2008 VCGS Graduate Student Research Forum
Pictures from the Forum
James Madison University Graduate Student Presenters |
Shelley Ragland |
James Madison University |
Field: |
Assessment and Measurement (Ph.D.) |
Undergraduate Institution: |
New Mexico State University |
Hometown: |
Memphis, Tennessee |
Title of Presentation: |
The Effect of Classroom Assessment Professional Development on English Language Arts and Mathematics Student Achievement |
Description of Research:
Teachers participated in professional development in the use of classroom assessment that emphasized measurement principles, cognitive levels, and state standards. This study compared student performance in ELA and mathematics for those teachers who received this instruction with the aid of a coach to those who did not. |
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Timothy Madden |
James Madison University |
Field: |
Business Administration (M.B.A.) |
Undergraduate Institution: |
James Madison University |
Hometown: |
Downingtown, Pennsylvania |
Title of Presentation: |
Ethical Attitudes, Materialism, and Spirituality Among Undergraduate Business Students |
Description of Research:
Following an increase in media coverage of recent business scandals, increased attention has been given to business ethics. Growing numbers of employers are beginning to understand the value of identifying predictors of unethical behavior and may begin using these predictors to influence hiring or promotion decisions. Since today's business students will be tomorrow's managers, it is important to study the links between the individual values of materialism, intrinsic spirituality, and ethics. |
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John Philip Erb |
James Madison University |
Field: |
Psychological Sciences (M.A.) |
Undergraduate Institution: |
James Madison University |
Hometown: |
Altavista, Virginia |
Title of Presentation: |
Cigarette Smoking Among College Students: Characterization and Contingency Management |
Description of Research:
Recent data show that (a) approximately 80% of smokers try their first cigarette before the age of 18-20; (b) that among those who begin smoking, 77% become regular smokers by the age of 20, making the college years a prime time for developing nicotine dependence; (c) college-age individuals were the only age-group in the adult population that did not see a decrease in smoking from 1993 to 2000; and (d) roughly half of the current smokers had attempted to quit smoking for at least 24 hours, and 18% had tried to quit, unsuccessfully, on five or more occasions. This project surveys JMU cigarette smokers to compare statistics for this group with national statistics and characterizes these students in terms of nicotine tolerance, nicotine dependence, readiness to quite smoking, and withdrawal symptoms during periods of non-use. Additionally, these data are used to predict success in a contingency management(CM) intervention designed to reduce smoking. |
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Paul Jung Estabrook |
James Madison University |
Field: |
Studio Art (M.F.A.) |
Undergraduate Institution: |
Virginia Intermont College |
Hometown: |
Natural Bridge, Virginia |
Title of Presentation: |
What Remains: On Burnt Books, Honeycomb-embedded Photographs, Flickering TVs, Suspended Spheres, and other Alterations of Meaning |
Description of Research:
This research examines the points where the medium of print and text intersect with the discipline of art. It investigates the mechanics of meaning and mental imagery building upon the ideas of communication theorist, Marshall McLuhan, that relate to the creation of dialog and how sign relations are established. This exploration has included a wide range of processes and materials that analyze the construction, alteration, and deterioration of meaning. The researcher used a mechanical approach in which a camera mounted on a dolly was rolled in front of a TV set, capturing flickering and changing scenes that no longer contain a familiar narrative, and a nature-based approach that allowed bees to do the work of covering text and image by building their honeycomb over pages inserted in the drawers. Book pages were altered through a process of drawing with fire via a soldering iron, pulling words out of the author's established intention in order to create a new intention. Additionally, videos were projected on a large, suspended sphere to create a videotape of the distorted projections. The researcher did this as an artist, not a scientist-- expressing internal ideas and feelings that would otherwise remain hidden to the external world. The finished product is an artifact of its past intention and identity, born to a new life encoded now with the artist. |
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Sandra Cubbage |
James Madison University |
Field: |
Health Sciences/Nutrition and Physical Activity (M.S.) |
Undergraduate Institution: |
James Madison University |
Hometown: |
Shenandoah, Virginia |
Title of Presentation: |
The Influence of Caffeine and CYP1A2 Genotype on Bone Mineral Density |
Description of Research:
Previous research suggests diets high in caffeine can have a negative effect on bone mineral density although conflicting results have been reported in the literature. A genetic variation of the CYP1A2 gene causes caffeine to be metabolized at a slower rate, resulting in higher levels of plasma caffeine after ingestion. Therefore, it is possible that caffeine negatively affects only those individuals with this genetic variation. This study examined whether this genotype influences the relationship between caffeine and bone mineral density in a sample of 185 women. Study participants were assessed for the presence of the F allele in the CYP1A2 gene using DNA obtained by buccal swab. A food frequency questionnaire was used to assess caffeine and calcium intake and each participant had whole body bone mineral density measured using Dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry(DXA). Multiple variable linear regression was used to evaluate associations between caffeine intake, genotype and bone mineral density. Results of this study will help clarify this ambiguous relationship and provide meaningful information regarding the prevention of osteoporosis. |
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Erika Diane Cole |
James Madison University |
Field: |
Audiology (Au.D.) |
Undergraduate Institution: |
Radford University |
Hometown: |
Chesapeake, Virginia |
Title of Presentation: |
Binaural Processing After Correction of Congenital Aural Atresia |
Description of Research:
Patients with congenital aural atresia are born with an absent or incompletely formed external ear canal -- the inner ear and auditory nerve are often normal, but both the external and middle ear may be malformed so that environmental sounds cannot reach the auditory sensory receptors. Patients enrolled in the study, ages 5 to 50 years, received surgical correction for this birth defect to restore clinically normal hearing. Pre- and post-operatively, patients completed sound localization and recognition of speech in noise tests, which aim to:(1)document the need for two ears,(2)the time course of adaptation to a "new" ear, and (3)the existence of any age-related "critical" periods for effective stereo hearing. |
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