2021 Faculty Research Poster Session and Research Fair
Permalink for this collection. Use this when sharing or citing this source:https://hdl.handle.net/11310/399
Browse
Browsing 2021 Faculty Research Poster Session and Research Fair by Issue Date
Now showing 1 - 20 of 34
- Results Per Page
- Sort Options
Item Multilevel Models for Single-Case Data: Using Virtual Manipulatives for Students With Disabilities(2021-03-04) Shin, MikyungThe purpose of this study was to synthesize the effects of using virtual manipulatives to increase the mathematical accuracy of students with disabilities over the last 20 years of research. We extracted a total of 1,797 raw data points from 114 cases across 35 single-case studies. By applying three-level multilevel modeling, we analyzed both immediate effects and trends during the intervention phase, in addition to potential moderation effects related to student characteristics (case-level) and intervention features (study-level). The average immediate effect and trend during the intervention were statistically significant. The average immediate effect varied significantly by student grade, disability type, developer, device, type of virtual manipulative, and visual model embedded in virtual manipulatives. Additionally, the visual model embedded in virtual manipulatives significantly influenced the average trend during the use of virtual manipulatives. Datasets and R codes are posted through an online data repository: https://osf.io/wvtxg/?view_only=8272597c1fb342beb40f2f088addcded%C2%A0Item Creating an OER for Texas History(2021-03-04) Stuntz, JeanRecorded Link: https://ensemble.wtamu.edu/Watch/o8K3HwGf | I am creating an open Educational Resource for teaching Texas History at the college level. Currently there is none. I will be using the Handbook of Texas Online plus my own expertise. The result will be a textbook that draws upon the expertise of many that is freely available to students.Item How to Effectively Communicate CSR with Employees? Understanding CSR Communication Effects Through the Lens of Reasoned Action(2021-03-04) Zhang, YafeiThis study examined how employees’ perceived communication about corporate social responsibility (CSR) impacts their CSR engagement, and how the effect is mediated via employees’ CSR-related attitudes, perceived norms, and perceived control. Results, based on a survey (N = 406) of participants recruited from Amazon Mturk, revealed that employee perceptions of CSR communication were positively associated with their CSR-related attitudes, perceived norms, perceived control, and CSR engagement. Findings also indicated the mediation effect from employees’ perceived CSR communication to CSR engagement via CSR-related attitudes and perceived norms. This study contributes to the scant research on employee-centered CSR and suggests CSR as an effective strategy to cultivate relationships with employees and to increase their CSR engagement.Item Planting the Seeds of College and Career Readiness in Preschool(2021-03-04) Coneway, Betty; Hwang, Sang; Goodrich, Jill; Kim, Lyounghee; Egbert, EmileeMany jobs require some type of post-secondary degree or specialized training beyond high school, therefore addressing college and career readiness concepts at an early age may influence young children‚Äôs future success. This mixed-methods authentic case study explores the implementation and challenges of introducing a structured framework to enhance the culture of universal achievement at one non-profit preschool in a rural hub city. The research site is non-profit preschool accredited by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC) which serves predominantly low-income families. The purpose of the study was to discover how the core beliefs of the No Excuses University (NEU) program have influenced awareness of post-secondary opportunities and prospects for educational achievement. Participants included 18 preschool faculty/staff members, 37 parents of preschool students, and 31 preschool students. Adult participants answered online survey questions, while preschool students responded to face-to-face interview questions. Analysis of the collected data revealed that fostering a culture of universal achievement in a preschool setting can enhance young students‚Äô and their families‚Äô awareness of future educational opportunities, increase communication regarding long-term post-secondary goals, and support the development of a positive future story. Conclusions drawn from this study indicate that implementing a structured framework that addresses a variety of educational opportunities can positively influence the child, their parents, members of the school faculty, and the local community. Strategies and effective approaches executed by the preschool include the use of powerful symbolism and multi-faceted collaboration. Some untold challenges to program implementation are discussed. The implications from this research study on early exposure to college and career readiness concepts are applicable to many fields of study.Item Motivators of Pursuing Nursing Education at the Graduate Level(2021-03-04) Loftin, Collette; Phillips, AngelaMotivators of Pursuing Nursing Education at the Graduate Level Abstract Background: As the U.S. nursing shortage continues, there remains a growing need for a highly educated work force. The necessity to pursue a graduate degree in nursing has not been as widely encouraged as the baccalaureate degree. Master’s prepared nurses are essential across a variety of health care settings to serve in leadership, management, and advanced primary provider positions, as well as academic settings as faculty members and researchers. While the percentage of nurses earning a master’s degree has risen gradually, the need for additional highly educated nurses persists as rapid advancements in health care technology including telehealth and informatics occur. Purpose: Having a greater understanding of the motivators to return to school, barriers preventing return, and factors that enable students to persist in a graduate level program will facilitate nursing programs to recruit qualified students and help (facilitate) meet the needs of current and future students. While there is an abundance of literature reporting on these factors for RN-BSN students, there is a dearth of information on the similar considerations for MSN students. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to ascertain what the motivators, barriers, and persistence factors are for nurses seeking to earn a graduate nursing degree. Methods: This study utilized a cross-sectional descriptive survey of graduate level nursing students to determine what factors motivated them to return to school, the barriers they had overcome, and what elements allowed them to persist in their studies. Results: The highest level of agreement for motivating factors included: finding personal satisfaction in earning an MSN (M = 4.76), a desire to expand nursing knowledge (M = 4.31), a belief that nurses with an MSN command greater respect as professional (M = 3.76), and the belief that earning an advanced degree would increase confidence at work (M = 3.61). Financial challenges (M = 3.70), inflexible work schedules (M 3.54), and difficult family situations (M = 3.20) were shown to be the main barriers students needed to overcome in order to return to school. The highest agreement among the factors that allowed students to persist in the MSN program included the following: personal reasons encourage me to persist (M = 4.82), confidence in ability to complete the program (M = 4.45), have the necessary family encouragement and support to complete the program (M = 4.45), and have the necessary faculty encouragement and support to complete the program (M = 4.18). Conclusion: A recommendation is made for more robust recruitment, expanded awareness of program/curriculum details for potential students, and encouraging employers to provide tuition reimbursement and loan repayments. Additionally, ensuring that employers who do provide financial support communicate this to their employees as a motivating factor.Item What Data Has To Say About Pandemic Influence On Computer Science Education(2021-03-04) Ramljak, DusanSwitch to online learning and then extensive use of online tools in education due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic did contribute to a change in how we perceive and deliver education. We have to find intuitive ways to get the non-verbal cues that we are missing in an online and masked-up environment. Now, there is much more data available that can possibly tell us the effectiveness of the tools we use and the effects of the change. We believe that data analytics-driven mechanisms have a big role to play in uncovering and understanding students’ learning patterns and how to influence them. We collected statistics about students' experience level before and after the class, students' claimed time spent every week working on a particular class, students' responsiveness to surveys, journals, forums, tests, labs, students' grades every week, and students' overall grades. We did so for several classes and for a group of students of at least 12 students through different classes over 3 semesters - before, during and after the switch to online classes. We are aware that we cannot draw meaningful conclusions as we don't have enough data before the pandemic and we have adjusted teaching as we have been looking at the data but the overall experience will hopefully spark some important discussions and lead towards better definition of the research problem.Item Prince-Archbishops and Local Liturgies in Late Seventeenth-Century Salzburg(2021-03-04) Hieb, KimberlySituated within the Holy Roman Empire the Archbishopric of Salzburg occupied a unique geopolitical position in the seventeenth century. A prince-archbishop who assumed both sacred and secular power ruled the individual principality, which was sandwiched between two powerful political entities in the early modern era: Bavaria and the Habsburg hereditary lands. Building on the existing scholarship regarding the role of music and governance in the Holy Roman Empire (Saunders 1995, Weaver 2012, Fisher 2014) this poster presents a diachronic overview of music produced under a series of late seventeenth-century prince-archbishops. Tracking the shifting nature of Salzburg’s local sacred traditions under each ruler richly augments our understanding of regional Catholic history, which begs for further exploration (Monson 2002, Ditchfield 1995, Ducreux 2011). Composers Heinrich Biber and Andreas Hofer served Salzburg prince-archbishops Guidobald von Thun (r. 1654–1668), Maximilian Gandolf von Kuenburg (r. 1668–1687) and Johann Ernst von Thun (r. 1687–1709) and left behind a robust repertory of sacred music that reflects local traditions. These compositions are each associated with a particular Catholic feast yet set non-liturgical texts: richly centonized amalgamations of prose, poetry, scripture, and hymn verses. The inventive repertoire cultivated by each patron, therefore, reflects the religious values of each individual prince archbishop, which were inherently political according to his position as both a sacred and secular ruler. These musical sources grant insight into each leader’s approach to negotiating the region’s unique capacity as an individual principality that was a constituent component of both the Holy Roman Empire and the Universal Catholic Church.Item Magnetic Properties of Eu_x Ca_(1-x) Fe_2 As_2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) Superconductor(2021-03-04) Shrestha, KeshavWe have investigated the evolution of magnetic properties of EuxCa1−xFe2As2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) materials at different Eu-content (x). The magnetic susceptibility increases while lowering the temperature, showing a typical paramagnetic behavior. There exists a sharp anomaly near 15 - 19 K that arises due to the Eu2+ antiferromagnetic ordering. The temperature dependence of the susceptibility data is analyzed using the Curie-Weiss model and determined the best-fit parameters, the Curie constant (C) and Weiss-temperature (θ) at different x. We found that both parameters, C and θ, vary almost linearly with x. The obtained results are compared with other published data, and their physical implications will be discussed.Item Parent Perspectives of the Dyslexia Diagnosis Process(2021-03-04) Denton, Kenneth; Coneway, Betty; Simmons, Michelle; Shin, Mikyung; Behl, MalvikaA child who experiences difficulty learning how to read goes through many struggles and exhibits a myriad of symptoms and emotions. This response affects not only the individual child, but greatly impacts the entire family. Watching as your child struggles to learn how to read and not being able to help them can be a devastating feeling. Receiving the news that your child has dyslexia may trigger feelings of frustration, fear, sadness, or helplessness. Additionally, ongoing needs for advocacy, support, effective interventions, and appropriate accommodations for a child with dyslexia can cause continued family stress. A multidisciplinary team of researchers with a shared interest in this issue, representing the fields of school psychology, literacy education, educational diagnostics, special education, and counseling came together to investigate parents’ experiences and perspectives regarding their child’s diagnosis and treatment of dyslexia. The findings from this research study provide insights into the lived experiences of the children and their families with dyslexia; including those who suspect a reading problem, those who are currently going through the assessment process, or those who have already received a diagnosis of dyslexia. From preliminary data analyses, we will present some significant findings gleaned from data collected from this under-researched population. Far-reaching outcomes from this research study include providing valuable information to the fields of education, special education, and dyslexia intervention.Item Circadian Rhythms in Peripheral Serotonin in Mice(2021-03-04) Karaganis, StephenMost organisms possess biological circadian clocks which control and coordinate numerous physiological processes over each twenty-four hour day. Circadian oscillators play a role in generating biological rhythms and coordinating numerous processes with environmental stimuli (such as timing of a meal or exposure to light). In rodents it has been demonstrated that restricting the availability of food to a short window of time during the day can shift the phase of rhythmic oscillations in some peripheral organs (such as the gut and liver) while not affecting the phase of the light entrainable hypothalamic circadian pacemaker. We hypothesize that this paradigm of restricted feeding (RF) would result in a phase shift in the daily rhythm of the hormone serotonin within the serum and gut of mice compared with mice maintained on an ad libitum diet (AL). We also measured circulating levels of platelets since most of the serotonin in the blood is taken up and transported by platelets. Here we present data demonstrating the daily profile of serotonin and its major metabolite, 5HIAA, in serum and duodenum of AL or RF animals maintained under LD or free running conditions. As expected, motility rhythms entrained to the rhythm of food availability cues, whereas no statistically significant rhythm was detected in serum serotonin levels. In duodenum, serotonin and 5HIAA levels appeared to be rhythmic in AL mice only. Interestingly, a circadian rhythm in circulating platelets levels was detected only under RF conditions, but not in AL animals or in constant darkness. This suggests that food intake, but not light, may drive oscillations in platelet production or serve as a zeitgeber for entrainment. Further investigations of circadian control of serotonin biosynthesis and metabolism is ongoing.Item The Music of Isolation(2021-03-04) Rushing, SarahRecorded Presentation: https://youtu.be/io7GCeVJi4M | “The Music of Isolation” explores solo piano pieces written by composers who endured physical, geographical, and social isolation. The program is comprised of Fantasia in C Major, Hob. XVII:4 by Franz Joseph Haydn (1789), Three Preludes for Piano by Charles Griffes (1919), and Rondeau by Olivier Messiaen (1943). Each piece has been carefully chosen from the composers’ oeuvres to represent periods of their lives characterized by isolation. The full range of human emotion is explored, from brilliant creativity, to despair and darkness, to release. Despite their disparate styles, the unifying theme of isolation provides insight and historical context for each composer’s compositional choices. Haydn’s Fantasia was composed near the end of his time in Esterháza and is the culmination of his unique keyboard writing. The work’s surprising harmonic shifts and unorthodox keyboard techniques are indicative of the composer’s unique development due to his geographical isolation. Griffes’s Preludes were composed in the final year of his life, shortly before he succumbed to the Spanish Flu. Messiaen’s Rondeau, composed shortly after his release from Stalag VIII-A, gives us a glimpse into life post-isolation. The goal of the project is to introduce the audience to lesser-known works by well-known composers. The presentation includes video recordings of the three works, plus a lecture presentation on the historical context of each piece, providing a sense of shared connection that invites the audience to view each composer’s work with a fresh perspective.Item Dyslexia and The School Counselor(2021-03-04) Behl, Malvika; Denton, Kenneth; Simmons, Michelle; Coneway, Betty; Shin, MikyungDyslexia affects about 15 to 20 percent of people within the United States. Most of the time dyslexia is diagnosed within the school system. The researchers reviewed the parent perspective of the diagnosis of young people before, during, and after the diagnosis. Analysis of the collected data helped identify the different emotional and mental health concerns parents have for children either diagnosed with or suspected to have dyslexia. Since there are limited studies that review the school counselor’s experience working with children suspected or diagnosed with dyslexia, the findings from this study help understand the different problems school counselors can focus on to help the mental health concerns of children suspected or diagnosed with dyslexia. Using the research data, the poster will address the different concomitant mental health needs of children suspected or diagnosed with dyslexia in schools and suggest ways in which school counselors can help them with the challenges.Item Dogs and Rape in Coetzee’s _Disgrace_ and Ngugi’s _A Grain of Wheat_(2021-03-04) Meljac, EricHow do we see justice in lands once colonized and torn by racism and oppression? When does crime, particularly against animals and women, indicate a change in power? How do we punish the criminals when the rules of what is “just” have changed irrevocably? What do crime and justice have to do with decolonization? One of the common threads tying together Coetzee’s Disgrace and Ngugi’s A Grain of Wheat is the representation of rape coupled with the mutilation of dogs. For Coetzee, the rape of Lucy comes along with the splatter of “blood and brains” of the dogs Lucy keeps in kennels outside her South African home. Ngugi’s scene, though rewritten to exclude direct reference to rape after initial publication, sees Dr. Lynd attacked in her home, her dog torn to pieces before her eyes.This essay will examine the broader implications of these shared acts of violence: the coupling of violence against women with violence against dogs, and the coupling of woman/dog violence in two of the African continent’s most famous novels. Part of the conjecture at play is an idea that the indigenous men who commit these acts are not assaulting the weakest links in the colonial chain (women and animals who have accompanied the masculine colonial powers to the African shores), but instead are directing these acts of violence in efforts to recolonize their own land. In other words, the slaughter of dogs, animals used to promote fear, and the rape of women are direct assaults on colonizing power. Destroying fear in the form of dogs, and actually or potentially inseminating colonial women in acts of rape, suggest acts of violent reclamation—though maybe not justice in its purest sense. Perhaps, too, the reactions of the women attacked suggest something about the changing face of decolonization. Ngugi’s Dr. Lynd lives in fear and misery, injured whenever she sees a dog and remembers the day of her attack. Lucy, on the other hand, remains resolute, decides to remain on the land, fall under the family of a neighboring Black man, and carry the child thrust upon her to term. The results from each novel are mixed, but what is clear is that the face of justice changes when colonial power wanes—whether the true sense of justice is obeyed or not.Item West Texas A&M Atmospheric Profiling System(2021-03-04) Crosman, ErikAn atmospheric profiling system (APS) was funded by the Kilgore Faculty Research program at West Texas A&M University. Also known as a type of “weather balloon” system, the APS is a cornerstone of atmospheric science research that will support many studies going into the future at WTAMU, including extreme heat, severe weather, fire weather, and air pollution. Applications and results from preliminary system testing are presented. This system will be used this summer in a project involving ~10 WTAMU students working with the National Weather Service to map extreme heat variations in Palo Duro Canyon State Park.Item Applying Generational Theory to Greater Understand Desirable Relationship Characteristics in Multigenerational Team(2021-03-04) Yarbrough, Jillian R.As the demographics of the workforce change, consider that for the first time, in many organizations five generations are working side by side on multigenerational teams. How can this burgeoning generational diversity be leveraged to support efficiency within organizations and specifically workplace teams? The following paper will seek to identify characteristics of effective multigenerational teams through an in-depth study of Generational Theory, Generational Archetypes and the generation’s preferred relationship characteristics. Included will be an in-depth review of literature and data from observations of multigenerational team experiences. Based on literature and observations recommendations for supporting multigenerational relationships will be offered.Item The Rise and Fall of Control Penology in the Texas Prison System 1948-1983(2021-03-04) Price, Keith; Butkovich Kraus, Nicole M.; Garza, LisaIn this article, we outline and analyze the development and implications of Control Penology in the Texas prison system in the post-war era. Responding to a predicted increase in prison population after the influx of returning WWII veterans, Texas prison officials came to terms with the need to update and manage their lagging and unsustainable prison infrastructure. In the hands of three main historical overseers, O.B. Ellis, Dr. George Beto, and W.J. Estelle, we trace the origins, development, and eventual demise of Control Penology in Texas during this period.Item On the Existence of Stable Equilibria in Monotone Games(2021-03-04) Barthel, Anne; Hoffman, EricThis paper shows that under very general conditions, there exists a locally stable Nash equilibrium in games of strategic complements (GSC), as well as in the more general case of games with non-decreasing best response correspondences. While it is well known that in such cases a unique equilibrium is globally stable, no equilibrium can be globally stable when multiple equilibria exist. However, the existence of a locally stable equilibrium remains an open question, as we give examples of GSC in which no stable equilibrium exists. One main advantage of our approach is that our results can be derived simply by exploiting the monotonicity properties of the game, and do not require any differentiability assumptions. Results on equilibrium refinement follow as a corollary under slightly stronger assumptions, in the sense that games with two equilibria possess exactly one locally stable equilibrium.Item Top 10 things I’ve learned while advising a team of students focused on community engagement each year(2021-03-04) Bruce, KimLink to presentation: https://ensemble.wtamu.edu/Watch/Be63Jkm9 Recruit early and intentionally. Alumni and returning team members are ideal resources. Clarify vocally and publicly why they were selected. Keep meetings timely and flexible. Stay in touch with one primary communication mode. Save everything. Help them reach out to employers, community members and introduced them to others. Involve established community and campus groups. Help them see forums in multiple media options for their messaging. Set an overall goal and help them measure that they accomplished.Item Torque Magnetometry Studies of Topological Nodal-Line Semimetal ZrSiS(2021-03-04) Dye, Cody J.; Shrestha, KeshavTopological materials have attracted enormous attention in recent days because of their potential applications in optoelectronics, quantum computing, and green energy harvesting, etc. Recent theoretical and experimental studies have proved that ZrSiS is a nodal-line semimetal with the Dirac band crossings along a line. In this talk, I will present our recent torque magnetometry studies to investigate the Fermi surface topology of ZrSiS under the applied fields up to 14 T. The magnetic torque shows clear oscillations at higher fields with several distinct frequencies. The number of frequency peaks changes depending on the tilt angle between the applied field and the sample surface. The obtained results are compared with other published data, and possible origins of these frequencies will be discussed.Item More “likes” or no “likes”? An Online Experiment Evaluating the Effects of Secondary Cues on the Perceived Source Credibility of Corrective Messages(2021-03-04) Chen, LiAdopting an experimental design, this study examined the combined effects of tweet popularity data, profile image type, and need for cognition (NFC) on individuals’ perceived source credibility (PSC) of corrective messages. Three major findings were identified. First, PSC is positively associated with perceived message effectiveness and intentions to retweet a corrective message. Second, NFC moderates the effects of popularity data on PSC, such that high NFC individuals perceived tweets without popularity data to be most credible while low NFC individuals considered tweets with high popularity data most credible. Finally, in the high NFC group, a combination of a medical logo profile image and no tweet popularity data resulted in the highest PSC, and in the low NFC group, a combination of a real person profile image and high popularity data condition resulted in the highest PSC.