18 Academic Enhancement grants awarded at Coastal
The program, sponsored by the Horry County Higher Education Commission, Coastal Educational Foundation and the Office of the Provost, is intended to encourage the development of projects that show potential for significant research, scholarly, creative or instructional contributions, and that can serve as the base to acquire additional funding from external sources.
The mini-grants were awarded to:
• Daniel Abel, assistant professor, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, for his project to establish baseline population data for sharks of Winyah Bay, North Inlet and Murrells Inlet to understand long-term trends in their populations and relate these to regional and global data, and to delineate shark nursery grounds and to collect data that could identify Essential Fish Habitat (EFH).
• Dennis Dinge, assistant professor, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, for development. of solar and wind energy design projects for undergraduates at Coastal.
• Daniel Ennis, assistant professor, Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, for a project of student immersion in 18th -century British drama from the initial research, editing, production and performance.
• Margaret Fain, librarian, Kimbel Library, to attend a workshop of the Association for College and Research Libraries (ACRL) Institute for Information Literacy at the University of Washington in Seattle, dealing with the management of information literacy programs.
• Arne Flaten, assistant professor, Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, for research in the State Archives of Florence, Italy, for a scholarly book: “The Implications of Artistic Dynasty: Multi-Generational Artisan Clans in Renaissance Italy.”
• Sharon Gilman, assistant professor, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, for study of whether adding technology to introductory biology labs helps students learn or improves their attitudes towards science.
• F. Eliza Glaze, assistant professor, Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, for a project that explores the influence of discoveries relating to Greco-Arabic medical ideas and practices of the English population during the first 125 years following Arabic-to-Latin translations made in Italy circa 1075-1100.
• John Goodwin, associate professor, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, to study the reaction of gas-phase oxo-acceptors with solid-state porphyrin catalysts and oxygen.
• Sage Graham, assistant professor, Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, to study the ways in which members of medical teams (RNs, MDs, social workers and other hospital personnel) are socialized into their roles as providers of patient care.
• Chris Hill, assistant professor, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, for the investigation of the mating system of the salt-marsh sharp-tailed swallow.
• Varavut Limpasuvan, assistant professor, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, for a three-week research visit to NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory to study mesopheric waves at the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The eventual scientific results will greatly increase the understanding of the observed global atmospheric changes, which are most striking in the mesosphere.
• Pamela Martin, assistant professor, Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, for a project on teaching and learning globalization in the classroom. This study will include models for the tele-collaborative classroom, utilizing the new teleconference facilities at Coastal. The project will involve student assistants in the Coastal classroom and will be applicable to our greater educational community in Horry and Georgetown counties, as well as nationally..
• Julia Orri, assistant professor, Spadoni College of Education, for a study to determine the relationship between cardiovascular risk factors, physical fitness levels, and C-reactive protein in males and females. Thirty college-aged men and women will volunteer. The main purpose of this study will be to provide a means of early detection of heart disease in a college-age population.
• Chris Podeschi, assistant professor, College of Natural and Applied Sciences, for research that would include a qualitative analysis of intensive interviews with Horry County residents regarding their conceptions of the natural environment, the character of environmental concern, and knowledge of environmental problems. The aim is to provide an understanding of local culture that will be useful in guiding environmental policy on issues particular to Horry County.
• Jean Reid, assistant professor, Spadoni College of Education, will work on a project using the Myers Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) to understand and work with others. As a service to the education community in Horry County, a workshop on the MBTI will be presented at as many as eight different schools. The workshop is designed to assist the participants in gaining a better understanding of their own natural preferences, those of their students, how these preferences are displayed in the classroom, and how teachers can design lessons to make the best use of these differences.
• Donald Rockey, assistant professor, Spadoni College of Education, for student-based recreation research to determine an association between Greek affiliation and problem gambling on campus. Previous research indicates that problem gambling is a major issue on college campuses. The purpose of this study will be to measure one psychosocial variable, Greek affiliation, and compare the prevalence rates of problem gambling between Greek affiliated and non-Greek affiliated students.
• Sandi Shackelford, professor, Edwards College of Humanities and Fine Arts, will plan and implement the Coastal Summer Institute for Theater Games, an intensive week-long residential workshop for theater and creative drama professors, teachers, counselors, therapists, activities directors and others who use theater games and group exercises in their work.
• Sophia Tan, assistant professor, Spadoni College of Education, to study the mentoring of students using various computer mediated communication tools, such as e-mail and graphic 2-D chat.