2020 Awards for Excellence in Student Research and Creative Activity

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  Using Positive Reinforcement to Increase On-Task Behavior of a First Grade Student

  Brooke Bayles

  A 1st grade student participated in this study. An ABsingle-subject design was utilized. It was hypothesized thatbehavior specific teacher praise and positive notes home would increase the student’s on-task behavior, thus making the student more successful across all school subjects. Direct small-group instruction occurred during bi-weekly 50-minute tutoring sessions. Duration data was collected on the student’s on-task behavior for a 35-minute time frame. Baseline results indicated that the student was on task an average of 23minutes5seconds. During the intervention data collection, the results indicated that the student was on task an average of 29 minutes 21seconds.A discussion of results and suggestions for future research are provided, including issues regarding generalization.

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  Between the Waves: A Historiographical Analysis of the Long Women’s Movement

  Tiffany Clapp

  Feminism, according to the Oxford Dictionary, is the advocacy of women’s rights on the basis of the equality of the sexes. Historically, the feminist movement has been categorized by two distinct waves. The first wave began around 1890 and is stated to have ended in 1920, after women successfully obtained the right to vote with the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment to the Constitution. The second wave does not occur until the 1960s and would continue into to the modern era. However, this paper is addressing how historians theorized about the “Long Feminist” movement that occurred between the two distinct waves of feminism. The importance of the “Long Feminist movement” is affected directly by how historians used specific methodological approaches in their writing and how future historians would view this specific time period, due to these writings.

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  Plastic Pollution PSA

  Jennifer Coryell

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  Into the World We Go, the Peace Corps Program as a Facet of America-Ghana Relations

  Godwin Gyimah

  After Ghana had attained its independence in 1957, Nkrumah’s greatest domestic challenge became the transformation of the Ghanaian educational system as a tool towards modernizing the newly independent country. Having spent many years under colonial rule, little attention had been paid to the Ghanaian education system resulting in only a five percent literacy rate in 1957 when Ghana attained its independence. Upon assuming power, Nkrumah developed a Five-Year Plan which sought to ensure self-sufficiency in Ghana through universal education, a tool of a modernized nation. To enhance the ambition of making Ghana self-sufficient, the education sector had a role to play despite the major challenges facing the education system of the new country. Ghana sought to revise its educational system to remove incorrect information guided by colonial policies as it sought to achieve modernization.

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  The Role of Language Education in Peacebuilding: The Case of Cyprus

  Maya Hunter

  In the context of post-conflict, linguistically divided societies, the promotion of a third language in national educational policy can be a catalyst for the creation of a syncretic national identity and an invaluable cornerstone of peacebuilding education. The promotion of humanistic values through foreign language instruction can provide younger generations in divided societies the social and practical education necessary to establish and maintain positive intercommunal dialogues. Such multipurpose lessons have been used to facilitate peacebuilding in cases ranging from Rwanda to the Balkans, but could they work in Cyprus? And if so, how? This research aims to answer that question through a ethnographic study of high school English instructors in the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.

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  The Impact of Board Composition and Activity on Non-Performing Loans

  Md Nurul Islam

  This paper examines the impact of board composition and activity on bank non-performing loans (NPLs). The empirical evidence suggests that NPLs are negatively related to board independence, separation between the CEO and chairman roles, directors with financial expertise, and the frequency of committee meetings. Additionally, we find that, during the financial crisis period (2008–2009), a large board size and the presence of female directors may also help lower NPLs. The results support the hypothesis that shareholder-friendly bank boards and active boards are more effective monitors, and thus help lower bank’s NPLs.

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  Hypochondria and Interpersonal Relationships

  Cynthia Kmety

  Interpersonal relationships are important parts of our everyday lives, that can affect how we interact with others and can affect health status. This view on interpersonal relationships is often overlooked, however. This study was conducted with the goal of analyzing how the presence of hypochondria affects interpersonal relationships. It was hypothesized that those who have hypochondria will experience more negative interpersonal relationships. The researcher conducted a study using a survey that was administered to sixty-nine people. Results of the research and survey found that there were strained interpersonal relationship between people who have connections to hypochondria. Further research needs to be conducted in future studies concerning specifically what affects these relationships and what can be done to prevent stress on interpersonal relationships.

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  The Effects of Gall Formation due to Gall-Inducing Insects on Solidago Altissima’s Stem Height

  Sarah Mummel

  Gall-inducing insects are an old evolutionary member of our world, but little is known about their impact on goldenrod, Solidago altissima’s growth and development. We tested the relationship between gall diameter and stem height and the effects of gall presence on stem height. We sampled 20 random 1m² plots along a 30 meter long transect in a goldenrod field to find rosette and ball galls growing upon goldenrod. This transect was one of five other parallel transects, totaling approximately 150 m² of land. We measured heights of galled plants, heights of healthy nearby plants, and the diameter of rosette and ball galls. We collaboratively obtained data for 9 ball galls and 96 rosette galls. I found that ball gall diameter has a strong inverse correlation with stem height and rosette gall diameter has a slight tendency to directly follow stem height. I observed ball galled stems having the exact same height proportions as ungalled healthy stems, whereas rosette galls have disproportionate heights compared to ungalled healthy stems. These results provide the necessary basis for determining the severity of effects gall-inducing insects have on goldenrod host plants.

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  Increasing On-Task Behavior with the Utilization of a Verbal and Visual Prompt

  Haley Pierce

  A 1st grade student participated in a study that evaluated effectiveness of using a verbal and visual prompt to stay on task. An A-B-A single subject design was utilized. It was hypothesized that with a verbal and visual prompt the child would stay on-task and not want to escape the activity. Direct small group instruction with two to four students occurred twice a week for 50-minute sessions. Duration data was taken for 30 minutes of the time to see if the behavior increased. Baseline results found that the student was on task 25 minutes and 50 seconds out of a 30-minute period. During the intervention, results found that the student was on-task 29 minutes and 2 seconds out of a 30-minute period. Back to baseline results found that the student was on task 27 minutes and 11 seconds out of a 30-minute period. A discussion of results and suggestions for future research are provided, including issues regarding generalization.