excellent success in this project we have four additional students who are volunteering on the project. It is our …

Fairy-Tale Teleography And Visualizations (Fttv), Jill Terry Rudy

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of Academic Objectives This project has leveraged data processing and visualization methods that are becoming significant paradigms in digital humanities scholarship; specifically, we have repositioned the existing teleography of fairy tales on television from Channeling Wonder into a data corpus that can be mined and analyzed visually, spatially, and temporally.

Evolution Of The Photopigments In The Largest And Most Complex Terrestrial Animal Eyes, Seth M. Bybee

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met The proposal had three main aims: 1). Produce a phylogenetic estimate of aeshnid dragonfly evolution from transcriptomes. 2). Use the phylogeny from Aim I and the photopigments isolated from the transcriptome data to examine the evolution of aeshnid color visual systems and 3) Using independent and complimentary methods (in situ hybridization, qPCR and transcriptome data) to examine both the distribution and level of expression for each photopigment for one focal species (Anax junius). Goals one and two were both successful, however goal three became bogged down and only …

The Neurobiological Basis Of Memory Specificity: The Influence Of Context And Re-Encoding, Dr. Brock Kirwan

Journal of Undergraduate Research

At a general level, we know that the information that is successfully encoded in and retrieved from long-term memory is influenced by the context during encoding and retrieval. However, we do not yet know how context affects mnemonic discrimination of similar or overlapping items or events. Further, we do not yet know what the effect is of retrieving the wrong information (or false recognition) on the original memory representation. Here, I propose to lead a group of students in an investigation using functional MRI (fMRI) on the effects of context on a neural process called pattern separation that is thought …

Project Final Evaluation: Parent Training In Southeast Europe: Strengthening Families Of Children With Autism In Macedonia, Blake D. Hansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to evaluate program to education parents of children with autism in the Republic of Macedonia, located in Southeastern Europe. Macedonia has many factors that made it an important research site. Poverty rates, ethnic conflict, and access to professional resources make parenting a child with autism very difficult in Macedonia. This project sought to alleviate some of these burdens by providing a training model where parents trained each other on simple interventions to help their children.

Ianimate: Exploring The Use Of Animation And Virtual Environments In Educational Settings, Ryan O. Kellems

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met

The academic objectives of the grant were met. During the course of the study there were four independent research sites where the intervention was delivered and data was collected. The results form several of theses studies has been published and the conceptual ideals from the project have also been published. This funding has also provided the foundation for the current work I am doing. There is currently one other data set from the grant under review and another manuscript in the final stages of preparation.

The Effect Of Nr4a3 On Functional Beta Cell Mass, Jeffery S. Tessem

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The academic objectives of this Mentoring Environment Grant (MEG) were to 1) train undergraduate students in the scientific process to prepare them in careers as physicians and scientists, and 2) to determine if the in vitro phenotypes observed in Nr4a3 deficient beta cell lines are translatable to the Nr4a3 KO mouse. . We were successful in accomplishing these objectives, as evidenced by the training of four undergraduate students, presentation of research and local and national meetings, and initial preparation of a manuscript reporting our findings. While we did have difficulty breeding these mice, this study gives us the basis of …

Family Health History: What’S The Best Tool?, Dr. Gaye Raye, Dr. Karen Whitt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to mentor undergraduate nursing students as they worked on a project to identify the most effective tools for collecting family health history and to assess the impact of knowledge of family health history on preventive health behaviors. This project helped to identify tools that can be used to collect family health history and provided evidence that informs clinical practice. This project provided multiple mentoring and learning opportunities for undergraduate nursing students. Those mentored had opportunities to prepare manuscripts and present study findings at conferences and directly see how evidence is translated into practice. Mentored …

N404 What Our Students Learn Through Serving Our Veterans Meg 2015 2016 Final Report, Ron Ulberg

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The academic objectives of the MEG proposal were met and exceeded. Specifically, students were exposed to local and national venues in which Veterans and their history are prevalent. Examples of this include visits by the students and faculty to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Arlington National Cemetery, US Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, WW I Memorial, WW II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Museum of American History, etc. We also met with Senator Mike Lee from the State of Utah to discuss issues pertaining to our Veterans.

Intensive Mentoring And Micro-Electronics Research For Students In Engineering (Immerse) 2016 Mentoring Environment Grant, Aaron Hawkins

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The MEG funds used for this projects supported undergraduate students working in the IMMERSE program starting in the Summer of 2016. IMMERSE employed a total of 49 students. Portions of the hourly wages charged by these students for their research work came from this MEG grant.

The Effects Of Media On Ambivalent Sexism, Career Aspiration, And Help-Seeking Attitudes Toward Mental Health Services, Niwako Yamawaki

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met I proposed some academic objectives that students must achieve through the research project, entitled above. First, students were expected to create three 15-minutes video clips. Through this activity, they have learned about ambivalent sexism, identified examples of ambivalent sexism, learned how to run focus groups, and improved technical skills dealing with media. Second, Students must submit an IRB application for this project. Their application was successfully approved, and they have learned research processes, conducted literature reviews, improved writing and hypothesis building skills, and received training in ethical issues …

Paris Flute Class At The Ecole Normale De Musique, April Clayton

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Thank you for funding our grant request, which enabled five flute majors to travel to Paris, France, during the summer of 2016. We were awarded a total of $16,000. Each student’s full tuition of $1600 was covered, as well as full housing costs of $600/student for two weeks. Each student was given help covering her plane ticket to Paris with the remaining grant money.

Family Health History: What’S The Best Tool?, Dr. Gaye Raye, Dr. Karen Whitt

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project was to mentor undergraduate nursing students as they worked on a project to identify the most effective tools for collecting family health history and to assess the impact of knowledge of family health history on preventive health behaviors. This project helped to identify tools that can be used to collect family health history and provided evidence that informs clinical practice. This project provided multiple mentoring and learning opportunities for undergraduate nursing students. Those mentored had opportunities to prepare manuscripts and present study findings at conferences and directly see how evidence is translated into practice. Mentored …

Learning History: Understanding And Facilitating Improvement In Clinical Microsystems, Dr. Bret Lyman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The academic outcomes of the proposal were generally met (and exceeded). The proposal specified that four students would be involved in the mentoring environment, yet we found it possible to include eight students in faculty-mentored research efforts. Although only three students applied for ORCA grant funding (rather than the proposed four), the MEG Grant was sufficient to support nine students’ professional presentations and six students’ peer-reviewed publications. Five students will be continuing to work on projects made possible by this grant, including writing for publication and developing/testing research instruments based on our findings. We anticipate all ten students will ultimately …

Investigating The Processes And Outcomes Of Theistic Spiritually Oriented Psychotherapies, Dr. Scott Richards

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The MEG grant I was awarded for the academic years 2015 and 2016 funded two projects:

(1) Review of the research literature about the state of the evidence based on spiritually integrated psychotherapies.

Completed Academic Objectives:

a. completed literature search b. wrote manuscript summarizing and discussing findings c. presented findings at APA and AMCAP conventions (American Psychological Association, Denver, Colorado, August 2016, and Association of Mormon Counselors and Psychotherapists, Salt Lake City, October 2016, and American Psychological Association, Washington, DC, August 2017) d. submitted manuscript for publication consideration

(2) Data analysis and reporting the findings of two practice-based evidence studies …

Meg Final Report: Peer Teaching Teamstepps, Dr. Michael Thomas

Journal of Undergraduate Research

1. Have student teaching assistants in the N293 Communication for Nurses Lab course and untrained faculty members attend the TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer course.

-This objective was met at a very high level. Funds from the MEG paid for four student teaching assistants and two faculty members to attend a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer course at a regional training site. At this training, I was able to make a connection with the director of the TeamSTEPPS national implementation team. Through this connection, I was able to coordinate a 2 day TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer course training on-site at BYU for 55 full and …

N404 What Our Students Learn Through Serving Our Veterans Meg 2015 2016 Final Report, Ron Ulberg

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Evaluation of how well the academic objectives of the proposal were met: The academic objectives of the MEG proposal were met and exceeded. Specifically, students were exposed to local and national venues in which Veterans and their history are prevalent. Examples of this include visits by the students and faculty to Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, Arlington National Cemetery, US Capitol, Lincoln Memorial, Washington Memorial, WW I Memorial, WW II Memorial, Korean War Memorial, Vietnam War Memorial, Museum of American History, etc. We also met with Senator Mike Lee from the State of Utah to discuss issues pertaining to …

Meg Final Report: Peer Teaching Teamstepps, Dr. Michael Thomas

Journal of Undergraduate Research

1. Have student teaching assistants in the N293 Communication for Nurses Lab course and untrained faculty members attend the TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer course.

-This objective was met at a very high level. Funds from the MEG paid for four student teaching assistants and two faculty members to attend a TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer course at a regional training site. At this training, I was able to make a connection with the director of the TeamSTEPPS national implementation team. Through this connection, I was able to coordinate a 2 day TeamSTEPPS Master Trainer course training on-site at BYU for 55 full and …

Learning History: Understanding And Facilitating Improvement In Clinical Microsystems, Dr. Bret Lyman

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The academic outcomes of the proposal were generally met (and exceeded). The proposal specified that four students would be involved in the mentoring environment, yet we found it possible to include eight students in faculty-mentored research efforts. Although only three students applied for ORCA grant funding (rather than the proposed four), the MEG Grant was sufficient to support nine students’ professional presentations and six students’ peer-reviewed publications. Five students will be continuing to work on projects made possible by this grant, including writing for publication and developing/testing research instruments based on our findings. We anticipate all ten students will ultimately …

Family Foundation Of Faith Mentoring Environment Grant (2015-2016):, Dr. Justin Dyer, Dr. Michael Goodman, Dr. Mark Ogletree

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The project met several academic objectives. The first was to collect the initial round of data for the Family Foundations of Faith project. Data were collected from over 600 families and were cleaned and prepared for use. With students, three paper proposals were created and accepted to the 2017 National Council on Family Relations conference. These papers will also be submitted to academic journals for publication. Given the extensiveness of the data, they will be mined for years to come, answering critical questions about youth faith development. In sum, the academic objectives of the project have been realized.

Enhancing Social, Emotional, And Language Learning In Children With Language Impairment., Bonnie Brinton, Phd, Martin Fujiki, Phd

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Introduction: We were extremely grateful to receive a 2016 Mentored Environment Grant. Our project was entitled Enhancing Social, Emotional, and Language Learning in Children with Language Impairment. The purpose of this project was to employ a multiple baseline, single subject design to investigate the efficacy of a social communication intervention designed to foster emotional and language learning simultaneously for children with developmental language disorders (language impairment). The treatment program was designed to be administered within the service delivery model (and constraints) of the public school system.

Siena And The Other: Looking At The Tenshō Embassy In Siena, Lydia Breksa, Eric Dursteler

Journal of Undergraduate Research

During the early modern period in Italy (1400s-1700s), nobles and organizations (e.g., guilds, oligarchies etc.) established a pattern of using artwork to demonstrate their power, standing in society, and relevance to current events. The exchange of diplomatic visitors, known as embassies, was common at this time and interactions with these dignitaries from other states in Europe, are examples of events recorded in the form of art or literature. Interactions with unusual visitors, such as moor slaves, were also recorded. While the pattern of recording interactions in the form of art and literature was pervasive, it was curiously lacking for the …

Approaching Arabic Automatic Speech Recognition With Usage, James Longstaff, Deryle Lonsdale

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The purpose of this project is to improve Arabic automatic speech recognition (ASR) by distinguishing between different dialects with the use of machine learning. Machine learning is the teaching of computers to recognize and distinguish between categories by themselves. Machine learning works off of statistical and mathematical algorithms implemented with computer programming.

Examples Of Egyptian Iconography Of Late Bronze Age Canaan, Amanda Buessecker, Jeff Chadwick

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The globalized Late Bronze Age world was one of sophisticated trade, conquest, and foreign influence in many of the Old World’s nations. Archaeological excavations in modern Israel have revealed numerous artifacts of Egyptian origin and style within Canaan’s Late Bronze Age. The Late Bronze Age in Canaan encompasses the 18th through 20th dynasties in Egypt, and evidence of Egyptian control in Canaan is manifest throughout the reigns of Tutmoses III, Amenophis III, Akhenaten, Ramses II, and Ramses III. Egyptian administrative centres have been recorded at Megiddo, Beth Shean, Jaffa, and Deir el-Balah. My intent was to determine the nature of …

Using Aviris And Machine Learning To Map And Discriminate Bull Kelp And Giant Kelp Along The Pacific Coast Of The United States, Tanner Thompson, Dr. Ryan Jensen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Kelp forests provide food and shelter for many organisms, and they are an important part of coastal ecosystems throughout the world. Along the Pacific coast of the United States, kelp forests are made up of two species of kelp: bull kelp (Nereocystis Leutkana) and giant kelp (Macrocystis Pyrifera). While similar, these two species are physiologically and structurally different.

Glutathione-Mediated Oxidative Response In Uvb-Irradiated Hacat Cells, Patrick Badger, Dr. Jason Hansen

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Ultraviolet light (UV) plays a critical role in the etiology of skin cancer, contributing to over 95% of both melanoma and non-melanoma diagnoses. It consists of several wavelengths, among which UVB is the most harmful, causing inflammation associated with sunburn and constituting the principal cause of skin cancer-related death.

Postmodern And Early Modern Theology: Derrida Meets Calderón The Derridean Parergon And Painting Theory In Calderón’S El Pintor De Su Deshonra, Camilo Mejia, Matthew Ancell, Phd.

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Simone Heller-Andrist’s The Friction of the Frame ingeniously employs the Derridean parergon as a methodological approach to analyze the mechanisms involved in the reading process. In The Truth in Painting, Derrida uses the term parergon in the context of a frame in a painting. The parergon is the frame of a painting and a part of the work that is commonly disregarded but influences and manipulates the interpretation of the work. Hence the parergon presents an interaction between the canvas of a painting, and its surroundings. It is neither purely inside nor outside, but it performs and operation that acknowledges …

Sequencing Complete Genome Of Cutthroat Trout Subspecies For Purposes Of Improving Classification Of Cutthroat Trout Species, Emily Brown, Dr. Dennis Shiozawa

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Since the 1800s, biologists have studied cutthroat trout native to Western North America. Their early work and classification were based on the standards of the day: meristics, the observation and counting of physical features, and morphology. Further improvements came through later studies that added geographic distribution to their phylogenetic classification. Without the foresight of DNA genotyping methods, “traditional taxonomic assessments often failed to accurately capture phylogenetic diversity.” Many discrepancies have since arisen as genetic methods shed new light on cutthroat trout subspecies phylogenies. Current mtDNA work has identified errors in historical classifications of several of these subspecies in the Colorado, …

An Efficient Method For Generating Conditional Cell Lines For Cellular And Molecular Research, Mark Roth, Dr. Jonathan Alder

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Conditional cell lines are widely used throughout biochemical research. The basic concept is that you can delete a gene you are studying upon the addition of a drug, to cells in culture, and then use the knockout cells to study the genes effects. This process has been facilitated by the advent of the CRISPR/Cas9 system that allows a broad range of genome editing in living cells. Cas9 introduces a double strand break in DNA at a site specified by the CRISPR (guide RNA), and by changing the CRISPR sequence researchers can introduce these double strand breaks almost wherever they want. …

Implementation Of Recurrent Neural Nets In Forecasting Macroeconomic Indicators, Christ Rytting, Dr. Kerk Phillips

Journal of Undergraduate Research

Drivendata.org says “In the year 2000, the member states of the United Nations agreed to a set of goals to measure the progress of global development. The aim of these goals was to increase standards of living around the world by emphasizing human capital, infrastructure, and human rights.”