Honors College

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https://hdl.handle.net/10919/80499

The mission of the Honors College is to inspire and facilitate an extraordinary education for students of exceptional motivation and ability who seek to be active learners and who will apply their knowledge and skills to critical real-world problems. To this end, the Honors College provides opportunities and challenges founded on meaningful and sustained relationships with faculty, independent learning, undergraduate research, place-based and problem-focused experiences, and intellectual engagement in global contexts. Honors curricula are designed to maximize the disciplinary depth, transdisciplinary capabilities, and purpose-driven engagement that are the hallmarks of the Virginia Tech undergraduate student experience and the VT-Shaped Student.

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Supporting Peer Educators in First-Year Honors Seminars at Virginia Tech
Smith, Amber Zoe (Michigan State University, in partnership with Pennsylvania State University and the Honors Education at Research Universities biennial conference, 2016)
First-year seminars help students transition to and get involved in college faster, which can result in higher academic achievement, stronger peer relationships, and deeper self-knowledge: elements of a more successful and satisfying college experience. University Honors at Virginia Tech began offering first-year seminars in the mid-1990s but experienced difficulty maintaining them as our student population grew. This difficulty led us to reform the structure, content, and leadership of the seminars. Now they are co-led by student teaching assistants (STAs) and faculty members. The new seminars emphasize active, collaborative learning and self-reflection. We educate our STAs through pre-semester training and a fall-semester student teaching practicum. This new course model better supports our STAs and encourages students to form good habits early. Although we still have many opportunities for improvement, the new first-year honors seminar and student teaching practicum are fostering reflection, faculty and peer relationships, and campus integration.
Neuroscience, Medicine, and Culture Diploma: Diploma Requirements Checksheet
(Virginia Tech, 2017)
This diploma is available to non‐Neuroscience majors only. Students pursuing an Honors Laureate: Neuroscience, Medicine, and Culture Diploma will earn a minimum of 30 honors credits across the Four Elements of an Honors Education.
Presidential Global Scholars Program
(Virginia Tech, 2017)
Presidential Global Scholars Program credit fulfillment for a self-directed diploma
Discussion Facilitation Techniques for Honors Peer Educators
Smith, Amber Zoe (European Honors Council (EHC), 2017-04-28)
In the Virginia Tech Honors College, honors peer educators are students who apply to be the sole instructors for discussion-based classes, such as first-year seminars and reading seminars, for academic credit (Smith, 2016). This research suggests that discussion-based teaching is an effective way of meeting honors students’ needs, and it describes discussion-based teaching techniques that are accessible and beneficial to honors peer educators.
Designing an Honors Peer Advising Center
Smith, Amber Zoe (European Honors Council, 2017-10-18)
...As we transition from honors program to college, our services are growing in scope and complexity, as are our responsibilities. We need a new way to provide reliable, personalized honors student support.

Learning centers have been shown to increase student retention, satisfaction, academic achievement, and self-reliance, all outcomes that we hope to foster as we grow. And while community connection and campus involvement are instrumental in helping all students thrive, it has shown to be particularly essential for honors students, who need a community of academic peers.

Fortunately, Honors at Virginia Tech already has a thriving culture of peer education: our peer educators are the primary instructors of our first-year seminars and reading seminars, classes that are taken by hundreds of students every semester and that consistently receive outstanding course evaluations.

Therefore, to increase student support in the context of our intellectual community, we decided to create a learning center grounded in our strength: an Honors Peer Advising Center.
Increasing Equity and Decreasing Costs for Medicare Access and Treatment
Bourret, Kira; Cironi, Kate; Guzinski, Max; Huaman, Jonathan; Jones, P'trice; Mitchell, Shannon; Scott, Reilly; Slinde, Neil; Smith, Brett; Wear, Robert; Lewis, Stephanie N. (2018-05)
In 1965, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed into law a bill that established Medicare. Since then, the medical needs and structure of our society have changed in many ways. But does our current medical care and payment system afford quality, affordable medical care to those who need it the most? What does data tell us is the story of our national health? Who is left behind as advancements are developed to serve our numerous health needs? To tackle these questions, national and global data on the status of health are summarized. Conclusions drawn from the data were connected to provide recommendations on adjustments to and priorities for the U.S. Medicare system.
Potential Influential Factors of Cognitive Decline and Engagement in Participants of Adult Day Services
Elms, Lauren; Hayes, Catherine; Shelburne, William (2018-12)
As the global population of older adults increases, so does the need for more affordable care taking services such as Adult Day Services (ADS) at Virginia Tech. Data collected over a 10-year period was assessed to understand factors affecting the quality of life for ADS participants. Two questions were posed: is there a relationship between blood pressure and cognitive decline over time, and is there a relationship between engagement levels and depressive symptoms? We hypothesized that increased blood pressure would correlate with increased mental decline, and that higher engagement levels would correlate with less depressive symptomology. To measure this, the dataset, which contains daily measurements and quarterly assessments, was cleaned and visualized using Tableau software. Due to software limitations and time restraints, it was not feasible to answer the blood pressure question in the time allotted. Instead, we researched the baseline relationship between blood pressure and indicators of cognitive decline and found no significant correlation between these factors. However, the results illustrated interesting variation in cognition scores over time. ADS participants’ first individual MMSE scores are unusually high compared to their average score, and the facility-wide average MMSE score has steadily declined over time. In answering the engagement question, we found a weak correlation between active participation and lower depressive symptomology (R 2 =0.0667), and between passive and non-participation and higher depressive symptomology (R 2 =0.0140 and R 2 =0.1742, respectively). This research does not provide implications considering blood pressure but does show that MMSE administration may need evaluation. Additionally, adult care taking services may combat depression by encouraging active participation among its participants.
Examining Health Conditions as Predictors of Unmet Need in Older Adults
Broshkevitch, Anna; Cáceres, Madeleine; Foley, Carolyn; Vipperman, Drew (2018-12)
According to current research, unmet need for activities of daily living (ADLs) are associated with greater negative health outcomes in older adults. ADLs include eating, bathing, dressing, transferring from a bed or a chair, and toileting. As the U.S. population ages, it is vital to identify predictors of unmet need in order to interrupt this progression and improve quality of life throughout the aging process. In our analysis, we evaluated chronic and acute health conditions, such as high blood pressure, osteoporosis, and cancer, as predictors of unmet need. We distinguished self-care and mobility-specific types of unmet need, and computed the frequencies of each condition and unmet need of each type. We then used the Chi Square (Χ²) and Fisher’s Exact tests to evaluate relationships for statistical significance. Through these analyses, we have identified dementia (p=0.04), heart attack (p=0.04), and stroke (p=0.02) as having significant associations with unresolved unmet need. Working from a disablement model theoretical framework that distinguishes between actual and intrinsic disability, we recommend a large-scale shift from the diagnostic healthcare model to more preventative model of healthcare. Specifically, we suggest providing free or affordable mobility assistance upon diagnosis of heart attack or stroke and free or affordable self-care assistance upon diagnosis of dementia, thus reducing future hospitalization costs and bridging the gap between human physical/mental capacity and environmental demand. We recommend further research be done to evaluate the causal relationship between chronic and acute health conditions and unmet need.
Adderall and Academia: How Amphetamine binds in the Human Norepinephrine Transporter Protein
Bell, Ian; Jachimowski, Lindsey; Lewis, Stephanie N. (2019-05-07)
Recently, there has been a drastic increase in the use of prescription stimulants by healthy individuals in academia – specifically with undergraduate college students. We wanted to answer why this was phenomenon was occurring. Are there cognitive benefits from taking stimulants when there is no medical need and are these benefits why students are drawn to them? Amphetamine or AdderallTM is a popular misused stimulant and serves as an example to explore this issue. The first question to answer was how amphetamine is processed in the brain. Our chosen transporter was the human norepinephrine transporter (hNET) protein. This transporter controls the uptake and reuptake of both dopamine (DA) and norepinephrine (NE). The unbalance of these two neurotransmitters are believed to play a major role in Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). hNET is often a main target in research studies because of this. To analyze the interaction of amphetamine and NET we built a human 3D model through a process known as homology modeling and docked amphetamine, NE, and DA into it. We found that amphetamine successfully binds in the hNET binding cavity. In impaired individuals this means that amphetamine does in fact have positive benefits. However, the effect on healthy individuals is still unknown. Further research needs to be done to determine whether or not healthy individuals experience any benefits before we can answer why undergraduate college students are misusing the drug.
Potential Opioid Addiction Therapeutics
Parras, Isabel; Kidd, Rachel; Merten, Eric; Lewis, Stephanie N. (2019-05-07)
Throughout the last thirty years, a severe opioid epidemic has arisen due to the excessive consumption and abuse of these addictive narcotics. Opioids are currently the best analgesic known to man, however the effects of opioids are not all beneficial; they are extremely addictive and are deadly when taken in high doses. Since opioids began rising in popularity in the 1990’s as a prescribed pain-reliever, opioid deaths have skyrocketed. These circumstances have caused the need for the development of both a potent, non-addictive pain reliever and also a way to treat patients with an opioid addiction. To solve this problem, we used computational methods and structural analysis to investigate the µ-opioid receptor binding cavity and its unique interactions with four different ligands: morphine, heroin, fentanyl, and naloxone. From the results, we have created a criterion of interactions that a potential opioid therapeutic should have.
The Impact of Microplastic Ingestion on the Bivalve Filtration Efficiency of the Hooked Mussel (Ischadium recurvum) from the Chesapeake Bay
Betsill, Matthew; Gonzalez, Juan; Woods, Allison (2019-05-08)
Microplastic pollution is an increasing issue as sea animals are observed with pollutants within their bodies and cells. Mussels and other marine bivalves have the capability to filter phytoplanktonic organisms and chemical pollutants, but cannot break down microplastics if ingested. Because bivalves filter pollutants out of the water, many kinds of debris enter their systems. It is hypothesized that microplastics will reduce the efficiency of the Ischadium recurvum and its ability to filter toxins that deteriorate water quality. This study will determine the effect of intaking 5 to 50-micrometer diameter plastic on the filtering efficiency of Ischadium recurvum. The experiment will prepare two 10-gallon water samples with 34% salinity and water turbidity of ~100 NTU from the algae concentration for mussels’ environment. Twelve mussels will be collected from the York River to measure the nutrient concentration, dissolved oxygen concentration, water transparency, and chlorophyll concentration to determine the water quality before and after the filtration in both the controlled and polluted environment. A comparison of the two water quality results will determine how microplastics have affected the mussels’ filtration. The mussels are expected to completely filter out the contaminants in the control test and experimental trial with microplastic contaminants, albeit at a slower rate. With a bivalve system, mussels can capture particles at a low nutritive value, which will slow down consumption, but leave little filtration difference. The study will provide information for bay restoration projects to utilize different mussels to filter bay water at a higher efficiency.
The Effect of Reading Workshops on Ability to Identify Pseudoscience
Lou, Lan; McCartney, Abby; Makwana, Sunny (2019-05-08)
Pseudoscience, or scientific research presented with manipulated data or conducted with flawed methods, has measurable and potentially dangerous impacts on society. With increasing media focus on pseudoscientific data, learning how to identify pseudoscience is vital to the modern public. As such, this research project seeks to assess if the average person can distinguish pseudoscience from peer-reviewed science based on visual cues within the writings, such as experimental methods, tone, and organization of the paper. A critical reading workshop will be implemented to train individuals to recognize pseudoscience so that they may base important, life-altering decisions on reliable sources. Individuals in six different age groups will be presented with two medical research articles, one peer-reviewed and one pseudoscientific, and will be asked to label which is which and explain their answers. Afterwards, we will lead a short language workshop designed to develop critical reading skills. Next, we will survey the age groups again. We expect to find close to half of each age group in the sample will be unable to determine the pseudoscientific article from the initial survey. Our estimates may increase for specific age groups based on prior research. After completing our workshop, we expect meaningfully larger portions of individuals will be able to recognize falsified work. In summary, the workshop strategy suggests that workshops should be implemented into educational systems so that citizens are better prepared to analyze scientific research when making important decisions for themselves and their children.
Mental Health Treatment in United States Prison Systems: The Influence of Varying Treatment Methods on Inmates with Schizophrenia
Marr, Corinne; Morris, Jill; Francis, Kathryn; Schmidt, Mattie (2019-05-08)
Schizophrenia is a psychological disorder that produces symptoms commonly of hallucinations, delusions, movement disorders, and confused thought or speech. Americans diagnosed with schizophrenia are three times more likely to be imprisoned than hospitalized for their symptom expression, thus necessitating prison reform to treat individuals and reduce repeat offenses. The influence of mental health treatments on inmates with schizophrenia (IWS) in the United States will be analyzed. In order to conduct the research, surveys will be distributed to IWS in 100 prisons across the United States. Five caregivers and 45 IWS within each prison will fill out six surveys over a six month period with questions that measure changes in levels of delusions, hallucinations, interpersonal distress, and disorganized thought that IWS express while incarcerated. Changes in symptoms will be analyzed over the six month period to observe how medications and other forms of treatment affect symptoms of IWS. Federal prisons fail to classify serious mental illnesses in prisoners and only require treatment in 3% of inmates. In comparison, California prisons classified over 30% of inmates in need of regular treatment for serious mental illness. Lack of treatment causes many IWS to experience heightened negative symptoms which, without treatment, drove some inmates to attempt suicide. Administering antipsychotic drugs, providing counseling, and offering emotional therapy to people with schizophrenia reduces their negative symptoms, which would help current inmates, and keep non-incarcerated people with schizophrenia out of prison.
Comparison of Energy Efficiency, Eco-Friendliness, Cost, and Convenience of Phase-Change and Biosolar Materials in Solar Panels
Vaughan, Clint; Richardson, Kelly; Yang, Jiongzhi (2019-05-08)
Solar energy is a clean, renewable energy source that is a good alternative to nonrenewable energy sources. Currently, the two major materials utilized in solar panels are phase change materials (PCMs) and biosolar materials. The purpose of this study is to determine whether biosolar materials or phase change materials are better overall, in terms of energy efficiency, cost and convenience, and eco-friendliness in solar panels. Utilizing solar panels that implement phase-change materials or bio-solar materials, this study explores the energy efficiency, cost and convenience, and eco-friendliness, in a variety of different conditions and designs, for each type of material. To ensure that an overall finding on the better type of material can be found, this study uses a rating system, based on government regulations, industry standards, experimental data, and common scientific values. It is expected that there is higher energy efficiency with the utilization of phase-change materials than with bio-solar materials. However, it is expected that the bio-solar materials are more eco-friendly than the phase-change materials. Overall, it is expected that bio-solar materials are the better choice for solar panels because of their eco-friendliness, low cost, and similar energy efficiency to phase-change materials. The findings of this study can help to push communities to make an informed decision on a switch to renewable energy methods. More importantly, this study supports the use of clean, renewable energy with biosolar material solar panels, to combat rapid change in global climate and negative impacts of most nonrenewable energy sources.
Analyzing the Presence of Unmet Need and Depressive Symptoms in Older Adults
Butynes, Amanda; Tarr, Nina; Thompson, Caleb; Lewis, Stephanie N. (2019-12-11)
This paper works to examine and determine a relationship or association between unmet need from disability and depressive symptoms in older adults. The older adult population is extremely vulnerable to deteriorating quality of life in the presence of unmet need or disability. Older adults are significant members of the population and deserve the right to a healthy, positive quality of life. Data from the National Health and Aging Trends Study (NHATS) provided quantitative data for both unmet need and depressive symptoms for beneficiaries of Medicare. The data was processed using descriptive statistics and basic statistical analysis. Dividing up data into subpopulations based on their unmet need and depressive symptoms across time points allowed the team to understand how the behaviors of the participants changed over time. The results of this analysis showed that those with a higher unmet need due to disability score also show more depressive symptoms. The data suggest that depressive symptoms and disability in adults are closely associated. Currently, there are several forms of governance helping this population out with basic needs, but there is substantial room for improvement. The results of this study have the potential to spread awareness and amend government policies to provide older adults with the services they need.
Binding Interactions of Psilocin and Serotonin in the 5-HT2A Receptor
Barnes, Katie; Lewis, Stephanie N. (2020-05-05)
Psilocin is a molecule found in psilocybin mushrooms, which are typically consumed recreationally for their hallucinogenic effects. Recently, studies have shown that psilocin can have almost immediate antidepressant effects in patients who are treatment-resistant to medications that increase serotonin levels in the synapse. Researchers believe that the molecule works by suppressing activity in the medial prefrontal cortex and amygdala, which are both brain structures involved in the emotional aspect of depression. However, psilocin’s exact mechanism of action and binding characteristics in the body remain unknown. Using Chimera for visualization and AutoDock Tools and AutoDock Vina for docking, psilocin and serotonin were separately docked in a crystallized 5-HT2A receptor. Key residues were identified using existing information in the RCSB database. Once the ligands were docked, the lengths of the potential bonds between atoms of the ligands and the key residues within the receptor were measured to determine if they were close enough to each other to interact. Serotonin had multiple possible hydrogen bonds and hydrophobic interactions; however, psilocin only had one potential hydrophobic interaction. The main structural difference between psilocin and serotonin is the presence of the phosphate group in psilocin; therefore, studies of phosphate’s binding properties within the 5-HT2A receptor could potentially provide insight on the efficacy of psilocin.
Compare and contrast mode of action of penicillin and vancomycin: Why penicillin is still an effective antibiotic today
Kim, Vincent; Lewis, Stephanie N. (2020-05-05)
Penicillin is a group of antibiotics that contains β-lactam, which prevents peptidoglycan crosslinking and indirectly bursts bacterial cell walls. It is widely used today against many infections caused by staphylococci and streptococci bacteria. Although antibiotics were effective at treating disease in the early development of these treatments, the late 20th century has seen an increase in antibiotic resistance. However, penicillin-derived antibiotics are still used today through generations and we see fewer cases of resistance to this antibiotic. Understanding the interactions between penicillin and bacterial proteins would be useful for studies on counteracting antibiotic resistance. Other antibiotic called Vancomycin was compared with penicillin because vancomycin resistance is arising in late 20th century like Vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus. Computational methods were used to propose interactions between 6I1E and comparable ligands to understand what the mode of action of penicillin is. It was found that SER294 likely interacts with the carboxylic acid functional group. Additionally, assessment of vancomycin resistance provided a case study for understanding how resistance happens. Comparison of interactions between ligands and residue suggested that GLN67 and ALA88 were the key residues and mutations from Δ110 to 115 showed the significant loss of activity against substrate. This paper highlighted that each antibiotic reacts with hydrogen bond interaction between ligand and residues. In penicillin, amoxicillin and carbenicillin interacted through hydrogen bond. In vancomycin, it likely interacts through hydrogen bonding in D-Ala-D-Ala. Further steps would be choosing antibiotics that work through the same function as penicillin and comparing the structural differences and ligand interactions.
AT-121 as a Potential Opioid Replacement
Colgan, Grant; Patel, Kethan; Lewis, Stephanie N. (2020-05-05)
The mu opioid Receptor (μ-Receptor) is the neural structure involved in interpreting pain signals. An opioid acts as an agonist that provides pain relief by binding to a large number of these receptors and preventing pain signals from being processed by the brain. Over prescription of addictive opioids in America has led to a rise in addiction in recent decades. To reduce addiction rates, we sought to research a new drug that has the potential to block pain signals without causing dependence and see what sets it apart from common opioids. A ligand supposedly matching this description has been identified in AT-121. We used computational docking methods and structural analysis to determine if AT-121 poses a legitimate solution to opioid addiction. To determine if docking was successful, we relied on a complementary study to identify key ligands, and their residues involved with neurochemical opioid interactions. Our results indicate that AT-121 interacted with the residue that is essential for a conformational change to the binding cavity. Given this, human testing should be carried out to further assess the agonist’s effectiveness at reducing addiction to opioids. If testing results show positive results, AT-121 could pose as a beneficial drug for helping to cease the US opioid epidemic.
US Healthcare Reform in a Green New Deal World
Bonnes, Caroline; Harley, Diana; Koppler, Natalie; Phan, Jenna; Lewis, Stephanie N. (2020-05-09)
National health insurance has been a topic of discussion in the United States for over a century, yet even in 2020, this is a widely controversial and argued topic. There are disagreements about who should provide healthcare, who should be responsible for providing insurance, and what role, if any, the government should have in the process. One thing remains clear, however: access to healthcare in the United States is inherently unstable. Through an analysis of the Green New Deal, the current healthcare system, health expenditures and outcomes, private insurance in the US, and a survey of healthcare in other countries, this report aims to answer the following research question: Would a renovation of the current healthcare system following the initiatives outlined within the GND allow for the effective and efficient provision of equitable quality healthcare to all individuals living within the US? This report was developed as the final project deliverable for the Honors StudioStudio course "Data Analysis for Health Reform".
Adaptive Life-Long Learning for an Inclusive Knowledge Economy
Arnold, Amy; Lindsey, Andrew; McCoy, Andrew P.; Khademian, Anne M.; Lockee, Barbara B.; Adams, Carol; Amelink, Catherine T.; Blankenship, Chip; Glover, Christopher; Harris, Chrystal; Hoyle, Clayton; Potts, Colin; Pike, Dale; Whittaker, Dale; Kjellsson, Daniel; Hare, David; Tegarden, David P.; Tinapple, David; Ucko, David; Nahapetian, Eta; Hou, Feng; Holmes, Glen A.; Keyel, Jared; Garrett, Jeff; Joo, Jenna; McPhee, Joel; Boyer, John D.; Flato, John; Lister, Jonothan; Haldane, Joseph; Greenwood, Julie; Sanders, Karen Eley; Bruce, Karla; Lindsey, Kate; Carlson, Kimberly; Wingfeld, Kristin; Hamilton, Laura; McNair, Lisa D.; Kamlet, Mark; Semmel, Marsha; Holt, Matthew; Richey, Michael; Kumar, Mukul; Spivy, Nene; Cardwell, Owen; Holloway, Rachel L.; Swearer, Randy; Hall, Ralph P.; Clark-Stallkamp, Rebecca; Mazer, Robert; Smith, Robert; Reynolds, Roger; Bess, Diego Scott; Weimer, Scott; Sagheb, Shahabedin; Garmise, Sheri; Ashburn, Sherrell; Johnson, Sylvester; Cardone, Taran; Nicewonger, Todd; Martin, Tom; Quick, Tom; Rikakis, Thanassis; Skuzinski, Thomas; Contomanolis, Manny (Calhoun Center for Higher Education Innovation, 2020-08-24)
This report addresses the globalized knowledge economy in the 21st century; not only as it exists today, but the knowledge economy needed to meet the demands of tomorrow. This report proposes that in order for our knowledge economy to grow and be sustainable, it must be inclusive in ways that enable it to adapt to—and incorporate within it—the personal and professional growth of a large and diverse body of lifelong learners. In this introduction, we first define what we mean by inclusive knowledge and explain how our proposed definition expands some of the traditional understandings. We then show that an expansive and dynamic conceptualization of knowledge increases inclusion and promotes lifelong adaptive learning as a mindset and a practice.

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