Education Commons^™

Creative Connections: Building Empathy To Foster Ecoliteracy Through Art Education, Jocelyn Salim

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the potential positive impact of fostering empathy and understanding for the natural world through art education. Through action research, this study examines various teaching approaches, such as incorporating scientific knowledge, employing literature to discuss ecological themes, and engaging in participatory storytelling activities to cultivate empathy among elementary school children. The objective of this thesis is to explore empathy as a potential pathway to encourage children to foster connections with the natural world and develop compassionate traits, attitudes, and behaviors towards nature as they grow. The findings of this study reveal that children exhibit high levels of enthusiasm …

Winter Solstice, Jingwen Cao

Masters Theses

For a long time, I have been thinking about what contemporary photography is, what its position is, and what the relationship is between artists and audiences. At the same time, I was developing my concepts and photographic directions and trying to make my work and my perspective on photography relevant. Winter Solstice includes a series of essays that locate my thinking and my work. Its title references the longest night of the year.

The position of photography has changed significantly over the past few decades. The way people read photos is also changing. Perhaps because of reverence for art and …

Call And Response : Experiments In Storytelling, Deanne Fernandes

Masters Theses

Being part of RISD's inaugural Masters of Illustration cohort has been an immense honor. This journey has been nothing short of transformative and healing, as it has allowed me to unearth layers of self-discovery through my creative practice.

In my thesis, I introduce a fresh research methodology rooted in the principles of call and response, with adaptability, creativity, and storytelling as its foundational pillars. Through the lenses of visual storytelling, experimental animation, graphic journalism, and fictional world-building, I demonstrate how these techniques can effectively bridge the gap between theory and practice. This dynamic approach fosters meaningful connections among diverse perspectives …

Ownership Behaviors In Children's Music Culture, Sarah Dworjan

Masters Theses

Adults may demonstrate cultural ownership of music in various ways, but children are limited in their artistic expression by the restrictions of youth, parental authority, and financial subordination. This project evaluates the ownership behaviors demonstrated by 60 third and fourth grade female students in Albany, NY. Considering self-reported behaviors and the completion of creative activities in the general music classroom, the study also examines a secondary question: is there a difference in the way children interact with music of their own choosing as compared to the music of a teacher’s choosing? Results from this project indicate that students naturally respond …

Ai In Graphic Design: Here To Help Or Replace Us?, Christian Jovan Rodriguez

Masters Theses

Artificial intelligence is becoming more commonly used in the creative space. With the implementation of AI, it has provided many benefits to working design professionals making their workflow more efficient. AI has also proposed a potential threat to the careers of graphic designers by reducing job opportunities in art and design. This thesis will expand on areas where artificial intelligence is impacting the fields of art and design. Possible use cases will be expressed throughout, for example graphic designers eventually having to adapt and implement the use of AI daily to promote creativity and speed up workflow. After completing this …

The Need For Standardized Training For Volunteer Healthcare Chaplains, Dominic Anthony Korzecki

Masters Theses

For the past 50 years, many studies have examined the effects of Spiritual Care in medical environments. Though these studies have helped support the legitimacy and necessity for the presence of spiritual care in medicine, a lack of attention has been given to the level of professionalism of those who have been granted permission to administer care. The objective of my thesis is to determine the following: 1) if medical organizations that utilize volunteer-only spiritual care programs for their patients, and families, provide the same level of care as ones staffed by trained professionals, 2) if volunteer-only chaplaincy programs generate …

Somali Students In The American Elementary General Music Classroom, Alice L. Charland

Masters Theses

Education must be cognizant of the Somali culture’s inclination to classify music as a morally charged entity. It must also be careful not to forget American cultural values that have defined the music classroom. The purpose of this research was to identify Somali cultural expressions that occur in the American elementary general music classroom and to identify underlying concepts that contribute to these cultural expressions. Additionally, the research sought to bring light to the relationship between the two, so that future music educators might be inspired to create assessments and activities that better suit the needs of all learners.

Decolonization Of The Writing Classroom: Creating Space For Decolonial Theory, Tools, Anti-Racist Pedagogy, And Methods To Improve The Emerging Bilingual Student Experience, Desiree L. Brown

Masters Theses

In this thesis, the author addresses the colonial roots of the secondary writing classroom and the origin of standard academic English which enables strict standardized testing and writing assessment requirements that in-turn incite linguistic violence towards emerging bilingual students. The author frames her study within the framework of April Baker-Bell and Asao B. Inoue through a reflective/reflexive study of her teaching in a ninth grade writing classroom in a primarily Hispanic school district in South Texas, which is assessed by the state of Texas through STAAR. This study seeks to identify instances of linguistic violence being perpetuated in the writing …

Inside Out Apologetics: Engaging Christian And Postmodern Approaches To Higher Education, Camila Alejandra Roldan Hernandez

Masters Theses

The current decline in performance and effectiveness of higher education makes it necessary to re-evaluate the teaching foundation on the theology of human nature that college professors hold. Since their foundation determines the approach that defines them as teachers, their pedagogy, and their curriculum, it is essential to consider two approaches. One of them is the transcendent approach of the Christian faith that defines human beings as lovers, believers, and thinkers. The other approach is the autonomist postmodern approach which defines human beings as social constructs. Since the college professor’s approach to human nature affects students' learning outcomes, this thesis …

Auditory Development In Beginner Elementary Strings Classes, Lydia Y. Cooley

Masters Theses

Integrating auditory and visual learning is vital in instrumental music instruction. There is an order of precedence that guides the teaching sequence to raise students who can hear and read the music they play. In order to teach students to think musically while reading notation important auditory preparation needs to take place. It should not occur via passive listening but via active music-making. This practice-based method creates experiential knowledge of music which can then lead to a conceptual understanding of musical symbols. Such practical engagement produces positive long-term effects on the depth of skill and the emotional state of the …

Change Through Learning: Observing The Need And Benefits Of A Multicultural Music Education Through Applying Coursework About The Korean And Korean American Musical Diaspora, Austin Eamnarangkool

Masters Theses

Music education is often synonymous with Western Music education, or more specifically, Classical music education. Music theory and analysis surrounding the styles of Bach, Mozart, and Beethoven have been central to the pedagogy of a collegiate musical background, while expertise in Carnatic, Gamelan, or African drumming—to name a few—is seen as nonessential. This research project aims to uncover the reasons why (higher) music education is so narrowly focused and provides the skeletal framework for a practical method to begin constructing diverse, holistic curricula. While the overarching goal is to diversify music education in all cultures, the project focuses on the …

Kole, Isaiah Aladejobi

Masters Theses

This project focuses on the development of building blocks influenced by the architecture and design styles of Yoruba culture and Washington DC. These building blocks aim to provide an educational and culturally enriching experience for individuals of all ages, with a particular focus on youth.

By combining the traditional design elements of Yoruba architecture with the modern urban aesthetic of Washington DC, the building blocks offer a unique blend of cultural influences for children and adults to explore. Through hands-on building activities, users can engage with the cultural heritage of these two regions, while also developing important skills such as …

Liquid Border, Yingfan Jia

Masters Theses

A River is a mighty and constantly-evolving force, leaving behind an intricately designed and constantly changing system. Not just a river, the Rio Grande stretches all the way from Colorado before intersecting with the US-Mexico Border in southern Texas - a point where the powerful forces of nature now merge with a clearly-defined political boundary. The outcome of this is a unique ecological niche, which may often go unnoticed despite its distinctiveness.

Texas is famous for its farms and ranches, and the Rio Grande Valley of South Texas was once an agricultural hub. However, urbanization and the depletion of water …

Moving At The Speed Of Trust, Sun Ho Lee

Masters Theses

Moving at the Speed of Trust is a workbook of strategies — practices, definitions, and techniques — to nurture community-building in support of inbetweeners who live between power structures and cultures and are often left out. Inbetweeners are those individuals whose lives are in transition through recent immigration or forced translocation from Asia to America.

These strategies revolve around threads of trust: kin, giggles, vulnerability, and shared experience. With these threads, we can question power. We can preserve stories, expand the ways we connect, shift perspectives on what is “standard,” and cultivate a community rooted in understanding. To understand each …

Citizens Of The English Language: Sociolinguistic Perspectives On Postcolonial India, Prateek Shankar

Masters Theses

This paper introduces the concept of "extralingual citizenship," which I define as an expansion of translingualism to include the ethnoracial logic of the nation-state and demonstrates the entanglement of language, governance, and education in the policing of knowledge infrastructures and discursive practices. I am interested in the codification of postcolonial disparity into the teaching, social performance, and material assessment of English language users, and the infrastructural disqualification of World Englishes (and their amalgams) in favor of a standardized English. I frame extralingualism as a kind of citizenship, shifting the focus of English pedagogy/practice from the syntactical/etymological concerns of language …

Knot, Just Craft It, Qingxian Xu

Masters Theses

The thesis aims to explore the intersection of traditional crafts and modern design by modernizing traditional Chinese crafts like knitting and knotting. The objective is to preserve the aesthetic, cultural, and utility values embedded in these crafts while creating a series of home-scaled furnishing designs that offer a self-making experience.

By applying traditional crafts to modern daily life, the thesis seeks to give new life to the essence of traditional crafts and create new life experiences that are accessible to more consumers. The focus will be on creating modern designs that incorporate traditional knotting and knitting techniques, while also offering …

Making Then Meaning, Ben Denzer

Masters Theses

This is an artist talk contained within a book. It is 816 pages and 49 minutes long. Closed captions run across the spreads. A video of this talk can be watched on bendenzer.com/making-then-meaning

At RISD, I’ve been prompted to expand the scope and tools of my practice and to reflect on questions of meaning in my work.

I spend my days making things, but I’ve never really had good answers to questions of why I make the things I make, or what their meaning is. I don’t think there are simple answers to these questions.

I think meaning comes from …

Mini Makers: Designing Curriculum For Community-Based Arts Education, Hayden Goldberg

Masters Theses

This work serves as documentation of my experience planning and teaching classes for a Rhode Island based after school visual arts pro- gram. Through arts-based action research, I explore methods of documentation and material exploration in order to create an adaptive, emergent curriculum that is responsive to a community-oriented arts education setting.

In Response To Civil Unrest: An Analysis Of Compositional Techniques As Used By Contemporary Composers For Flute, Stephanie Marie Strait

Masters Theses

The purpose of this applied research study was to identify a selection of works for flute that were composed in response to circumstances of civil unrest to discover how the composers utilized the flute as a medium for expression, and to study the compositional techniques used to communicate with the performer. These techniques were explored and demonstrated in a lecture recital. Gaining insight and understanding of the compositional process as it relates to the composers’ experiences aids the performer in offering a convincing and informed rendering of these pieces. It also contributes to the body of literature regarding composition methodology, …

The Effects Of Growth Mindset Strategies On The Rhythmic Notation Comprehension And Personal Musical Self-Efficacy Perceptions Of High School Instrumentalists, Frederick Conrad Krieger

Masters Theses

Despite the depth of research in general education and music education teaching methods as well as an implied overlap in these concepts, there is little research directly linking methodology and strategies across these content areas. More specifically, the benefit and implementation of growth-mindset instruction is considered best practice in the general education classroom but is rarely discussed in the context of the performing ensemble. Consistency in educational methods between content areas is critical because it unifies each into a single education process and promotes lifelong learning that will extend into other areas and beyond the classroom. This study will explore …

Impressionist Composition Techniques In Modern Percussion Literature, David Scott Strait

Masters Theses

The purpose of this lecture recital was to explore the substantive contributions of impressionist composition techniques in contemporary percussion literature. Research was conducted by means of harmonic, rhythmic, and melodic analysis of contemporary works for solo marimba, marimba and electronics, and snare drum and electronics, as well as background research on composers of those works. Percussion composers Russell Wharton, Ivan Trevino, and Ian T. Jones utilize modern technology in their compositions as well as compositional techniques stemming from the Impressionist movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. In Impressionist composition, musical elements such as texture, non-pulsatic rhythm, and …

Implementing Composition/Theory Model Cornerstone Assessments In The Family Christian Academy Band Program, Matthew Alan Woolsey

Masters Theses

The purpose of this applied research study was to determine how Composition/Theory Model Cornerstone Assessments (MCAs) could be adapted for a church music arranging curriculum that utilized popular music pedagogy and Nashville Numbers for notating brass, woodwind, percussion, and/or bass guitar orchestral sweetening. Orchestral sweetening referred to the addition of riffs (short repeated musical figures or melodies), pads (sustained harmonies), and punctations (rhythmic and harmonic emphases of lyrics or chord changes) to an existing rhythm and vocal arrangement. While Composition/Theory MCAs had been pilot-tested for composition tasks, the MCAs had yet to be applied to an arranging context, particularly one …

Musical Expressions Curriculum Applied Study, Nicole Turner

Masters Theses

There is an increasing need for a music curriculum that not only guides students in creating, analyzing, performing, and arranging musical ideas, but also integrates a biblical perspective connecting students to themselves and their environments. This applied study measured the effectiveness of the first two units of the curriculum “Musical Expressions” as a guide for students in upper elementary education as they developed, organized, analyzed, and composed their own musical ideas while understanding the biblical implications of music. Guided by Eisner’s model of arts-based research, this applied artistic creative research study yielded quantitative data to identify student achievement in their …

Teaching Children To Sing: An Eight-Week Study, Kathleen Ruth Riggs

Masters Theses

Teaching children to sing is both a powerful and practical way to enhance their quality of life. With careful instruction and a playful approach, children can be taught foundational singing skills, and develop a love for singing at a very early age. In many schools today, children learn songs in music classes but are not taught how to sing. Over the course of eight weeks, twelve children ages five to ten were taught to sing using Susan Kenney’s natural singing method detailed in “Seven Steps for Developing Successful Singing and Listening Habits.” Children participated in two group lessons and six …

Still, We Rise: Experiences Of Black Women In Leadership Positions At Predominately White Institutions, Dionne Lipscomb

Masters Theses

Despite the educational progress that Black women in the United States have made, they continue to be underrepresented in positions of senior leadership in all sectors including higher education (American Council on Education, 2017, 2023, de Brey et al., 2019). Because of their double minoritized status they also face bigger challenges in their positions than their White female, White male, and Black male counterparts. This narrative qualitative study utilized theory of othering and intersectionality to highlight the experiences of five Black women as they ascend to leadership positions at four-year predominately White institutions. The research questions guiding this study are: …

Researching Technological Advancements Through Alternative Methods Of Music Education To Engage Students In The Digital Age, Olivia Thornton Thompson

Masters Theses

While the music industry has significantly incorporated technology into music composition and production, music education is slow to teach how to use these technical methods for students living in the digital age. Current music education methods have established successful results in past music compositions; however, those methods are becoming impractical. Although music education taught in schools has been primarily successful through traditional methods, students learning in the digital age have yet to learn how to strengthen their musical abilities through technology. This secondary analysis aims to look at the different studies on incorporating technology in a music education setting to …

The Importance Of Art In Cross Discipline Education, Shaye E. Beeman

Masters Theses

For years, art has been pushed under the rug. Especially in education, art is seen as less advantageous than other courses such as math, English, and science. This thesis explores the advantages of utilizing art in cross-discipline classrooms to help students learn and develop skills that will improve their physical, mental, and spiritual health. This thesis will bring into account other sources of information and data including research, case studies, and visual analyses to show: How will art improve the physical health of students? How does art increase the mental health of students? How does art improve the spiritual health …

The Need And Value Of Adding A Gifted Music Curriculum To Education Using Music Technology, Haven K. Clippinger

Masters Theses

Research in music education has increased drastically since its emergence in the 20th century. Philosophers developed detailed music education philosophies, and music education changed in American education. In addition, the 20th century also brought an increased awareness of gifted students in the school system. Musical talent has been considered a gifted quality, yet there appears to be minimal research on gifted students in music classes. Initial research was conducted to examine literature on gifted music. This research served to provide a greater link between music and gifted education by utilizing a music technology curriculum for gifted music students. This project …

Making Music Theory Fun, Jordan E. Montana Richards

Masters Theses

This curriculum project will attempt to demonstrate how having fun can facilitate learning music theory. Furthermore, in this project, I also propose that using games, songs, mnemonic devices, and other types of wordplay and edutainment (the marriage of education and entertainment) can combat summer learning loss and other learning gaps or school breaks, in addition to inspiring the motivation, interest, and desire within students to learn. My curriculum project will also claim that by having fun and enjoying their learning, students will be more likely to improve and develop their musicianship skills. Within this curriculum project, I will attempt to …

The Importance Of Regional Music To Music Education: The 1927 Bristol Sessions, Valerie E. Pickard

Masters Theses

It is widely accepted that the culture in which one lives is important to his/her understanding of self. Likewise, it has been shown that a working knowledge of cultural music aids in developing one’s musical identity. Although research indicates that there appears to be a gap in cultural music education, there has been little written as to how that gap can be filled, especially with respect to Appalachian cultural music. The Southern Appalachian Mountains are rich in musical diversity. In addition to the already present Native Americans, settlers came from Ireland, Germany, Africa, and other European countries and brought with …