Digital Commons Network^™

Minimizing The Cost Of Guessing Games, Lindsay Czap

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

A two-player “guessing game" is a game in which the first participant, the “Responder," picks a number from a certain range. Then, the second participant, the “Questioner," asks only yes-or-no questions in order to guess the number.

We will introduce guessing games in which the Responder is allowed to lie. Guessing games with lies are closely linked to error correcting codes, which are mathematical objects that allow us to detect an error in the information that we receive and correct these errors. We will give basic definitions in coding theory and show how error correcting codes allow us to still …

Mutagenic Studies Of A Unique Cysteine Ligase Enzyme, Emily David, Paul Cook

Student Summer Scholars Manuscripts

BshC is the final enzyme in a three step pathway for the synthesis of bacillithiol, a compound that enables resistance to fosfomycin in Gram-positive bacteria. BshC is unique from other enzymes of its kind because of an additional ADP binding site and inactivity when studied in the laboratory. To explore BshC function, several site-directed mutants have been selected within the ADP binding pocket. Fluorescence assays have been utilized on the wild-type BshC and one mutant, Y510Q. We determined that Y510Q does not bind ATP as effectively as wild-type BshC. These fluorescence assays will be utilized on W506L, E384A, and H386A …

De Gustibus Non Disputandum Est, William Henry Ferguson Mfa

All Student Scholarship

De Gustibus non Disputandum Est is a collection of essays striving to describe a world, natural and emotional, that in the eyes of this author needs attention. The essays hope to express ways of ameliorating our out of control spiral towards the destruction of beauty and kindness.

Investigating The Influence Of Professional Development On Teacher Perceptions Of Engineering Self Efficacy, Stephen D. Marquis Phd

All Student Scholarship

This mixed-methods study examines the influence of a professional-development intervention to support educators in the integration of engineering education at the elementary level. Particular consideration focused on the evolution of teachers' perceptions of engineering self-efficacy following engagement in professional development intended to support the introduction of engineering in selected grade-five classrooms.

Grit And Self-Control As Predictors Of First-Year Student Success, Stacyann B. Stewart Phd

All Student Scholarship

The objective of this exploratory quantitative study was to investigate the relationships between grit, self-control, and the first academic semester of college students, and determine if the relationships differed by gender. Two research questions were examined; (1) What are the relationships between the individual factors of grit, self-control, and first-semester college GPA? And do they differ by gender? and(2) What combinations of factors (grit, self-control, high school GPA, and SAT scores) best predicts first-semester college GPA? And do they differ by gender? The study investigated 88 first-time, first-year college students and their academic success during their first college semester using …

Building Resilience In Children With Hearing Loss In General Education Classrooms: A Guide For Parents And Teachers Of The Deaf, Stephanie Elizabeth Micucci

Independent Studies and Capstones

The focus of this study was to provide a summary of the existing literature concerning resilience in children who are deaf and hard of hearing in general education classrooms. The goal of highlighting factors that contribute to the development of resilience in children with hearing loss was to provide parents and deaf educators with an understanding of why building resilience in children is important and how they can support the development of resiliency.

Investigating Self-Efficacy And Potential Contributing Factors For Adolescents Who Are Deaf Or Hard Of Hearing, Aimee Gao

Independent Studies and Capstones

This study investigates the self-efficacy beliefs of adolescents who are deaf or hard of hearing in regards to perceived academic self-efficacy and self-efficacy for self-regulated learning. In addition, it examines any relationships that personality traits and difficulties listening in educational settings may have with these beliefs.

W415.2-002b-04 - Memorabilia: Diplomas And Certificates: 1910-1919, Memorabilia

University Archives Finding Aids

No abstract provided.

Professional Judgment Study Report, Augenblick, Palaich, And Associates (Apa)

Lincy Institute Reports and Briefs

This report summarizes the Professional Judgment (PJ) Study conducted by Augenblick, Palaich, and Associates (APA) for the Lincy Institute at University of Nevada, Las Vegas (UNLV). The Institute commissioned the PJ study as part of a review of Nevada’s school funding system. The review called for studies like this one to update the 2006 Nevada education funding adequacy study. This current study is an adequacy study examining the base cost and adjustments needed for students in Nevada to meet state standards. In the early 1990s, states began to implement Standards-­‐Based Reform in education. By implementing Standards-­‐Based Reform, states set standards …

Standard Specifications For Road And Bridge Construction, January 1, 2015, Tennessee. Department Of Transportation.

TDOT Standard Specifications

No abstract provided.

Multimedia Learning For Increasing Knowledge On Energy Efficiency And Promotion Of Proenvironmental Behavior: A Study Of Undergraduate Students In Costa Rica, Yoselyn Walsh

Open Access Theses

Promotion of energy efficiency practices among household has been employed in many interventions with a varying degree of success, mainly on developed countries. The purpose of the study is to promote and measure knowledge of proenvironmental behavior in undergraduate students in the Costa Rica Institute of Technology. The intervention used for this purpose provided personal and altruistic information about the impact of energy consumption activities in household. People’s perceptions and attitudes about behaviors that contribute and mitigate climate change were also investigated. Participants were students from undergraduate programs who are also inhabitants of the residence hall provided by the institution. …

The Simultaneity Of Beginning Teachers’ Practical Intentions, Aaron Zimmerman

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Teachers use their practical intentions – their in-the-moment goals and concerns – to craft their spontaneous classroom decisions. This research study explored the content of (and relationship between) beginning teachers’ practical intentions by asking six student teachers in mathematics to participate in a stimulated recall interview of their teaching. These interviews were analyzed for the different practical intentions that teachers articulated as having experienced as they taught. Four prominent categories of practical intentions were found: the desire to maintain lesson momentum; the desire to cover content; the desire to support student needs; and the desire to foster independent student thinking. …

Moving Beyond Compliance: Promoting Research-Based Professional Discretion In The Implementation Of The Common Core State Standards In English Language Arts, Rebecca Woodard, Sonia Kline

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

State- and local-level mandates are currently being implemented to ensure strict compliance to the new national Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts (CCSS for ELA) and related assessments. These standards provide many potential opportunities to improve literacy education nationally and locally. However, the CCSS for ELA will likely face several implementation problems. Their content does not always comport with what research reveals about grade level progressions, text complexity, close reading, writing, and new media literacies. Such issues can result in gaps between research-based instructional practices and what teachers actually do in the classroom. Moreover, there are serious concerns …

The Influence Of Momentary Goal Structures, Diana Janet Zaleski

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Adolescents’ cognition is influenced by a dynamic educational environment. Studies examining the influence of schools, classrooms, and teachers often overlook the momentary variation found in these environments and the effect this variation has on student cognition. Using an achievement goal theory framework, this study examined the momentary variation of goal structures in high school science classrooms and their influence on students’ cognitive engagement using objective observations and the Experience Sampling Method, a unique data collection method that elicits students’ momentary subjective experiences related to the momentary classroom goal context. The results of this study indicate that goal structures significantly vary …

The Impact Of Educational Policy On English Learners In A Rural Indiana School Corporation, April M. Burke

Mid-Western Educational Researcher

Indiana English learners (ELs) constitute a rapidly growing portion of the state’s school-aged population, and those classified as limited English proficient are low performers on the state test. The purpose of this embedded mixed methods study was to understand how school personnel respond to accountability mandates, interpret test scores, and make decisions on behalf of ELs. Interviews were conducted with four administrators and three EL teachers from a rural Indiana school corporation (i.e., school district) with one of the state’s largest EL populations. In addition, four years of student test scores from the corporation were analyzed. Findings indicate that in …

Contents

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

No abstract provided.

Synthesis, Characterization And Anti-Proliferative Activity Of An Imidazolium Salt And Its Silver Carbene Complex: Utilization Of Picolyl And Quinolylmethyl Substituents, Cari E. Molnar

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The imidazolium salt (IS) and silver carbene complex (SCC) studied in this report are 3-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-1-(quinolin-2-ylmethyl)imidazolium chloride (1) and 3-(pyridin-2-ylmethyl)-1-(quinolin-2-ylmethyl)imidazole – silver acetate complex (2). It was anticipated that the anti-proliferative activity of 1 and 2 would be similar to other characterized ISs while having increased solubility. The SCC (2) was synthesized in order to simulate the ligand-metal coordination similar to that of cisplatin.

The success of the synthetic processes of 1 and 2 were determined by ¹H NMR (300 MHz) spectroscopy. In addition, 1 was also characterized by ¹H NMR (500 MHz) …

Electronic Health Record Simulator, Samuel M. Brown

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The Electronic Health Record Simulator is exactly that; it is meant to simulate an EHR (like those found in hospitals and clinics) for use in an academic setting. Its purpose is to familiarize students with the operation of real-world EHRs in order to better prepare them for the workforce. It allows instructors to create fictional patients (with full lab values), and allows students to fill in information as in a real EHR.

Automatic Turning Movements Identification System: Intersection Error Analysis, Brandon Ross Orr, Joseph Thomas Lanni

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

To lessen congestion at intersections, traffic identification systems are placed at roadway intersections in order to collect vehicle data. These traffic identification systems include various types of detectors that can identify the presence of vehicles in real-time. However, these detectors can only detect their presence and not their turning movements. To fix this issue, The University of Akron has developed a program that can automatically identify vehicle turning movements and is called the Automatic Turning Movement Identification System, or ATMIS. ATMIS uses mathematical algorithms to compute the vehicle’s turning movements based on a sink and feed detector paring. During traffic …

First In The Family: A Comparison Of First-Generation And Non-First-Generation Engineering College Students, Dina Verdin, Allison F. Godwin

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

This study investigates first-generation and non-first-generation engineering undergraduates’ math/science identities, subject-related interests, and career plans. First-generation students are an understudied, but growing population. Understanding how these self-beliefs and background factors affect students’ engineering choice can help widen pathways into engineering which continues to be defined as “pale and male.” Additionally, identity has predictive value for practical outcomes like engineering choice in college. The data for this study comes from the nationally representative Sustainability and Gender in Engineering (SaGE) survey completed by 6,772 college students who enrolled in first-year English courses at 2- and 4-year colleges across the U.S. …

The Antitumorigenic Function Of Egfr In Metastatic Breast Cancer Is Regulated By Expression Of Mig6, Michael Wendt, Whitney K. Williams, Pete E. Pascuzzi, Nikolas G. Balanis, Barbara J. Schiemann, Cathleen R. Carlin, William P. Schiemann

Borch Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology Faculty Publications

Numerous studies by our lab and others demonstrate that epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) plays critical roles in primary breast cancer (BC) initiation, growth and dissemination. However, clinical trials targeting EGFR function in BC have lead to disappointing results. In the current study we sought to identify the mechanisms responsible for this disparity by investigating the function of EGFR across the continuum of the metastatic cascade. We previously established that overexpression of EGFR is sufficient for formation of in situ primary tumors by otherwise nontransformed murine mammary gland cells. Induction of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is sufficient to drive the metastasis …

Qualitative Study Of First-Generation Latinas: Understanding Motivation For Choosing And Persisting In Engineering, Dina Verdin, Allison F. Godwin, Jennifer Morazes

School of Engineering Education Graduate Student Series

Latina undergraduates pursuing an engineering degree continue to be an underrepresented group at four-year universities. Compared to their male counterparts, fewer women enter the field of engineering; however, of those Latino/as who do matriculate, they have the same likelihood of persisting as their White counterparts. Furthermore, a dearth of underrepresented students such as Latino/as and first-generation college students enter or remain in the field of engineering. The need for increased gender and racial/ethnic representation in engineering is a documented need allowing for the production of a wider range of innovative products that take into consideration different perspectives that represent the …

The Importance Of A Strong Mathematical Foundation, Jasmine M. Wriston

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

The mathematical skills students learn from kindergarten through eighth grade are the foundational skills upon which all higher level mathematics courses build. It is highly beneficial that students master previous mathematics concepts, applications, and skills, prior to learning algebra and other higher level mathematical courses. Mastering elementary and middle level mathematics before learning algebra increases students’ chances for success when taking an algebra course. This study tested 39 ninth and tenth graders, from the college preparatory program Upward Bound, on the mathematical domains of fractions and ratios/proportions. Participants took one of two tests, each composed of three questions increasing in …

The University Of Akron Exercise Science: Pre-Physical Therapy: Past, Present, Future, Jonathan E. Vichosky

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to increase Akron’s knowledge on opinions of the effectiveness of the current Exercise Science: Pre-Physical Therapy Program among its alumni. A cross-sectional retrospective study was done to gain a better understanding of The University of Akron’s opinion of its students on the effectiveness of the current Exercise Science: Pre-Physical Therapy Program. METHODS: A single contact survey was sent via email through Qualtrics to the University of Akron Exercise Science: Pre-Physical Therapy students from this current graduating year (2014-2015) as well as graduates from the past four years. This survey included questions on the …

Origins Of Life On Earth: Mineral Effects On Vesicle Formation And Permeability, Jacob Morris

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Understanding how life could have emerged on Earth is a very old problem that is still far from being resolved. Minerals have long been proposed to play a role in the formation of the first cell, but only few experimental data were reported concerning the mineral-lipid interactions. In the present work, calcein leakage assay, a fluorescence based experiment, and dynamic light scattering measurements were used to examine the effects of mineral properties and of MgCl₂ on the formation and the stability of vesicles formed from single-chain amphiphiles (SCA), which are believed to have been present on early Earth. The …

Enhanced Child’S Play Lan Design, Nicholas B. Bordo

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Child’s Play is a charity event hosted by the student chapter of the Association for Computing Machinery at the University of Akron. This event allows people to compete in various video game tournaments while simultaneously raising money for charity. In order to make this possible, a network is crucial. However, in previous years, the performance has been poor. The goal of this project is to implement a new network design which will offer more functionality and reliability than in previous years. This network will be able to operate completely inside of an existing network on a temporary basis. This design …

An Examination Of District Goals Across Cultures, Brad J. Gasser

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

School districts strive for success for their students. Success can be measured in a variety of ways, such as school projects and test scores. However, the most accurate way to define success would be through the accomplishment of a specific goal. This study explores the nature of goals across three Ohio school districts, as well as a school in the Dominican Republic. The methodologies of the project were to interview one administrator and two teachers from each of the school districts, and then observe each of the teachers that were interviewed. After the interviews and observations were conducted and examined, …

Synthesis And Characterization Of Imidazolium Salt Derivatives For Anti-Tumor Activity, Ryan W. Pearce

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Several aldehydes (butanal, pentanal, hexanal, 4-hydroxybenzaldehyde) were reacted with 1,3-bis(naphthalen-2-ylmethyl)-imidazolium bromide (1) to produce novel C² substituted imidazolium salts for the potential use against non-small cell lung cancer in humans. Compounds 2-(1-hydroxypentyl)-1,3-bis(naphthalen-2-ylmethyl)-imidazolium bromide (3) and 2-(1-hydroxyhexyl)-1,3-bis(naphthalen-2-ylmethyl)-imidazolium bromide (5) were successfully synthesized with structures supported by NMR and mass spectrometry. Characterization by ¹H NMR showed evidence of 1 in both compounds. The tumor cell growth inhibition of 3 against non-small cell lung cancer lines NCI-A549, NCI-H460, HCC827, and NCI-H1975 was tested and found to be comparable to cisplatin as measured by MTT assay. …

Segregating The Effects Of Seed Traits And Common Ancestry Of Hardwood Trees On Eastern Gray Squirrel Foraging Decisions, Mekala Sundaram, Janna R. Willoughby, Nathanael Issac Lichti, Michael A. Steele, Robert K. Swihart

Department of Forestry & Natural Resources Faculty Publications

The evolution of specific seed traits in scatter-hoarded tree species often has been attributed to granivore foraging behavior. However, the degree to which foraging investments and seed traits correlate with phylogenetic relationships among trees remains unexplored. We presented seeds of 23 different hardwood tree species (families Betulaceae, Fagaceae, Juglandaceae) to eastern gray squirrels (Sciurus carolinensis), and measured the time and distance travelled by squirrels that consumed or cached each seed. We estimated 11 physical and chemical seed traits for each species, and the phylogenetic relationships between the 23 hardwood trees. Variance partitioning revealed that considerable variation in foraging investment was …

The Relationship Among Math Anxiety, Mathematical Performance, And Math Education In Undergraduate Nursing Students, Joshua D. Beall, Troy Roebuck, Paul Penkalsky

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

Although nurses spend up to 40% of their day calculating and administering medication doses, undergraduate nursing students often perform poorly on nursing math exams. The purpose of this study was (a) to examine the relationship among mathematical education, performance, and anxiety and (b) to compare the mathematical education, performance, and anxiety in sophomore and senior baccalaureate nursing students at a public university in the Midwest. This cross-sectional, descriptive study was guided by Bandura's self-efficacy theory. Math performance was measured with an 11-item math instrument, math education was measured with number of math courses, and math anxiety was measured with Fennema–Sherman …