NSU Honors Newsletter Spring 2023

Honors Newsletter 5 Northern State University Upper Midwest Regional Conference Seven NSU students attended the conference, held March 30-April 1, 2023, at Des Moines Area Community College in Ankeny, Iowa. Of those seven, three presented their research: Mayson Sheldon, Mckenzie Hassebroek, and Qiang (Andy) Ai. Sheldon presented her thesis, “Measuring Fear of Crime on Campus: A Study of a Small Midwestern University.” Sheldon, originally from Mandan, N.D., said she chose to come to Northern because of the supportive staff, community and opportunity to conduct undergraduate research in her field. She decided to present at the conference because, “I wanted to practice answering questions for my defense. I also wanted to show students from other schools the data I collected and get them thinking about how data from their schools might differ.” One thing that stood out to Sheldon about her research was that “I did not find any significant relationship between media consumption and fear of crime among students, staff and faculty on campus.” Hassebroek, originally from Westport, S.D., is majoring in Psychology and Sociology with a minor in Social Work. Hassebroek’s thesis examines food insecurity at Northern. It observes if students who are attending the university are experiencing food insecurity and if there is a need for a food pantry on campus. “This was my first time presenting my research, so it was a little nerve-wracking. By attending the conference, I had the opportunity to share my research and also the opportunity to talk to other students that attend different universities at the conference and learned how their schools are helping students that are experiencing food insecurity, and I hope I can bring some of these ideas and initiatives to Northern.” Hassebroek said she chose to come to Northern because it is a small college. Pictured: Left to right: Mayson Sheldon, Kayla Jensen, Jessica Splichal, Mckenzie Hassebroek, Randi Schuster, Kendall Kelly, and Qiang (Andy) Ai. Ai, a math education and mathematics major, presented his thesis, titled, "The Connection between Basic Arithmetic Skills and Further Mathematic Ability." Ai’s research analyzes “if the use or non-use of calculators affects students' math ability during math learning and testing, and it also determines if an increase in basic arithmetic skills through daily arithmetic practice quizzes improves students' achievement in other mathematics skills.” Ai, who is from Shanghai, China, and Watertown, S.D., said, “The most challenging part was finding a school and class to complete the experiment. This is the research that will require students to participate. It was hard to find a public school to support the project, so I had to use my personal relationship with multiple private schools to complete this experiment.”

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