HARRISBURG, PA – Welcome to your August 2024 Harrisburg University of Science and Technology (HU) Research Roundup! Our talented faculty have been busy presenting at conferences, publishing boundary-pushing research, and building fruitful partnerships with other schools, agencies, and organizations. It’s been a great month for research and recognition at HU, so let’s get right to it!
1. Kelly Boudreau, PhD, Published in Two Academic Books and a Peer-Reviewed Journal This Summer
A familiar face at Harrisburg University for over seven years, Kelly Boudreau, PhD, currently serves as Program Lead for HU’s Bachelor of Science in Game Design degree program. When she’s not instructing HU students, Kelly publishes prolifically on topics around game design, technology, community, and culture. Her current research spans several areas, including exploring the design and played experiences of cozy games, online streaming and microstreaming, the social construction of toxic and problematic behavior in videogame play and culture, and notions of player/avatar hybridity developed through the networked process of videogame play. With three new, peer-reviewed, co-authored publications that came out in July and August, Kelly demonstrates the richness and benefits of interdisciplinary scholarship.
- “Perspectives on Microstreaming: Labor, Interactivity and Authenticity,” with co-authors Mia Consalvo, PhD, and Andy Phelps, PhD, in the edited collection Emerging Technologies: Theories, Futures, Provocations.
- “Gaming, Identity Construction, and Social Connection,” with co-authors Rachel Kowert, PhD, and Jessica Stone, PhD, in the edited collection Social Media and Youth Mental Health.
- “Authenticity on Display? How Perceived Scriptedness, Production, and Staging of Microstreamers Influence Perceived Authenticity and Enjoyment.” Bowman, N. D., Lee, Y. E., Zhao, E. Y., Chen, S., Phelps, A., Consalvo, M., & Boudreau, K. in Technology, Mind & Behavior 5(3) DOI: 10.1037/tmb0000134.
2. Erin Buchanan, PhD, Receives Portion of $1.4 Million NASA HPOSS Grant Award
HU Professor of Cognitive Analytics, Erin Buchanan, PhD, has received a High Priority Open-Source Science (HPOSS) grant award from NASA. Dr. Buchanan’s proposal is entitled, “STAPLE: Science Tracking Across the Project Lifespan.”
According to NASA, the HPOSS awards “fund projects that aim to increase the accessibility, inclusivity, or reproducibility of NASA’s Science Mission Directorate (SMD) research. Projects include open-source tools, software, frameworks, data formats, or libraries that will have a significant impact to the SMD science community. HPOSS awards are for one year and approximately $100,000.”
Open science is a critical tool that enables information sharing and rapid deployment of new data within and across disciplines. “We are excited to be able to fund these opportunities to enable modern research through NASA’s support of open science,” said Chelle Gentemann, Program Officer for HPOSS and Open Science Program Scientist at NASA. “Open science is crucial in improving the transparency, security, and reproducibility of scientific research.”
3. Rebekah Harriger Published in California State University (CSU) Open Journals
Harrisburg University’s Director of Experiential Learning, Rebekah Harriger, is co-author of a newly published research paper, entitled, “Exploring the Impact of Institutional Context on Experiential Education in Higher Education.” Rebekah was previously selected to participate in the Society for Experiential Education (SEE) Fellows Program from 2022 to 2024; this research was conducted as part of that fellowship.
The authors revisited the Society’s eight principles of good practice to explore the impact of institutional context on experiential education in higher learning.
“Our group leveraged a scholar-practitioner frame and drew on action research methods to explore the experiences of each individual’s context and experiential education (EE) structure. The findings are organized around four themes and three principles of good practice. Our team’s inquiry reveals that experiential education’s location and structure within the organization may impact how EE is valued and executed. The findings suggest that within higher education contexts, the praxis of experiential education is directly connected to its institutional location, the institutional culture of DEI, its positioning as a value proposition, and the faculty relationships that can support it.”
4. Kayden Jordan, PhD, Joins Panel on Human-Centered Large Language Models
In July, Kayden Jordan, PhD, Assistant Professor of Social Analytics, was invited to join a panel for the Human-Centered Large Language Modeling Workshop at the 2024 annual conference of the Association of Computation Linguistics (ACL). There, Kayden provided a social-science perspective on large language models (LLMs); discussed how to evaluate LLMs from a human perspective; and explored the ethics, challenges, and future of LLMs.
“Large language models like ChatGPT have rapidly risen to prominence, not only in the tech and research realms but in nearly every sector,” said Dr. Jordan. “While such models could have positive benefits for society, the rapid rollout in the private sector didn’t necessarily allow for rigorous investigation and testing. I and the other panelists discussed how these models fit into our understanding of language and decision-making in humans as well as how we as researchers could better understand what and how these models are learning and how they could be improved to better reflect human needs and behavior.”
5. HU Alumnus Bowen Long and HU Professor Srikar Bellur, PhD, Published in the Journal Bioengineering
HU alumnus, Bowen Long, PhD, and HU Assistant Professor of Data Analytics, Srikar Bellur, PhD, have co-authored an original research paper in the journal Bioengineering. The paper, entitled, “Deciphering Factors Contributing to Cost-Effective Medicine Using Machine Learning,” appeared in a special issue of Bioengineering focused on Deciphering Medicine: The Role of Explainable Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare Innovations.
The study leveraged machine learning to identify key factors that influence the cost-effectiveness of over-the-counter (OTC) medications and created a novel cost-effectiveness rating (CER) based on user ratings and prices. The results show that eligibility for Flexible Spending Account (FSA) or Health Savings Account (HSA) funds, the range of symptoms treated, safety warnings, special effects, active ingredients, and packaging size significantly affect cost-effectiveness across cold, allergy, digestion, and pain relief medications. For example, medications that qualify for FSA or HSA funds, address a wider range of symptoms, and come in smaller packaging are perceived as more cost-effective. Cold medications with safety warnings were found to be cost-effective due to their lower average price and effective ingredients like phenylephrine and acetaminophen.
These insights will aid consumers in making informed purchasing decisions and help manufacturers and retailers improve product competitiveness. The research supports better decision-making in the pharmaceutical industry by highlighting the factors that drive cost-effective medication purchases.
6. Leena Pattarkine, PhD, Presents Lecture at CNEU and Conducts Educator Workshop at HU
Leena Pattarkine, PhD, Harrisburg University’s Program Lead for Biotechnology and Director for the Capital Area Biotechnology Partnership (CABP), was invited in late July to deliver a lecture at the Center for Nanotechnology Education and Utilization (CNEU). The lecture, entitled, “The Interface of Biotechnology and Nanotechnology: Potential to Infinity” was part of CNEU’s capstone program.
“The talk covered various breakthrough technologies that have positively impacted patient care options. For a long time, nanotechnology was mainly applied to the semiconductor and material-science fields. However, in recent years, several nano-scaled biotechnologies have become indispensable in life science industries for diagnostics, imaging, treatment, regenerative medicine, biomedical devices, and basic cell research. The lecture highlighted this strong associative interface between nanotechnology and its innovative applications in healthcare through the conduit of biotechnology.
On August 8, Dr. Pattarkine also conducted an educator workshop, hosted by Harrisburg University and The Capital Area Biotechnology Partnership. The focus was “Biotechnology and Nanobiotechnology Revolution: Better Skills, Better Jobs.” Attendees learned about exciting biotech and nanobiotechnology career tracks through presentations, hands-on activities, and brainstorming sessions.
7. Tom Screech and Lynzie Wagaman Talk Collegiate Esports at NACE Convention 2024
The National Association of Collegiate Esports (NACE) held the 2024 NACE Convention on July 17-19 in Winter Park, Florida. HU’s own Tom Screech, Instructor of Esports, and Lynzie Wagaman, Assistant Director of Esports and Partnerships, both made appearances on two exciting collegiate esports panels during the event.
Tom spoke on the Sponsorships and Partnerships Panel, with a focus on exploring ways to cultivate lucrative esports partnerships, utilize revenue for scholarships, and sustain collaborative success over the long term. Lynzie contributed to the Graduates Panel, which explored the benefits of graduating from a NACE member school and how that perspective likewise leads to better organized, more successful, and more future-proof esports programs at member institutions.
“The NACE Graduates panel was a great opportunity to provide a new perspective to the NACE convention,” said Lynzie. “There are more and more students looking to stay involved in NACE members schools after they graduate, whether at their alma mater or elsewhere. Being able to show the benefit of graduating from a NACE member school and the knowledge that comes from it made the panel eye-opening for convention attendees. As more institutions explore esports and national competition, having graduates like myself and my fellow panelists who understand the landscape is a strong advantage to those who are jumping in for the first time.”
Harrisburg University also congratulates Tom and Lynzie for being named finalists in the 2024 NACE Awards – two out of seven total finalists from the HU community. Tom was a finalist for Scholar of the Year and Lynzie was a finalist for Support Staff of the Year.
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