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Multiple Literacies, Fragmented Identities: Arab Students At American Universities, Gamil Mohammed Al-Amrani

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a combination of ethnography and case study which describes the Social and cultural context of literacy acquisition among Arab students at the University of Arkansas. I examine the power relations that define this minority group in the larger Social context and describe how these relations shape, transform, and sometimes threaten their cultural identities in the classroom. The dissertation investigates the different Social and cultural factors that facilitate or obstruct their learning process, factors such as age, gender, religion, and marital status. It explains how the students' acquisition of literacy exists within a larger dynamic process of Social …

Street Theatre : Critical Pedagogy For Social Studies Education, Al-Karim Datoo, Zainab M. A. Chagani

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper aims at exploring the usefulness of street theatre as critical pedagogy in teaching of social studies education. It gives a brief background of street-theatre and its linkages with critical pedagogy. In the light of theoretical underpinnings of this arts-based pedagogy, the paper deliberates upon the relevance and efficacy of street theatre in a social studies classroom. This paper uses a street theatre performance case to look at the techniques such as: body motion, body work, props, use of visual and audio aids, etc.; processes such as: conscientization and catharsis; and dialogical approach employed by street theatre to bring …

In Students' Words: The Development Of Student Attitudes Toward Mathematics - A Social Perspective, Dianne Kathryn Kelly

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Student interest in pursuing advanced studies and careers in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) has garnered much attention lately from government, business, and education leaders due to inadequate flow in the United States' STEM pipeline. Existing research points to mathematical self-efficacy and to mathematical self-concept beliefs as integral to the likelihood that a student will pursue a career in a STEM field. Students' identities, such as the "good-math-student" identity need to be verified in order for students to enact them. Both identity verification and attitude are influenced by self-efficacy and self-concept. Existing research also points to teachers, parents, and …

Integration Experiences And Youth Perspectives: An Exploratory Study Of School-Going Somali Youth In Melbourne, Australia And Minneapolis, Minnesota, Yusuf Sheikh Omar

Bildhaan: An International Journal of Somali Studies

No abstract provided.

Beyond The Catch-22 Of School-Based Social Action Programs: Toward A More Pragmatic Approach For Dealing With Power, Darwyn Fehrman, Aaron Schutz

Democracy & Education

This study examines a two-year effort to engage groups of inner-city students in community engagement projects at Social Action Charter High School, SACHS, in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. In this project, graduate student volunteers coached small groups of students working on community change projects, collecting data on what happened over time. Kahne and Westheimer (2006) identified a key challenge to projects of this kind. On the one hand, social action projects seem able to enhance students’ belief in their own capacity to solve community problems only if adult allies make sure the students do not encounter any significant barriers to success, although …

An Educational "Clip": Arab Students' Experiences Of Curriculum In A U.S. University, Daad Adel Rizk

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

This is a multicultural study of culture adaptation, language challenge, identity formation, and power struggle -"CLIP"- depicting three Arab students who have attended or are currently attending a University in the rural South East Region of the United States of America (circa 2009-2010) When Arab students go to college in the United States of America, two cultural extremities (East and West) meet and attempt to form relationships; two different languages, Arabic and English, written in opposite directions search for a middle page to help them communicate. Books in the Arab World are read right to left, while pages in the …

Tess Little Interview For A Wright State University History Course, Gina Castillo-Alvarez, Tess Little

Dayton and Miami Valley Oral History Project

On February 27, 2011 Gina Castillo-Alvarez interviewed Lorena Mora-Mowry, founder of Mujer Latina Hoy, for a class project dealing with oral histories and capturing the history of the Miami Valley. During the interview Lorena discussed her life and events that she remembered. No transcript is available for this interview.

The Wooster Voice (Wooster, Oh), 2011-02-18, Wooster Voice Editors

The Voice: 2001-2011

This is the Wooster Voice from February of 2011. The front page of the newspaper includes an article about a lecture given by two sexperts, Marshall Miller and Rachel Dart, about the importance of the female orgasm. A company has created a brownie, called Lazy Cakes, which have melatonin and calming herbs baked into them. The page also includes an article reporting on the prices of MacLeod's, a convenience store nicknamed the "C-store" by students. The following pages include an article about the Egyptian revolution, student viewpoints and cartoons, and arts and entertainment. A study done on rats shows that …

An Exploratory Study Of Teacher Perception Of Social Presence: Design And Instructional Practices For New Online Teachers, Mark Pugsley

Organization, Information and Learning Sciences ETDs

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of high school teachers regarding social presence in online instruction. Participants were nine teachers, all new to teaching online. The influence of an Online Social Presence Rubric was studied along with other variables that affected understanding of social presence during one teaching semester. Five primary questions guided the research with the intention of furthering knowledge about social phenomena in the field of online education: (I) What do teachers identify as the central constructs to social presence; (II) How does the Online Social Presence Rubric affect teachers understanding of social …

Mckissick Museum At The Core Of The University Of South Carolina’S Curriculum, Lana A. Burgess

Staff Publications

McKissick Museum at the University of South Carolina engages audiences through a variety of experiences that provide information, generate awareness, and promote introspection on topics of regional life and the interdependent roles of culture, community traditions, and the natural and built environment. At the heart of these activities is an interpretive commitment to “telling the story of southern life.”

This paper was presented at the meeting of the College Art Association held in New York City February 9-12, 2011.

Aware: Analyzing The Impact Of An Anti-Human Trafficking Advocacy Curriculum Using Sixth Grade Students In Colorado, Alex Kornelius Monroe

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Human trafficking is an international problem that penetrates every society on the globe. Trafficking in children for the purposes of commercial sexual exploitation, forced labor, and domestic servitude occurs in every state of the United States. Education is key in preventing human trafficking and American students lack proper knowledge of the issue. This study seeks to bridge this shortcoming through the creation and implementation of a holistic anti-trafficking advocacy curriculum that not only informs and motivates students and educators toward advocacy, but also meets Colorado state academic standards. Case studies using sixth grade students in Denver show the impact that …

Culturally-Responsive Dance: Building Community One Step At A Time, Jeanette Jackson

ETD Archive

James Catterall's, (1997) report, "Involvement in the Arts and Success in Secondary School", espoused the need for Arts Education. Finding that students who were involved in the arts had increased motivation, school attendance, and positive attitudes, this longitudinal study became a national model of Arts Education advocacy. Landson Billings (1995) assertion that culturally-relevant pedagogy is a pillar for student success is but a further expansion of Ogbu (1987) which stated that "A culturally relevant pedagogy must provide a way for students to maintain their cultural identity while succeeding academically" (p. 155).Although the academic world has reflected and responded to the …

Teaching Activist Intelligence: Feminism, The Educational Experience And The Applied Women's Studies Department At Cgu, Tara Chaffee Robinson

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The need to teach students how to be community activists becomes increasingly relevant as women's studies continues to evolve from its activist roots. Living in a culture that discourages activist work, many women's studies students feel passionately about activist issues, but with frustrating paralysis. For this reason, many of them pursue graduate degrees to equip themselves for an activist-oriented life, since they are not sure how to do this themselves. Without the presence of a concrete social movement, women's studies students need activist behavior and community modeled for them through the institution of the university. Teaching feminist activism to women's …

String Theory And Our Relationship With Nature: The Convergence Of Science, Curriculum Theory, And The Environment, Virginia Therese Bennett

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Curriculum Theory affords us the opportunity to examine education from a multitude of directions. This work takes advantage of that opportunity to explore the relationships between science, nature, and curriculum using string theory and our ideas about the environment as a backdrop. Both the energy and multiple possibilities created by strings and the rich history leading up to the theory help to illustrate the many opportunities we have to advance discussions in alternative ways of looking at science. By considering the multiple dimensions inherent in string theory as multiple pathways and interweaving metaphors from Deleuze and Guattari, Michel Serres, and …

About Intermedialities: A Review Article Of New Work By Paech And Schröter, Chapple And Kattenbelt, And Ellerström, Arno Gimber, Asunción López-Varela Azcárate

CLCWeb: Comparative Literature and Culture

No abstract provided.

Visionary Of Control: The Efficiency, Expertise, And Exclusion Of Alexander James Inglis, Heidi Tilney Kramer

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Alexander James Inglis was the key contributor to changes enacted in education during the Progressive era. He instituted an administrative and curricular hierarchy in order to create social organization during a chaotic time in American history, thus advancing professionalism in teaching and systematizing a future workforce - teaching previously had no standards, and throngs of immigrants overwhelmed the school system. While necessary at the time, this system of centralization, homogenization, and sorting continues to result in exclusion in secondary education and middle schools. Categorization is Inglis' hallmark in his work in education, following Frederick W. Taylor's managerial practices, and he …

Learning Systems: An Ecological Perspective On Advanced Academic Literacy Practices Of Multilingual Writers, Steve Simpson

Doctoral Dissertations

Recent work in composition's leading journals has challenged the field's exclusive focus on native English speakers and has called for a more international perspective on writing research and pedagogy. This dissertation, which grew from requests from multilingual graduate students in my own institution for more advanced academic writing support, extends this call to explore ways writing programs can better account for the needs of international graduate students, a growing population in US institutions. The role English has assumed as the lingua franca of international academic communication has made writing in English a critical skill for these students' professional development. In …

Short-Term Study Abroad And Religious Commitment: A Look At What Impacts Global And Multicultural Awareness , Melissa J. Stromberger

Doctor of Psychology (PsyD)

No abstract provided.

Teaching News Literacy In The Age Of New Media: Why Secondary School Students Should Be Taught To Judge The Credibility Of The News They Consume, Elia Powers

All Theses and Dissertations (ETDs)

This paper involves two of the oldest institutions in America -- schools and the press -- and the preparation of informed citizens in the age of new media. I examine the manner and ways in which news literacy, the use of critical thinking skills to judge the reliability of news reports and news sources, is taught to secondary school students in the United States. It is axiomatic that a vigorous and independent press is critical to our democracy. Yet news literacy has not historically been included in the public school curriculum and continues to be widely absent, despite states vowing …

(2010) Philosophical Dialogue With Children: Essays On Theory And Practice, David Kennedy

Collected Papers of David Kennedy

David Kennedy is the foremost expert of children’s philosophical experience and practice writing today. One of the factors that makes him so will be apparent to readers of this collection of essays: the insistent probing and the astonishing range of his scholarship, which encompasses philosophy of childhood, philosophy of education, developmental psychology, cultural studies, critical theory, philosophy of subjectivity, chaos and systems theory, epistemology, and metaphilosophy. The other factor, only hinted at in this book, is the thousands of hours that Kennedy has clocked on the rugs and in the small chairs of schools, pre-schools, churches and other children’s spaces …

Education In The New Latino Diaspora, Edmund T. Hamann, Linda Harklau

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Faculty Publications

In 2002 Hamann, Wortham, and Murillo noted that many U.S. states were hosting significant and often rapidly growing Latino populations for the first time and that these changes had multiple implications for formal schooling as well as out-of-school learning processes. They speculated about whether Latinos were encountering the same, often disappointing, educational fates in communities where their presence was unprecedented as in areas with a longstanding Latino presence. Only tentative conclusions could be provided at that time since the dynamics referenced were frequently novel and in flux.

In this chapter we revisit their inquiry in light of six subsequent years …

“Cosecha Voices”: Toward A Transcultural Pedagogy, Silvia Patricia Solis

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

In the fall of 2007, I began filming a course called Cosecha Voices, which centered on the migratory, farmworking experiences of South Texas students attending the University of Texas—Pan American. This thesis therefore, stems from my two-year collaborative experience with the Cosecha Voices project. I propose Cosecha Voices opened up an academic space for critical pedagogy and transculturation to intersect, creating a transcultural pedagogy. Transcultural pedagogy as praxis, centers on students' lived experiences, engaging educators and students in a transculturation of intersecting theories intertwined in oral performances, film ethnography, and testimonios as pedagogical practices and epistemologies. This process allows …

What’S Your Perspective A Secondary Staff Cultural Proficiency Training, Jeanne A. Cunningham

All Graduate Projects

A two-hour and forty-five minute staff cultural proficiency training was compiled for an urban high school. Nearly thirty percent of the school's population is make up of non-majority cultural groups yet approximately ninety-nine percent of the staff is white. A review of literature indicates that culture matters when educating students and schools cognizant of this information realize higher student performance. Using current data, the project demonstrates the need for cultural proficiency training and provides staff information and resources to increase awareness of the role of culture in teaching and learning.

Hispanic Youth Physical Activity Participation: A Study Of Psychological And Social Influence, Maria L. Trinidad

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study seeks to identity barriers that influenced middle school students from engaging in daily physical activity at least 60 minutes outside of their physical education classes in the Rio Grande Valley. Statistical significance of the study will be determined at the 95% level of confidence. The researcher offers the null hypothesis of no difference between the doers and non-doers The participants of this study were 79 middle school students ages 12-15. The participants were given an open-ended questionnaire. Cross tabulation analyses was conducted to determine difference using the Mann-Whitney U Test. Data from the research questions was analyzed by …

Spring 2009 Farquhar Forum, Farquhar College Of Arts And Sciences

The Farquhar Forum College Magazine

No abstract provided.

What Should We Be Doing To Reduce Or End Campus Violence?, Jason A. Laker

Faculty Publications

Over the last several years, there have been a number of high-profile incidents of violence on college and university campuses. These have precipitated discussions and new initiatives on campuses and within our professional organizations intended to prevent and respond to violence.

An Exploration Of Experiences And Outcomes Of Alaska Native Graduates Of Mt. Edgecumbe High School, Diane Hirshberg, Brit Delmoral

CAEPR Reports

In Alaska’s schools, indigenous1 students are the most at risk of any ethnic group of failing to thrive; they drop out more frequently, are less likely to graduate, and generally have lower educational attainment than non-Native students(Martin and Hill, 2009). Indeed, the situation appears to be worsening. The dropout rate of Alaska Native students living in all areas of Alaska besides Anchorage has risen from 0.7 percent in 1996 to 3.3 percent in 2001 (Goldsmith et al. 2004). Dropout rates among all Native students in Alaska increased from 5 percent to almost 10 percent between 1998 and 2001, while the …

Chinese Elementary School Teachers' Perceptions Of Students' Classroom Behavior Problems, Paul Caldarella, Ryan H. Shatzer, Michael Richardson, Caiyun Zhang

Faculty Publications

Teachers’ Perceptions of Misbehavior: Studies over the past 20 years; Many different parts of the world. Teachers’ perceptions can influence: Responses to students; Confidence. Factors that Can Influence Perceptions: Teachers’ experience; Students’ grade level; Student gender; Demographic area; Classroom setting.

Media Literacy Education, Elizabeth Etherington Wood

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study offers an analysis of media literacy practices and techniques used at local public middle and high schools in Colorado. Media literacy is an emerging field in education that blends literacy skills such as critical analysis and evaluation with an inquiry-based questioning process that encourages students to process information using cognitive, moral, aesthetic and emotional dimensions. This inquiry-based process is not a new educational approach; it has been used to critically evaluate literature for centuries. However, media literacy scholars argue that applying inquiry-based approaches can enhance learning across all grades and content levels by applying new methodologies.

The literature …

Catholic Schools And Student Academic Performance;Does The Urban Catholic School Experience Mitigate Ethnoracial Disparity?, Lanny K. (Lanny Keith) Hollis

ETD Archive

This study examined an inner-city Catholic high school to ascertain the possible existence of an achievement gap. Pearson correlation and multiple regression analyses examined academic indicators (GPA and Math and Science OGT results) and demographic and school variables. Students (258 Black, 101 White, and 55 Hispanic) completed questionnaires, which were matched with school data and confirmatory alumni focus groups. Analyses revealed no significant differences (ANOVA) among academic indicator means. Correlations were found between academic indicators and length of Catholic education, good behavior, extracurricular participation, high-school-graduation-oriented peers, and teacher caring scores. Regression models found positive student behavior, peers, female gender, extracurricular …