KSU Incentive Funding Awards for Engaged Teaching, Scholarship, and Service

1999-2007 Recipients &
Project Abstracts

2007-2008 INCENTIVE FUNDING AWARD RECIPIENTS

Eric Albrecht, Assistant Professor of Biology
Project Title: Investigation of Metallothioneins as a Vascular Defense Mechanism to Echris Carinatus Venom
Acute inflammation resulting from snake envenoming causes serious damage to local tissue. Clinical treatments such as anti-venom suspensions limit systemic effects, but do not reduce local tissue damage. In this study, we examine the molecular defense mechanism(s) utilized by human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) after exposure to Echris carinatus venom. Specifically, we are interest in metallothioneins as modulators of cytotoxic events. Understanding this relationship may lead to tissue specific snake envenoming treatments.

Charlotte Collins, Assistant Professor of Visual Arts
Project Title: Rooted in Liberté
This integrative, innovative, and interactive Artists’ Book will document the history of the culture and structures dating from 1789 on Bayou Liberty, located in the community of Bonfouca, Louisiana, and current preservation efforts. Photographs, prose and interviews after the hurricanes will be included. This material will be entered into exhibitions, articles, publications, presentations, and a workshop. The manuscript will be accompanied by a website with video interviews, photographs, and historical information from locals. The project will raise awareness for this community with personal stories including Native American, African, Spanish, French, and Creole histories.

Jim Elledge, Professor of English
Project Title: Sweetie Pie: Henry Darger and Chicago’s Jazz-Age Pansy Craze
I’m writing a book that reevaluates gay, “outsider” painter and novelist Henry Darger’s work within a cultural context that is informed by a knowledge of the gay culture codes of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries and by a set of personal codes that Darger created to communicate his own specific concepts and concerns. The book explores and analyzes the discourses that arise between Darger’s paintings and novels based on the gay cultural codes and his personal codes; revises current scholarly conclusions about Darger’s life and work; and blends literary analysis, art history, queer studies, biography, and cultural history.

John Haseltine, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Project Title: Studies of Enzyme Structure and Reactivity
Most of the biochemical reactions in any organism are controlled by protein molecules called enzymes. Enzymes are best known as catalysts, accelerating the reactions they control by factors as high as trillions. We are interested in the detailed structure of interaction between enzymes and the molecules that the enzymes act on (their “substrates”). One of our aims is to deduce how the fine details of this interaction contribute to reaction acceleration. Another aim is to use such insight to design better drugs against disease-state enzymes. The proposed work involves the preparation of substrate-like molecules that bind to and inhibit HIV-1 protease, an enzyme of the AIDS virus. Such molecules give us information on how HIV-1 protease grips its
normal substrate. One result of our work will be a better understanding of HIV-1 protease structure. Another result will be the demonstration of previously unknown “common threads” among different enzyme structures. Logically, these results can lead to greater control over HIV-1 protease and over other important enzymes as well.

Martina Kaledin, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry
Project Title: Ab Initio Molecular Dynamics Simulations of Vibrational Spectra of Hydrated Ions
:Proton transport in aqueous solution is of fundamental importance in chemistry and biology. The hydrated proton shows anomalously high mobility in aqueous solutions when compared to ionic species. Previous experimental studies have raised questions about the assignment of the observed spectra. The experimental spectral range is rather limited, and the region of frequency describing the proton transfer is not easily accessible. Thus the theoretical simulations will complement experimental observations and stimulate new experimental work. The proposed research project will focus on simulations and the spectral assignment of infrared vibrational spectra of hydrated ions using methods of molecular dynamics.

Thomas McElroy, Assistant Professor of Biology
Project Title: Population Structure and Spatial Delineation of the Stone Roller (Campostoma oligolepis) in the Etowah River Basin in North Georgia
This project addresses scholarship of discovery by proposing novel research to investigate the effects of fragmentation in the Etowah Basin on the ecology of a stream fish. The Etowah is a unique biological resource (70 native fish). The prospects for this biodiversity are uncertain because of urban expansion in the North Atlanta metropolitan area. The project will provide undergraduate students a unique opportunity to generate and synthesize information across ecological and molecular research. The results will be disseminated and used as preliminary data for collaborative external grant initiatives to continue to provide this research opportunity for undergraduate students at KSU.

Laura McGrath, Assistant Professor of English
Project Title: Digital Media Teaching-and-Research Programs in English Studies
The purpose of the proposed study is to investigate, through site visits and secondary research, three digital media teaching-and-research programs. These programs model the ways in which English studies faculty might establish initiatives on their own campuses that productively combine technology, pedagogy, research, and dissemination. The proposed research project will fill a need for scholarship that identifies best practices in integrating and studying work with digital media. The research will benefit the investigator’s own department as well as scholarteachers
in the humanities.

Taha Mzoughi, Associate Professor of Physics Education & Jennifer Frisch, Assistant Professor of Biology Education
Project Title: A Study of the Effects of Interactivity in Simulation-Based Physics Tutorials on Student Learning
Simulations offer the learner an unprecedented ability to visualize phenomena under study and to sometimes predict and test outcomes. However, it is not always clear whether they are effective in inducing learning. This study will examine one of the facets of using simulations, the interactivity. The project will enable the investigators to develop six simulation based tutorials focusing on three topics and test their use on three student populations. For each topic and each population, we will compare the effect of student interactivity with the simulation on learning. Learning outcomes will be measured through a pre-post test analysis.

Susan Kirkpatrick Smith, Assistant Professor of Anthropology
Project Title: Analysis of Human Skeletons from a Hellenistic Cemetery in Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece
I propose to conduct original research on a human skeletal collection from an archaeological site in Crete, Greece. In order to foster undergraduate research, I will have a student assistant working with me on the project. This international research opportunity will contribute to our knowledge of Hellenistic life. It will also provide for an intensive learning experience for a Kennesaw State University anthropology student. This project will serve as a pilot for what I hope will become a formal field school in osteology in Greece in the future.

Jiayan Zhang, Assistant Professor of History
Project Title: Environmental Change and Peasant Response in Rural China: The Jianghan Plain, 1736-1949
The goal of this project is the revision of my dissertation, an interdisciplinary study on the interrelationship of environmental change, economic growth, and peasant responses in central China, 1736-1949. I have collected rich materials for this project, but need time to revise and travel to China to collect supplementary materials and to interview the locals to strengthen my argument. A trip to the Harvard-Yenjing Library at Harvard University to refer to recent publication also will be essential for me to turn my dissertation to a book manuscript. The book will be of interest to both scholars and the general public.

Jennifer Beck, Assistant Professor Sport Management; Bernie Goldfine, Health, Physical Education & Sport Science; & Jin Wang, Professor of Health, Physical Education & Sport Science
Project Title: Do Outlaws Exist Outside the South? Prayer and Interscholastic Athletic Events
Prayer at athletic events is a highly controversial topic. However, the Supreme Court provided much needed legal parameters in Santa Fe Independent School District (TX) v. Doe (2000), which delineated practices that fall outside the bounds of constitutionality. In a quest to determine if the law is being followed, the purpose of this study is to investigate the policies & practices of Interscholastic Athletic Programs in the U.S. relative to prayer and athletic events. Additionally, the study seeks to discover how and by whom policies are created, and develop a profile of Athletic Director's personal opinions regarding prayer and sport.

Katarina Gephardt, Assistant Professor of English
Project Title: Imagined Boundaries: Fictions of Italy in Nineteenth-Century British Travel Narratives
This project is part of a book-length interdisciplinary study of how nineteenthcentury British travel narratives, both fictional and non-fictional, contribute to the geopolitical mapping of Europe by drawing imagined boundaries between the West and the southern and eastern peripheries of the continent. The incentive grant will be used to examine primary sources such as travel journals, guidebooks, and political documents available at the British Library and to prepare the findings for publication. The proposed research will yield two critical articles and will be incorporated in revisions of book chapters on representations of Italy in Ann Radcliffe's and Charles Dickens's travel narratives.

Philippe B. Laval, Associate Professor of Mathematics
Project Title: Designing, Developing and Using Java Applets to Enhance the Teaching and Learning of Mathematics
This project is part of a larger project that will enhance the STEMteaching and learning processes by developing a set of collaboratively designed web-based tools to assist in the teaching of undergraduate mathematics. The purpose of this project is to greatly enhance tools I have already developed under the Earth Math project. It is with these enhanced tools that the larger project will be built. Both projects are very important for mathematics, mathematics education and computer science as well as for the students and teachers in these disciplines.

Ivan Pulinkala, Assistant Professor of Dance/Director of Dance Program
Project Title: Human Identity in Dance
Issues of human identity related to human physicality form the premise of this choreographic project I plan to develop next summer. A study of identity in human movement will research how physical and emotional experiences are reflected through human movement. An important mission of this project will be to provide an opportunity for KSU students to work with professionals in the field, gaining an understanding of the creation and production of dance at a professional level. Through public performance and educational outreach workshops, the product of this choreographic research will be disseminated on campus, to the community and at national and international venues.

Michael C. Ross, Assistant professor of Middle Grades Education
Title of Project: Assessing the Role of Students' Emotional Intelligence in Regards to Academic Achievement, Retention, and Graduation at Kennesaw State University
Increasing academic achievement and retention and graduation rates has become a top priority for the University System of Georgia. The goal of this project is to assess the relationship between the emotional intelligence levels of KSU First-Year Experience students and the outcomes of academic success and KSU's retention and graduation patterns. Additionally, this project will assess the relationship between the KSU 1101 Benchmarks for Success and their impact on the aforementioned outcomes. This longitudinal analysis aims to explore the implications of focusing on students' emotional intelligence as a means of increasing academic achievement and improving retention and graduation rates.

Gregory T. Rushton, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Project Title: Preparation of Novel Molecularly Imprinted Polymers for Selective Recognition of Aminosugars
Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) are synthetic materials capable of selective binding of a desired substrate. In their function_, they mimic biological systems such as antibodies and enzymes, but due to their ease of preparation, versatility, and chemical stability, are rapidly gaining popularity as alternatives to traditional approaches for achieving molecular recognition. Herein is presented a project involving KSU undergraduates in which a novel MIP capable of binding the biologically relevant aminosugar glucosamine. Student research assistants will synthesize, characterize, and analyze the MIP's properties during the next calendar year in anticipation of a presentation at a national professional meeting in the Spring of 2007.

2005-2006 INCENTIVE FUNDING AWARD RECIPIENTS

Premila Achar, Associate Professor of Biotechnology
Project Title: Molecular and Biochemical Characterization of Aflatoxin Producing Fungi in Commercial Peanuts in Georgia
Very few peanut seeds in Georgia contain aflatoxin. It is known (Keith Ingram, chair of the Georgia Envirotron committee) that it does not take many seeds to cause major health problems. The major aflatoxin-producing fungi in peanuts are Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus. Under favorable temperature and humidity conditions these fungi grow on stored peanuts. The toxins are particularly carcinogenic in humans and eating contaminated peanuts often results in liver cancer, amongst other diseases. The main aim of this project is to detect. A. flavus and A. parasitus in commercial peanuts during storage and after storage at wholesale and retail outlets in Georgia. Conventional methods, use of Aflatoxin kits and molecular approach will be compared for detection of the toxin. The effect of changes in the environmental conditions such as temperature, moisture and relative humidity on growth of A. flavus and A. parasiticus during storage will be determined. A relation between percentage of infection and aflatoxin production by the two Aspergilli sps will be established. Moreover, the biochemical activities related to aflatoxin ingested peanuts will be studied using cell lines.

Sandra Bird, Assistant Professor of Art Education
Project Title: At the Crossroads: Scholarship of Integration in the Elementary Classroom
This project is focused on a model for interdisciplinary teaching, actualized through team curriculum development, delivery and assessment for elementary schools. It is connected to an existing pilot project, taught within the context of Dr. Sandra Bird's ARED 4410 Curriculum Models and Assessment in Art course and has been hosted as a KSU partnership at Big Shanty Elementary since the Fall of 2000. The products resulting from the award of this grant will include a student production of a Turkish shadow puppet play (with an original script, accompanying stage, puppets and scenery) as well as a book by Bird describing the past five years of the project. Curriculum designed by the team for the Fall of 2005 will be emphasized and evaluation will be based on data collected during that experience.

Miriam W. Boeri, Assistant Professor of Sociology
Project Title: Re-constructing a Life: A Life Course Analysis of Women who Lived in a Controversial New Religious Movement
In this exploratory study, I will collect life histories of 30 women who lived in a new religious movement that practiced sacred prostitution. I will include only women who engaged in the practice and who subsequently left the group. Relatively few women have had the experience of prostitution, and even fewer have considered this act sacred and sanctioned by God. The women from this group were part of a natural social experiment, which has not yet been fully explored. The findings here will add to our understanding of how women re-construct their lives after living in closed communities with stigmatized practices.

John D. Fowler, Assistant Professor of History
Project Title: Awash in the Storm: Tennessee During the Civil War Era and "Southern Independence is my Sentiment, Liberty or Death": Southern Appalachia's Confederate Experience in Letters and Diaries
The University of Tennessee Press has granted me two advanced contracts for books concerning the Civil War era. The first monograph will offer a comprehensive account of Tennessee's critical role in the war at the military, political, economic, and social levels. The second will allow the Confederate population of Southern Appalachia (defined as North Georgia, Eastern Kentucky, Southwest Virginia, West Virginia, East Tennessee, and Western North Carolina) to recount their experiences during the Civil War era through the use of letters and diaries. Both books will be of interest to scholars as well as the general public.

Xueya Hauge, Assistant Professor of Biology
Project Title: Development of the Molecular Rule for the Short Arm of Human Chromosome 9
The clinical features of 9p-deletion syndrome include mental retardation and dysmorphic facial features. It poses a great challenge to detect the 9p deletion using routine cytogenetic banding techniques because the missing DNA segment is very small and colorless when chromosome 9 is stained with Giemsa dye. The focus of this proposal is to develop a detailed correlation between the sizes of chromosomal deletions and clinical features for 9p-deletion syndrome. This investigation will eventually allow more accurate diagnosis and better treatment of 9p-deletion patients.

Nikolaos Kidonakis, Assistant Professor of Physics
Project Title: Top Quark and Higgs Physics
The proposed research project is in the field of theoretical particle physics, which studies the most fundamental constituents of matter. The recently discovered top quark, the heaviest known elementary particle, is currently being studied at the Tevatron collider, the world's highest-energy particle accelerator. The Higgs boson, a cornerstone of the Standard Model of particle physics, has not been discovered yet. I propose to calculate cross sections, which are a measure of the number of particles produced in colliders, for processes involving the top quark and the Higgs boson. This will be important for studying the interactions of the top quark and discovering the Higgs.

Marina C. Koether, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Project Title: Coagulating Ability of Mixtures of Polymeric and Monomeric Aluminum in Water Treatment Coagulants
Both monomeric and polymeric aluminum are effective coagulants in the production of drinking water. However, as costs rise, the use of combining polymeric aluminum, Al137+, and monomeric aluminum, Al3+ in a variety of proportions and concentrations may be advantageous to the water treatment industry. This study will utilize the Simplex Optimization Method to optimize their combined coagulative ability on simulated raw water in order to reduce cost. A Coagulant Charge Analyzer is needed to determine the efficiency of the coagulation by measuring the residual colloid charge. A series of coagulation and characterization tests will confirm the optimization.

2004-2005 INCENTIVE FUNDING AWARD RECIPIENTS

Martha F. Bowden, Associate Professor of English
Project Title: Yorick's Congregation: The Church of England in the Time of Laurence Sterne
The project will produce a book-length study of the life and liturgical practices of parish churches in the eighteenth century. This book will provide a context for the work of the country parson, Laurence Sterne (1713-1768), best known for his novel, Tristram Shandy. The primary focus is on parish structures, liturgical forms, preaching parish officials, and the role of women. It also includes the influence of Sterne's family background and institutionalized anti-Catholicism. Its methodology is to use the existing corpus of scholarship by church and social historians and to build a bridge between that work and literary scholars.

Sharon M. Pearcey, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Project Title: Food Intake, Glycemic Index, Meal Patterns, Activity in Weight-Gaining and Weight-Stable Individuals
This project will investigate and compare the fold intake, meal patterns, and activity levels of weight-gaining and weight-stable individuals with an emphasis on carbohydrate consumption. Food intake and activity data will be collected from approximately 40 weight-gaining and weight-stable adults. Students enrolled in directed studies and volunteers will act as research assistants getting firsthand experience in conducting research. The data collected from this project will be compiled into manuscripts for publication and presentations at professional conferences. This project will lay the foundation for further externally funded research by the project director.

Laurence Sherr, Associate Professor of Music, Composer-in-Residence
Project Title: Creation of a New Musical Composition based on Poetry by Nobel laureate Nelly Sachs
The purpose of this project is the creation of a significant new musical composition for vocal soloist and chamber orchestra based on poetry by Nobel laureate Nelly Sachs. The composition will promote healing through poetry and music that address human loss. A national consortium of performers will present multiple performances of the composition in different regions of the country. The project will impact thousands of people, including KSU faculty and students. Additionally, this creative endeavor will further my artistic growth (scholarship) by allowing me to build on the accomplishments and discoveries of my previous work.

Rolf Schimmrigk, Assistant Professor of Physics
Project Title: Toward an Understanding of the Emergence of Space and Time
Until Einstein's insight into gravity ninety years ago, space and time were considered to provide the inert background in which all physical events took place. Einstein was the first to realize that space and time are active participants in these events, determined by the energies involved. The important question of how space and time are supposed to emerge from matter was left unanswered by Einstein. In the project described here we develop a new method that is able to throw light on this issue in the only framework that at present allows to formulate this question in a constructive way - string theory.

Ellen Taber, Instructor of English and Laura Davis, Instructor of English
Project Title: CIRCLEs of Learning: Creating Intentional Communities of Learning and Experience
Nationwide, college student enrollment is exploding while budgets are diminishing. Faculty members at Kennesaw State University need innovative yet cost-effective support to successfully educate the overwhelming number of general education students. CIRCLEs, small groups of faculty learning communities, allow for intensive classroom observations and shared teaching strategies across all ranks. Instead of paying for entire departments to hear first-rate teachers at conferences and seminars across the country, the CIRCLE program will allow us to learn from and disseminate the best practices of first-rate teachers right down the hall, an inexpensive but incredibly rich and diverse resource we have consistently overlooked.

Michele Zebich-Knos, Professor of Political Science
Project Title: The Antarctic Village: People, Penguins and Policy
The project focuses on Antarctic policy as its main theme and seeks to broaden the scholarly understanding of how Antarctica, a continent without countries, is governed within the global community. To complete the observational portion of my project, I will travel to Antarctica on one of two scientific vessels that take on "single researcher" passengers, the Akademik Ioffe or Akaademik Sergei Vavilov. This trip will complement, and follow, the library research phase conducted from July-November 2004. A monograph, Antarctic Village: People, Penguins and Policy, will be the end product and will shed light on how the overall Antarctic policymaking system operates.

2003-2004 INCENTIVE FUNDING AWARD RECIPIENTS

Thomas J. Brown, Assistant Professor of Elementary Science Education; Matthew M. Laposata, Assistant Professor of Environmental Science; & Stephen B. Rahn, Instructor of Educational Technology
Project Title: Technology Enhanced Activity Modules for Science (TEAMS)
The specific goal of the project is to increase the number of qualified science teachers who teach science in an inquiry-based, curiosity-stimulating manner. This project creates opportunities for prospective teachers to learn about science and pedagogy through activities that are designed to rekindle curiosity, build understanding, and promote meaningful changes in conceptions of science teaching and learning. We anticipate that through their active participation and exploration, they will build a deeper understanding and appreciation for science. Such an effort has the potential to significantly improve the quality of science teaching in elementary school.

Paula C. Jackson, Assistant Professor of Biology
Project Title: Differences in source water use of woody vegetation of Dzibilchatún in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico
Given the global expectation of an overall increase in the severity of drought episodes the understanding the water acquisition patterns of tress is especially important. With this study data will be gathered as to the source of water preferred by different tree species of the Dzibilchatún National Park in the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. Through their involvement in this study, undergraduate students will have the opportunity to do groundbreaking research in collaboration with scientists and graduate students from the Centro de Investigaciones Cientificas de Yucatan (CICY) in Yucatan, Mexico. Results from this project will serve to increase the external recognition of the department and the institution through the involvement of undergraduate students in sophisticated research frequently undertaken only by graduate and post-graduate fellows.

Carole K. Maugé-Lewis, Associate Professor of Art
Project Title: A Graphic Design Career Path for Elementary and Middle Grades Art Students
The primary goal of this project is to advance the discipline of graphic design and to produce a well-informed design community. The secondary goal is to encourage aspiring graphic designers at KSU, to possibly consider a teaching career in graphic design education. KSU also has a vibrant art education program, which can benefit this venture. The ultimate goal is to develop a technology enhanced set of lesson plans and activities, complete with a CD, a VHS video tape and a web site, for the benefit of art teachers of the elementary and middle grades for incorporation into their art classes. Given the pervasiveness of this art form (graphic design) the intent of the project is to stimulate interest at an early age and, most importantly, to begin the creation of a career path in Graphic Design at the elementary and middle grades in North Cobb.

Sarah R. Robbins , Professor of English and English Education
Project Title: Scholarly Editing and Curriculum-Building as Collaborative Learning: Supporting Team Research on an American Missionary to Africa
This project will facilitate KSU students' active participation in two scholarly enterprises - the creation of an edition of primary materials with secondary interpretive apparatus, and the development of associated curricular materials. The overarching purpose of this project will be to use and to evaluate a collaborative model for doing inquiry research and creating teaching materials in the humanities. The project team's model will not only generate important new knowledge but also open up the professional work of humanities research and teaching to student participation.

Amy B. Woszczynski , Assistant Professor of Information Systems
Project Title: CyberTech I: Curriculum Development Project for Disadvantaged High School Students
The CyberTech I project will strengthen the currently successful CyberTech program offered for the last 3 years through the cooperation of the Dean of the College of Science and Mathematics and local area high schools, which seeks to promote technology and science-related careers to underrepresented groups - namely women, African Americans, Hispanics, and the disabled. CyberTech I will introduce basic computing concepts and illustrate career options in technology-related fields through the use of minority role models currently practicing in technology fields, including Web designer, systems administrator, computer forensics and security specialist, lawyer, and other areas.

2002-2003 INCENTIVE FUNDING AWARD RECIPIENTS

Anja Bernardy, Assistant Professor of Spanish & Foreign Language Education
Project Title: Practicing for the Praxis II in Spanish: Developing Proficiency for Tasks at the Advanced Level
In Georgia, all teacher candidates in Spanish must have a passing score on the Praxis II subject area exam in order to obtain a teaching certificate. This project will assist teacher candidates as they prepare for the exam by designing a comprehensive review program that provides targeted language practice for tasks similar to those found on the Praxis II. The practice activities will be available on-line and include an interactive platform in which users receive feedback on the performance. As a result of this project, the passing rate on the exam by first time KSU test takers will improve. In addition, activities may be integrated into Spanish courses, expanded to include other languages, and will be available to all teaching certificate candidates in Georgia, thus providing a solution to a state wide concern.

Valerie A. Dibble, Assistant Professor of Art
Project Title: Integrating Technology with Traditional Studio Methods in Fine Art Photography and Printmaking Curriculums
The goal of this project is to become in line with national directives to use technology in combination with traditional methods of printmaking and photography. The focus of this project is to support the development of a comprehensive curriculum and effectively use new equipment. The change to a BFA has necessitated the expansion of current curriculum.

Georgina S. Hammock, Associate Professor of Psychology & Leslie MacGregor, Assistant Professor of Psychology
Project Title: Georgia Undergraduate Research in Psychology Conference
This project provides funding to extend and broaden the Georgia Undergraduate Research in Psychology Conference. The conference provides a forum for students to present their empirical research as well as to participate in activities related to professional issues of importance to students. The funds will be used to include a career fair and sessions on the development of professional skills along with publication of the most outstanding work presented. There are many avenues that students can pursue at the conference from networking with keynote speakers, graduate programs, and employers to expanding their knowledge of community issues and the impact of technology on human interaction.

Huggins Z. Msimanga, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Project Title: Upgrading General Chemistry and Quantitative Analytical Chemistry Labs Via the LabWorks Learning System
This project seeks to provide a strong foundation of analytical skills to chemistry students at an early stage, by use of the LabWorks Learning System. This new technological device is an interface that uses sensors to detect chemical phenomena, displays the signal on the monitor in real time for the students to make observations, and it is equipped with post-data analysis software, so the students can collect data and analyze that data set immediately. The quick feedback is the strongest point of this technology. The use of LabWorks Learning System is expected to motivate students and raise their curiosity. They will develop analytical skills required to extract chemical information from large amounts of data. New, contextual experiments will be developed by faculty and senior students. Thus, an opportunity for undergraduate involvement in scholarship will avail itself.

2001-2002 INCENTIVE FUNDING AWARD RECIPIENTS

Paula C. Jackson, Assistant Professor of Biology & Heather Sutton, Assistant Professor of Biology
Project Title: Drought and Source-Water Use by Native Georgia Trees
Engaging undergraduate students in hands-on ecological research, this pilot study will use a method new to ecophysiology to assess the relationship between the source-water and the water status of three important tree species in Georgia. Source-water will be determined through the use of stable isotope ratios and water status will be assayed by measuring leaf water potentials. Reporting the results of this research at regional and national meetings will provide students with valuable scholarship experience, and the resulting data will support an application for a major grant proposal. Research of this kind will enhance our ability to predict the effects of natural- and human-induced environmental change on the structure and function of ecosystems.

Mark. W. Patterson, Assistant Professor of Geography and GIS Program Director
Project Title: Assessing Urban Sprawl and Land Conversion in Northwest Metro Atlanta, 1993-99
This project will help local agencies assess the negative impact of recent rapid population growth by using GIS and remote sensing technology to produce a database of land conversion types and rates in Cobb, Cherokee, Paulding, and Bartow Counties. An undergraduate researcher will assist in comparing and analyzing satellite images taken from 1993 through 1999 and will help in creating a protocol for future team-based class projects that will update the database. The final report will be shared with local government land management agencies for use in planning and zoning. In addition, data will be shared on the web with local environmental and community organizations.

Ann Pullen, Professor and Chair of History & Sarah Robbins, Associate Professor of English
Project Title: Picturing American Women's Work, 1865-1914
In line with national calls to understand the use of media and its implications, this project funds the development of a new interactive and technology-infused course in which students will learn how popular cultural images have functioned in the past and still function today. By interpreting images in their historical and rhetorical contexts, students in the course will explore ways in which the public representation of women's work in mass-produced images that circulated across a range of audiences and interacted with ideas from print contributed to the 19th century social construction of gender roles in a variety of ethnic groups and social classes. This project will also support the development of an interactive website and related instructional materials for teaching similar courses online and at other institutions.

Marlene Simms, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Project Title: Development of an Online Math 1106 (Elementary Applied Calculus) Curriculum
This project supports the development and assessment of an electronically delivered version of Math 1106, Elementary Applied Calculus. Because our students already have the option of enrolling in the eCore version of Mathematical Modeling, completion of this project will allow our students to satisfy their Area A math requirements online. The proposed course will be independent of any particular text book and will achieve the same learning objectives as the traditional in-class course. In addition, the course will be learner centered and will provide opportunities for students to be actively engaged in discussions and interactions with the instructor and with other students in the class. Assessment strategies will include opportunities for student self-assessment, collaborative assessment, and instructor assessment.

Margaret B. Walters, Assistant Professor of English & Susan M. Hunter
Professor of English and MAPW Graduate Director
Project Title: Enhancing Writing Career Opportunities for Student in the Humanities
The focus of this project is the development of a Careers in Writing Network that will inform students of the career value of a degree in English (and, by implication, any humanities degree), show students how to pursue a career in professional writing, and be a resource to which mentoring faculty members can direct their students. The Network will consist of a Web site, a listserv, mentors from the community, coursework, and internships. The Careers in Writing Network is designed to supplement the general efforts of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences to connect the liberal arts to careers and the already established programs offered by the KSU Career Services Center.

2000-2001 INCENTIVE FUNDING AWARD RECIPIENTS

Mitchell A. Collins, Professor of Health, Physical Education & Sport Science
Project Title: FITNET: HPS 1000 Instructional Resource Center
The focus of this project is to develop an interactive, inquiry-based web site ("FITNET") to engage undergraduate students in learning through interactive instructional course content modules, online health behavior inventories, fitness laboratory assessments, and quizzes for self-evaluation. FITNET will provide the opportunity to infuse technology into the core curriculum via HPS 1000, while concurrently enhancing the academic preparation of our students through the use of instructional modules and online quizzes. The interactive nature of FITNET will provide valuable and relevant feedback to students regarding their health habits and identify lifestyle patterns, which may increase their risk for chronic/infectious diseases. Once the FITNET site is complete, a critical evaluation of the usefulness of the web site will be presented at regional and national conferences. In addition, a descriptive paper will be written and submitted for publication.

John Dyer, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Project Title: MA 3332 Internet Option
This project proposes the integration of video/audio presentation and Internet technologies to facilitate delivery of an existing advanced statistics course, MA 3332, Probability and Statistics, using the Internet as a supporting technology. The course will be redesigned utilizing technology resources currently available at and supported by KSU, such as WebCT and Excel StatApps. As a result of the proposed technology integration, MA 3332 will be completely Internet based and supported, will provide a framework for taking multiple courses to the Internet, will provide greater classroom accessibility for physically impaired teachers/students, and will provide course schedule convenience for nontraditional and corporate students, as well as faculty. Dissemination of project results will include publishing the project to The Statistics Network, the largest statistics web site in the world, as well as submissions for workshop presentations and journal publications.

Gail B. Schiffer, Associate Professor of Biology; Matthew Laposata, Assistant Professor of Biology; Marina Koether, Assistant Professor of Chemistry; & John Pratte, Associate Professor of Physics
Project Title: On-line, Real-World Environmental Science Exercises
This collaborating team will develop a set of computer-based, Internet-linked, real-world exercises for use in a distance learning version of the first course in the General Education Science sequence. These exercises will facilitate the accomplishment of three course objectives and will serve as the laboratory component of the course. The exercises will be placed on a CD that is distributed to the students. During each exercise, students will collect and analyze data and other information from a variety of sources including the Internet, material provided to students in the text and in the exercises, and real-life activities. The students will then be linked backed to the class for reporting and discussion. The project outcome will yield publications and conference presentations, along with the possibility of national distribution through a contract with a textbook publisher.

Garrett C. Smith, Assistant Professor of Geography
Project Title: Cultural Geography: Developing the Content and Pedagogy of "Interpreting the Ordinary Landscape"
The goal is to sharpen students' observational and critical thinking skills regarding the configuration of their local environment, and in so doing provide graduates with lifelong analytical tools. The objectives include enriching student learning experiences in other disciplines and instilling in students an acute awareness of local geography and the natural and social sciences. "Interpreting the Ordinary Landscape" is the crux of Cultural Geography (GEOG 3340) which will be offered in Fall 2000. The approach will follow a longstanding Harvard model and will be highly interdisciplinary in nature. It will be the only one of its kind in the University System of Georgia. Course methods include fieldtrips and extensive use of PowerPoint and 35mm slide imagery, by both students and faculty. The pedagogy is an alternative in that it will rely heavily on students' observations and analyses of their local environments. A major long-term outcome of this project will be the training of KSU Education Majors, who later find positions in Georgia's schools and will then teach material from this course to their own students throughout the state.

Annette Bairan, Professor of Nursing & June K. Laval, Associate Professor of French & Spanish
Project Title: Latino Women's Knowledge, Attitudes, and Feelings about Menopause and Its Treatment
The purpose of this project is to survey a sample of Latino American women in a southern metropolitan area concerning their knowledge, attitudes, and feelings regarding menopause and its treatment in order to fill the research gap concerning the menopausal health of Latino American women. This knowledge will allow health care professionals to improve the care given to this group of women. The paucity of research in this area is made more significant when coupled with the prediction that the percent of Latino population in the U.S. will outstrip all other minorities within the next decade or so. The findings will be submitted for presentation as a paper or poster to several different professional meetings such as those encompassing Latino/Spanish language and culture, women's health, sociology/gerontology, and nursing and nurse practitioner education and practice.

Linda H. Damico, Associate Professor of Philosophy
Project Title: Mary Austin: Mystic and Philosopher
Since 1987 when Mary Ellen Waithe edited the first volume of her monumental work on the history of women philosophers, there has been a substantial rise of interest in the discovery of lost women philosophers. The goal of this project is to add to the growing scholarship in this field by researching the work of Mary Austin, an American writer of the early twentieth century, and presenting, in an organized and interesting way, her philosophically relevant ideas. While Mary Austin is noted for her literary contributions, none of the recent scholarship has acknowledged those works of Austin that have philosophical content. Linda plans to present and critique the ideas in these and any others works that are philosophically relevant, with the ultimate goal of writing a book.

Christina D. Horne, Associate Professor of Nursing; Beverly J. Farnsworth, Professor of Nursing; & Janice B. Flynn, Assistant Professor of Nursing
Project Title: The Efficacy and Impact of Learning in the Virtual Classroom
This collaborating team plans to complete the final phase of a three-year plan to develop, deliver and evaluate online courses in the Department of Baccalaureate Degree Nursing at KSU. This final phase of the project will involve analysis and evaluation of data collected to examine and compare the differences in student characteristics, satisfaction and success between online and on-ground students enrolled in seven academic credit courses which comprise the required nursing curriculum for registered nurses who return to school to complete a baccalaureate degree. Completion of this research is vital and significant, in that, there is a relative paucity of research to explain or predict phenomena related to online learning. With an increasing market for online courses, faculty need research-based findings to preserve academic integrity when developing, implementing and evaluating online courses.

Linda Niemann, Assistant Professor of English
Title Project: Learning Spanish
"Learning Spanish" is a creative non-fiction work, part travel narrative, part investigation of Mexican folk art, part social commentary through a focus on Linda's coming to awareness of the bicultural nature of the place she was born. It is a story about continuing education, about pushing back the boundaries of how Linda has defined her nationality to include Central America, first with literal crossing of the borders, then by a linguistic border crossing, and finally by the ability to see the presence of each culture within the other. Many similar narratives calling attention to the interdependence of Central America and the United States have been written by Chicanos. Few have been written by Anglos. In order to be read by ordinary Americans, Linda has disguised the project as a travel book about shopping for arts and crafts. She includes on-the-road adventures, narrow escapes, and humor. Linda hopes, however, that in addition to learning about Mayan textiles and Otomi bark paper, readers will encounter the secret continent upon which we live, as immigrants, migrants, conquerors, natives, and trans-national workers.

Eva Thompson, Assistant Professor of English
Project Title: "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to be Free: Reading Black Women's Lives in Context"
This project seeks to support research for a woman's history recovery project with Mary Prince as subject. The primary objective is to contextualize that which is known and knowable about Prince's life. Although scholars regard Prince's oral autobiography, The History of Mary Prince, a West Indian Slave, Related by Herself (1831), the earliest known published narrative by a woman of the African Diaspora to take as its topic the sexual abuse of slave women, less than 25% of Prince's life is known with certainty. This project, complete with photographic record, will present a more complete life of this pivotal figure. The primary objective of this project is to present peer-reviewed conference papers and the publication of articles.

1999-2000 INCENTIVE FUNDING AWARD RECIPIENTS

John N. Dyer, Assistant Professor of Mathematics
Project Title: Statistics to the Web
This project will integrate video/audio presentation and Internet technologies to deliver MATH 1107, Introduction to Statistics, entirely over the Internet. The proposed technology integration will also provide a framework for taking multiple courses to the Internet, a greater classroom accessibility for physically impaired teachers/students, and course schedule convenience for non-traditional and corporate students, as well as faculty. Additionally, the course will serve as a first step toward distance-learning objectives being pursued through the College of Science and Mathematics.

Grace Galliano, Professor of Psychology
Project Title: Introduction to Gender Studies: Creation of a Multi-Discipline Student Reader
An understanding of human diversity is clearly an important goal for the educated person in today's world. In keeping with this objective, a group of KSU faculty has proposed a multi-disciplinary Minor concentration in Gender Studies, which will include an Introduction to Gender Studies course. Because no suitable text exists to support such a course, this project involves the creation of a multi-disciplinary edited collection of original essays to serve as the text for this course offering. Grace will serve as consulting editor for the project. This project has the potential to become a formally published work. In addition, a web site to support the course will be created.

Al M. Panu, Associate Professor of Chemistry
Project Title: Increasing Students Chemistry Learning Through Chemistry of Consumer Products
The focus of this project is to develop teaching modules, including suggested exercises and projects, that would highlight the structure-property relationship of key chemicals in consumer products. These modules are designed to be flexible and adaptable to the needs of a variety of courses, ranging from the organic chemistry sequence to high school chemistry courses. The overall goal of this project is to increase students' interest and performance in chemistry and related science courses through the use of examples and principles drawn from the study of the chemistry of consumer products that are of interest to students.

Ann W. Pullen, Chair of the Department of History & Philosophy and Professor of History & Sarah R. Robbins, Associate Professor of English and English Education
Project Title: Creating a 21st Century Curriculum on Women's Work in the Long 19th Century
This collaborating team will develop, pilot, and evaluate an interdisciplinary, technology-focused course on ethnic American women's work. By providing multiple opportunities for students to experiment with technologies such as Powerpoint, LISTSERVs or MOOS, and web site construction programs, the course will invite students' active participation in the building of knowledge about women's work from 1780-1920. After planning a syllabus in the summer of 1999, these colleagues will team-teach a course in the fall of 1999. This course, a potential model for similar teaching, will address two issues beyond the immediate one of teaching the class: technological infusion and applied learning in an interdisciplinary setting.

Heather M. Hermanson, Associate Professor of Accounting & Mary Callahan Hill, Associate Professor of Accounting
Project Title: A Longitudinal Investigation of Staff Accountants' Job Satisfaction and Turnover
This collaborating team plans to investigate job satisfaction and turnover of staff accountants at large public accounting firms. The public accounting profession experiences tremendous turnover rates relative to other professions, especially among women and minorities. Previous research has examined job satisfaction and turnover; however, these studies are conducted at one point in time. Heather and Mary plan to use a longitudinal approach that will allow them to track entry-level accountants from their point of hire through their first promotion (or until they sever employment). They expect to determine which organizational factors (e.g., mentoring, pay increases, hours worked, travel) and demographic factors (e.g., gender, race, marital status) alter job satisfaction for an individual. This research has implications for both practitioners and academics. Practitioners must understand what specific factors give rise to turnover in order to design strategies to improve retention. Academics must understand what factors contribute to professional success in order to counsel students wishing to pursue an accounting career.

Marina C. Koether, Assistant Professor of Chemistry
Project Title: Endocrine Disruptors in Microwaved Foods
Endocrine disruptors mimic the natural hormones of the body and trigger developmental abnormalities or block normal development. There are more than 50 synthetic chemical compounds that the body confuses with endogenous hormones. These compounds can enter the body through the food chain. Of particular interest is their migration into foods via microwave irradiation of plastic containers containing food. The purpose of this project is to initiate research in the area of exposure to endocrine disruptors due to microwaving the food containers. Using a store-bought microwave oven and a variety of microwavable containers, the amount and identity of contaminants, the conditions by which they leach into the foods, and the food sources susceptible to the contamination will be determined.

Theodore N. LaRosa, Associate Professor of Physics
Project Title: Radio Astronomical Observations of the Galaxy
Travel funds were provided to continue a program of research to obtain and interpret radio wave observations of astronomical sources, specifically interstellar clouds and the center of our galaxy. This research addresses fundamental questions relating to the formation of stars and the structure of active galactic nuclei. The travel funds enable Ted to use the observing time he was granted at the Kitt Peak 12 meter telescope and the Very Large Array telescope, both operated by the National Radio Astronomy Observatory.

Mark W. Patterson, Assistant Professor of Geography
Project Title: Thematic Mapping of KSU's Dellinger Property
With the increasing number faculty proposing to conduct environmental research at KSU's Dellinger property, the need for thematic base maps has become apparent. Current maps lack the spatial resolution to be useful and are dated. This project will create a series of thematic maps that include topographic, hydrologic vegetation and cultural features of the Dellinger property, which will facilitate learning and research opportunities for faculty and students at KSU. The maps would have a finer resolution, be up-to-date, and thereby allow faculty and student researchers to identify the locations of point source pollution, soil erosion, and vegetation change as well as aid in the placement of transects and sampling schemes. These maps will also be used in the GIS certificate program as class projects. GIS Students will edit and update these maps based on feedback from faculty and other students who use them in the field. The data, the maps, and a map-viewing program will be made available on CD to KSU faculty and students. It is expected that the availability of these maps will lead to a proliferation of faculty and student research projects and publications.

Penelope Prime, Professor of Economics
Project Title: China Diverges: Economic Development Across the Provinces
The purpose of this project is to research and write a chapter of a book dealing with the impact of international and regional trade and investment on economic development in the People's Republic of China. The ultimate goal is completion of a book entitled China Diverges: Economic Development Across the Provinces. This particular chapter will survey the theoretical economics literature on trade and development to motivate the study, and will also trace the theoretical and policy debates within China, placing them in this larger context. In order to have access to necessary primary materials in Chinese, funding was provided to visit the China library of the U.S. Bureau of the Census, and the Library of Congress, in Washington, D.C., for ten days.

Mary Kellen Williams, Assistant Professor of English
Project Title: "As Blank as Modred's Shield": (Re)Writing Race in Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King"
This project will result in an interdisciplinary essay exploring representations of race and gender in Rudyard Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" (1888). Drawing on recent work in Colonial studies and historical accounts of the racial anxieties unleashed by the 1857 Indian Army Rebellion and revived in the controversy over the proposed 1883 Ilbert Bill (a bill that would have made it possible for Indian judges to try white Europeans), the essay will show how Kipling's short story interrogates the ways in which racial and sexual distinctions work to sanction colonial relations of domination and submission as well as the ideologies of racial and cultural superiority that gave the colonial project its ethical and moral legitimacy. By focusing on how Kipling's text calls upon gender difference to naturalize the imperial project and racial difference alike, the essay will redress colonial theory's neglect of the role representations of gender play in shaping the significance of racial and cultural differences. Also, by illuminating this story's fundamental ambivalence about those configurations, the long-standing view of Kipling as an unabashed apologist of British Imperialism will be challenged. Kipling's "The Man Who Would Be King" offers a valuable perspective on the cultural and historical conditions that make the distinctions we draw between peoples, sexes, and nations both irresistible and fatal.