Education Commons^™

Disparities In Covid-19 Rates Among Various Demographics And Lack Of Racial Representation In Medical Texts, Diangelo Gonzalez

Celebration of Learning

The 2019 novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, which originated in Wuhan, China in December of 2019, has impacted nations all over the globe. Given the health disparities which existed within the United States prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, this pandemic continued to pose a significant challenge to the health of the public. The aims of this research study were twofold: (1) to analyze the incidence rates of COVID-19 among different racial and ethnic groups within the United States and (2) to describe the occurrence of diversity within medical texts. Overall, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated health disparities within the United States. Understanding …

Standardization Of Methods For Characterizing The Physiological Profiles Of Aquatic Microbial Communities Using Ecoplates, Kim Phan, Madalyn Murillo

Celebration of Learning

Microbial physiology is often studied by observing pure cultures of isolated organisms grown in a lab setting. This approach is not realistic when trying to understand how a community of bacteria, which includes a variety of bacterial species, is functioning while coexisting in a specific ecosystem.

By using BioLOG EcoPlates, the metabolic functioning of a microbial community in response to 31 different carbon sources may be assessed in just one plate. Each well in an EcoPlate contains a single common carbon source and a tetrazolium dye that will turn purple in color if any microbe in the sample is able …

Graphs And Cad: Analyzing The Experience Of A Mechanical Engineering Intern, Matthew Des Biens

Celebration of Learning

A reflection on the experiences of a mechanical engineering intern at Bergstrom Inc., this presentation, by Senior Matt Des Biens, will discuss what it was like working for a manufacturing and design company making HVAC units for large customers across the world. The highlights will be on the projects he worked on, the things that he learned, and his views on working for the company as a whole.

More Than Man's Best Friend, Sarah Rushing

Celebration of Learning

With Viking Pups starting to be more active again, we wanted to do a presentation to remind people of different laws that protect service dogs and service dogs in training. We also would like to cover the differences between service dogs and other working dogs. And if it would be allowed, we would like to share some of our clients testimonies, in order to give individuals a better glance at how much of a difference a service dog can make. We originally decided to propose a symposium day presentation because one of the main goals of the club is to …

The Effect Of Democracy, Development, Religion And Science On Animal Welfare, Sydney Richardson

Celebration of Learning

This project examined the determinants of animal welfare across five countries: India, New Zealand, Spain, Sweden and the United Stated. The dependent variable of animal welfare was measured based on the Animal Protection Index (API) developed by the World Protection, a global non-profit organization. Democracy, development, religion and science were major areas that were evaluated to determine if there were correlations with the API. Correlation with the API was tested by using the Pearson Correlation Coefficient. A Country’s Freedom House scores were used to evaluate Democracy. Development examined each country’s Human Development Index from the UN’s Human Development Reports and …

Snake Fungal Disease In Lake Eerie Water Snakes And Its Affect On Attitude And Behavior During Treatment, Kelcie Fredrickson

Celebration of Learning

Snake fungal disease (SFD) is caused by the fungus Ophidiomyces ophiodiicola. Infection occurs when the outer skin is breached, and the organism enters the epidermis. The epidermis becomes necrotic and produces a yellow/brown crust. When the crust breaks off, ulcerations/lesions are formed along the snake’s body, head and tail. It has been found that SFD can be treated with a terbinafine nebulization treatment. Ellen Haynes, a PhD student, created a study in which 26 Lake Eerie water snakes are separated into treatment and control groups to determine the effectiveness of the nebulization treatment. Through daily observations, this research aimed …

Motivation And Confidence: More Than Cheerleading, Dr. Paul Olsen

Celebration of Learning

What empowers self-confidence in athletic performance? Most of us know the psychology and language of motivation in positive reinforcement: "way to go"; "good work"; "I believe in you" are some examples. It's a sort of "cheerleading." But confidence goes much deeper into the realm of how the athlete understands the "existential self" in the world. Is he more than a point getter? Is she more than "all-conference" or a "record holder"?

Literature (novels, poetry, essays) often demonstrates that the depth of confidence is found in demonstrative love. If one feels worthy of love, and the love is demonstrated, fear of …

Code Switching In A Bilingual Workplace, Montserrat Ricossa

Celebration of Learning

Bilingual people often find themselves in a situation where they switch from one language to another. As with the number of Spanish speakers exponentially increasing in the United States, “code-switching” within Spanish and English is more noticeable within work spaces. When and where does code switching occur? Why does it occur? And how will it affect a work space? This essay will argue that code switching can be used within any environment, regardless of class or education. First, it’s important to know the history of code switching and how it differs from Spanglish. “In-groups” can be formed with basic similarities …

Beware The Cat In The Hat: How Children's Literature Is The Modern Form Of Segregation, Lucy Kebler

Celebration of Learning

Every person grows up exposed to children’s literature. Unfortunately, much of the children’s literature that is published is racially discriminatory, historically inaccurate, blatantly offensive, or pure propaganda. The research for this presentation began in Augustana College’s library and has transitioned to a much broader space: The Saint Louis Country Library. Through this research, it has become obvious that diverse literature is hard to find and is often marketed as only readable for those in the minority race depicted. Many libraries mark literature that contains African Americans, as to help “guide” readers in their selections. Books labeled in this way make …

Love Through Justice In Niebuhrian Thought, Giselle Loucks

Celebration of Learning

It is not a rare occurance to hear that love is the main principle of Christianity. And certainly that is justified. After all, when asked what is the greatest commandment, didn’t Christ respond that loving God with all one’s mind, heart, soul, and body along with loving thy neighbor as thyself? But what does that mean and how does it play into how Christians interact with the world around them? I plan to use Reinhold Niebuhr, a celebrated theologian of the 20th century, to investigate this very question. I will examine his view on love in Christianity but particularly in …

Like Lighting: An Investigation Into Bainton And Marius’S Account Of Luther Through Biography, Autumn Loucks

Celebration of Learning

Synthesizing and critically analyzing Roland Bainton and Richard Marius’ biographical approach to Luther, I will argue that Martin Luther’s theological development of Justification of Faith was partially triggered as a method that absolved Luther of his religious fears.

Consumer Capitalist Christmas: How Participation In Christmas Frames Us As Religious Subjects, Shelby Burroughs

Celebration of Learning

Christmas seems to start earlier and earlier every year. It starts with the music that plays on the radio, then retail stores begin to drape their shelves with red and green streamers, followed by Christmas movies running on every other channel. Every December, Christmas feels almost inescapable. The holiday manages to find its way into every facet of public life in the United States. Christians and non-Christians alike find themselves exchanging gifts with friends and loved ones on the 25th of December every year. Christmas is able to be so pervasive because of how unassuming it is. You participate in …

Selenomethionine Protects Mutant Tau N27a Cell From Oxidative Stress And Decreases Phosphorylation Of Tau, Madelin Locicero

Celebration of Learning

Alzheimer’s Disease (AD) is neurodegenerative disease characterized by loss of cells and aggregated tau in the hippocampus. Hyperphosphorylated tau causes the misfolding of tau proteins (aggregated tau), which are responsible for proper neuronal activity. Selenium-methionine has been known to decrease the amount of phosphorylated tau within mutant and wild type 3xTg- AD mice. However, selenium can be toxic to cell depending on the type of cells and the concentration of selenium. The purpose of this study is to determine the effect selenium-methionine has on decreasing hyperphosphorylation of tau, protecting cells from oxidative stress, and decreasing the amount of aggregated tau …

Invertebrate Diversity Of Ponds Within Gremel Wildlife Sanctuary And Amboy Marsh, Dalton Howard, Madison Lape

Celebration of Learning

This project tested the water quality of different ponds and used macroinvertebrates as the overall indicator. The invertebrates give us a lot of knowledge about the health of the ecosystem and possible pollutants that could be harming the environments.

Investigating The Benefits Of Virtual Reality On Student Acquisition Of 3d Anatomical Information, Dr. Kevin Flaherty, Juliana Pinheiro, Benjamin Karger

Celebration of Learning

Virtual reality (VR) technology is becoming more accessible within educational settings due to price decreases and greater software availability. VR is particularly useful for teaching anatomy, as students often struggle to learn the three-dimensional relationships between body structures from two-dimensional images in textbooks. Using funds from Augustana’s Pedagogy and Technology Grant, we purchased and assembled a VR workstation and began researching the effectiveness of VR in anatomy education. The early results of this research show that students exhibited substantial increases in their knowledge anatomical structures and their ability to reconstruct the three-dimensional relationships between anatomical structures after 30 minutes using …

The Just And The Unjust: Ernest Hemingway And Protest Literature In Response To Civil Disobedience In The Context Of The Two World Wars, Trang Hoang

Celebration of Learning

By obeying unjust laws, human beings give up their own opportunity to live in a humane world. Henceforth, the two World Wars stand remarkably as situations that conscience of morality has to be placed on top of obedience to ensure the essence of human existence, and a failure to do so led to not only the deaths and exhaustions worldwide but also the collapse of human love and human responsibility to love. Protest literature, especially Ernest Hemingway's novels allow people to reflect on this philosophy through an artistically credible lens.

Celebration Of Learning 2019 : Full Program, Augustana College, Rock Island Illinois

Celebration of Learning

The Celebration of Learning began as a student research symposium in 1997, and is the result of hundreds of hours of collaborative work between students and faculty members.

This annual event gives students the opportunity to share their scholarly and creative work and be a part of a campus-wide community of learners. Student presentations and performances run concurrently with faculty panels on scholarship and teaching. Featured student, faculty, and alumni speakers are scheduled throughout the event.

Augustana’S Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: How Augie Can Establish An Innovative And Entrepreneurial Campus Culture, Kristoffer Kizer

Celebration of Learning

How prepared are you to thrive in our global high-skilled workforce? Do you process the skills to solve the world’s most complex social problems? Do you have a desire to launch your own venture one day? Regardless of your deepest dreams, goals, aspirations, or ambitions my Senior Inquiry is a living document on how Augustana can foster innovative and entrepreneurial thinking on campus to solve complex issues on the local, national, and global levels. This project is an in-depth strategic proposal designed to offer Augustana’s senior leadership, administration, faculty, and additional stakeholders cutting-edge insights and creative recommendations on how Augustana …

Project Whirligig: Modeling The Swarming Behavior Of Whirligig Beetles, Jared Haeme, Kyle Mccaw, Tan Nguyen, Tyler May

Celebration of Learning

This project involved the automatic identification and extraction of whirligig beetle locations from video frames using a variety of computer vision and machine learning methods, and tracking the beetle locations over time. Preliminary work was also done on agent-based computer simulation that aims to replicate the beetles' swarming motions.

Music Therapy In The Modern Era: Three Discussions, Kate Pisarczyk, Sean Harty, Victoria Kleeman

Celebration of Learning

This Senior Inquiry presentation includes the findings of three Pre-Music therapy senior’s research. The three projects delve into very different, but important aspects of music therapy in our modern era. Sean Harty's Memory and Music delves into the impact of music on different parts of the aging brain in regards to memory recall. Music therapy is one avenue in order to assist this type of clientele. Victoria Kleeman's Synergy Should Tell the Story in Music Therapy explores the idea of creating synergy within the world of music therapy. Her discussion leads with the idea that the creation of synergy comes …

Pumping Up Breastfeeding: A Toolkit For Black Wic Mothers, Hannah Kiel

Celebration of Learning

Breastfeeding rates have been increasing since the 1970’s, but the rates for black mothers in the United States are still significantly below the average. Because breastfeeding is one of the best preventative health measures for mother and child, it is important for as many people to breastfeed as possible. Using the Social Cognitive theory of behavior, a careful analysis of breastfeeding studies was conducted to determine the best interventions and resources for successful breastfeeding. Based on this research, the resources were compiled and posted to an easy-to-access online toolkit, which can be accessed through a search engine or through a …

Factors Of Student Success, Vanessa Beck

Celebration of Learning

The purpose of my study is to understand student success in college. I focused a large amount of my research around extracurricular activities out of the classroom, which include clubs, sports, faculty interaction, employment, and time spent on preparation for classes. In order to understand student success, I sent out a survey to 200 students enrolled in Augustana to evaluate their responses to see what they spent their time doing. I paid close attention to the number of hours students spend on various activities each day. The results allowed me to understand student habits, and how their involvement in extracurriculars, …

Lead Contamination In Scott County Iowa, Nick Torres

Celebration of Learning

Lead is a potent toxin that has long been used for various industrial applications. Most commonly used for exterior and interior painting, lead was banned in 1978 once strong evidence indicated that it is an extremely dangerous element that leads to a multitude of neurological conditions. Scott County, Iowa has experienced high levels of child lead poisoning since 2000, having over 1,600 documented poisonings, bringing Scott County four times over the national average. The Upper Mississippi Center is working toward a solution to this problem through research into the presence of lead in local homes, with 27 homes sampled, and …

Investment Spending And Gdp, Kevin Zaldivar

Celebration of Learning

This study's mission is to give a modern day analysis to investment spending and to provide insight to the degree of impact certain investments have on our GDP. This should interest local,state,and federal policy makers as well as anyone who practices their civic duty.

Augustana Winter Traditions: Musical Traditions, Rocio Barron, Johnathan Briggs, Mikee Pagdanganan

Celebration of Learning

The students of History 369: Oral History & Testimonio plan to present five separate posters. These posters will draw on many oral history interviews completed with members of the Augustana Community, past and present, as well as extensive research into the archives held by both the Swenson Center for Swedish Immigration Research and the Augustana College Special Collections. Each research poster will focus on a separate topic related to winter traditions at Augustana College, including (1) Sankta Lucia, (2) Food Traditions (especially Smorgasbords), (3) Musical Traditions (like the Messiah, Lessons & Carols, and Christmas at Augustana), (4) Non-Christmas Traditions (including …

Augustana Winter Traditions: Non-Christmas Traditions, Abigail Carus, Alexander Lamendola, Mikaela Ferrera

Celebration of Learning

The students of History 369: Oral History & Testimonio plan to present five separate posters. These posters will draw on many oral history interviews completed with members of the Augustana Community, past and present, as well as extensive research into the archives held by both the Swenson Center for Swedish Immigration Research and the Augustana College Special Collections. Each research poster will focus on a separate topic related to winter traditions at Augustana College, including (1) Sankta Lucia, (2) Food Traditions (especially Smorgasbords), (3) Musical Traditions (like the Messiah, Lessons & Carols, and Christmas at Augustana), (4) Non-Christmas Traditions (including …

Augustana Winter Traditions: The Joy Of Christmas Celebration At The Jenny Lind Chapel In Andover, Victoria H. Witkowski, Julia Meyer

Celebration of Learning

The students of History 369: Oral History & Testimonio plan to present five separate posters. These posters will draw on many oral history interviews completed with members of the Augustana Community, past and present, as well as extensive research into the archives held by both the Swenson Center for Swedish Immigration Research and the Augustana College Special Collections. Each research poster will focus on a separate topic related to winter traditions at Augustana College, including (1) Sankta Lucia, (2) Food Traditions (especially Smorgasbords), (3) Musical Traditions (like the Messiah, Lessons & Carols, and Christmas at Augustana), (4) Non-Christmas Traditions (including …

Augustana Winter Traditions: Food Traditions, Andrew Remeselnik, Adam Huffstutler

Celebration of Learning

The students of History 369: Oral History & Testimonio plan to present five separate posters. These posters will draw on many oral history interviews completed with members of the Augustana Community, past and present, as well as extensive research into the archives held by both the Swenson Center for Swedish Immigration Research and the Augustana College Special Collections. Each research poster will focus on a separate topic related to winter traditions at Augustana College, including (1) Sankta Lucia, (2) Food Traditions (especially Smorgasbords), (3) Musical Traditions (like the Messiah, Lessons & Carols, and Christmas at Augustana), (4) Non-Christmas Traditions (including …

The Four Minute Mile----And The Entire Sport World Is Changed, Paul Olsen

Celebration of Learning

Roger Bannister died recently, and he should be remembered as the man who changed sport----as well as an understanding of human possibility---forever. In 1954 this medical student at Oxford University navigated a world full of both hope and fear, of perceived physical limitation, historical "proof," physical exhaustion, naysayers from all angles including the press, coaches, and fellow athletes. Throughout that journey, Bannister grasped at what he called "rhythms arising from nerve impulses and contracting muscles which interact . . . with a feeling of beauty . . . which might otherwise remain locked away inside ourselves."

Recovery As A Journey, Not A Destination: Providing Those Who Suffer From Mental Health With Holistic And Multifaceted Recovery Options, Emma Larson

Celebration of Learning

Mental health in the United States affects 1 in 5 people every year. It is a serious public health problem because it interferes or limits life activities substantially. Not only does mental ill health decrease quality of life for those suffering from it, it also creates barriers to healthy lifestyles and increases risk of addiction to drugs and alcohol. Battling mental illness from multiple different aspects allows individuals to reach full recovery faster. Through observation of client problems and daily stressors at Transitions Mental Health Services in Rock Island, lack of knowledge about resources, options, and educational tools was identified. …