Digital Commons Network^™

A Comparative Study Of Incidence Of Domestic Violence Between Immigrant And Non-Immigrant Women In The United States Of America, Nadia A. Gordon, Urmi Ghosh-Dastidar, Janet Liou-Mark, Shamita Dasgupta

Publications and Research

Immigrant women in the USA come from various socio-economic, cultural, and religious backgrounds. Some of these women suffer from domestic violence; however, due to their strict cultural or social structure, they often stay quiet and rarely report these incidents to the authorities. Additionally, since these immigrant women face more challenges than their non-immigrant peers, they are more reluctant or unlikely to leave their abusive partners. An analysis was completed using published data as an attempt to establish if any statistically significant differences exist between reported incidences among immigrant women and non-immigrant women. A chi-square analysis (χ² = 14.53; p-value …

The Impact Of Peer-Led Workshops In An Intermediate Algebra Course For Women, Minorities, And First-Generation College Students, Malika Ikramova

Publications and Research

The implementation of the Peer-Led Team Learning (PLTL) instructional model have shown to increase student pass rates and decrease failure and withdrawal rates in foundational mathematics courses. New York City College of Technology has implemented mandatory PLTL workshops in selected sections of MAT 1275: Intermediate Algebra and Trigonometry. Students spend an hour working collaboratively with their classmates guided by peer leader. Results from this study showed gender, ethnicity, and first-generation college student differences in their responses on the effectiveness of peer supported groups in this fundamental mathematics course.

Juggling Junior Year: The Junior Leadership Experience, Natascha Borgstein

Senior Honors Projects

In 2017, the Center for Student Leadership Development (CSLD) piloted a program entitled Sophomore Breakthrough Experience as an incentive for students to become interested in leadership and pursue a leadership minor. Along with the specific Freshman year and Senior year courses and programs that were already offered by the CSLD, Junior year was then the only year without a main CSLD event. Therefore, I helped design and execute a program specifically for the Juniors at URI. For many students, Junior year represents a shift in focus that can be especially stressful. Many important decisions need to be made and skills …

I Am Oz The Great And Powerful: Elevator Pitches To Pull Back The Curtain On The Value Of Technical Services, Susan Ponischil, Beth Johns, Francene Lewis

Presentations

When asked about your work, what do you say? Technical services staff make things happen behind the curtain, so to speak. Communicating the value of that work to a variety of stakeholders, especially in light of shrinking budgets and shifting demands is more important than ever. This facilitated discussion will provide an introduction to the art of elevator pitches and prompts to get you started.

Towards High-Empathy Hiring: Implementing Leading Practices For More Inclusive Recruitment, Sarah Beaubien, Annie Bélanger, Scott Ayotte

Presentations

Have you ever wondered if the interview process could be a kinder, more accessible experience, meant to develop connections? Would you like to critically examine practices in the hiring process to ensure empathy to applicants going through the process? In taking a closer look at our own practices, collaborating with the Office of Inclusion and Equity, we have made changes, which have led to a more positive experience for candidates and our organizational outcomes.

Sharing Our Value Through Critical Librarianship, Mary Kickham-Samy, Joshua Neds-Fox, Susan Ponischil, Virginia C. Thomas, Zoë Mclaughlin

Presentations

A critical theorist framework is not new to librarianship or its literature. But, what does the practice of critical librarianship look like in the workplace? A panel of practicing librarians who embrace this perspective share their “boots on the ground” experiences and insights with program participants. Panelists represent several functional areas of academic librarianship including technical services, public services, collection development, instruction, and administration. Our goal is to inspire dialog and collaboration among academic librarians who wish to continue challenging power and privilege in transformative ways.

Virtual Reality: Redefining Humanity, Danielle Mclean

Publications and Research

Humanity commonly refers to the human race but also the characteristics shared by all human beings. To be human, biologically, is to simply resemble that of the human species. But besides the biological make-up, to be human is having the desire to achieve happiness. This poster presents the outcome of my reflections and research in the terms of what I believe to be the most important quality of humanity by depicting what it means to be human in a virtual world.

Exploration Of The Lessons Learned By Students Attending Peer-Led Workshops, Fahmida Akhter

Publications and Research

The study is conducted with students attending an additional one-hour a week peer-led workshop associated with their Pre-Calculus class. The study focuses on the following research questions: Do peer-led workshops help students become better at problem solving? What are the lessons learned from peer-led workshops that can be useful and applicable in future courses? Data will be collected through administrating surveys to the students in the peer-led workshop. The data will be organized, analyzed and presented at the poster session.

Students' Perspective On Enjoyment In Mathematics Classes, Yasmine A. Soofi, Miralia Moreou, Nadia Kennedy

Publications and Research

The project will focus on students’ perspective of enjoyment in mathematics. The research questions that will be explored are: 1) Do students enjoy math classes? If so, what aspects of the classes they find enjoyable and why? If not, what aspects they do not enjoy and why? and 2) What do students think would make the math classes more enjoyable? Data will be collected by administrating surveys to students from two mathematics courses. The data will be organized, analyzed and presented at the poster session.

Dulces, Deleites Y Demás S.L., Mikaela Nielsen

Student Work

No abstract provided.

Titanium Dioxide Sensitized With Porphyrin Dye As A Photocatalyst For The Degradation Of Water Pollutants, Kevin Reyes, Ivana Jovanovic

Publications and Research

TiO2 was sensitized with a porphyrin, Tetra(4-carboxyphenyl) porphyrin(TCPP) and used as photocatalyst under visible light for degradation of aqueous solutions of methylene blue (MB) dye. The quantification of the degradation of MB was assessed by UV-Vis spectroscopy. The results of this procedure showed the decrease in concentration of MB over time when reaction is exposed to visible light. The TiO2-TCPP complex was tested as well for the recovery of metals from the AgNO3 aqueous solution. The reduction of silver cations to silver metal was observed through formation of black precipitate.

The Effects Of Contrast With Compression Therapy On The Recovery Of Muscle Glycogen After A Bout Of Resistance Exercise, Vincent Colantuono

Senior Honors Projects

Contrast with compression (CwC) therapy is commonly used by athletes to reduce pain and swelling and improve the rate of recovery of strength after intense exercise. Muscle glycogen is an important energy source for many athletes and is often a rate limiting factor of performance in prolonged high intensity sports. It is presently unknown if CwC affects the rate of muscle glycogen recovery after exercise. PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to use a recently developed CwC device to determine if its use after an intense bout of resistance exercise affects the rate of intramuscular glycogen recovery. METHODS: The …

How To Discuss Politics Without Wanting To Kill Someone, Jessica Craven

Senior Honors Projects

Studies conclude that from 1990 to today, American society has become increasingly politically polarized, making cooperation among people who hold opposing views difficult and striking compromise on issues increasingly unlikely. Polarization is a major impediment to effective policy-making and communication; which is necessary for policy decision-making and implementation.

The first step to effective cooperation is an open conversation between opposing sides. This project seeks to determine methods, based on moral framing, that create an open conversation between proponents of opposing views on a given political issue. The national gun debate, gun rights versus gun control, was used to create political …

Morals And Martial Arts: A Woman's Place Of Empowerment Through Judo, Sydney Wall

Senior Honors Projects

This study explores the experiences of women within the world of judo, a combat sport derived from ancient samurai hand-to-hand combat techniques. Although judo was founded as a sport in the 1880s, there was no women’s section until 1923 and, even then, women were barred from competition out of concern for its impact on their ability to have children. It would not be until 1992 that women’s judo became a part of the Olympic program. These limitations on women’s participation have simultaneously resulted from and contributed to the association of judo with notions of masculinity. Despite almost thirty years of …

Evaluating The Efficacy And Safety Of Transitioning Patients From Natalizumab To Ocrelizumab (Octave), Kyle E Smoot, Kiren Kresa-Reahl, Pavle Repovic, Jessica Craddock, Chiayi Chen, Lindsay Lucas, Tiffany Gervasi-Follmar, Stanley Cohan

Books, Presentations, Posters, Etc.

No abstract provided.

Mission Not Impossible: Creative Tools For Proactively Increasing Ir Content, Jennie Vance

Southern Miss Institutional Repository Conference

A healthy repository needs new material for growth. However, reaching out to busy faculty for recently published articles can be difficult. In this presentation, we will discuss simple and open source techniques that can empower staff to proactively add new materials to the collection without relying on direct faculty communication.

Communicative Challenges Of Reintegrating Veterans, Arnaldo Gallegos

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Research shows that communication in the transition from active duty to military veteran provides several challenges. Communication on active duty is reported as clear and explicit in its hierarchic relations. Communication with civilians can at first be cryptic and only implicitly hierarchic. On active duty, a service member relies on the chain of command for medical needs. Afterwards, veterans must take initiative to ensure healthcare needs are met. Veterans communicating about employment must put military experience into terms that civilian employers understand or risk settling for less prestigious and lower paying jobs in the civilian workforce.

Philosophy And Economics: A Study Of Institutions, Nina Macaraig

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

In this thesis I investigate institutions from a philosophical perspective and then apply this framework to modern-day technology.

Mentality: Promoting Social Change Through Design, Rommel Ballesteros

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

In “Mentality: Promoting Social Change Through Design,” I will discuss design’s potential to spark discussion and inspire social change. These themes will be explored through the examination of Mentality, a concept for a men’s self-care kit, which aims to normalize and promote the awareness of mental health while also bringing to light certain gender disparities in attitudes towards such topics. Through this analysis, I hope to demonstrate the importance of curated aesthetics in everyday life as a powerful tool for social change, as well as to highlight the designer’s responsibility to be aware of the implications and influence of their …

“Paying” The Way For A Better Bart Future: A Call For Better Enforcement Of Fare Evasion Policies And Strategic Planning At Bart, Ethan S. Tan

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

The Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system has undoubtedly shaped the way the San Francisco Bay Area operates today. BART has molded itself to becoming a popular form of transportation for citizens of the area. However, numerous problems have arisen in recent years in regard to the overall “healthiness” of the BART system with its ex-aging fleet of trains, undertrained staff, lack of BART Police presence, rampant illegal drug use, etc. which has made BART unpopular with riders. The root cause of these problems through, is the lost revenue through “stolen” rides. At any one of BART’s 48 stations in …

Modernizing The Hermit Kingdom: Bridging The Economic And Cultural Gap Through Soft Power Diplomacy, Jane Son

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Modernizing the “Hermit Kingdom”:

Bridging the Cultural and Economic Gap through Soft Power Diplomacy

Following the Korean War, the Republic of Korea embraced modernization and rose as an economic power while its Northern counterpart employed isolationist policies and acquired the name “Hermit Kingdom.” In recent years, however, the “Hermit Kingdom” is exhibiting potential for change in under the Kim Jong-Un regime. In the wake of continued economic strife, shifting East Asian political dynamics, and insecure power consolidation, Kim appeared in the international scene with a different attitude: eagerness for dialogue. Such change in Pyongyang’s political stance engenders renewed hope for …

Deep Learning, Medical Physics And Cargo Cult Science., Miguel Romero Phd, Gilmer Valdes Phd, Timothy Solberg Phd, Yannet Interian Phd

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

Deep learning algorithms have become widely popular, with considerable success in fields where datasets have hundreds of thousands or million points. As deep learning is increasingly applied to the fields of medical physics and radiation oncology, a reasonable question follows: are these techniques the best approach, given the unique conditions in our field? In this study, we investigate the dependence of dataset size on the performance of deep learning algorithms compared with more traditional radiomics-based methods.

Silenced Voices: Remedying The Historical Suppression Of Felons And The Black Vote, Isabel Tayag

Creative Activity and Research Day - CARD

The disenfranchisement of felons in the United States evolved from a historical precedent brought to the Americas during colonization. Our country adopted the political philosophy that shaped criminal voting laws around the country—criminals are unable to govern themselves and therefore unable to govern a country; their participation in our government would be danger to the purity of the ballot box. With rising racial tensions after Reconstruction, preserving the purity of the ballot box became a preservation of the white vote. This paper argues that felon disenfranchisement became a tool to further suppress African American after poll taxes, literacy tests, and …

Assessing Woody Species In The Philadelphia Urban Forest: Foraging Potential Versus Actual Practices, Sarah Becker

Environment and Sustainability Presentations

No abstract provided.

The Effects Of Being Labeled Smart By Friends: Burden Or Benefit?, Lauren Feldman, Isaac Abrams, Charlotte Bernot, Alexa Delmonte, Deegan Miller

Psychology Presentations

No abstract provided.

Working As A Digital Liberal Arts Fellow, Tiffini Eckenrod, Shelby Carmichael, Rahsaan Sailes

Library Presentations

No abstract provided.

Assessing Creativity In Bottlenose Dolphins (Tursiops Truncatus) In A Controlled Setting, Madison Bradley, Fabiana Persic, Ryan Sledzik

Academic Festival

Cetaceans, like bottlenose dolphins, are well known for their complex and highly developed cognitive capacities. Earlier research demonstrated these dolphin’s abilities to perform creative novel behaviors but the degree of creativity for the behaviors produced was not assessed. For this study, we adapted tests of human creativity to investigate creativity in 12 bottlenose dolphins (Tursiops truncatus) in managed care. The data were analyzed for fluency of behavioral responses. After 4 test sessions, the results indicated that the dolphins performed different behaviors for 45.6% of trials. On average, the dolphins performed 18.88 different behaviors whether they received reinforcement or …

Creativity In Artificial Intelligence: How Artificial Intelligence Can Advance The Healthcare Field, Ryan Hayes

Academic Festival

Artificial intelligence (AI) is making its way through the modern world, but not everyone is as welcoming of it. The purpose of this poster will be to find how AI has been used in the healthcare field, how the field may progress if AI is more widely embraced throughout the field, and debunking common public perceptions that may be keeping AI from achieving its full potential. Research shows that major benefits of AI in the healthcare field include increased diagnostic accuracy, increased surgical precision, and possibly in the nearby future, increasing prescription adherence rates.

The Negative Effects Of Workplace Gender Bias And Strategies For Improvement, Samantha Byalick

Academic Festival

A shocking disparity in gender imbalance is apparent in all industries, and this inequality will not improve unless it is prompted to. Although workplaces have improved significantly with improved equality in treatment and in pay, women today still face many stereotypes and biases that prevent them from achieving the same career experiences as men. Historical views have contributed to these stereotypes, which affect women through obstacles that cause them to be seen differently. These discriminatory obstacles lead to wage gaps between women and men in almost every industry, and to other injustices as well, from overt sexual harassment to subtle …

Singularity And The Threat Of Artificial Intelligence, Ryan Litwin

Academic Festival

Artificial Intelligence. This is a term that is unfamiliar to so many, yet so unknowingly familiar to everyone. Artificial intelligence is advanced technology that has the power to think for itself, often making decisions and evaluating data for us. These scientific advancements make human life exponentially easier on almost every level of our lives, yet we are largely unaware of its presence in our world. Ultimately, the idea of this technology becoming smarter and even out thinking the human mind is a dangerous reality of the future. Singularity in human life is growing and is closer than we realize, whether …