Engineering – Page 8 – UROP Spring Symposium 2021

Engineering

The relationship between Ninia’s responses to predation threats and age

Animals perceive and react to different predation signs based on the severity of the threat; the age of the animal often affects the aggressive and defensive reactions towards the predation signals. My study tests how exposing Ninia (a nocturnal snake) of different age classes to varying stimuli could elicit different aggressive and defensive responses. Data was collected by capturing and filming snakes in the neotropics, and then those videos were analyzed for specific behaviors. I predict that if Ninia are exposed to aggressive stimuli, they will engage in defensive behavior, regardless of age. If Ninia are exposed to non-aggressive stimuli, they will engage in aggressive behaviors if they are an adult but will engage in defensive behaviors if they are younger. The potential influence of age in Ninia’s response to non-aggressive stimuli may indicate that the size of the snake (which correlates with age) is an important predictor for understanding behavioral reactions to threats. If age has no influence on Ninia’s response to aggressive stimuli and their responses are more defensive; this may mean that in a life-or-death situation, it is more advantageous to respond defensively in order to increase the chances of survival. Overall, this study provides the opportunity to shed light on general defensive behaviors of animals, and how age and perceived aggression levels of a predator influence their responses to threats.

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Rhythm Wheels: Using Music as a Mathematical Learning Tool

Though ample research has been conducted studying how education can be improved, the research being done with CSDT – Culturally Situated Design Tools – is unique in that it combines STEM lessons, cultural art, and modern tech with the aim of simultaneously improving STEM education and reducing the implicit racism that devalues certain cultures. One component of the CSDT suite (csdt.org) is Rhythm Wheels, the program this study uses. It employs animations to educate users in the ways traditional music from the African diaspora (Carribean, hiphop, salsa, etc.) have math concepts like least common multiple embedded in them. Musicians from these traditions know this math in a form that is unfamiliar to Western education systems, but can be “translated” through a computational medium. This study will introduce Rhythm Wheels to high school students, drawing largely from underrepresented demographics. It will use a pre/post test contrast to examine how this may have impacted their understanding of the math and computing concepts, as well as how they think about culture. We hypothesize that combining computing, math, and culture studies together in education might enhance all three. These results may add to the ever-growing body of evidence for the idea that math and computing ideas already exist in traditional cultural practices, and that allowing students to translate them through computational media can create enjoyable activities that aid the decolonization of STEM.

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The Application of Genomic Tools for Monitoring Aquatic Endangered, Invasive, and Economically Important Species

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material from urine, waste, mucus, or sloughed cells collected from aquatic habitats that can be analyzed for species detection without ever seeing the actual organism. It is an emerging management tool that is useful for monitoring invasive, native, and endangered species. Traditional methods of data collection tend to harm or kill species so that they can be preserved for laboratory identification. Sampling done using eDNA methods, on the other hand, is a low-cost alternative that does not harm any species. It can be done in harsher conditions and is able to detect species that tend to be missed using traditional methods. While this technology has been shown to be extremely beneficial, there have been issues concerning a communication and knowledge gap between researchers and conservationists. Our research project aims to bridge this gap by creating a database that is publicly accessible, and user-friendly for both conservationists and other scientific researchers. We have compiled important information from approximately 300 research articles and organized it in a uniform format, within a centralized database. This database focuses on allowing the end-user to search through pre-designed assays for a variety of target species, with generalized information about quantitative real-time PCR (e.g. chemistry (SYBR green, Probe) and primer efficiency). We believe this database will greatly benefit conservationists and other potential non-geneticist eDNA end-users as an efficient tool to search through pre-designed assays, and to understand key concepts for implementing qPCR based eDNA monitoring.

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The application of genomic tools for monitoring aquatic economically important, invasive and endangered species

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material from urine, waste, mucus, or sloughed cells collected from aquatic habitats that can be analyzed for species detection without ever seeing the actual organism. It is an emerging management tool that is useful for monitoring invasive, native, and endangered species. Traditional methods of data collection tend to harm or kill species so that they can be preserved for laboratory identification. Sampling done using eDNA methods, on the other hand, is a low-cost alternative that does not harm any species. It can be done in harsher conditions and is able to detect species that tend to be missed using traditional methods. While this technology has been shown to be extremely beneficial, there have been issues concerning a communication and knowledge gap between researchers and conservationists. Our research project aims to bridge this gap by creating a database that is publicly accessible, and user-friendly for both conservationists and other scientific researchers. We have compiled important information from approximately 300 research articles and organized it in a uniform format, within a centralized database. This database focuses on allowing the end-user to search through pre-designed assays for a variety of target species, with generalized information about quantitative real-time PCR (e.g. chemistry (SYBR green, Probe) and primer efficiency). We believe this database will greatly benefit conservationists and other potential non-geneticist eDNA end-users as an efficient tool to search through pre-designed assays, and to understand key concepts for implementing qPCR based eDNA monitoring.

The application of genomic tools for monitoring aquatic economically important, invasive and endangered species Read More »

The Application of Genomic Tools for Monitoring Aquatic Endangered, Invasive, and Economically Important Species

Environmental DNA (eDNA) is genetic material from urine, waste, mucus, or sloughed cells collected from aquatic habitats that can be analyzed for species detection without ever seeing the actual organism. It is an emerging management tool that is useful for monitoring invasive, native, and endangered species. Traditional methods of data collection tend to harm or kill species so that they can be preserved for laboratory identification. Sampling done using eDNA methods, on the other hand, is a low-cost alternative that does not harm any species. It can be done in harsher conditions and is able to detect species that tend to be missed using traditional methods. While this technology has been shown to be extremely beneficial, there have been issues concerning a communication and knowledge gap between researchers and conservationists. Our research project aims to bridge this gap by creating a database that is publicly accessible, and user-friendly for both conservationists and other scientific researchers. We have compiled important information from approximately 300 research articles and organized it in a uniform format, within a centralized database. This database focuses on allowing the end-user to search through pre-designed assays for a variety of target species, with generalized information about quantitative real-time PCR (e.g. chemistry (SYBR green, Probe) and primer efficiency). We believe this database will greatly benefit conservationists and other potential non-geneticist eDNA end-users as an efficient tool to search through pre-designed assays, and to understand key concepts for implementing qPCR based eDNA monitoring.

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Culturally-Situated Design Tools: Exploring Spirals and Adinkra Digital Carving as Methods of Ethnocomputing Education

Representing different proverbs and aphorisms, Adinkra symbols are common in Ghanaian art and are drawn from deep observance and understanding of nature, where logarithmic spiral appears frequently. In the previous works, researchers have found that the Culturally Situated Design Tools (CSDTs), which are coding blocks that teach programming principles while representing math principles in Adinkra symbols, enable more inclusive educational practices while inspiring students to actively engage the connections between computational thinking and cultural knowledges. This research project further explores ethnomathematics and ethnocomputing teaching. Through creating new coding blocks that simulate art creation, we incorporate more abstraction concepts in the log spiral pattern and fractals that appear in indigenous art. We explore the perception of learners who are engaged in the process and compare alternative designs of the teaching materials while evaluating previous designs. We expect these results to assist in facilitating the content-aware design process with interfaces that promote hands-on learning, creativity, and continued interest while teaching mathematical concepts, ultimately contributing to more profound connections and respect to indigenous culture. Further work includes continuing to evaluate and update the designs that performed well when translating the abstract principles, technologies, and skills with the combination of indigenous art.

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Design of an engaging fully-immersive virtual reality game to teach radiation protection principles

Virtual reality (VR) is a rapidly developing field with many applications as it progresses in accessibility. One such possibility is the idea of using VR as an immersive simulation for career exploration and training. This team aimed to create such an experience with the technology of a virtual reality headset, creating a game to teach radiation protection principles in a safe and controlled environment. Dealing first hand with radioactive materials requires many layers of paperwork and protection to show a live demonstration, while this technology gives a gateway to the next-best opportunity: an experience where one is able to move in a three-dimensional space and interact with objects on a semi-realistic scale. The game was developed in the Unity game engine, and produced for the Oculus Quest. Using the tenants of iterative game design, the team worked to produce a game that felt engaging, yet realistic to play. While the game is still in development, the project has still revealed many facets about the efficiency of modelling a game with these tools. While the Unity engine does have dedicated assets for VR game production, development with the quest can be arduous at times, requiring long wait times to build new iterations of the game. Along with this, the Quest is still an expensive technology that may not be accessible to all interested parties. Due to this, the team expects the game to be a valuable training asset, but still one that could be improved with different technology or implementation on a different platform.

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Cultural Cybernetics: Merging Artisanal Tradition with Digital Fabrication

Despite outlawing segregation in 1964, America is still a country that continues to struggle with equality. Minority groups are given unjustified stereotypes, putting them at a significant disadvantage in our society. This study attempts to spread awareness to Charles Darwin’s impact on the abolitionist movement through an adventure map game targeted at current students. The high school students would divide into two groups, with one group obtaining the information through a lecture format and a second group learning through the interactive game. Afterward, both groups are provided with the same assessment, determining whether technology is an effective learning technique. Through our findings, students would absorb more of the content when they are engaged in an interactive activity rather than being lectured. From such evidence, technological programs can be applied in future educational settings, ensuring a less divided society for upcoming generations. With a thorough understanding of various minority cultures, they can carry this idea onto their children, creating a snowball effect.

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Adding problems to interactive ebooks.

As many classes are moving away from paper textbooks and toward online ebooks, it is important to use principles from educational psychology to ensure that ebook readers are learning as efficiently as possible. Our research seeks to provide additional data about what types of interactive ebook questions are most effective for learning. We will then apply our findings and findings from prior educational psychology research to create a bank of questions that are proven to be effective. We will accomplish our research goals by writing a free, open-source computer science ebook that is used by tens of thousands of educators and students. We will then collect metadata on the users of the ebook, such as how many attempts it takes to solve a problem or how long they spend on each page. Because our research team is still authoring and revising the ebook, there are currently no results. However, we are expecting and hoping to find that practice with immediate feedback is the most effective for learning. We also hope and expect to find that low cognitive load questions, such as worked examples + practice and adaptive practice questions, will be most effective. Principles of educational psychology tell us that these types of questions will be best. If our findings are contradictory, further study will be needed on alternative, nontraditional educational methods for use in ebooks. The findings of our research will provide guidance to current and future ebook authors and increase the effectiveness of future ebooks in aiding student learning. Our research will also establish a bank of high quality questions that can be used in the classroom for lessons or examinations.

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Cultural Cybernetics: Merging Artisanal Tradition with Digital Fabrication

Before being subjected to the degrading system of slavery, sharecropping, and the Jim Crow era, early African countries had made countless contributions to the start of today’s science and technology thousands of years before the widely accredited European nations. However, very few of us are aware of these accomplishments, as African history, beyond ancient Egypt, rarely gains publicity. With Indigenous STEM being outwardly different from modern STEM, we find more difficulty in distinguishing it as easily as we do western STEM. Despite having various accomplishments and intricate developments of science and technology already woven through the history and culture of many non-European countries, STEM is still not typically equated to African or POC/Cultural communities. This Cultural Cybernetics study is conducted through a restorative justice approach to determine the best recuperative method to give back to the underrepresented communities by making sure these underserved communities maintain significance alongside advancing technology, by reducing the need for competition between skilled labor and machine fakes in the artisanal fabrication process through increasing the understandability of the user interface. After a thorough analysis of the methods of STEM utilized within certain cultures, a concept is developed and implemented through an educationally tailored online platform and are further introduced for approval from each of those specific groups of people, such as the digital cornrow designs software to African braiders, and later to the general public. This process effectively demonstrates an easy and convenient way modern technology can be integrated alongside cultural traditions without undermining or “stealing” from the communities while educating the public on these cultures through creative means.

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