15th Annual UW-Waukesha Student Research Symposium

Saturday, April 29, 2017

Featuring

Robert Hall (Biology) Robert Hall and Kesha Patel (Biology)

John McVey, Ben Patterson, Kesha Patel, Christopher Fields (English) Melissa Tapp (English)

Alex Miller (Mathematics) Taylor Zoephel (Philosophy) Jared Sitte (Political Science)

Acknowledgements

Since its inception in 2002, the UW-Waukesha Student Research Symposium has been a highly impactful student program because of the work of many different individuals and groups on campus. The Coordinating Committee would like to recognize and thank the following for their generous support of this year’s event:

UW-Waukesha Student Government Association/SUFAC Committee UW-Waukesha Curriculum & Budget Committee

Friends of the Library and the UW-Waukesha Foundation Symposium Faculty Advisors

Communication & Theater Arts Professor Steve Decker Dean Jackie Joseph-Silverstein

Regards,

Bob Bermant (Psychology) Timothy Dunn (Philosophy) Suzanne Joneson (Biological Sciences) Ellyn Lem (English) Scott Silet (Library)

UW-Waukesha 50th Anniversary

The University of Wisconsin-Waukesha is celebrating its 50th Anniversary from September 2016 through September 2017. The college will hold public, staff and student celebrations year-round to celebrate this milestone. UW-Waukesha was founded in 1966 with 500 students. Today, the campus averages more than 2,000 students and is the largest of the 13 UW Colleges. The 50th Anniversary Kick-Off Weekend began on October 20, 2016 and continues through September 30th, 2017 with the celebration of the 50th Anniversary of the UW-Waukesha Field Station. The Honorary Co-Chairs of the 50th Anniversary are Mary Knudten, PhD, former UW-Waukesha Dean & CEO and Richard Mundell, V.P., BMO Harris Bank, Immediate Past President of the UW-Waukesha Foundation & UW-Waukesha Alum.

2017 UW-Waukesha Student Research Symposium Schedule

8:30-9:00 – Breakfast and Group I prep 9:00 –Welcome and Introductions 9:10- Group One

9:10-9:30. John McVey, Ben Patterson, Kesha Patel, Christopher Fields (English) – “Go With the Flow: An Attempt to Meet Writers’ Expectations”

9:35-9:55. Robert Hall (Biology) – “Hands-on Phylogenetics: Big Data DNA, Computation and FOXP2”

10:00-10:20. Taylor Zoephel (Philosophy) – “Ethics of Animal Testing”

10:25-10:45. Alex Miller (Mathematics) – “Deriving the Determinants: Hypercubes and Higher Dimensional Math”

10:45 – Break and Group II prep

11:00 – Group Two 11:00 – 11:20. Melissa Tapp (English) - “Make the Bard Great Again: A Look Into Shakespeare’s Value”

11:25-11:45. Jared Sitte (Political Science) – “Terrorism Recruiting in Saudi Arabia Compared to Other Countries on the Arabia Peninsula”

11:50-12:10. Robert Hall and Kesha Patel (Biology) – * “The Effect of Turbulence on the Development of Morphology in the Lake Malawi Endemic Cichlid Fishes of the Genus Labeotropheus

12:10 – Closing comments –Symposium Coordinating Committee

* - Project accepted into University of Wisconsin System Research in the Rotunda, April 12, 2017

1). John McVey, Ben Patterson, Kesha Patel, Christopher Fields English/Writing Center – Heather Carroll and Sara Pagliaroni, Advisors “Go With the Flow: An Attempt to Meet Writers’ Expectations” In our research project we are attempting to answer the question, “What, as tutors, do we do when the writer comes into the writing center, and doesn’t know what he or she needs or wants from us?” As writing tutors, we are always focused on giving the best quality of feedback to students. During our first semester as tutors, we noticed that students who come to use the Writing Center ask about a variety of concerns for their assignments, but often are not sure what they should be asking help for. Throughout our tutoring sessions, we are always hoping that students can get the most direction on where they should take their assignment next. We want to know how we can help students get to the next stage in their writing by examining the goals and satisfaction of the student writers we tutor. To aid us in this attempt, we will be using satisfaction surveys before and after each session in the form of Pre-Tutorial and Post-Tutorial forms. To take a closer look at our own practices we will be analyzing one recording per each of the four writing tutors. We anticipate results that will better aid us in the kinds of services we offer to writers. Biographies: John McVey is a second year student at UW Waukesha with a major in Wildlife Biology and is a tutor for the UW Waukesha Writing Center. He enjoys running and being physically active as well. He plans to transfer to UW Stevens Point in the near future to pursue environmental law. Ben Patterson’s a second year UW-Waukesha student majoring in English, and this will be his second semester as a writing tutor. Outside of college life, Ben especially enjoys reading various kinds of fiction and poetry. This coming fall, Ben plans on attending UW-Parkside for creative writing. Kesha Patel is an undergraduate sophomore at UW-Waukesha. She plans to major in Zoology and hopes to go to UW-Madison next fall. Kesha is one of the current presidents of Ecology Club and works to advocate for environmental and social change. Christopher Fields is a sophomore currently studying Computer Science at UW-Waukesha. Outside of school he enjoys to a variety of entertainment from video games, movies, and comedy. He also has a strong affinity for writing. Christopher plans on transferring to UW-Platteville in order to learn more about computer engineering.

2). Robert Hall

Biology – Suzanne Joneson, Advisor

“Hands-on Phylogenetics: Big Data DNA, Computation and FOXP2”

As more information gathers and the era of big data looms large, computational power and mathematical techniques are necessary tools in the field of biology. In this project Robert Hall, new to statistical methods, genomic databases and computer programs like MEGA7, explores the subject of creating evolutionary phylogenetic trees. In order to see how different statistical methods in tree building and DNA alignment might produce similar or dissimilar results, Robert investigated the evolutionary phylogeny of “the language gene” FOXP2. FOXP2 is conserved across the evolutionary breadth of mammals and known for its important implications for humans in the healthy development of speech and language comprehension. Robert will share how different statistical analyses of FOXP2 do or do not give different evolutionary stories for FOXP2, while comparing the rigor of the different analyses.

Biography: Robert Hall is a full-time, returning, nontraditional student whose main emphasis has been and continues to be biology, especially evolutionary biology. His interests go beyond science and he enjoys philosophy, history and literature as well. His personal interests including food, comedy, family, friends and days off.

Through earning his Associates Degree at UW-Waukesha, surrounded by researchers and mentors, he has concluded that understanding and appreciating mathematics, technology and computation will be necessary to be both successful and well-rounded in the field of biology. Just at the beginning of building these skills up, he has been fortunate enough to have Dr. Suzanne Joneson show him how to start. Robert plans on going to UW-Madison and wishes to earn a doctorate in his future.

3). Taylor Zoephel Philosophy – Tim Dunn, Advisor “Ethics of Animal Testing” In the late nineteenth century animal testing became popular when using sheep to test vaccines (Murnagham). This was done because some animals share genetic and physiological similarities to that of humans. Although, over the years there have been debates on the ethics of animal testing. The debate has three sides, those who think animals should not be tested on at all, those who believe there is knowledge to be gained through the testing, and those who find a middle ground. It becomes more complicated when companies are required by law to conduct testing on products or medications, but is it ethical and are there better alternatives? I will explore these three possibilities throughout these paper and discover strengths and weaknesses of each. Biography: Taylor Zoephel is a bright, young, and curious student who is currently working towards her Associates of Arts and Science Degree with an Emphasis in Philosophy. Although, she has not figured out where she wants to continue her education she hopes to continue to study philosophy and ethics in more depth. She was drawn to the topic of businesses testing products on animals because she has three cats that she loves dearly.

4). Alex Miller Mathematics – Paul Sundheim, Advisor “Deriving the Determinants: Hypercubes and Higher Dimensional Math” Complex numbers can be represented as points in two dimensions. In a similar way quaternions are numbers that can be represented as points in four dimensions. We investigate the multiplication of a new generalization of the quaternions to eight dimensions using a computer program. The numbers are first coded into 8 by 8 matrix representations. This eight dimensional number system can then be used to define the multiplication of matrices in higher dimensions. Biography: Alex Miller is a sophomore going to UW Waukesha for mechanical engineering, and will be continuing her education at UW Milwaukee. She has always looked for new ways of seeing the world around her, and is interested in creating new ways of examining the world. She really enjoys hands on projects, where she can invent something new and get it working on her own. For now, she is going to be pursuing mechanical engineering internships, but someday she would like to be working in the aviation field, designing the next generation of efficient aircraft.

5). Melissa Tapp English – Ellyn Lem, Advisor “Make the Bard Great Again: A Look Into Shakespeare’s Value”

Does Shakespeare still hold relevance for contemporary audiences? While colleges and high schools still include Shakespeare in their curriculums, I want to figure out if Shakespeare’s centrality is warranted and if, in fact, he continues to deserve consideration as a seminal literary figure. To accomplish this aim, I am focusing primarily on four major plays written by Shakespeare, along with secondary research. I will be considering modern day adaptations, both in film and contemporary novels based on the plays. Included with my general research is an interview with UW Colleges English Department Chair, Professor Greg Ahrenhoester, along with a survey results from a polled group of college students currently enrolled in literature classes. Anticipated conclusions from this research will likely support the idea of Shakespeare’s continued relevance, while acknowledging barriers some students face when studying his plays. Biography: Melissa is a second-year college student here at UW Waukesha and plans to attend UW Whitewater in the Spring of 2018. As an avid book lover, she spends much of her free time looking for and reading new books. She also enjoys movies and comic books, believing that the best stories can be told through any medium.

6). Jared Sitte Political Science – Dylan Bennett, Advisor “Terrorism Recruiting in Saudi Arabia Compared to Other Countries on the Arabia Peninsula” The purpose of the research was to observe how geographical and historical factors have affected the political structures of countries on the Arabian Peninsula. Using this data and observing current social/political environments in these countries, it helped form a theory for why Saudi Arabia is effectively recruited by terrorist organizations while other countries on the Arabian Peninsula have been able to avoid it. Biography: Jared grew up in Waukesha, but graduated from UW-La Crosse in 2013. After graduation, he returned to the area to work in the finance industry. He is hoping to apply to graduate school this upcoming fall in order to pursue a master’s degree in international relations. Jared enjoys sports, reading, and being outside.

7). Robert Hall and Kesha Patel * Biology – Michael Pauers, Advisor “The Effect of Turbulence on the Development of Morphology in the Lake Malawi Endemic Cichlid Fishes of the Genus Labeotropheus” It has been hypothesized that the body shapes of two species of Labeotropheus are adaptations for feeding. The deep body of Labeotropheus fuelleborni stabilizes it while feeding in the wave-swept shallows, while L. trewavasae’s slender body helps it maneuver through complex habitats. We predict that L. fuelleborni grown in turbulence will suffer no loss in fitness, measured as growth rate, from living in such an environment, with no concomitant change in morphology. Conversely, L. trewavasae raised in turbulence should show less growth, and a shift towards a deeper body. Below, we present the results of experiments that test these predictions. Biographies: Robert Hall is a full time, returning, nontraditional student whose main emphasis has been and continues to be biology, especially evolutionary biology. His interests go beyond science and he enjoys philosophy, history and literature as well. His personal interests including food, comedy, family, friends and days off. Through earning his Associates Degree at UW-Waukesha, surrounded by researchers and mentors, he has concluded that understanding and appreciating mathematics, technology and computation will be necessary to be both successful and well-rounded in the field of biology. Just at the beginning of building these skills up, he has been fortunate enough to have Dr. Suzanne Joneson show him how to start. Robert plans on going to UW-Madison and wishes to earn a doctorate in his future. Kesha Patel is an undergraduate sophomore at UW-Waukesha. She plans to major in Zoology and hopes to go to UW-Madison next fall. Kesha is one of the current presidents of Ecology Club and works to advocate for environmental and social change.

Additional Student Research Projects at UW-Waukesha

Lastly, the Coordinating Committee would also like to recognize the following research projects which were accepted into the 2017 UW System event, Research in the Rotunda on April 12th but were unable to participate in the campus Symposium.

1). Jacob Molketin, Lee Stedman, and Jared Stoner – Anthropology * Gregg Jamison, Advisor “Tools That Tell Time: Archaeology and Wisconsin’s Past”

People have lived in Wisconsin for over 10,000 years, archaeology provides a window into our past that is unique in its time depth, research methods, and interpretations. In this study, we analyzed a collection of prehistoric stone artifacts from Wisconsin to learn about the people who made and used them. We learned how archaeologists study artifacts to understand what life was like in the past and how it has changed over time. This project provided a unique, hands-on opportunity to learn about Wisconsin’s past that compliments and builds on what is found in books and classrooms. Professor Jamison has acquired a privately donated collection of prehistoric stone artifacts for us to research for this project. We have worked with him to develop a research plan and background on how to study archaeological materials. Preliminary analysis including sorting and recording has been started, which we expect to complete early next semester. After that we will conduct more detailed studies that will allow us to identify different types of artifacts, the raw materials they are made from, and the time periods they were made and used. We expect to complete our analysis of the collection by March 25, 2017. This will include creating a catalog, taking measurements, identifying raw materials, and identifying different artifact styles using an established typology. The stone tools will also be photographed and drawn using standard techniques for recording archaeological materials. We will use all of this information to learn about the cultures of the people who made and used the artifacts. The project will contribute to our understanding of Wisconsin’s prehistoric past and provide us with research skills we can use after completing our studies at UW-Waukesha.

2). Christian Reese – Computer Science * Mark Hall (UW-Marathon County), Advisor “Student Grade Reporter: Automation of UW-Colleges Early Alerts”

Student Grade Reporter (SGR) is a Java application that allows an instructor to download D2L course grades to an Excel workbook. The application reads the workbook and creates the course categories and assignments for each category. The instructor can add in the percent amount that would automatically send out an email to the student, their advisor and the instructor.

This application would allow the early alerts to be automated for each instructor, as they would be allowed to set the criteria for what constitutes an early alert dynamically. Each assignment grade is distinguished as either missing, failing, or passing. The threshold percentage grade distinguishing passing grades from failing grades can be configured for each assignment. Grades above the threshold are considered passing, and grades below it are considered failing unless they are 0% or blank, in which case they are considered missing. If there are no grade entries of a particular assignment for any students, then that assignment is assumed to have not been graded yet, and will not be included in grade report emails. The assignment threshold values are stored in a per-course configuration file in the user home directory, so that when instructors download their course grades in the future for another early alert, the percentage criteria is still applied for each assignment.

While configuration settings for each assignment are saved between sessions, SGR also allows for further customization control of which assignment grades are actually sent for each individual student. Instructors have numerous options: they can simply choose to send missing, failing, and/or passing grades for all students and all assignments in all categories, or they can choose which grades to send on a per-assignment, per student basis. SGR’s graphical user interface is designed to facilitate a streamlined workflow that makes either scope of approach simple and effective.

Once the grades to be sent are selected, instructors can choose to send a grade report to a particular recipient, or to send grade reports to all the recipients in the class. For each recipient, the instructor can choose for the student and/or advisor to be emailed with the report. The email addresses for students and their advisors can be configured in SGR, and are saved in the configuration file. The instructor then must specify their own email account information, particularly their email address and email password. They can choose to save this information so they don’t have to enter their log-in information in the future. If they choose to do so, this information is saved as encrypted data in the local computer’s settings. Currently, SGR requires that instructors use an email account based on Microsoft Exchange, such as on the uwc.edu domain. However, further features are planned to be added for future SGR versions, including support for other instructor email platforms, such as Gmail.