Digital Commons Network^™

Transforming Narratives, Lucia Weilein

Theses and Dissertations

Narrative, often considered synonymous with “story,” can be viewed from a structuralist perspective and analyzed independent of any particular content. Breaking narrative into categories of story and discourse, this autonomous structure makes possible a translation of content from one form to another. The various media and form types common in graphic design can serve as both recipient and translator of narratives, converting content into a framework that includes the concept of craftsmanship, aesthetic components and specifications, legibility and composition, and the physical form of the designed object. To examine how this framework functions in practice, I have developed a series …

Wanderings, Jetter Jorge Silva

Theses and Dissertations

While it implies aimless movement, the act of wandering is an act of discovery and can become a search for the unexpected. Wandering, as a metaphor for making, creates opportunities to work in ways where the final outcome is unknown. This can be accomplished by the creation of methods and instructions designed for wandering-the act of discovery. In the field of design, these ideas can be incorporated as methods for making that guide the design process in ultimately unknowable ways, resulting in products that bear little trace of preconception. The role of chance and indeterminacy as methods for relinquishing control …

The Use Of Applets For Developing Understanding In Mathematics: A Case Study Using Maplets For Calculus With Continuity Concepts., Raymond Ellis Patenaude

Theses and Dissertations

The Common Core State Standards for Mathematics (CCSSM) are founded on a long history of mathematics education research emphasizing the importance of teaching mathematics for understanding. The CCSSM along with the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) recommend the use of technology in the teaching of mathematics. New mobile technologies in society facilitate use in mathematics classrooms, and these technologies rely on software applications called applets. Certain applets have been developed for use in teaching mathematics.

This study investigated the questions: Is it possible to determine the characteristics of applets that lead students toward greater understanding of mathematical concepts? …

Autonomous Systems, Karolis Kosas

Theses and Dissertations

The ubiquity of digital media provides an unprecedented possibility to redefine the process and methods of design. Through experience from a series of creative projects, I investigate how certain aspects of the web allow for design to attain a degree of autonomy, thus producing results that go beyond anticipation and expertise of the author. Utilizing an unlimited capacity to store the content and retrieve immediate feedback, the designer’s role can be shifted to that of an initiator defining rules and boundaries, from which the process can evolve independently based on the input of users and data. The design output in …

What?: Visual Interpretations Of The Miscommunication Between The Hearing And Deaf, Virginia Shou

Theses and Dissertations

This thesis visualizes the communication challenges both latent and obvious of my daily life as a hard of hearing individual. By focusing on a variety of experiences and examples I demonstrate the implications of a hard of hearing individual’s life. The prints, objects and videos that I have created for my visual thesis aim to enrich the understanding of a broader public on issues regularly faced by Deaf people. At the heart of my work my goal is to generate mutual empathy between the hearing and the Deaf.

Between Floors: The Ups And Downs Of Mediated Narrative, Melinda White

Theses and Dissertations

“Between Floors: The Ups and Downs of Mediated Narrative” and the accompanying creative remediation project, “Between Floors: Love and Other Blood Related Diseases,” meld theory and practice of print with electronic literature and installation art. I argue that as the medium changes, the narrative is transformed. The narrative can be reconstructed and pieced together as the reader or viewer becomes increasingly involved, even embodied within the work. This embodiment is what Nathaniel Stern calls “Moving and thinking and feeling” (1) and can result in a more direct emotional experience. The form, structure, and medium (sjužet) rely on authorial intention, yet …

Collaborating Narrative Structures And Social Interactions Among Doll Collectors On A Web -Based Forum, Kim E. Higgs

Theses and Dissertations

This study employed a mixed method approach of qualitative research methodology and an ideological case study strategy. I used a submerged, active participant observation method to adequately understand and define how narrative and social interactions are collaborated on to establish community online. A qualitative analysis of the text of the posts of The Marie Doll Friends Forum (The Forum) was used to substantiate the answer to the research question posed in this study, which also embodied the purpose of this study: How do The Forum members collaborate through written narrative to exchange knowledge and establish community?The significance and value of …

Automated Content-Based Video Analysis And Management, Engin Mendi

Theses and Dissertations

Rapid expansion in the use of digital videos as an information source has led to a significant increase in the availability and the amount of video data. Multimedia applications use and generate large volume of complex video data sets. Since manual indexing, searching, browsing, and retrieval of relevant information are both computationally expensive and time consuming, efficient and reasonable mechanisms that can perform these operations are needed. This dissertation sorts out the challenges of video processing for automated content-based video analysis and management. More specifically, the work presented here include temporal video segmentation to partition video sequences into shots, extracting …

Visual Form And A Typology Of Purpose: A Peircean-Based Approach To Visual Information Design Pedagogy, Christina Laraine Perkins Rosenquist

Theses and Dissertations

Visual information design is a vital part of modern communication. Currently discussion is occurring in most disciplines to determine more effective ways to incorporate visual information design into all their communication, including website and document design. These discussions typically focus on elements of traditional graphic design that tell the student what is "good" graphic design; however, traditional graphic design depends on trial and error, luck, and best practices, with only rare attempts to construct general principles. Selection of visual elements is usually based on designer preference rather than any consistent conceptual framework or empirical support for design decisions. Another approach …

Material Meaning, Anne Jordan

Theses and Dissertations

The synthesis of old and new, analog and digital, and hand- and computer-based methods provides designers with an opportunity to work beyond the constraints of the computer and take advantage of the aesthetic effects that actual materials bring to visual communication. Designers who choose to actively participate in their process – bringing the aesthetic effects of working materially into the realm of the digital – will likely learn to reject an approach that relies too heavily on passive digital tools. Active participation in the design process can extend our creative vocabulary and humanize visual communication.

Through Process, Mitchell Goldstein

Theses and Dissertations

At the core of any designer’s activity is the process they engage with to create design. Process is not only a way to get from an idea to a completed work, it is also what determines our attitude towards design. This is the place where both the design and the designer are created. The gray area between nothing and something is where we go to discover design, and in turn to discover who we are and what matters to us. In this thesis I am investigating the nebulous place between ideas and things, thoughts and artifacts, and being just a …

Planning Of Komtel Project Engineering Head Quarters, Kushtrim Ismajli

Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Teaching English Language Learners In The Art Classroom: A Survey Of Approaches, Alana Greer

Theses and Dissertations

This study consisted of an online survey of members of the National Art Education Association Elementary Division in which 29 participants answered questions related to their instruction of English language learners in the elementary art classroom. Four participants participated in follow-up interviews as the researcher sought to answer the research questions: What pedagogical and curricular adaptations in the art classroom may be effective strategies for teaching English language learners? What are the perceived challenges of having a linguistically diverse art classroom? Participants offered a variety of pedagogical adaptations but suggested few curricular adaptations. Participants revealed challenges related to their teacher …

Geologic Mapping Of Exhumed, Mid-Cretaceous Paleochannel Complexes Near Castle Dale, Emery County, Utah: On The Correlative Relationship Between The Dakota Sandstone And The Mussentuchit Member Of The Cedar Mountain Formation, Amanda Elizabeth Mackay Sorensen

Theses and Dissertations

Numerous well-preserved, exhumed paleochannels in the Morrison, Cedar Mountain and Dakota Sandstone formations are exposed east of Castle Dale, Utah. These channels consist primarily of point bar complexes and scattered, low sinuosity channels. To determine the vertical and lateral relationships of these channels within the Cedar Mountain and Dakota Sandstone formations, a 1:24,000 scale geologic map covering ~140 km2 was created showing the fluvial sandstones. In the study area the Cedar Mountain Formation consists, from bottom to top, of 2.5-10 m of Buckhorn Conglomerate Member equivalent units, ~80 m of the Ruby Ranch Member, and ~30 m of the Mussentuchit …

A Tale To Tell: The Charisma Of Narrative Art, Cynthia Mirabile

Theses and Dissertations

My artwork combines the power of narrative with the sculptural form, and I encourage the viewer to interact with my work. I use the magnetic, hypnotic effect that stories can have over us. My narratives are designed to draw the reader into a willing suspension of disbelief. It is often whimsical because childlike things give people certain permissions of joy and abandon. I use anthropomorphism to invite the viewer to handle my pieces in order to create an intimacy between the viewer and the artwork.

The Effect Of Using Same Language Subtitling (Sls) In Content Comprehension And Vocabulary Acquisition In Arabic As A Foreign Language (Afl), Aysha Abdel-Moneim Selim

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates the effects of SLS (Same-Language subtitling) on content comprehension and vocabulary acquisition of MSA (Modern Standard Arabic) as L2 at the intermediate level and addresses three research questions: (1) Does SLS enhance or hinder L2 content comprehension when the writing script of L2 is different than that of L1? (2) Does SLS enhance or hinder L2 vocabulary acquisition when the writing script of L2 is different than that of L1? (3) What is students' attitude towards the use of SLS? Twenty seven students of AUC's ALI program with English as L1 were chosen for the study and …

"Play Your Fan": Exploring Hand Props And Gender On The Restoration Stage Through The Country Wife, The Man Of Mode, The Rover, And The Way Of The World, Jarred Wiehe

Theses and Dissertations

The full irony and wit of Restoration comedies relies not only on what characters communicate to each other, but also on what they communicate to the audience, both verbally and physically. Hand props help foster this important relationship with the audience as props provide moments of dramatic irony where the visual meaning portrayed through the object complicates the verbal text. Specifically, gendered props such as the fan, the sword, and the pistol visually establish conventions for the sexes, yet are also used to subvert these conventions through gesture, appropriation, or misuse. Thus far, the critical conversation concerning the possibility of …

Visible Trace A Series Of Selected Projects Reflecting My Graduate School Experience, My Interest In Mark Making, Typographic Collage, And Serendipity., Meaghan Dee

Theses and Dissertations

Mark-making captures movement and preserves gesture. Marks can reveal the motion behind their creation and convey thoughts through non-verbal, non-literal means.

Aural Landscapes, Brandi Price

Theses and Dissertations

Music and design draw upon innate parallels concerned with the creation and existence of space. By acknowledging the roles of both the visual and the aural in my design process as input and output, I attempt to achieve a deeper understanding of my intuition as a visual communicator. I believe that the visual and aural are linked—existing harmoniously together. The collected works present ever-evolving ideas on visualizing the experience of sound.

Space: A Discovery Of Visual Language, Kelley White

Theses and Dissertations

Space is a visual communicator. The act of perceiving space is a neurological soiree that projects and negotiates meaning in our constructed world. The poetry that we observe within space is tied directly to our emotions and to previous experience. Within ourselves, we each have particular feelings, unconscious or not, relating to height, length, and depth, as well as light and shadow. For example, a long, narrow hallway may elicit anxiety, while an open, sunlit nave in a cathedral may bring about feelings of serenity and joy. Our observations and interactions within the perceptual confines of space reveal clues to …

Searching For A Soul, Michael O'Neal

Theses and Dissertations

The abstract pieces I create now are part of an ongoing evolution in my work to arrive at a visual balance between rigid structure and organic movement. Initially, they were intended as a departure from representational imagery to allow for more focus on color harmonies and structural balance. After more than twenty-five years of rendering objects and things, it became too predictable and “safe” for me to take my work seriously. As it has been suggested that most abstraction derives from reality in some form, I was intrigued by those rings of light we see when closing our eyes. I …

Impact Of The Extension's Soybean Podcast Alerts: A Case Study, Rebecca Carol Norman

Theses and Dissertations

Since 2004, podcasts have steadily emerged as valuable communication tools in both industry and academia. As an educational provider to the agricultural community, the Cooperative Extension Service strives to stay on the forefront of new communication technology. In 2009, the Communications department of the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service developed a series of video podcast alerts for Arkansas soybean producers. These podcast alerts were intended to alert producers of potential weed and disease problems during the soybean growing season. Case study surveys were conducted at the beginning and end of the growing season to assess the impact of the podcasts alerts …

Understanding Design, Joshua Reese

Theses and Dissertations

Somewhere along the way, I found that graphic design in professional practice was becoming synonymous with form and style, and losing its connection with concept and audience. I’m trying to find a way back.

Memory Created, Maria Fabrizio

Theses and Dissertations

Memory is like afternoon light penetrating the windows of a fast moving car. The light coming through the trees creates images, reveals objects and faces, and introduces fluctuating sensations of warmth and coolness. Sometimes these images appear in logical sequences and at other times they are fleeting, surreal, and ambiguous. While memories are often presented linearly as fact, in actuality our stories only grasp at the truth. They are fragmented, imagined, and rearranged. By examining the intersection of reality and imagination in memories we see retelling as an act of creativity.

Visualizing Cultural Impermanence Through Entropic Design, Clifford Meena Khalili

Theses and Dissertations

Entropy is a process of gradual decline as a system loses the strength to maintain itself. It begins with disorder and results in complete transformation. As a multi-cultural American, it has been my experience that the maintenance of my Iranian heritage parallels this concept. A method of visual communication that incorporates entropy is able to express notions of impermanence, disorder and transformation. This project is focused on employing entropy in the process of design and image making by using the transformation of my cultural identity as primary content.

Typography: From Internal Conflict To External Content, Ernest F. Bernhardi Iii

Theses and Dissertations

This body of work represents a celebration and pursuit of realizing an alternative language, one capable of expressing internal conflict through process and response to external typographic form and content.

A Study Of Three Artificial Neural Networks Models' Ability To Identify Emotions From Facial Images, Timothy Scott Hyde

Theses and Dissertations

Facial expressions conveying emotions are vital for human communication. They are also important in the studies of human interaction and behavioral studies. Recognition of emotions, using facial images, may provide a fast and practical approach that is noninvasive. Most previous studies of emotion recognition through facial images were based on the Facial Action Coding System (FACS). The FACS, which was developed by Ekman and Freisen in 1978, was created to identify different facial muscular actions. Previous artificial neural network-based approaches for classification of facial expressions focused on improving one particular neural network model for better accuracy. The purpose of this …

Museums In The Classroom: Preservation Virginia’S John Marshall House Trunk, Denisse Marie De Leon

Theses and Dissertations

Since the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was passed in 2001, museum educators have faced new challenges in designing programming that incorporates state standards of education while remaining faithful to the integrity of the museum’s collection and mission. Some museums have created programs that address these educational standards and can be used in school classrooms. This project is a case study of how one Virginia museum, Preservation Virginia, created a classroom program that addresses the state mandated Standards of Learning (SOLs). The report of this project includes discussion of the current debates that surround NCLB and its relationship to …

Symbolism And Art, Sylvia Swoboda

Theses and Dissertations

I am interested in communication through symbolism. The symbols that I incorporate in my mixed media work are simplified into essential lines and shapes. I use the Kabbalah’s Tree of Life diagram as a structure to hold my own personal symbols. These symbols are my interpretation of the phases of life. I also use prehistoric symbols such as the spiral, circle, square, triangle, and cross as a focus to emphasize the beauty of these very basic lines and shapes which we see all around our world. To emphasize the beauty of symbols I use repetition, color, and texture. Life is …

Leading Edge Technologies In A Community College Library Setting: Identifying Disconnects Of Academic Libraries And Their Users, Theresa C. Stanley

Theses and Dissertations

The intent of this research was to discover what, if any, disconnect exists between community college students' library perceptions and technology use. The researcher studied how students at a very-large southwestern community college are using the physical and virtual college library, and their overall technology and library technology use. The research addressed the following six research questions: (a) What are the technology profiles (defined as technology ownership, use, skill, and adoption status) of students at a very-large size southwestern community college? (b) What are the library profiles (defined as library use, skill, awareness, and emerging technology receptivity) of students at …