2006-2007
Recipients
Collaborative Vitality Projects
Faculty Excellence Projects
Faculty Vitality Projects
New Faculty Projects
Collaborative Vitality Projects
Neuroscience Initiative
Spring 2007
Matthew Schmolesky, Psychology
Lauren Fowler, Psychology
Jim Hutchins, Health Science
Ron Meyers, Zoology
Barb Trask, Zoology
Eric Amsel, Psychology
Aaron Ashley, Psychology
Norris Bancroft, Psychology
Nicole Okazaki, Zoology
Jonathan Clark, Zoology
Steve Clark, Botany
Marie Kotter, Health Science
Sam Zeveloff, Science
The Neuroscience Initiative project is designed to explore the creation of an Interdepartmental Neuroscience Minor at Weber State which, if successful, could be followed by a Neuroscience Major and/or Program. Project members will formally assess WSU student and faculty interest in neuroscience, complete an Introduction to Neuroscience course proposal, draft a Neuroscience Minor Curriculum, organize a WSU Neuroscience Seminar Series, and assess external funding opportunities for collaborative neuroscience research on campus. The group will also establish community partnerships (e.g. with local hospital and industry leaders) on neuroscience education and research.
Assessing the Impact of Online Classes on the WSU Curriculum
Spring 2007
Eric Amsel, Psychology
David Ferro, Computer Science
Gail Niklason, Continuing Education
Brian Stecklein, Continuing Education
The goal of the project is to compile relevant information for policy makers regarding the impact of online classes. The group's plan is to interview various policy makers regarding their beliefs and practices regarding online courses. Their assumptions about the impact of online courses will form a basis for a year-long analysis focusing on the curricular choices of online students, how they differ from on-campus students in their patterns of course selection, and the impact of online courses on the growth of programs, departments, and colleges. Their results will be distributed internally to policy makers and other stakeholders in the WSU community.
Interdisciplinary Instruction on Parallel Computing
Spring 2007
John Armstrong, Physics
Brian Rague, Computer Science
International Society of Teacher Education 2007 Paper Presentations and Planning for 2009 WSU Conference Site
Spring 2007
Peggy Saunders, Teacher Education
Rick Sline, Communication
Shannon Butler, English
Mike Cena, Teacher Education
Forrest Crawford, Teacher Education
Kristen Hadley, Teacher Education
Kathy Herndon, English
Vicki Napper, Teacher Education
Debi Sheridan, English
Shelly Thomas, English
As a collaborative team of ten faculty across three departments and disciplines, this project will 1) present individual research papers currently accepted to the International Society for Teacher Education (ISTE) 27th Annual International Seminar in Scotland, June 24-30, 2007; and 2) attend additional meetings with the Scotland ('07) and Australia ('08) conference conveners in order to plan and execute the ISTE 2009 conference to be held at WSU.
Fourteen Broadsides: Text/Image Interface
Spring 2007
Susan Makov, Visual Arts
Mikel Vause, English
Kathryn MacKay, History
Judy Elsley, English
Alicia Giralt, Foreign Language
Patrick Eddington of Salt Lake City, and Susan Makov will design, illustrate, and hand letterpress a broadside with each of the above artists or writers. Each artist or writer has created a new work specifically for this project. A broadside is a literary work designed as a one sided visual piece (text and imagery). The broadside prints are printed by hand on a letterpress, using ink on special archival printing paper. The size of each print is approximately 12 x 15". The final result of this project will be the production of fourteen editions (each edition has 40 copies) of prints based on naturalist themes by international and local writers and visual artists.
Words and Lyrics: Team Teaching a Genre Course in Reading and Writing Song Lyrics as Literature
Spring 2007
Victoria Ramirez, English
William Pollett, English
The proposed course, "Words & Lyrics: Team Teaching a Genre Course in Reading and Wrting Song Lyrics as Literature," is a new course offering within the already existing course designation of Engl 3350, studies of literary genres. The new course will help develop the English Department's recently established program in Creative Writing. Currently, Creative Writing offers genre courses for poetry and for the novel.
Constitution Day
Spring 2007
Leah A. Murray, Political Science
Professor Murray organized Constitution Day in order to pass along knowlege about the Constitution to the next generation of Americans. The project was designed to draw the larger Weber/Davis community in to the discussion about the Constitution. Some featured events included students performing the roles of founding fathers and/or mothers and interacting with the public as well as a living Constitution event where a New York Times reporter discussed the Supreme Court.
Weber State University Academy School Mentoring Project
Spring 2007
Shirley A. Leali, Teacher Education
Claudia Eliason, Teacher Education
Ray Wong, Teacher Education
The Weber State University Academy Schools Project is a collaboration project with faculty members from the Jerry and Vickie Moyes College of Education and Ogden School District administrators and teachers. The purpose of this partnership is to benefit children in two elementary schools and for the enriched fieldwork opportunities for pre-service teacher candidates in Level 3 of the Elementary Teacher Education program.
Information Literacy Pilot Tutorial for Ogden School District High School Students
Spring 2007
JaNae Kinikin, Stewart Library
Megan Davis, Stewart Library
Kathy Payne, Stewart Library
The objective of this project is to create a pilot tutorial to reach college-bound students at high schools within the Ogden School District, Ogden High School and Ben Lomond High School. Successful completion of this tutorial will help students be better prepared for library research required at the college level. This tutorial will consist of three modules. Students will complete one module each year in high school (tenth through twelfth grade).
Verb Use and Stereotype Activation
Spring 2007
Aaron Ashley, Psychology
The central goal of Professor Aaron Ashley's current research is to better understand how different classes of verbs used in describing individuals can influence the stereotype attributions people make about individuals. The research will be completed in a two separate stages. In the first stage, pilot tests will be conducted to obtain the stereotype traits that individuals associate with different occupations (e.g., doctor, lawyer, farmer, etc). This information will be used to create the materials used in the subsequent experiments. In the second stage, a series of studies will be conducted using different methodologies (paper-pencil surveys and reaction-times) to assess how the verbs used in describing a individual affect the stereotypes generated about the described individual.
Increasing Student Learning in Physical Education
Spring 2007
Dan Balderson, Health Promotion and Human Performance
A New Allegory of Good and Bad Government, after Lorenzetti
Spring 2007
Matthew Choberka, Performing Arts
Professor Matthew Choberka requested funding for the development of a multi-media art work comprised of approximately five to seven major large-scale paintings and a video installation, to be presented as a solo exhibition at a venue to be determined. The works, taken in total, will represent an interpretive allegory of contemporary American culture, its politics and its implications for the future. The painted works, essentially abstract cityscapes conceived of as contemporary history paintings, will expand upon a series of works with which Professor Choberka has been engaged for the past few years, dealing with his sense of our world as a place continually at war with itself. The video component of the piece will introduce a time-based element, dealing with human action in a context related to the “environments” found in the paintings. A specific touchstone and inspiration for this group of works is the fresco cycle by Ambrogio Lorenzetti, An Allegory of Good and Bad Government (1338-1340), installed in the Palazzo Publico in Siena, Italy.
Fish Assemblage Comparison of Three Alaskan Streams, Tetlin NWR, Alaska
Spring 2007
Christopher Hoagstrom, Zoology
Fish assemblages of interior Alaska are a poorly known but important resource. Tetlin National Wildlife Refuge is an important management unit in interior Alaska that in part sustains subsistence and recreational fisheries for the region. A joint study between the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the University of Alaska, Environment and Natural Resources Institute is being initiated to study water quality issues of three streams on the refuge but at present there is no plan to study fishes of these streams. Professor Christopher Hoagstrom requested funding to add a fishery component to this study, which would gain useful information for the refuge. It will also take advantage of detailed ecological data that will be collected for the joint study, allowing a variety of pertinent fish ecology questions to be studied.
Does the Help Americans Vote Act Help Americans Vote?
Spring 2007
Gary Johnson, Political Science
This county-level study examines factors associated with the rate and degree of compliance with the Help Americans Vote Act. The relationship between money spent by counties on implementing HAVA and the resources available to the county will be examined using a large N random sample original dataset combined with qualitative interview data, survey results, and county budgets.
Million Star Computer Modeling of the Milky Way (Meeting Travel Support)
Spring 2007
Shane Larson, Physics
Professor Shane Larson requested funding to support travel to the American Physical Society meeting in April 2007, held in Jacksonville, Florida. The travel will have two purposes: (1) To present a contributed talk on a project in collaboration with M. Benacquista [U. Texas-Brownsville], K. Belczynski [New Mexico State], Ashley Ruiter [New Mexico State] and Brett Taylor [Radford University] (2) To chair a session on Gravitational Waves from Binary Star Systems.
Field analysis of the Habitat and Behavior of Dietary Specialist Versus Generalist Woodrats
Spring 2007
Michele Skopec, Zoology
Dietary specialization is rare in mammalian herbivores because plants often contain plant secondary compounds that are toxic in large doses. One rodent species Neotoma stephensi is a specialist on juniper while a sympatric species Netoma albiguala can only consume 25% of its diet as juniper. While many laboratory studies have been done on the specialist’s physiological adaptations that allow it to consume juniper at high levels, little field based work has been done on the differential micro-habitats and behavior of the specialist and generalist. Professor Michele Skopec requested funding to do the first detailed field study on N. stephensi and N. albigula in over 28 years.
Fall 2007 UDEO Conference at WSU
Spring 2007
Amanda Sowerby, Performing Arts
The Utah Dance Education Organization (UDEO) is the state affiliate of the National Dance Education Organization. As a recent appointee to the board, as Higher Education Representative, Professor Amanda Sowerby was asked to host the 2007 Fall Conference at WSU. The conference will be held on the Weber State University campus on Friday November 2, 2007.
Broadway Voice and Dance Seminars
Fall 2006
Jim Christian, Performing Arts
Annual Meeting for Molecular Biology and Evolution
Spring 2007
Jonathan Clark, Zoology
Dinosaur: A Place of Rivers
Spring 2007
Hal Crimmel, English
Presentation of Research at AAG Conference
Fall 2006
Bryan Dorsey, Geography
Effects of Interethnic Ideology
Spring 2007
Azenett Garza Caballero, Psychology
Stated Preference Values for Peterson Proposal
Fall 2006
Therese Grijalva, Economics
Modern Engineering Technologies
Spring 2007
Kirk Hagen, Manufacturing and Mechanical Engineering Technology
Faculty Training Initiative: Interactive ICU Simulation Lab, Use of and Incorporation into Curriculum
Spring 2007
Allen Hanberg, Nursing
Mich Oki, Respiratory Therapy
The Dr. Ezekiel R. Dumke College of Health Professions has developed an ICU Clinical Simulation Lab which will be completed by the end of April, 2007. This lab contains state of the art simulation mannequins, equipment and materials and is designed to simulate real-life medical events. The lab is also designed and intended to serve as a hub for interdisciplinary training among the health professions programs and students. This lab requires a great deal of technical knowledge and skill to properly set up medical scenarios and run those scenarios with students. Professors Allen Hanberg and Mich Oki requested funding for the development and implementation of a three-day training for DCHP faculty.
Why We Should Teach XML
Spring 2007
Becky Jo McShane, English
"Place for Sale? Privatism, community, and urban development in Ogden, Utah" - A Paper to be Presented at the Association of American Geographers' Annual Conference, April 2007.
Spring 2007
Alice Mulder, Geography
Professor Alice Mulder requested funding in order to attend and present a paper at the Association of American Geographers (AAG) annual conference April 17-21, 2007. This yearly conference is the primary academic gathering in the U.S. for professional geographers from all over the world. The paper she will be presenting is titled "Place for Sale? Privatism, community, and urban development in Ogden, Utah." This paper builds on a project she started last year on issues of place and land-use/land conservation along the Wasatch Front in Utah, though focused specifically in Ogden.
The 2007 Crustacean Society Mid Year Conference
Spring 2007
Nicole Okazaki, Zoology
Professor Nicole Okazaki requested funding to attend the 2007 Crustacean Society Mid Year Conference in La Serena-Coquimbo, Chile during 14-17 October. Professor Okazaki will be presenting a poster titled: Environmental factors controlling the brine shrimp Artemia mode of reproduction in the Great Salt Lake.
The 2007 Crustacean Society Mid Year Conference
Spring 2007
Robert Okazaki, Zoology
Professor Robert Okazaki requested funding to attend the 2007 Crustacean Society Mid Year Conference in La Serena-Coquimbo, Chile during 14-17 October. Professor Okazaki with colleague, Dr. Maria Helena de Arruda Leme will be presenting a poster titled: Nematode Infestation in the Gonads of the Mangrove Crab, Sesarma rectum.
Feeding the Greedy Institutions: Work-Family Strategies and Policy Effects Among Women in Academe in Finland and the U.S.
Spring 2007
Marjukka Ollilainen, Sociology & Anthropology
Professor Marjukka Ollilainen's study examines the strategies that women who work in academic/research institutions use to manage the demands of the two “greedy institutions” (Coser, 1974)–work and family–and how those strategies are influenced by the different work-family policy environments of Finland and the U.S. The strategies and the policy influences will be explored through data obtained by long, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews of women who work in academic institutions, on the one hand, in Finland with a national, paid family leave policy and, on the other hand, in the U.S., with unpaid Family and Medical Leave (FMLA), combined with organizational-level, (paid or unpaid) work-family policies. The interview data from about 60 women (about 30 in each country) will be audio-recorded and transcribed. Professor Ollilainen applied for research funding to assist in the cost of transcribing the audio files. The transcribed data will be coded and analyzed using a qualitative data analysis software in order to find patterns of strategies, policy effects, and other, emerging themes. The study findings will be reported in conference presentations and subsequently developed into a manuscript and submitted for publication in a scholarly journal, such as Gender & Society, Gender, Work & Organization, or Work & Occupations. When published, the findings will contribute to a growing body of knowledge about the effects of policy on women’s ability to negotiate academic work with family and, ultimately, to the development of improved work-family policies in the academic workplace.
My Happiest Mission
Spring 2007
John Sillito, Library
Labrynth Comb
Fall 2006
K Stevenson, Visual Arts