Digital Commons Network^™

A Thin Line Or Intimations Of Violence, Saul A. Rodriguez

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis is meant to be an honest discussion about the state of literature from the perspective of a student. Each chapter deals with a different aspect of writing, whether it be putting pen to paper, garnering sufficient experience to achieve verisimilitude, or dealing with critique. Interspersed between the essays are fiction vignettes.

The nonfiction aspects of this body of work are inspired by the voices of philosophers and traditional essayists alike: people such as Fyodor Dostoevsky, T.S. Eliot, Aristotle, D.H. Lawrence, Henry Adams, and Ralph Ellison. The topic of liminality regarding culture and migration is also addressed, mainly through …

Hardly Working: The Labor Concerns Of Graduate Student Assistants In Writing Programs, Lily Victoria Howard-Hill

Theses and Dissertations

The instructors of undergraduate writing courses are very often graduate students who exist in a space between student and teacher, subsequently shouldering a dual burden of responsibility. This is particularly the case in freshman writing and composition classes. Graduate students that hold assistantships and work in writing programs have a number of concerns related to their academic labor, specifically the benefits and compensation they receive in exchange for their work. To further illustrate these issues, this project offers the results of an IRB-approved study that highlights the tight connection between graduate student assistants’ working conditions, the financial and material benefits …

Approaches To Teaching Music Reading To Piano Students With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Rachel Elizabeth Davis

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to collect information about teaching music reading to piano students with Autism Spectrum Disorder and to determine best teaching practices that may be implemented into existing curricula. The study involved interviewing six professionals who are nationally recognized for successfully teaching piano to students with ASD and analyzing the interviews to learn their procedures for teaching music reading to this population.

The interviews contain information concerning the backgrounds of the individuals being interviewed, the demographic backgrounds of students being taught, and the pedagogical process, instructional materials and technology used for teaching music reading in lessons. …

The Effectiveness Of Video Modeling With Video Feedback On A Given Piece For Mid-To-Late Elementary Piano Students, Huiyun Liang

Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of video modeling with video feedback for developing mid-to-late elementary piano students’ motor skills in learning the piece “Polka” by Dmitri Kabalevsky. The secondary purpose was to evaluate the benefits of this method for other aspects of performance and performance retention. Five (N=5) piano students, 8 to 9 years old, at mid-to-late elementary level were selected to participate in this study. The results of the study summarized the performance progress of four participants who demonstrated similar levels of technical and reading skills and completed the test requirements.

The full-scale …

Accessibility Of Visuals In The Music Classroom Focusing On Students With Disabilities, Students In Poverty, And Culturally Diverse Students, Katherine A. Holbrook

Theses and Dissertations

This research focuses on visual aid accessibility for students with disabilities, students from poverty, and culturally diverse students. Each of these facets are explored, defined, and reflected on in regard to how visual aids could be more accessible for each community of students. Posters have been developed based on this research to practically apply the findings to visuals that could be used in a music classroom. When considering the accessibility for students with disabilities, it is crucial to review legislation such as the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (1990, 2004, 2013) which mandates services to children with disabilities throughout the …

Black Power In A "Lily-White" School: The Black Campus Movement At Concordia College In Moorhead, Minnesota, Daniel D. Cooley

Theses and Dissertations

Between the mid-1950s and through the 1970s, higher educational institutions throughout the United States underwent reforms in the name of what they termed “integration.” For the colleges and universities in the upper Midwest, these reforms included minority student recruitment and the creation of programs oriented towards diversity. Over time, a number of minority students began to act and react to the actions and attitudes of the various administrations, the campuses, and the community, resulting in a demonstration directly connected to the national phenomenon of “The Black Campus Movement,” (BCM) itself a submovement of the larger United States’ Black Power Movement …

Island Of Tranquility: Rhetoric And Identification At Brigham Young University During The Vietnam Era, Brian D. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

The author argues that beyond religious beliefs and conservative politics, rhetorical identification played an important role in the relative calmness of the BYU campus during the turbulent Sixties. Using Bitzer's rhetorical situation theory and Burke's identification theory, the author shows that BYU's calm campus can be explained as a result of communal identification with a conservative ethos. He also shows that apparent epistemological shortcomings of Bitzer's model can be resolved by considering the power of identification to create salience and knowledge in rhetorical situations. During the Sixties, BYU administration developed policies on physical appearance that invited students to take on …

Survey Of Converts To The Church Of Jesus Christ Of Latter-Day Saints At Brigham Young University Between September, 1965 And January, 1969, Marcus H. White

Theses and Dissertations

Since becoming a student at brigham young university in September, 1965, the writer has been interested in the area of persuasion as it relates to public speaking, and especially as it relates to stake missionary activities. The purpose in this thesis is to determine selected characteristics of converts as listeners from Brigham Young University to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and compare them with characteristics determined by Audience Analysis by Wayne C. Minnick in his book "The Art of Persuasion".

Attitudes Concerning Birth Control And Abortion As Related To Lds Religiosity Of Brigham Young University Students, Erlend D. Peterson

Theses and Dissertations

This study was an analysis of the relationship between LDS religiosity of college students and their attitudes concerning birth control and abortion.

The respondents in this research were LDS college students attending Brigham Young University Fall Semester 1970. Goodman and Kruskal's gamma and a difference of means test were used to measure association and difference to determine the statistical significance of the responses as related to religiosity and attitudes concerning birth control and abortion.

The results of the study showed that (1) there was a positive relationship between conservative attitudes toward birth control and abortion and one's degree of measured …

Attitudes Of Lds Seminary Students Toward Different Methods Of Grading, Rex L. Coles

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was twofold: to determine the attitudes of students toward different parts and methods of grading in LDS Seminary, and to determine if significant differences exist in attitudes of students toward their class and teacher when using different methods of grading including a suggested method.

The study reported the areas most preferred by students about grading and the areas least preferred. It reported the evaluation of the suggested method of grading including those areas of most value to the students and those of least value.

The suggested method of grading helped to raise the subjects' grades …

A Study Of Merit Rating Practices In The Lds Department Of Education, Garry Wayne Graf

Theses and Dissertations

The main purpose of this study was to determine the attitudes of the full-time Seminary teachers in the L.D.S. Department of Education regarding the present practice of merit pay for teachers employed in the System. Consideration was also given to merit pay programs for teachers in the public schools, since to a great extent merit pay practices in the public schools have given rise to many equivalent reactions among the personnel of L.D.S. Church schools.

A Study Of The Reactions Of Latter-Day Saint Youth To The Thirteen Fireside Programs Given In The Winter Of 1960, Emerson Roy West

Theses and Dissertations

This is a study of certain high school and college students to the thirteen Fireside Programs given under the direction of the General Authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the first three months of 1960. The purposes of this study are twofold: (1) to study the reactions to the fireside program and (2) to study the change in conduct of the audience through the addresses and discussions.

The Differential Effects Of Bases For Moral Behavior And Major Field Of Study Upon Moral Judgment, Ray Edgar Paskett

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine whether the individual's bases for moral behavior and his major field of study are related to his moral judgement. Previous studies have indicated that the effect of certain moral education programs was either negligible or detrimental to the accomplishment of their objectives. Because of the emphasis by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints upon fundamental principles as determinants of moral behavior, it seems appropriate to examine the effects of these concepts upon the individual.

A Personality Comparison Of Students Born In The Mormon Church And Those Who Have Been Converted, Grant Broadbent Smith

Theses and Dissertations

The study of personality and its many facets is one of several significant areas in the field of psychology, which is being studied in detail. Personality, as a construct, is not often well defined and less often well understood, since it is a composite of such varied factors as perception, motivation, learning, culture and so on. Because of this present lack of clarity it must and will be discussed, written about, and experimented with until a clear, operant definition, acceptable to psychology, has been devised.