Education Commons^™

Your Brain On Art: Art Therapy In A Museum Setting And Its Potential At The Rubin Musuem Of Art, Laura Sloan

Dissertations and Theses

Art therapy-based programs could open the doors of the museum to another population of visitors with disabilities, particularly those suffering from mental illness and in need of healing and wellness. The above statement serves as the core of this thesis with the ultimate goal to analyze and research the place of art therapy in a museum setting. Investigation of existing literature, interviews with professionals, and case studies, reveal the ways in which art therapy can be facilitated in a museum setting in order to better reach this population. Furthermore this thesis explores how collaboration between museum educators and art therapists …

Motivation In The Portland Chinuk Wawa Language Community, Abigail Elaina Pecore

Dissertations and Theses

Throughout the world, languages are becoming extinct at an alarming rate. Perhaps half of the 6,000-7,000 languages worldwide will go extinct in the next 50-100 years. One of these dying languages, Chinook Jargon or Chinuk Wawa, a language found in the Pacific Northwest of the United States, is in the process of being revitalized through the concerted efforts of the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde (CTGR). Reasons to revitalize endangered languages often seem irrelevant to our modern daily lives, and revitalizing these languages is a difficult process requiring much dedication, commitment, and persistence. In light of this significant struggle, understanding …

Shaping The Future Past: Finding History, Creating Identity In The Kwan Hsu Papers, Lisa Chere' Donnelly

Dissertations and Theses

Dr. Kwan Hsu was neither a superstar nor a celebrity. Her name does not come up in conversations about important contributors to her field of biophysics nor is she instantly recognizable for her contributions to Portland State University's international program or the state of Oregon's business ties with China. Yet she was a contributor, a cog-in-the-wheel, at the very least, in all of these areas and more. She was a peripheral member of a well-known Chinese family, but few in the United States know of or perhaps have interest in, but otherwise, she had no great connections or family ties …

Writing Chinuk Wawa: A Materials Development Case Study, Sarah A. Braun Hamilton

Dissertations and Theses

This study explored the development of new texts by fluent non-native speakers of Chinuk Wawa, an endangered indigenous contact language of the Pacific Northwest United States. The texts were developed as part of the language and culture program of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde Community of Oregon for use in university-sponsored language classes. The collaborative process of developing 12 texts was explored through detailed revision analysis and interviews with the materials developers and other stakeholders.

Fluent non-native speakers relied on collaboration, historical documentation, reference materials, grammatical models, and their own intuitions and cultural sensibilities to develop texts that …

Socratic Pedagogy, Critical Thinking, Moral Reasoning And Inmate Education: An Exploratory Study, Peter Boghossian

Dissertations and Theses

This exploratory study examines the hypothesis that Socratic pedagogy is a useful tool for imparting critical thinking and moral reasoning skills to inmates. The study explores the effectiveness of a new curriculum, Introducing Socrates, which relies on Socratic pedagogy to achieve its objectives. The curriculum draws from the effective criminal justice research on cognitive education to determine its objectives, and then looks to the Platonic dialogues to find broad philosophical questions that tie into those objectives. The program also evaluates salient criticisms of Socratic pedagogy that are found in the educational and philosophical literature, and then isolates and evaluates constructs …

A Case Study Of Twelve Japanese Esl Students' Use Of Interaction Modifications, Darin Dooley

Dissertations and Theses

This case study examines Japanese ESL students' use of interaction modifications in a content based course. Twelve female subjects were observed and recorded during a nine week period. Their use of interaction modifications (clarification requests, confirmation checks, and comprehension checks) and responses to interaction modifications (single word, full or partial repetition, or reformulation), during teacher-fronted and small group situations, were recorded and coded using the COLT observation instrument.

The study found that the subjects used clarification requests over four times more often in small group or pair-work situations than in teacher-fronted classes. Also, the subjects used confirmation checks over five …

The Portland Learning Community : A History, Martin White

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis recounts the history of the Portland Learning Community, an experimental institution of higher education founded in 1970 by a group consisting mostly of former faculty and students at Reed College. The Learning Community was funded by the Carnegie Corporation and affiliated with Antioch College.

The Foundation For Revolution: Educational Reforms In Late Ch'ing China, Andrea Asbell

Dissertations and Theses

Historical consensus has labeled the educational reform efforts of China's scholar-officials in the second half of the nineteenth century as merely reactions to external circumstances and therefore has concluded that these reforms were "failures". The youthful revolt against Chinese cultural traditions, which culminated in the May Fourth Movement of 1919, has frequently been cited as a clear demonstration that previous educational reforms had failed. However, when viewed as the intellectual phase of the revolutionary process, reform activities among members of China's bureaucratic and scholarly elite in the four and one half decades from the 1860s to the early 1900s can …

Oregon Women In Educational Administration: Profiles And An Analysis Of Upward Career Mobility Factors, Leland D. Chapman

Dissertations and Theses

The first purpose of this study was to determine from the positive and negative factors identified by Jones and Montenegro (1982), which factors Oregon female administrators perceived had influenced upward mobility in their careers. Study of this topic reveals added information and direction to administrators of university administrative programs, school board members and school personnel administrators involved in hiring and providing training or staff development. As a result, the commonalities and differences among female school administrators in Oregon are identified. Identifying the factors that relate to upward mobility of tenured and nontenured female administrators provides insight and hopefully will promote …

The Effectiveness Of Fiction Versus Nonfiction In Teaching Reading To Esl Students, Becky Kay Appley

Dissertations and Theses

In recent years with the growing emphasis upon communicative activities in the classroom, controversy has risen as to which type of reading material is best for teaching reading in the ESL classroom, fiction or nonfiction.

A study was conducted with 31 students of which 15 were taught with non-fiction and 16 were taught with fiction. Both groups were taught the same reading skills. Each group was given three pre-tests and three post-tests in which improvement in overall language proficiency and reading comprehension in the areas of main idea, direct statements and inferences was measured. Also, each group was observed for …

The Effects Of Oral Conferencing And Written Comments On The Writing And Revisions Of Esl Students, Ann Louise Kirk

Dissertations and Theses

This study looked at the effect of written and oral comments on students' writing. The research hypotheses were that the use of oral comments would improve the overall quality of the students papers, increase the length more, and cause more changes in content than the use of written comments. On the other hand, the use of written comments would cause a greater decrease in grammatical errors in the students' papers than oral comments. The tests used to evaluate these hypotheses were the holistic writing scale used by the Test of Written English (TWE), a word count, a content percentage scale …

Analysis Of Error Type, Source, And Gravity In The Writing Of Arabic Esl Students In U.S.A. Colleges, Fadel Mohammed Na'im Bader

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine the type, possible source and gravity of errors found in the Test of Written English and Placement Tests compositions written by native speakers of Arabic at college level. The first part of the study is an error analysis designed to reveal the types of errors that are most frequently made by Arab students at college level. The sources of these errors are explained according to Richards' classification of errors as inter- and intralingual (1971). Seven types of errors are identified under interlingual category: articles, prepositions, the copula, embedded questions, pronoun retention, semantic …

The Test Of Written English : A Statistical Analysis Of Validity And Reliability, Christina E. English

Dissertations and Theses

This study examines the use of the Test of Written English (TWE), the essay portion of the TOEFL, as an indicator of academic readiness at Portland State University.

The Effects Of A Course In American Jokes On A Class Of Intermediate Level Esl Students, John Randolph Carruthers

Dissertations and Theses

Teachers of English to speakers of other languages have often incorporated humor in the curriculum, yet a recent computer search revealed that there were no empirical studies which have shown that curricular humor enhances English language learning. The three specific questions of the thesis are: does the use of curricular humor 1) improve memory/recall, 2) improve over-all English proficiency, and 3) result in the subjects' having more positive attitudes towards Americans, and if so, does a more positive attitude correlate with improved memory/proficiency?

An Historical Overview Of Creativity With Implications For Education, Antoinette S. Ellis

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis traced the development of the concept of creativity from the earliest works in the intellectual history of Western civilization to the late twentieth century. This historical perspective on the concept of creativity served as a backdrop to current views of the concept and as a reference source for recurrent views of the concept and as a reference source for recurrent and essential themes in the progressing debates concerning this issue.

Lesbianism In Sport From The Perspective Of The Female Team Sport College Athlete And The Female Team Sport Recreational Player, Tracy Laura Jaynes

Dissertations and Theses

This study was designed to determine the degree of homophobia, expressed lesbian sexual preference behavior, and attitudes toward lesbianism among the female team sport college athlete and the female team sport recreational player. It was hypothesized that the female team sport college athlete would be less homophobic, would express greater lesbian sexual preference behavior, and would possess more positive attitudes toward lesbianism than the female team sport recreational player. There were 32 female team sport college athletes representing four Utah university/college campuses and one Oregon university/college campus; 37 female team sport recreational players representing four Utah recreational team and two …

A Study Of Art Education In The Elementary School Curriculum As Amplification Of Other Academic Subjects And As A Promoter Of Creativity In The Learning Process, Jana Demartini-Svoboda

Dissertations and Theses

The goal of this thesis was to identify teaching interrelationships between art and other subjects in the elementary school curricula and thus indicate the usefulness of art education in the educational process.

Teaching Figure Drawing To Adolescents Within The Context To [I.E. Of] Imaginative Compositions, As A Means Of Increasing Artistic Confidence And Abilities, Christine Flavell Turner

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis describes a process of teaching figure drawing to adolescents which places importance on the subjective experiences of the students. Traditional figure drawing methods emphasizing the development of visual perceptual skills are integrated with activities which are designed to secure emotional participation, and develop awareness of art as a means of expression and communication. This approach seems to motivate students and to reduce the anxiety usually experienced by adolescents when they are drawing the figure.

A Study To Determine The Relationship Between Interest As Measured By A Student Interest Inventory And Recreational Nonfiction Books Checked Out Of The Library Media Center By Intermediate Grade Students At Sunnyside Elementary School, North Clackamas School District Number 12, Clackamas, Oregon, Larry Charles Leedy

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study was to determine if a correlation existed between the selection of recreational nonfiction books from a school library media center by elementary school students in grades four through six and the measured interest, as generated by the Student Interest Inventory, of the students. Data for this study was collected during the period September, 1982 and April, 1983 at Sunnyside Elementary School, North Clackamas School District Number 12, Clackamas, Oregon. The raw data for the measured interest and recreational nonfiction books checked out were arranged by Dewey Decimal Classification tens. By using the Pearson product-moment correlation …

Realism In Young Adult Literature : Criteria And Analysis, Maryjo Barnett Chinn

Dissertations and Theses

This paper will study realism in young adult literature, focusing specifically on those books in which young adults accept parenting roles. First, professional literature about realism will be reviewed from a· historical perspective, then criteria for realism will be examined. New criteria will be synthesized and applied to six novels. An annotated bibliography of novels in which young adults accept parenting roles will be presented.

Advanced Decorative Ceramics Techniques For High School Students, Deborah Ann Kent

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis deals with the implementation of luster and underglaze ceramic decorating techniques into the secondary ceramic curriculum. The formation and presentation of this unit is based upon historical and contemporary research of lusters and underglazes, as well as the author's own work with the materials. An instructional unit was designed to fulfill three primary objectives. First, to acquaint the student with the basic materials and techniques; second, to introduce the student to the conceptualization of successful imagery; third, to give the student ample opportunity to explore the uses and possibilities of the materials.

An Introduction To Black And White Lithography : Two Alternatives To The Stone, Carolyn Brookhart

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis describes two lithographic techniques that may be used to introduce black and white lithography to beginning art students. Aluminum plate and paper lithography are two relatively low cost and safe lithographic methods suitable for schools with limited budgets and limited space.

It is recommended that the instructor interested in teaching the two processes described in this thesis have some previous experience in lithography.

Introducing The Secondary Student To Sculptural Design And Form In Metal : Welding Sheet Steel Using The Oxyacetylene Torch, Philip John Smith

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis deals with the application of simple oxyacetylene welding techniques to the secondary art curriculum. Welded sculptural forms in sheet steel have been the focus of my own work during the past three years and these experiences formed the basis or background of the presentation of these skills to secondary students. An instructional unit was designed to fulfill three primary objectives. First, to familiarize the student with the basic tools and materials used in the construction of welded steel sculpture; second, to introduce the student to the creative concepts involved in the creation of sculptural form; third, to give …

Group Painting As A Means Of Self-Expression And Communication For Mentally Retarded Persons: Three Case Histories, Yaeko Steidel

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis presents the results of a longitudinal study of a painting class for a group of mentally and physically handicapped young adults. The author's observational journal and the students' paintings provided the basis of the thesis.

The author gave maximum freedom to her students and the students fully exercised creativity through their painting activity. This experience brought a new identity to the group. The students evolved from a collection of separate people into a cohesive social unit.

The author tries to show, in this developmental process, how intellectual and emotional events and problems were met and solved by the …

Landscape Painting In The Secondary Classroom, Margaret Shirley

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis attempts to demonstrate an approach to secondary art education which will emphasize the student's own experience as the basis of his art work. Furthermore, the students' learning activities are given a broader context by the inclusion of material from the history of art within the framework of the studio course. Such an integrated approach can give meaningful insight to the adolescent as he deals with experience in a visual form.

This orientation to art education has evolved through the writer's own teaching experience and from reading the works of art educators. In preparation for the thesis, I researched …

Supergraphics In The Portland Environment, John Earl Allgood

Dissertations and Theses

It is my purpose in this thesis to explore supergraphics ln the Portland area. I intend this thesis to be used as a source book for teachers wishing to implement supergraphics programs in their schools. I plan to divide my thesis into _ two areas: First, a survey of supergraphics in the Portland environment, and second, ' a survey of Portland area schools that have implemented supergraphlc projects or programs.

A substantial portion of the information compiled for this thesis comes from conversations with Portland area graphic designers, architects and teachers. I have included photographs of what I consider to …

Effects Of Colors, Noun Position, And Verb Proximity On The Acquisition Of Direct Objects, Ronald M. Dohr

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this study is to determine if colors can differentially be applied as teaching tools for pre-school children. Previous studies have shown that pre-school children are easily distracted in language development by external stimulation. Studies have also shown that brighter color hues can arouse and facilitate performance of subjects on given tasks. This experiment is an attempt to measure performance of word manipulation by usage of colors. Three independent variables have been selected as stimuli to measure direct object acquisition. Measurement of color, noun position, and verb proximity will be assessed in connection with subject performance on given …

Hermann Lietz And The Landerziehungsheime, John Daniel Flanagan

Dissertations and Theses

The subject of this thesis is Hermann Lietz and the Landerziehungsheime. Its purpose is to discover the sources of the Heime in Lietz's life and thought. It seeks to answer the basic question, "Why did Lietz become an educator and what were his motives in establishing the Landerziehungsheime?" The thesis is divided, generally, into three sections. The first attempts to isolate and reconstruct those events in Lietz's biography which were decisive in the shaping of the educator. The second part investigates certain aspects of the thought of J. G. Fichte, P. de Lagarde end R. Eucken, the three …

Solid Casting In Aluminum And Concrete Using The Multiple-Piece Plaster Mold: A Method Of Introducing The Adolescent Student To The Indirect Method Of Sculpture, Donald Leroy Sandblast

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis deals with an investigation of the feasibility of using the multiple-piece plaster mold as a vehicle for teaching the indirect method of sculpture to the adolescent student. It is based upon the assumption that the students involved in the processes described will have had previous experience with the tools, techniques, and materials to be used. The investigation centered around the ability of the students to express themselves through the development of a sculptural form. The teacher's role was to assist the student identifying, expressing, and evaluating his individual goals against those goals established by the teacher. Instructional goals …

Increasing Visual Sensitivity In Urban School Students: A Strategy For Involving Students In Aesthetic Concerns, Harold Louis Johnson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this thesis project was to investigate a way of fomenting greater student involvement in visual aesthetic concerns through the teacher taking on a partial role of artist-in-residence in order to give students direct contact with his creative ideas. A group of approximately one hundred fifty students at John Adams High School were presented with a week-long display of abandoned automobile mufflers accompanied by drawings of the mufflers in various media.