Higher Education Commons^™

Ohiohealth Population Health Diabetes Prevention Program, Erica Kick

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

OhioHealth Population Health works to provide programs for the community in which they are of no cost. This allows for individuals to be provided with the education they need to live a more sustainable life. The following Program "ENGAGE" looks at diabetes education and management in ways that helps the participants better understand their disease and how to handle things going forward.

Fall Faculty Conference 2022, Academic Affairs

Fall Faculty Conference

The Fall Faculty Conference featured a talk entitled Healing Through Connection: Lessons Learned from the Frontlines of Healthcare by Dr. Laurie Hommema, Senior Medical Director, Provider and Associate Well-Being, Ohio Health, Kristi McClure, MSN, RN, and Lois Sallee, MA, CCC-SLP.

Following the community conversation, faculty broke into different sessions that dealt with helping students become ready for Otterbein, advising success, immersive experiences, launching, and succeeding. After the breakout sessions, several faculty members showcased topics they had been working on. Jennifer Merkowitz (Music, 2022 Teacher of the Year) presented Making a Melody, Leesa Kern (Sociology, Criminology & Justice Studies) presented …

Development And Training Of The American Football Quarterback, Kyle Zies

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

The American Football Quarterback position is often argued to be the most important position in all of team sports. The position always requires peak physical and mental performance and elite processing ability. Being explored in this analysis is the training and development methods used in training the quarterback while also analyzing the reasons and validity of the programs being used. Identifying the literature that already exists with published studies regarding the position, comparison of the position to baseball, and a breakdown of the phases of the throwing motion will be the focus of this analysis.

University Presidential Update- July 2022, Academic Affairs

University Updates & Communications from the University President

No abstract provided.

Exploring Ohiohealth Employer Solutions Fitness And Wellness Team, Sammer Hamed

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

Goal 1 I will apply the lessons learned from my coursework by becoming an advocate of corporate fitness and wellness through my research and program creation. Goal 2 I will improve my advocacy for health and wellness in the workplace by increasing my knowledge of workplace health and wellness with research. Goal 3 I will improve my understanding of the changes the pandemic had on corporate health and wellness by learning about the effects of COVID-19 on fitness in the workplace. Goal 4 I will learn about the workplace from a team perspective by integrating myself into the fitness and …

University Presidential Update- May 2022, Academic Affairs

University Updates & Communications from the University President

This is an Otterbein University presidential update to the staff and faculty, informing them on changes to campus.

2022 Great Expectations Spring Faculty Conference, Academic Affairs

Spring Great Expectation Faculty Conference

The 2022 Great Expectations Spring Faculty Conference featured a talk about renewal in file drawers facilitated by Alison Prindle (Professor Emerita of English, INST Chair 1987-1994) and Beth Daugherty (Professor Emerita of English, INST Chair 1994-2000).

After the talk, various groups and departments offered programs that talked about the experiences of the groups, the use of Open Education Resources, and integrating ecological knowledge into the curriculum. The day finished out with a discussion of the 2022-2023 common book, What The Eyes Don't See by Mona Hanna-Attisha.

Exploring Mcconnell Heart Health Center And Member Well-Being Programs, Taylor Harr

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

My practicum was from September 2021 to January 2022. I was with the fitness team and had the opportunity to explore each of the departments within the facility. McConnell Heart Health Center is a facility that provides people the opportunity to improve their overall health. Originally designed for prevention, treatment, and rehabilitation of cardiac wellness, but has expanded to help other aspects of one’s health.

Masman, Paola, Paola Casale Masman

TRHT Oral History Project

No abstract provided.

Making Mental Health Information Accessible To Latinxs Through The Use Of Internet Forums, April Martinez

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

This study was conducted to explore the use of Internet memes as a way to address mental health stigma within the Latinx community. The study measured participants’ mental health prejudice both before and after exposure to a series of memes over a two-week span. The control group was shown memes that did not relate to mental health and the experimental group was shown mental health memes. The results were analyzed both quantitatively, for significant between group differences in posttest prejudice, and qualitatively for emerging themes in the participants’ comments on the memes. Results showed no significant decrease of stigma between …

The Pussy As Prey: Discourses Of Predation And Human Sexual Violence, Paige Skaff

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The pussy is the central focus of this thesis: the pussy as prey, the pussy as the cis-gendered vulva-owning female, the pussy as the effeminate male. The pussy is a source of vulnerability and a catalyst for sexual and gender violence. The term pussy alone aligns the human figure to the nonhuman animal world in euphemistic language. Because an anthropocentric culture accords less respect to the nonhuman animal than to the human animal, the pussy is dehumanized – that is to say, an object without ethical standing that exists to serve the more powerful subject - and therefore, violence against …

Authentic Low-Stakes Practice To Make Meaning Lasting For Ells: Creating Vocabulary Chants And Songs To Enhance The Word Generation Curriculum, Lori Cohen

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

This curriculum creation is designed to supplement the Word Generation (WordGen) vocabulary program for middle school students. It adds songs and chants of the weekly focus words for use as a mnemonic device to remember and synthesize word meaning. The WordGen curriculum is heavily based on reading and writing and English Language Learners (ELLs) are at a disadvantage when tasked with learning and understanding academic vocabulary due to the short length of time for mastery (Cummins, 1999; Collier, 1987; Thompson, 2017). This curriculum is inspired by the desire to appeal to ELLs who would respond favorably to music or kinesthetic …

The Effects Of A Periodized Strength And Conditioning Program On Overhand Throwing Velocity, Underhand Throwing Velocity And Off The Bat Velocity In Diii Collegiate Athletes, Sage Jenkins

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Overhand throwing velocity, underhand throwing velocity and off the bat velocity are measures that impact performance of softball athletes. The purpose of strength and conditioning programs is to improve athletic performance for athletes. Strength and conditioning coaches can achieve this through programming. One aspect of programming that this study looked at is periodization. The purpose of this study was to examine the effects of a periodized strength and conditioning program on these performance measurements in NCAA DIII collegiate softball athletes. Sixteen (n=16) NCAA DIII softball athletes were selected based on their participation on the Otterbein softball team. The athletes underwent …

April 2022 Board Of Trustees Meeting Report, Board Of Trustees

Board of Trustees

No abstract provided.

Resilience In Healthcare During Covid-19: Provider And Associate Well-Being At Ohiohealth, Rachel Dosch

Masters Theses/Capstone Projects

Organization: OhioHealth Department: Provider and Associate Well-Being Site Supervisors: Laurie Hommema, M.D. Kristi McClure Lois Sallee Faculty Supervisors: Dr. Paul Longenecker Dr. Erica Van Dop

Graduate School News Highlights Spring 2022, Otterbein Office Of Graduate Programs

Graduate School

No abstract provided.

News From The Graduate School - Allied Health Spring 2022, Otterbein Office Of Graduate Programs

Graduate School

No abstract provided.

News From The Graduate School - Education Spring 2022, Otterbein Office Of Graduate Programs

Graduate School

No abstract provided.

News From The Graduate School - Educational Mathematics Spring 2022, Otterbein Office Of Graduate Programs

Graduate School

No abstract provided.

News From The Graduate School - Masters Of Business Administration Spring 2022, Otterbein Office Of Graduate Programs

Graduate School

No abstract provided.

News From The Graduate School - Nursing Spring 2022, Otterbein Office Of Graduate Programs

Graduate School

No abstract provided.

Comparative Kinematic Gait Analysis In Adults With Multiple Disabilities, Lauren Rumbalski

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

The purpose of this research is to identify abnormal gait parameters or patterns amongst young adults with multiple disabilities enrolled in a work transition program sponsored by a public-school system. Gait disorders are commonly seen in individuals with neurologic disorders, with significant research in children with autism. Gait disorders have been linked with fall and injury risk, with significant research in elderly populations. Gait analysis technology can be used to identify gait characteristics in populations that are abnormal or contribute to gait disorders. In an observational design, students from the transitional program promoted by Westerville City Schools, housed on Otterbein …

Otterbein Towers Spring 2022, Otterbein Towers

Towers Magazine

Letter From the President; Bold Beginnings; Rewriting the Rules; A History of Striving to do Things Right; Student Life Traditions: For the Good of Our Students; Athletic Traditions: Champions On and Off the Field; We Are a Smarter Way to Learn; A History of Generosity; The Power of an Otterbein Degree; Class Notes

Identification And Characterization Of An Ftsq-Null Suppressor Gene In Streptomyces, Alexandra Sherman

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Streptomyces coelicolor is a filamentous Gram-positive soil bacterium that grows similarly to fungi. The bacteria grow together in a mycelium-like structure that produces aerial hyphae above the media surface for sporulation. Evenly spaced crosswalls develop during cell division of the aerial filaments with the aid of division genes, including ftsZ and ftsQ. These cell division genes are essential for growth in the common bacterium and if silenced will cause the bacterium to die. Streptomyces uniquely retains the ability for growth after a deletion of either the ftsZ or ftsQ gene which causes a loss of septum formation in the …

The Relationship Between Social Media And Political Polarization Among Members Of Generation Z, Hanna Getreu

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

ABSTRACT With this study, I analyze the social media behaviors of ninety-four Generation Z Otterbein Students to evaluate the relationship between social media and political polarization. I distributed an online survey to ask about their social media practices, social media networks, and political identification to best identify aspects of political polarization present through how they used social media. Using Social Learning Theory, Social Identity Theory and Limited Effects Theory as theoretical bases for this work, I identified political polarization using three categories: hostility towards others because of politics, reinforcement of political ideology, and political identification. I find that the majority …

Characterization Of A Medium-Dependent Streptomyces Developmental Mutant, Dylan Gray, Jennifer A. Bennett

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Streptomyces coelicolor is a soil-dwelling, Gram-positive Actinobacteria. Streptomyces species produce thousands of secondary metabolites which include many antibiotics used in medicine today. In Streptomyces development, as colonies grow, secondary metabolites are produced, and ultimately mature spores are dispersed. The production of each of these secondary metabolites in wild-type Streptomyces is determined by a distinct biosynthetic pathway. In order to identify new genes for antibiotic production and other aspects of development, an engineered Tn5-derived transposon was used to mutagenize wild-type cells in vivo and produce single, stable insertions.

Colonies that were visually distinct from the wild type were selected for further …

Studies Toward Provenance Determination For Indigo Dyes, Erin Kibby

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Species of indigo-producing plants have been used to color textiles for thousands of years all over the globe. Natural indigo-producing species have historically been harvested in regions of Asia, North Africa, and North and South America. This study is an exploration of methods that can be used to determine the provenance (origin) of the indigo dye in a textile through the extraction and isolation of indigoids, flavonoids, and other compounds from the natural dyestuff. There is no accepted method of extracting flavonoids from indigo-dyed textiles specifically, and there is little investigation of the regionally different species. If a method is …

Effects Of Temperature And Plant And Animal Diets On Metabolic Rate In The Juvenile Red Eared Slider (Trachemys Scripta Elegans), Taylor Macdonald, Sarah Bouchard

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Specific dynamic action (SDA) is the energy expended during ingestion, digestion, absorption, and assimilation of a meal, and is influenced by meal (type, size, composition, and temperature) and environmental temperature. Understanding the effect of meal type and environmental temperature on SDA in turtles is important in describing how T. s. elegans may acclimate with changing environmental temperatures. In this study, we conducted feeding trials in which we fed juvenile T. s. elegans duckweed and mealworm diets at 25°C and 30°C. We measured the rate of oxygen consumption as a proxy for metabolic rate after feeding for four 30 minute consecutive …

Why Society Mistrusts The Science Of Covid-19, Calvin King

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

In December of 2019 the first known case of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) was identified in Wuhan, China. One month later the virus had made its way to the United States and changed our daily lives forever. Mask mandates, social distancing, stay-at-home orders, and vaccinations have all been measures to help contain the spread of this deadly disease, but many people choose not to engage in these protocols not believing their effectiveness and mistrusting the science that went into making them. In this study a survey was administered to 98 participants online who were asked seven demographic questions and then …

Ohio Anuran Gut Microbiomes, Serena Hoffman

Undergraduate Honors Thesis Projects

Recent studies focusing on the skin and gut microbiome of vertebrates have found how important microbiomes are to maintaining host health. Understanding the role the gut microbiome plays to host health is of great importance for conservation. Less is known about the gut microbiome than the skin microbiome for amphibians. Literature is especially lacking for local Ohio anuran species. The purpose of this study was to establish the baseline composition of the gut microbiome for local Ohio anurans and to determine whether host species or habitat is the best predictor of gut microbiome composition. Tadpoles were collected from seven different …