<script>
  (function(i,s,o,g,r,a,m){i['GoogleAnalyticsObject']=r;i[r]=i[r]||function(){
  (i[r].q=i[r].q||[]).push(arguments)},i[r].l=1*new Date();a=s.createElement(o),
  m=s.getElementsByTagName(o)[0];a.async=1;a.src=g;m.parentNode.insertBefore(a,m)
  })(window,document,'script','//www.google-analytics.com/analytics.js','ga');
 
  ga('create', 'UA-25343253-2', 'calpoly.edu');
  ga('send', 'pageview');
 
</script>

Cal Poly's COVID-19-Related Research Showcase Abstracts

You can view conference details here

 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Sara Bartlett spbartle@calpoly.edu CLA Psychology/Child Development Faculty Sky Bergman, CLA, faculty in Art & Design Department

Title

Intergenerational Service-learning in the Time of Covid-19
 

Abstract

Background: This study evaluates the efficacy of a virtual intergenerational service-learning program created by two Cal Poly faculty administered to psychology students in AY 2020-2021 to determine if it will increase knowledge and attitudes about older adults and reduce ageism similarly to the previously delivered in-person version. It is vital to continue providing maximum impact on student learning despite social distancing requirements due to Covid-19 while also benefitting isolated older adults through intergenerational interaction. 

Method: A quasi-experimental design will compare pre-test/post-test scores between the in-person version of the Lives Well Lived program (N=68) and the virtual version of the same program (current N=59 but data collection ongoing through June 2021) on three measures of effectiveness. Qualitative data via open-ended survey questions is also being collected. The program, based on a documentary film by the same name, forges relationship between a student and older adult who is part of the Senior Planet online activity community. 

Results: Results from multiple regression analysis for the in-person intervention indicated students had less ageist stereotypes and less negative bias about aging at post-test than a comparison group. Qualitative data indicated more inclination to participate in intergenerational relationships in the future. Preliminary results from the virtual program show similar outcomes.

Conclusion: Virtual intergenerational service-learning holds promise as an effective pedagogical strategy for influencing student learning outcomes of knowledge, attitudes and ageism, while also benefiting isolated older adults during the Covid-19 pandemic and could be efficacious post-pandemic for crossing geographic boundaries to benefit those of all ages.  

 

 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Yamina Pressler ypressle@calpoly.edu CAFES Natural Resources Management and Environmental Sciences Faculty Gordon L. Rees, CAFES, faculty
Yamina Pressler, CAFES, faculty
Guy W. Bates, CAFES, faculty
Cristina A. Connolly, University of Connecticut, faculty Deirdre Sommerlad-Rogers, CAFES, faculty Ann Marie De Lay, CAFES, faculty
Samantha J. Gill, CAFES, faculty
Peggy C. Papathakis, CAFES, faculty
Robyn M. Kronewitter, CAFES, faculty
Amy M. Lammert, CAFES, faculty

Title

Student perceptions of rapid transition to emergency remote learning in a hands-on agricultural college
 

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 led to university closures and little time to convert all face-to-face courses online. We investigated how students in the College of Agriculture, Food, and Environmental Sciences at Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo perceived emergency remote teaching during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. The college maintains a hands-on pedagogy and “Learn by Doing” approach that is challenging to replicate in a remote setting. We conducted a survey of student experiences (n=304) during the Spring of 2020. We found that, by and large, students had a negative experience with emergency remote teaching during the study period. Courses with a laboratory component were perceived most negatively. Familiar instructional modes, such as synchronous and pre-recorded lectures, were both the most common and most preferred by students, even though other instructional modes are more effective strategies for online teaching. Students reported lower engagement in problem solving, experimentation, and career-related skills during the study period. Our results highlight the need for concrete experiences in agriculture and natural resources courses. We suggest several strategies for faculty and students to improve remote teaching outcomes in agriculture and natural resources disciplines.
 
 
 
 
 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Rose Hillebrandt rmhilleb@calpoly.edu CAED Architecture Student Julieta Moreno, CAED, Student,
Kathleen Brady, CAED, Student,
Kelle Brooks, CAED, Faculty,

Title

Covid-19 Spurs Outdoor Learning Environments
 

Abstract

Elementary schools have faced the unprecedented challenge during the Covid-19 pandemic of continuing to teach, engage, and support their students while also practicing safety protocols to keep everyone healthy. In many cases, these goals are realized through moving classrooms and opportunities for learning outdoors. This transition has also made clear other benefits of outdoor learning that should be cultivated in the process. Outdoor learning provides students with opportunities to develop positive relationships with the environment, others, and themselves through interaction with the natural world. Outdoor learning was a “want”, but now is a “need” due to Covid-19 with proven potential to benefit the wellbeing and sustainability of individuals, society, and our environment. 
During the Fall of 2020, a group of our Cal Poly student colleagues worked as volunteers through the Green SchoolYards Project for Creston Elementary School in Atascadero, CA. Starting in the Winter of 2021, we continued to explore Creston’s campus for opportunities to provide multiple use outdoor spaces for sensory engagement and informal gathering spaces. We have proposed several schemes with quickly assembled temporary options utilizing existing materials as well as more permanent schemes. We are continuing to implement outdoor learning design strategies at Creston Elementary, with the thought that these strategies could function as prototypes for other California schools. A driving question for us continues to be: how can we enhance these outdoor areas to promote interactive learning, physical & emotional wellbeing for students? The urgency of Covid-19 has helped to bring this topic to the forefront.
 
 
 
 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

John Chen jchen24@calpoly.edu CENG Mechanical Engineering Faculty Michelle Kerfs, Undergraduate, Statistics
Jocelyn Gee, Undergraduate, Statistics
Christina Grigorian, Graduate ('20), Mechanical Engineering
Jim Widmann, Professor, Mechanical Engineering
Brian Self, Professor, Mechanical Engineering

Title

COVID-19's Impact on Engineering Undergraduates' Well-being
 

Abstract

For the past four years, we have administered the SUCCESS survey to undergraduate engineering students at Cal Poly and across the nation. The purpose is to collect data and determine what factors, beyond talent or intelligence, are important to students’ success. The survey measures 28 noncognitive and affective (NCA) factors which have been previously found to impact typical measures of student success, such as grades or retention. These NCA factors include Big5 personality traits, grit, mindset, mindfulness, meaning and purpose, engineering identity, belongingness, future time perspectives of motivation, test anxiety, time and study environment, perceptions of faculty caring, self-control and stress measures. Our previous studies provide evidence of the validity and reliability for the survey. The abrupt shift to remote, online learning brought about by the pandemic has undoubtedly adversely affected students in varied ways. NCA factors measured in the SUCCESS survey can meaningfully measure students’ well-being, and we do this through two indices – wellness and stress – which have a basis from well-being research. Wellness includes the five factors of meaning and purpose in life, gratitude, engineering expectancy, mindfulness and stress support. The stress index is composed of five factors of students’ experiences with conflict, frustration, life changes and reactions to stress, plus test anxiety. We are currently analyzing the data and will present findings that compare engineering students’ well-being before and during the pandemic. We are examining the data cross-sectionally, looking at first-year students’ experiences, and also longitudinally, looking at students who have completed the survey over the years.
 
 
 
 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Megan Lambertz-Berndt lambertz@calpoly.edu CLA Communication Studies Faculty Dr. Anuraj Dhillon, CLA, Faculty, Communication Studies Department

Title

Struggling to Keep It All Together in the Pandemic: Working Parents' Experiences During the “Shecession"
 

Abstract

The following study coupled relational support and employee-organization relationship (EOR) to offer a holistic understanding of how working parents experienced the pandemic while balancing work and life. Guided by the theory of resilience and relational load, the study proposed individuals’ receiving greater relational maintenance from partners would report higher satisfaction balancing work-life and this link would be bridged by greater relationship and job satisfaction. Additionally, it was hypothesized that individuals’ perceptions of EOR would associate with higher job satisfaction through greater employee engagement. 271 working parents responded to an online survey. Results supported most hypotheses, indicating relationship satisfaction mediated the association between relational maintenance strategies and satisfaction from work-life balance, job satisfaction mediated this association only for maintenance strategies of assurances, shared networks and conflict management, and employee engagement mediated the association between EOR and job satisfaction. The study also exposed sex differences, indicating women carried greater burdens during the pandemic with reference to satisfaction balancing work-life. 
 
 
 
 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Dr. Scott Eagon seagon@calpoly.edu CSM Chemistry & Biochemistry Faculty McClane Howland, CSM, undergraduate student

Title

Identifying Inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 with a Virtual Screen
 

Abstract

The outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 has led to a global pandemic with limited options for treatment.  Multiple vaccine trials have been conducted and several vaccines are now approved, but the need for a small molecule therapeutic remains critical, both to treat those who are already infected and for immunocompromised individuals who cannot receive a vaccine. Moreover, antiviral drugs targeting relatively constant viral proteins will be needed as part of the preparation against future coronavirus outbreaks, as vaccines developed against SARS-CoV-2 are likely to be ineffective against future strains.  To address this critical need, we performed a virtual screen of nearly 10 million commercially available drug-like molecules targeting the SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro, also known as 3CLpro).  We then subjected our top computational hits to an inhibitory assay against Mpro in vitro, leading to the identification of 2 non-covalent inhibitors with modest activity.  We also performed molecular dynamic (MD) simulations which indicated that our inhibitors remain bound with minimal reorganization.  These results provide two new candidates in the fight against the global COVID-19 pandemic.
 
 
 
 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Jonathan Fernsler jfernsle@calpoly.edu CSM Physics Faculty Cal Poly CSM students: Julie An, Peter Lenz, Alexis Mora Solick, Madison Singleton, Patrick Sullivan 
US Naval Research Laboratory (retired): Richard F Fernsler

Title

A Simple Fix For SIR And SEIR Pandemic Models Tested With Particle Simulations
 

Abstract

Pandemics are most commonly modeled today using SIR or SEIR models to track various groups of people, but we find a simpler Age of Infection model consisting of just two equations is more accurate in most cases. The model uses a recursion formula similar to Lotka’s 1911 equation for population growth, and it takes the form of an integral over time of the infection rate i(t) times an infectiousness function. The infectiousness function is empirically determined from contact tracing and specifies the average infection rate of infectors as a function of how long they have been infected. Although the model gives only i(t) and the susceptible people S(t), it includes the other three groups implicitly: infectors I(t), exposed people E(t) and recovered people R(t). We tested the Age of Infection and SIR models by simulating an epidemic using randomly moving particles as infectors. The SIR model required parameter fitting and was often a poor match to data even in best-fit scenarios.  Meanwhile, the Age of Infection model predicted outcomes of simulations in a surprisingly accurate way and required no fitting. We also compare the two model outcomes for the coronavirus infectiousness function and find SIR can lead to wrong conclusions, especially when modeling interventions like lockdowns, superspreaders, and social distancing.
 
 
 
 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Richard Volpe rvolpe@calpoly.edu CAFES Agribusiness Faculty Xiaowei Cai, CAFES, faculty

Title

Inventory Levels and Food Prices during Peak Food-at-Home Demand Periods: Assessing Pandemic Shocks in the U.S. Food System 
 

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic dramatically increased the demand for food-at-home (FAH) across the U.S. and had led to shortages and stockouts for many food and beverage items. The extent of stockouts, shortages, and consumer wait times for FAH has varied geographically throughout the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent state and federal restrictions on travel, work, and activity.  The causes and consequences of spatial variation in food stockouts and shortages are largely unknown and research is motivated in this respect. Shortages and stockouts may also be estimated and inferred, as needed, using store scanner data, which includes product-level sales by stores. Richard Volpe will leverage his research partnerships with the California Grocers Association to conduct interviews in order to gain an understanding of supply shortages, particularly during the COVID-19 pandemic. Our key research questions are as follows:
  • How can stockouts and shortages be explained and predicted by factors such as population density, proximity to confirmed COVID-19 cases, proximity to retailer distribution centers, truck availability, local and regional news, and consumer behavior such as Google searches? 
  • What are the implications of stockouts and shortages for food access in the U.S.? How have changes in food access during the COVID-19 pandemic varied geographically, particularly comparing urban vs rural markets?
  • Is there a relationship between stockouts or shortages with retail food prices?

 

 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Adam Seal adseal@calpoly.edu CSM Kinesiology & Public Health Postdoc Adam Seal, Andrew Schaffner, Suzanne Phelan, Hannah Brunner-Gaydos, Marilyn Tseng, Julia Alber, Sarah Keadle, Isabelle Kitteck, Todd Hagobian

Title

COVID-19 pandemic and stay-at-home mandates promote weight gain in US adults
 

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study was to prospectively assess body weight changes over 3-months during COVID-19 pandemic. Secondary analyses examined duration of stay-at-home mandates, and behavioral/psychosocial predictors of weight changes. 
Methods: US adults (age > 18 yrs) completed an online questionnaire consisting of demographics, bodyweight, physical activity, sedentary time, fruit/vegetable intake, mood, stress, lifestyle, and sleep at baseline (May 2020) and after 3-months (August 2020). 
Results: Bodyweight significantly increased  (76.7 kg vs. 77.3 kg, p = 0.002) from baseline to 3-months. A significantly higher percentage of individuals with obesity and overweight reported weight gain (40.4% and 33.7 %, respectively) as compared to individuals of normal weight (20.6%) (p < 0.001). Longer duration of state stay-at-home mandate (β = 0.078, p = 0.010), lower baseline minutes of physical activity per day (B = -0.107, p = 0.004), greater change in minutes of physical activity per day (β = -0.076, p = 0.026), more time preparing food (β = 0.075, p = 0.031), and worsening mood (β = 0.098, p = 0.034) were predictors of weight gain.
Conclusions: COVID19 pandemic promoted weight gain over 3-months in US adults, with individuals with obesity and overweight reporting more weight gain.
 
 
 
 

Author

Email

College

Department

Role

Co-Authors

Jack Wroldsen jwroldse@calpoly.edu OCOB Accounting & Business Law Faculty none

Title

Emergency Cash Savings Account In a Post-COVID World
 

Abstract

The shutdowns stemming from COVID-19 revealed the need for emergency cash savings, especially for unbanked and low- to middle-income people. As COVID-19 emerged, the US turned to impromptu solutions like government stimulus payments and expanded unemployment benefits. But those solutions were only available because a large-scale emergency galvanized political support around immediate aid. This suggests the need for a transformational and long-term strategy for people to be more prepared for emergencies, as most life emergencies are not nationwide events, but personal shocks where government rescue packages are unavailable. This article proposes the creation of tax-favored Emergency Cash Savings Accounts (ECSAs) to address two concerns. First, ECSAs should be designed to help low- to middle-income people save for future emergencies. The tax code incentivizes savings for retirement and medical expenses. But raiding a retirement account is a perverse way to survive an economic emergency, for it sacrifices the future to endure the present. And medical savings accounts are too limited because emergencies are not confined to healthcare. Addressing an even more extreme concern, ECSAs should be designed to help unbanked people establish bank accounts. For too long, unbanked people have struggled to access mainstream financial services—thus being excluded from lower-cost and more-efficient financial institutions and instead often resorting to pay-day lenders that charge exorbitant interest rates. Capitalizing on innovations in scalable financial technologies that make free electronic accounts with no minimum balance requirements easier to access (such as PayPal and Venmo), ECSAs should usher unbanked people into low-cost electronic banking relationships.

 

Related Content