Digital Commons Network^™

The Art In Teaching Writing, Sally Helene Tooley

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

The purpose of the study was to determine how exceptional writing teachers utilize visual images in their teaching of writing. Specifically, the researcher was interested to discover how drawing might be used as a learning tool in the various stages of the writing process. Nine elementary teachers - recognized as exemplary teachers of writing, completed a detailed questionnaire in reference to their writing instruction. All of the teachers surveyed value visuals highly and recognize the potential impact that drawing can have on writing. However, not all of these teachers are utilizing drawing or visual strategies in their writing instruction on …

Crafting Authenticity, Allison N. Schumacher

Theses and Dissertations

Authenticity is what we want from the world around us, from others, and crucially from ourselves and what we make. As it relates to graphic design, I define authenticity as a perceived match between form and purpose. For the designer, its quality is found in the process of simultaneously developing a concept and crafting the design/object.

Learning English Through Interactive Weblogs: Student Experiences Blogging In The Secondary Esl Classroom, Glori H. Smith

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative action research project examined the experiences of high school English language learners as they created personal weblogs and responded to queries on a class weblog. The data from the project demonstrates that blogging as a classroom writing activity is effective in helping students to obtain, process and construct the English language.

Public Service Television Policy And National Development In Morocco, Bouziane Zaid

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Like many developing countries, and for many years, Morocco has sought the help of television to disseminate development ideas to its citizens. The Moroccan government has recently given policy considerations to regulate the use of television and radio airwaves as important outside sources for promoting its development objectives. The newly assigned importance of television in Moroccan developmental policies makes a study on the relationship between television and development interesting and crucial. This study investigates the extent to which the Moroccan public service television meets the challenges of effectively contributing to the development objectives of the nation. It focuses on the …

Forming Process : Design Through Layered Visual Systems And Multiple Collection Methods : A Thesis, Jen Magathan

Masters Theses

"Do not hide the structure, celebrate it in the form" ; "Approach design from multiple points of view."

These adages, so important in my architectural training, reverberate with intricate practicality in my work as a graphic designer, both as a way of building my design and as a means of developing a design process which explores multiple ways of organizing content through visual systems. Forming Process is defined by three conditions: celebrating the visual systems which organize the design, archiving content from multiple ways of collecting, and creating work by which the process of design is implicit in the design …

In Pursuit Of Harmony: Calligraphy & Typography, Feifei Fan

Theses and Dissertations

Chinese calligraphy and Western typography have been evolving for around five thousands years. During this time, they have developed quite different characteristics. Compared with the geometrical form and precision of Western printing types, Chinese calligraphy features abstract shapes and spontaneous strokes. These differences result in a gap that prevents a harmonious and organic relationship between them. This project explores the possibilities of combining these two historical visual systems, demonstrates specific methods and approaches for creating compelling formal relationships, and endeavors to establish a friendly, organic and harmonious dialogue between Chinese calligraphy and Western typography. The outcome of this project is …

Vernal, Jason Orvis Dilworth

Theses and Dissertations

Culminating with a dream, this project transverses theoretical and geographical boundaries with explorations into the message-carrying potential of video, sound, performance, print, and web. Stories and content are extracted from an autobiographical history of one small western town turned boomtown. That town, the center from which the project emerges, is Vernal, Utah.

The Dismissive Actually, Alexander Egner

Theses and Dissertations

This project is about giving in to the impulse of ideas. My mind is a little messy and cluttered, swirling with bits of stimuli. The spark of an idea happens when the bits collide. I prefer not to initiate or control the process so much as keep it fed and active. Through graphic design, I bear witness to these ideas, giving them form as a series of visible, tangible objects. Viewed comprehensively, the work establishes an ongoing chronicle of my creative life and mind.

Modes Of Participation: Co-Creative Approaches To The Design Process, Carissa Henriques

Theses and Dissertations

This project explores the notion of participation within the graphic design and problem-solving process. Through projects using generative tools and collaboration, I explore ways to instigate controlled participation from designers and non-designers. I observe and document how the methods and means of participation affect the creative process during these projects.

Deus Ex Machinima: A Rhetorical Analysis Of User-Generated Machinima, Sean Callot

All Theses

Beginning with corporate demonstrations and continuously evolving into today, machinima has become a major expressive art form for the gamer generation. Machinima is the user-centered production of video presentations using pre-rendered animated content, as generated from video games. The term 'machinima' is a combination of 'machine' (from which the video content is derived) and 'cinema' (the ultimate end product). According to Paul Marino and other members of the machinima community, Hugh Hancock, the creator of Machinima.com, first coined the term in 2000. Video productions of this kind have been used in various capacities for the past several years, including instruction …

Visual Argument Reconsidered: 'Objective' Theory And A Classical Rhetorical Approach, Daniel Richards

All Theses

Visual argument is a relatively new discipline within the field of visual rhetorics. Consequently, visual rhetoricians have presented new theories of visual argumentation without fully considering the possibilities of existing textual methodologies as explanatory tools—especially classical rhetorical devices. This thesis presents a methodology for examining and creating visual arguments based on the concepts of topoi and figures of speech. I contend that these classical rhetorical devises embody an “objective” understanding of visual communication that shows one way of bridging the empiricism/rationalism debate in epistemology. By demonstrating that knowledge comes from the necessary interplay of perception and conception, I attempt to …

Preaching The Story Behind The Image A Narrative Approach To Metaphor For Preaching, Justin P. Rossow

Doctor of Philosophy Dissertation

Rossow, Justin P. “Preaching the Story behind the Image: A Narrative Approach to Metaphor for Preaching.” Ph.D. diss., Concordia Seminary,2008.296pp.

In response to an increasingly image-driven culture, preachers have focused more and more attention on the use of imagery and metaphor in the sermon. The homiletics of metaphor, however, currently lacks a sufficient hermeneutical foundation. This dissertation lays the groundwork for a fuller understanding of how interpreters fill in the blanks left by metaphors in the biblical text and in the sermon. While the appendix describes a range of different theories on what metaphor is and how it works, the …

I Read My Mind Through You: Designing Personal Communication In The Public Realm, Or, I Made This Thesis For You, Mary Banas

Masters Theses

As graphic designers, we're trained to be rational, systematic, and concise. In contrast, human emotion is irrational, passionate, and complex. By projecting personal experience into the public sphere, this study explores the tension between these two mindsets. I Read My Mind Through You elevates the voice of the banal to a call for empathy and renewed sentimentality.

I Read My Mind Through You elevated the voice of the banal to a call for empathy and renewed sentimentality.

This body of work originates from a love affair with turns of phrase, an affinity for the absurd, and the current cultural obsession …

Storytelling Through Brushstrokes: Minerva Teichert's Visualization Of The Mormon Pioneer Experience And Messages To Her Audience, Amy L. Williamson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

"We must paint the great Mormon story of our pioneers in mural decorations so that 'he who runs may read,'" remarked Minerva Teichert. When she created her pioneer panorama, Teichert attempted to do something different; whereas other Mormon artists had drawn on their personal pioneer experiences or sought inspiration from Church-approved publications regarding the trek, her visual inspiration came from the oral narratives she heard as a child. Because she used these narratives, Teichert portrayed the Mormon pioneer experience from a woman's perspective and voiced their experiences to male and non-Mormon audiences. Not only did Teichert offer a counterpoint to …

Tempo Magazine, Spring 2009, Office Of Student Life

Tempo Magazine

Tempo Magazine is Coastal Carolina University's student-produced feature magazine. TEMPO #21. Editor: Lauren Formalarie. Faculty advisor: Melissa Paschuck and Paul Olsen.

Behavioral Application In Wildlife Photography: Developing A Foundation In Ecological And Behavioral Characteristics Of The Zanzibar Red Colobus Monkey (Procolobus Kirkii) As It Applies To The Development Exhibition Photography, Matthew Jorgensen

Independent Study Project (ISP) Collection

A fundamental understanding of Zanzibar red colobus monkey (Piliocolobus kirkii) behavior can be used to increase the efficiency of a photographic expedition and to increase the impact and value of a subsequent exhibition of the photographs taken. Preliminary research on cercopithecine monkeys, as well as the individual species, was paired with animal behavior experience in the development and execution of a photographic expedition to Jozani Forest. Collected photographs were compiled, organized, analyzed and edited before final selection of twenty five pieces meant for exhibition. These shots were assessed for their aesthetic, documentary and educational quality both individually and collectively as …

Poetic To Platonic AlēTheia Orality, Literacy, And The Development Of Truth In Greek Poetry And Philosophy, Justin B. Cecil

Institute for the Humanities Theses

In recent years many scholars have dedicated much research to the development of the Orality Problem. In its most general form, the Orality Problem is grounded in the following two questions: 1) is there a difference between spoken and written language and 2) if there is a difference between these two forms of communication what exactly is this difference and how does it operate. Research into these questions has two major sources to draw upon: cross-cultural research between literate and non-literate cultures and textual analysis of written oral records from ancient Greece. According to the mounting research, many scholars now …

Mitigating Escalation Of Commitment: An Investigation Of The Effects Of Priming And Decision-Making Setting In Capital Project Continuation Decisions, Ann C. Dzuranin

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examines escalation of commitment in capital investment decisions and the extent to which it can be mitigated using a cognitive prime. Specifically, I examine the use of a cognitive prime as a way to mitigate escalation in three decision-making settings: (1) individual, (2) face-to-face team, and (3) computer-mediated team. Continued investment in failing projects is costly for firms. The use of a cognitive prime to reduce escalation would provide a low cost way to mitigate escalation. In this study, participants are primed to think about sunk costs. The expectation is that priming individuals to think about sunk costs …

Grand Valley Forum, Volume 033, Number 25, March 16, 2009, Grand Valley State University

2008-2009, Volume 33

Grand Valley Forum is Grand Valley State's faculty and staff newsletter, published from 1976 to the present.

Understanding Behavioral Change Through The Integration Of Theology And Emerging Sciences, William David Phillips

Doctor of Ministry

No abstract provided.

Eng 4760-001: Visual Rhetoric And Document Design, Terri Fredrick

Spring 2009

No abstract provided.

An Analysis And Performance Guide To The Tuba Music Of Alice Gomez, George Palton

Music Faculty Research

An analysis and performance guide to selected compositions of Alice Gomez as well as practical insights into the composition and performance of the works. Also includes background information on Gomez and her solo and chamber compositions that feature the tuba, including Bonampak, Latin Jazz Suite, and Highlife.

Fashion Statement Or Political Statement: The Use Of Fashion To Express Black Pride During The Civil Rights And Black Power Movements Of The 1960’S, Mary Vargas

Undergraduate Review

The Civil Rights Movement brought the plight of African Americans to the forefront of American political and intellectual thought. The ideological foundation of this movement was a feeling of black pride coupled with a strong sense of urgency for equality. Black activists and supporters, to express their solidarity and support of this movement, adorned symbolic clothing, accessories and hairstyles. Politics and fashion were fused during this time and the use of these symbolic fashion statements sent a clear message to America and the rest of the world that African Americans were proud of their heritage, that Black was indeed beautiful …

Bloudy Tygrisses: Murderous Women In Early Modern English Drama And Popular Literature, Alexandra Hill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This thesis examines artistic and literary images of murderous women in popular print published in sixteenth and seventeenth-century England. The construction of murderous women in criminal narratives, published between 1558 and 1625 in pamphlet, ballad, and play form, is examined in the context of contemporary historical records and cultural discourse. Chapter One features a literature review of the topic in recent scholarship. Chapter Two, comprised of two subsections, discusses representations of early modern women in contemporary literature and criminal archives. The subsections in Chapter Two examine early modern treatises, sermons, and essays concerning the nature of women, the roles and …

Exploring Efficient Design Approaches For Display Of Multidimensional Data To Facilitate Interpretation Of Information, Chitra S. Pathiavadi

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Prescriptions for effective display of quantitative information involving more than two variables are not available. To explore the effectiveness of retinal variables in facilitating the interpretation of information and decision making when used in conjunction, a study with 135 participants was conducted. The study involved the use of color shape, color value, and value shape as retinal variables in interactive displays that required participants to answer nine questions in three levels of complexity (identification of data points, analyses of local comparisons and global trends). Time-on-task scores and performance scores were measured. In addition, a View Clamp eye tracker system was …

Find Meaning Make Meaning, Karen Stein

Theses and Dissertations

Employing the designer William Morris as a source of inspiration, this project seeks to explore the call for nature and beauty as a part of our lives. Moreover, it interweaves the necessity for experience of the sensual world (the five senses) with the cerebral world (a requisite to igniting the internal imagination)—a concept embodied in the form of the book. It advocates a redefining of the book as an imagination sculpture (the external and the internal) reflecting this new definition.

The Open Road, Bryan Condra

Theses and Dissertations

In our journeys on the open road, we travel through a landscape of visual imagery composed of patterns, rhythms and a spectrum of changing colors. Our previous experiences, mental and physical attitudes and expectations, shape our perceptions. By visually interpreting and presenting my experiences of the journey on the open road I hoped to tell a story of how the open road energizes the creative spirit. My goal was to explore how the landscape is altered by motion and speed as we pass through it, and how the journey can be experienced in various ways. I wanted to investigate and …

School As A Center For Community: Establishing Neighborhood Identity Through Public Space And Educational Facility, Fred Goykhman

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

“Safety is an opportunity for people to open their minds” -Jin Baek, 2008

For my thesis I will design an education facility. That education facility will strive to meet with today's security needs and will provide a safe-feeling place for growth. In identifying the problem, I found two main causes for the described conditions in today's schools. They are improper adaptation and uniform building type.

Improper adaptation has to do with surface applications, rather than integrating with the social fabric of the school's communal requirements. Unfortunate incidents have caused the solutions to heightened security around schools to be fortressing and …

Inside Unlv, Shane Bevell, Tony Allen, Karen Sharp, Mamie Peers, Cate Weeks

Inside UNLV

No abstract provided.

Reconstructions: The Contemporary Southern Landscape By Its Photographers, Natalie Kersey Gillis

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this thesis is to examine the work of landscape photographers living and working in the Southern region of the United States and to explore what their images visually communicate about their relationship to the Southern land and its distinctive history. This objective is accomplished through an analysis of the work of three contemporary landscape photographers who reside in the South, and work primarily within their local hometowns.

This thesis examines the work of photographers William Christenberry, Sally Mann, and John McWilliams. Each is a photographer who is native to the American South and has used his or …