Kinesiology, Sports and Exercise Science, and Clinical Exercise Science


Faculty Honors Advisors

Shannon D. R. Ringenbach

About this opportunity

Honors Opportunities in the College of Health Solutions
The College of Health Solutions (CHS) aims to prepare the next generation of health professionals through a broad set of health degree programs. We have recently introduced degree programs that will prepare professionals for continued graduate education and health leadership positions. We are thrilled to offer challenging and rewarding experiences to Barrett students across ASU. Welcome!

Kinesiology, BS
The job market has fueled the growth of kinesiology programs over the past decade. The primary career paths are physical/occupational therapy, medical doctor, and physician assistant. More than 185,000 physical therapists and 104,000 occupational therapists were employed in the U.S. in 2008. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects employment growth rates of between 24 percent and 39 percent for these three careers, by 2018.

The Bachelor of Science in Kinesiology prepares students for the study of human movement as it relates to physical activity, health, exercise and disease, and injury prevention and treatment. Using both human and animal models and reflecting research ranging from basic to applied, it draws from an interdisciplinary body of knowledge grounded in the biological, psychological, physical sciences, and social sciences. Students will study biomechanics, exercise physiology, motor control, motor development, and exercise and health psychology. Ninety percent of ASU kinesiology students prepare to become physical therapists. The program also prepares students for other graduate studies in health.

Exercise and Wellness, BS
The Bachelor of Science in Exercise and Wellness provides student with the knowledge and skills to assist individuals across the lifespan in adopting physical activity, exercise, and other healthy behaviors that lead to increased fitness, wellness and optimal health. Students are prepared to pursue national certifications provided by professional organizations in fields of study related to exercise, strength and conditioning, and sports medicine.

Health Education & Health Promotion Degree, BS
Employment for health educators and community health workers is projected to grow 13% from 2014 to 2024, faster than average for all occupations. For Arizona, the outlook is especially positive, with 35% growth predicted from 2010-2020 and 80 new health educator jobs expected to become available every year.

Any student who is considering majoring or minoring in Kinesiology, Exercise and Wellness, or Health Education & Health Promotion should contact Dr. Shannon D. Ringenbach at Shannon.ringenbach@asu.edu

Thesis

Honors Thesis/Creative Project
The honors thesis/creative project is an excellent opportunity to gain experience conducting original research under the advisement of a faculty member. A topic for your thesis or creative project usually emerges from an aspect of an introductory course that sparks your interest, and then becomes more refined as a depth of knowledge is furthered by taking other classes or undergraduate research CHS 494 in the related area.

All Barrett Honors students are must complete a thesis/creative project information session prior to enrolling in thesis credit (492 or 493). The session is designed to make certain each student has been informed about the process, expectations, and deadlines. Students may complete this requirement in several ways:

  1. Through a workshop or course offered in an academic unit and approved by Barrett.
  2. Through a workshop/session (several every semester) or a live-Zoom workshop/session (one each semester at PHX Downtown campus) offered by Barrett.
  3. Through an on-line workshop offered through Barrett via ASU Canvas. Refer to the Barrett, The Honors College page for further information in enrolling in an information session.

We strongly encourage planning their thesis/creative project by the fall of their junior year, particularly if you would like to be engaged in research during the summer before your senior year. After completing the information session, the following steps are required:

  1. Consult with an appropriate thesis/creative project director.
  2. Form a Barrett Thesis/Creative Project committee with a minimum of two members; the director (who must be a regularly appointed lecturer or professor) and one other committee member with expertise in the area of interest, after consultation with the director.
  3. Develop a prospectus in collaboration with your thesis/creative project director and submit within the timelines identified by Barrett.
  4. Complete the research or creative project with collaboration from the committee. Expectations regarding what constitute a thesis or creative project varies among faculty members and will be conveyed by your director. However, the thesis/creative project will require either independent development of a project with written documentation of the project rationale, method of development and evaluation of the project or completion of a research study and analysis of the results. A research paper relating the research completed by other researchers does NOT meet the criteria for a thesis/creative project.
  5. The thesis/creative project defense must be scheduled and held according to Barrett timelines and all committee members must be present at the defense.

Please review the description of the program faculty as potential honors directors and freely explore other relevant ASU faculty members in other programs.

 

Academic Preparation

It is best to have a statistics class and some research or internship experience.
Below is a list of current faculty that are doing research that you could work with on your thesis.

Dr. Marc Adams (marc.adams@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Students Internship available? Yes

Dr. Adams seeks several research assistants for two large-scale lifestyle interventions. Students in fields such as public/population health, exercise and wellness, nutrition, kinesiology, biology, psychology, urban planning, GIS, computer science, biomedical engineering, or sustainability among others are encouraged to apply. Four of our students have successfully defended Barrett honors theses and went on to do great things (e.g. NASA, PA, PT, or PhD programs). Dozens more have gained experience in research for the budding health and technology professional. Send resume and brief cover letter. We consider new students on a weekly basis.

Our studies offer an excellent opportunity to work with real people and develop lab and field research skills. One study promotes walking/physical activity daily via a technology-based intervention and the other works with children in schools to improve diet. For the walking intervention, we use text messaging & activity monitors to promote walking among inactive adults. In addition, we're testing whether "walkable neighborhoods" or walkability influences physical activity. For the dietary intervention, we're testing whether salad bars during lunch help to increase elementary, middle, and high school students' fruit and vegetable intake and reduce waste.

Dr. Chong Lee (chong.lee@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Students Internship available? Yes

Dr. Lee's current research focuses on investigating the health hazards of sarcopenic obesity. Students will gain a direct experience of research in sarcopenic obesity (1) identifying the major risk factors of sarcopenic obesity, (2) examining the associations of muscle mass, muscle strength, muscle power, and lifestyle factors, and (3) studying the obesity paradox in relation to sarcopenic obesity. Students will have an opportunity to complete their honors thesis project using this dataset. One or two students are needed for this project.

Dr. Matthew Buman (matthew.buman@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Students Internship available? Yes

Dr. Buman's research interests are in behaviors across the 24 hours – sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity – and how collectively these behaviors ca be harnessed for health promotion and disease prevention.

His current projects are as follows:

  1. Implementation of a worksite intervention to reduce sedentary behavior and increase light-intensity physical activity in predominantly seated workers, examining its effects on health behaviors, cardiometabolic health, and workplace productivity;
  2. use of smartphone-based interventions to improve sleep, sedentary behavior, and physical activity in pre-diabetic Veterans at the Phoenix VA and individuals with obstructive sleep apnea at Mayo Clinic Arizona;
  3. validation of commercial and research grade wearable sensors to measure physical activity and sleep behaviors

Dr. Cheryl Der Ananian (cheryld@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Internship available? No

Dr. Der Ananian's research interests focus on developing and implementing physical activity programs for older adults with an emphasis on chronic disease management. She is also the faculty advisor for the Exercise is Medicine on Campus © initiative with ASU. We were recently awarded Silver Level Status for this initiative. Dr. Der Ananian is currently seeking students who can assist with the implementation and evaluation of the Exercise is Medicine Initiative at ASU. This is a collaborative effort with the Sun Devil Fitness Complex and Health Services at Arizona State University. Dr. Der Ananian has on-going research projects related to physical activity and aging including a worksite intervention for people with arthritis, the development of a physical activity and nutrition program for middle-aged Mexican men (with Drs. Hooker and Vega-Lopez) and a weight loss intervention for people with arthritis. She is also looking for a student who could help develop a video and /or web-based fall prevention program for older adults and a physical activity APP for students at ASU.

Dr. Glenn Gaesser (Glenn.Gaesser@asu.edu)
Honors students only? Yes Internship available? No

Research Interests include the effects of exercise and diet on cardiometabolic health. We currently are investigating whether regular exercise can offset the negative effect of overeating that typically accompanies holiday weight gain. Other projects include the effect of replacing sitting with standing or light-intensity physical activity during the work day on blood pressure and blood glucose control.

Dr. Teresa Hart (teresa.abraham@asu.edu)
Honors students only? Honors and MS students Internship available? No

Dr. Hart's research interests include promotion of health through physical activity and nutrition. Populations of interest include older adults, people with developmental disabilities, and school-aged children.

Dr. Simon Holzapfel (simon.holzapfel@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Students Internship available? Potentially

Dr. Holzapfel is the director of the Adaptive Exercise Program for adults with various disabilities. At this time, the membership consists mostly of individuals with Down syndrome but more members with other conditions will be recruited. This program is ongoing and runs from the start to end of each semester. Student tasks include exercise prescription, personal training, fitness assessments, cognitive assessments, data entry, and equipment maintenance. Research goals include the assessment of the feasibility and effectiveness of the program. The goal of the program is a positive impact on the physical, mental, and social well-being of adults with Down syndrome. Projects to analyze existing data or to collect new data, including case studies, are available. You are welcome to bring your ideas forward if you think they can be incorporated into the program as a thesis project.

Dr. Scott Leischow (scott.leischow@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Students Internship available? Yes

Social Media and E-Cigarette Use. We are looking for a bright and motivated undergraduate or graduate student who is interested in working on an ongoing NIH study that is assessing how social media are being used to share information about e-cigarettes and vape products. In particular, we are interested in students who have some experience with social media (eg Reddit, Twitter, etc), who can write well, have an interest in learning research.

Smoking Cessation. We are looking for a bright and motivated undergraduate or graduate student who is interested in working on a NIH-funded clinical trial that is assessing the safety and efficacy of a smoking cessation medication. In particular, we are interested in students who have an interest in learning biomedical research, can assist research staff in the conduct of the study, and can conduct literature searches and summarize findings in well written reports.

Tobacco Control. We develop new projects related to tobacco control, and students interested in the general topic of tobacco control, including prevention, treatment, new products such as Juul and other e-cigarettes, and policy change are welcome to contact me about developing a project.

Ms. Rachel Larson (Rachel.larson11@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Students Internship available? Yes

Ms. Larson's research interests involve the study of resistance training and its effects on human performance, and occupational preparedness (athletes, firefighters, law enforcement, military) in addition to health related benefits. Her current focus is on factors that influence neuromuscular adaptations of resistance training including the performer's focus of attention.

Current 3 part project:
* study (IRB #00008198) The Acute and Longitudinal Effects of Attentional Focus on Muscular Strength

Dr. Daniel Peterson (daniel.peterson1@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Students Internship available? No

Research Interests: I study how the brain controls movement and how this information can be used to improve physical rehabilitation of neurological populations. In particular, I'm interested in rehabilitation for improving balance and reducing falls in people with Parkinson's disease and multiple sclerosis, among others.

Specific projects include investigating the motor control and biomechanics of "reactive" stepping (i.e. the first step one takes when they lose their balance). I will be investigating these steps in both healthy and neurological populations.

Dr. Shannon D. R. Ringenbach (shannon.ringenbach@asu.edu)
Honors students only? Internship available?

Dr. Ringenbach is conducting several innovative exercise studies with cognitive, motor, clinical, mental and physical health pre and posttests typically with three groups 1) Voluntary rate stationary cycling 2) Assisted Cycling (at a rate ~35% greater than voluntary) 3) no cycling

Studies are being conducted with Down syndrome adolescents, older adults with Down syndrome, adults with ADHD, typical obese children and typical obese adults and we have a related study with stroke patients. The framework from her Sensorimotor Development Research Lab is behavioral neuroscience.

Dr. Pamela Swan (PSwan@asu.edu)
Honors students only? x Internship available? x

Dr. Swan's research interests include the effects of weight loss and weight gain on health; effects of exercise on cardiometabolic health; effects of physical activity and obesity on resting metabolism; effects of severe weight loss (Post Bariatric Surgery) on muscular/skeletal health and wellbeing; and effects of exercise on regional adiposity and health. Dr. Swan has a number of research studies that she and her graduate students are conducting that may be of interest to undergraduate students who want research experience.

  1. Understanding the cardiometabolic effects of body weight cycling;
  2. Effects of vibration exercise training on glucose control, and muscle strength and endurance in obese men and women;
  3. Effects of obesity status on post exercise hypotensive response to exercise;
  4. Effects of severe weight loss on resting metabolism, bone loss, muscular strength and fitness.

Dr. Swan welcomes Barrett's honors students and undergraduates in her laboratory. Students interested in topics of obesity, exercise and cardiometabolic health are invited to join her team to gain research experience and/or to conduct their thesis.

Dr. Shawn Youngstedt (shawn.youngstedt@asu.edu)
Honors students only? All Students Internship available? Potentially

Dr. Youngstedt studies the effects of exercise and weight loss on sleep apnea as well as the effect of daily napping on the heart and amyloid beta levels in older adults at risk for Alzheimer's Disease. He also hopes to recruit a Barrett student to help investigate claims that MyPillow help people sleep better.

Recommended Timeline

Example Honors Thesis schedule

Junior/Sophomore Year
End of Spring Semester

  • Find a faculty member to advise you on your Honors Thesis (the Thesis Director); begin discussing possible projects
  • Enroll in 492 for 3 credits

Junior/Senior Year
Start of Fall Semester

  • Work with your Thesis Director to define your project and formulate an action plan for the project (the Prospectus).
  • Prepare your Prospectus and submit to Barrett: 

Fall Semester

  • Collect data

End of Fall Semester

  • Enroll in 493 for 3 credits

Beginning of Spring Semester

  • Analyze data, write thesis

Before Spring Break

  • Complete first draft of the thesis document and submit to Thesis Director for initial review
  • Schedule your thesis defense - remember this is your responsibility – by completing the Thesis/Creative Project Defense Reporting Form
  • Note that a draft of the thesis should be sent to the entire committee for review at least one week before your defense

Other Honors Opportunities

Honors Classes & Honors Enrichment Contracts
Barrett students entering with lower division status complete 30 honors credits (at least 18 must be upper division) in addition to the HON 171 and 272 course sequence, a total of 36 honor credits. Students entering with upper division status complete 21 honors credits (all upper division and one must be a HON 300 seminar). Specific honors courses or sections can be taken to meet this requirement.

Honors contracts can be developed with a regularly appointed faculty members for most courses. Honors contract projects should be determined jointly by the student and faculty member. The honors contract should ideally increase student understanding of course topics. It is also recommended that students pursue research and projects directed by faculty in order to develop research ideas and further career opportunities prior to starting an honors thesis/creative project.

Tips

  • Explore Barrett Resources: Barrett has excellent online resources outlining the Honors Thesis projects including a student guidebook
  • Attend a Thesis Workshop: Barrett also arranges several workshops throughout the semester to help you get started with your thesis and to de-mystify the thesis process.
  • Talk to CHS Faculty: faculty have experience mentoring students on the Honors Thesis and can guide you through the process and advise you what they might expect
  • Review past thesis documents: Barrett Honors College has a library of documents previously prepared by Honors students. These are an excellent resource to help plan the structure of your document. You can schedule an appointment to view past projects in the Barrett Thesis Library by contacting the Barrett Advising Office at barrettadvising@asu.edu or 480-965-9155.
  • Attend thesis defenses: Every student publicly presents thesis outcomes as part of a defense. Attending a defense before you do your own will help you prepare and give you a sense of how to present your outcomes as well as the kinds of questions you might expect. A schedule of upcoming defenses can be found at: http://barretthonors.asu.edu/academics/thesis-and-creativeproject/defens...
  • Talk to other CHS Honors students: If they are currently going through the thesis process, or preparing for it, talking to other students can help plan for your thesis.
  • Talk to the CHS Faculty Honors Advisors or Advising Staff.

Financial Support for the Honors Thesis
Barrett has support and funding for Honors Thesis work:

  • Thesis Funding – Students may apply to receive up to $1000 to complete their thesis to cover materials and supplies needed to complete the project.
  • Honors Project Fund – Typically used for non-thesis related expenses such as presenting a paper at a conference or attending an annual meeting related to your major to cover such costs as travel, hotel, conference registration and supplies.
  • External Examiners Program – As part of the thesis defense, students can apply to bring in an outside examiner or expert from another institution to serve as a thesis committee member. Students may receive up to $1500 toward associated expenses, such as airfare and hotel.

College

College of Health Solutions

Campus

Downtown