The honors thesis is a time-honored tradition in the Lee Honors College. It is an opportunity for students to demonstrate to themselves and others the knowledge and skills they have developed during their undergraduate studies and honors experience. The general purpose of the thesis is to create a capstone work that reflects the expertise they have developed in their major field of study or interest.
Honors theses completed at Western Michigan University are entered into ScholarWorks. Some may be embargoed or restricted by the authors or we have been unable to reach the authors, so the theses may be only available from on-campus computers. If you are an author of an honors thesis and would like to make it available off campus or if you have any questions, please contact wmu-scholarworks@wmich.edu.
Theses from 2016
College Student Development and Emerging Adulthood, Gina Cavanaugh
Effects of Multiple Exemplar Instruction on Reading Comprehension for Secondary Students with Reading Delays, Reilly Chabie
EZ Timeout: The Business Plan, Simbarashe Chirara
Increasing Vocalizations in Children with Autism, Nicholette Christodoulou
Who is the One Percent?, Christopher Chupp
An Assessment of Home Energy Efficiency in Kalamazoo, Alexis Coutts
Hand Assembly Evaluation and Design, Zachary Crawford
Software Improvements to Parint, a Parallel Integration Software Package, Lawrence Cuneaz
The Effects of Aging and Estrogen Treatment During Aging on the Rat Epididymis, Kathryn Davis
The Comparison of Effectiveness between Print Media & Electronic Media in terms of Promotion and Recruitment, Katherine Dayton
Memory Support for Adults with Alzheimer’s Disease: Applications for Speech-language Pathologists, Laura Dober
Using Focus Groups to Identify Ways to Reduce Infant Mortality in Kalamazoo, Leah Dries
Undergraduate Recital, Noah Dyer
The Barriers and Facilitators to becoming a Baby-Friendly Hospital, Bohn Emily
Transitioning Children with Autism from a Discrete Trial Classroom to a Group Classroom, Alexandra Ennis
Solar Tracking and Lighting Design for a Multimedia Sculpture, Alexandra Ferguson
Math Curriculum (Algebra II) with Focus on Sports, Raychel Figurski
Optimization of a Sustainable Bicycle Generator, Erika Fojtik
Curiosity Beyond the Classroom: Developing Engaging Education Programming at the Grand Rapids Public Museum, Sara Forman
Movements for the Dreamer: An Electronic Audio Experience, Garrett Gagnon
Senior Composition Recital, Nathaniel Haering
Modeling Product Cooling for Baked and Snack Crackers, Jenna Hagenloch
The Birth of Development: The Social, Economic and Environmental Advantages to Contraceptive Use on a Global Scale, Linda Hanes
CAB Documentary: A Year in the Life of a Student Leader, Cassie Hess
Using SBIRT as an Intervention for Substance Use in Public Schools, Amanda Higgins
Creation of Intern Manual for WMU Fall Welcome Program, Valerie Horwath
Idealizing Patriarchy: Patterns of Hierarchy and Patriarchal Values in English Household Literature, 1520-1600, Conor Howard
From Love Canal to the Flint Water Crisis: Government, Public Opinion, and Environmental Crises, Sarah Hughey
Audio Software (VST Plugin) Development with Practical Application, Zachary Hummel
Human-Assisted Fluid Power Vehicle, Aaron Huntoon
"Come and Go", Izzabella Irwin
Alcoholism, Domestic Violence, & Mental Illness: As a Graphic Novel, Abigail Jackson
Recurring Ankle Injuries in Dancers, Alexis Jawny
Acoustic Correlates of Speech Naturalness in Post-Treatment Adults who Stutter: Role of Speaking Rate, Caylee Jessen
The Use of Hydrotherapy in Labor to Promote Physiologic Labor, Nicolette Johnson
Exploring the Impact of Globalization on Linguistic Culture, Autumn Kearney
Desolventizer Toaster Design Evaluation for Maintenance Reliability, Stephanie Kilbourn
Marketing Ideas that Could Improve Adoptions and Reduce Return Rates of Dogs in Shelters in the State of Michigan, Bryan Klemett
Friendly and Economically Viable Alternative to Big Oil, Ryan Kohsel
In Bad Taste - Art Show, Katherine Kolean
The Consent Search Warning Argument: Procedural Justice and What a Warning Might do for Police Legitimacy, Alec Kraus
Closed-Loop Motor Controlled Valve, Aaron Labomascus
An Analysis of Preflight Inspection Practices in the Collegiate Training Environment, Seth Laws
The Effect of Wee1 on mitosis in the spb Mutant, David LeRoy
Role-Based Access Control Filesystem, Scott Linder
News in Virtual Reality, Samantha Macy
Historical Corsets Retrospective 1558-1890, Jacquelyn Marks
“May the odds be never in your favor” – An economic representation of the Hunger Games trilogy, Kaitlin Marshall
Giving Back to the Military, Lauren Martin
The United States Aviation Industry and the Professional Pilot Training Environment, Andrew Marvin
Hello Kitty's Long-Standing Cross-Cultural Popularity in the United States and Japan, Melanie Matchette
Analysis of The Foreigner, Hannah Matias
Stories from a Millinery, Allie Maynard
Rising Tension in the South China Sea, Paul McQuaid
"Tones", Sarah Mills
Bacteriophages that can Lyse Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria, Michael Monaco
"Baby with the Bathwater", Audrey Morton
The Role of Weak Magnetic Fields in Tissue Regeneration, Jacob Morton
Senior Violin Recital, Lindsey Mroczek
Senegal's Language Problem: A Discourse of Disparity, Monica Naida
Relationship between Ambulation and Position Changes during Labor and Hormonal Physiology of Childbearing, Zoe Nokomis
Design of Computerized Surgical Screwdriver, Jacob Nye
Vocal Jazz Arranging and Directing, Monica Pabelonio
The Effect of Bedside Handoffs on Patients’ Perceived Fears, Maija Paldan
Everything Continues On: Music Inspired by Space, Maria Paterno
The Clean Power Plan: A Legal Analysis of the E.P.A.'s Final Rule, Robert Paul
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Low: The vocal response of House Wrens, Troglodytes aedon, when exposed to increasing volumes of noise., Monique Pipkin
Least Cost Analysis for Solar Photovoltaic Maintenance of the WMU Miller Auditorium Array, Kelsey Pitschel
Optimization of a Sustainable Bicycle Generator, Kelsey Pitschel
The effects of globalization on English language learning: Perspectives from Senegal and the United States, Anna Poggensee
Design of Computerized Surgical Screwdriver, Timothy Ruesink
Predictors of Employee Engagement in the Workplace, Kylie Rumsey
Acoustic Correlates of Speech Naturalness in Post-Treatment Adults Who Stutter: Role of Fundamental Frequency, Jacqueline Schmitt
Roomi Q Mobile Application, Quinn Sheridan
The Effects of Picture Prompts on the Acquisition of Receptive Language in Children with Autism, Hanna Simons
Ethics in the Nonprofit Sector: A Study on the American Red Cross, Emily Smith
Children of Coalwood, Maria Smith
Future Historiographers: A Unit Plan for Progressive History Classrooms, Holli Sommerfeld
CubeSAT ADCS Validation and Testing Apparatus, Jacob Stevens
Can a student write a novel in a month?, Julia Tanner
Attitude Determination Control Testing System (Helmholtz Cage and Air Bearing), Nicolas Theoret
The World of Finance in Russia, Matthew Thomas
Discriminative Stimulus Properties of 3.0 mg/kg Mephedrone in Rats, Nathyn Thompson
We Learn to Walk by Falling: Portraits and Wisdom from Women, Jennifer Townsend
The Greek Campaign, Victor Tran
Nicole VandenBosch's Senior Horn Recital: "Water", Nicole Vanden Bosch
A Five-Year Integration Plan for Syrian Refugees Residing in Italian Refugee Camps, Megan Vander Boon
Movement in the Classroom to Practice Sight Words, Galina Vander Meer
Characteristics of Patients who Experience Fear During Hospitalization, Marlena Vande Streek
An Analysis on the Growth of Student Loans and its Implications on the U.S. Economy, Jensine Voon
A Survey of English Teaching Practices and Goals in Japan, Zachary Waber
Effects of Creatine, Leucine, and Ethanol on Glial Cell Line-Derived Neurotrophic Factor in C2C12 Skeletal Muscle Cells, Daniel Waters
Bioinformatics and Laboratory Study of Tanapox Viral Protein 91L, Kurt Wendland
Study in the States: Making an Impact on Honors Education, Hayley Weston
"Patterns in the Abundance of Benthic Algae in Streams", Courtney Wright