Education Commons^™

A Student-Driven Guide For Project-Based Learning, Michael Lee Driscoll Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

This action research study proposes the need for and examines the usefulness of a Student-Driven Guide for Project-Based Learning. The Guide was designed to give students guidance and structure in carrying out and documenting a project as a part of a class, or when students are working independently from a teacher. The Guide was informed by the educational theories of Constructionism, Student-Driven Learning, and Cross-Disciplinary Learning. It was tested with a group of high school students who used the Guide to create a series of multimedia photography projects. Completed Guides and student surveys about the experience were then collected and …

Building Creative Confidence In Preservice Generalist Teachers, Kaitlin Nicole Bril

Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods research project provides a deeper understanding of creative confidence in preservice generalist teachers. This research provides insight into preservice generalist teachers’ preconceived notions and beliefs about creativity, and what aspects contribute to their creative confidence through analyzing data that reflects useful forms of preservice training for generalist teachers for them to become creatively confident leaders. This study generates strategies and recommendations for practice in teacher preparation programs and has potential to be further developed through additional study. This research contributes to a body of literature about one of art education’s continued challenges: contributing to the preparation of generalists.

Enacting A Third Space Pedagogy In An Art Museum Setting: Strategies, Intersections, And Values, Claudia Patricia Orjuela Borda

Theses and Dissertations

This ethnographic case study investigates the theory and practice of third spaces in relation to a

professional development program for K-12 teachers in an art museum setting, with emphasis on

arts-based programming, lived curriculum, contemporary art, and critical teaching strategies. I

investigate how museums negotiate the transition from a pedagogy of place towards a pedagogy

of third spaces. The questions guiding my study were: how a third space is valued by educators

and museum staff? What are the components, strategies, and methodologies that allow for the

emergence of third spaces in professional development programs? What does a third space

pedagogy …

School-Based And Museum-Based Makerspaces, Rebecca Helen Johnson

Theses and Dissertations

Making and makerspaces, as a means and setting for creation, have grown in popularity in recent years. As makerspaces appear in schools and community educational settings, the Maker Movement’s prominence and influence on education grows. As different people have served as the developers and facilitators for these makerspaces, no makerspace is the same, because the intentions and values of these developers and facilitators differ. Studying the effects of these different intentions and values on the decisions made by the facilitators has allowed me to research the theories surrounding the Maker Movement in actual practice. My research contributes to the conversation …

Enacting Art And Place Through Socially Engaged Art, Samantha H. Rausch

Theses and Dissertations

This narrative inquiry research project searches for a deeper understanding of the experiences of artists and educators whose practice reflects similar qualities to socially engaged artists. I ask how artists who work with communities construct social engagement through art and place. Through interviews with five artists, I analyze the methodologies and practices that exist, how they are used in relation to art-making, education, and collaboration, and how they are enabled. This research provides a look at how artists and educators working in the public sphere define their roles as facilitators, how they navigate the power relationships when constructing social engagement …

An Action Research On Enacting Play-Based Pedagogy In A Pre-Service Teachers' Art Classroom, Yuting Ye

Theses and Dissertations

As a school-based art educator, I advocate for an educational environment that embraces and values concepts of play and play-based pedagogy and encourage understandings of the significant role of play in teaching and learning and its relation to art, artifacts, and multiculturalism. This thesis documents an action research project, reflecting a dialogue about play-based art education in a college classroom. As a social constructivist and an advocate for multiculturalism, I introduced knowledge on play-based pedagogy and its benefits to college students and studied my practices in relation to student learning, especially those students in pre-service teacher education programs. Concepts associated …

Enacting Place: A Comparative Case Study, Anna Grosch

Theses and Dissertations

As a community-based art educator, I advocate for an arts-based educational environment that embraces postmodern tenets and encourages individuals to reflect on self and society in relation to the places in which they dwell and learn. This thesis is a dialogue on emplaced community-based art education. Issues of urban education, social justice, and critical pedagogy are considered in relation to participants’ enactments of place within two distinct community-based educational settings. In order to investigate the connections between a culture of place, place-based education, and the community-based programs of each site, the role of art and artifacts was carefully considered in …

Arts Education In An Urban School District: Principals' Perspectives And Practices In A Standards-Based Environment Coupled With An Economic Downturn, Kristin Ann Steinbach

Theses and Dissertations

This case study explored perspectives of urban principals towards the values of arts education within the context of accountability coupled with economic strain, which has worked to undervalue arts education, and has impacted urban students' access to quality arts education (Chapman, 2004 & 2005). Since differences in access to arts education has been drawn along differences in ethnic, racial and socioeconomic status, this was understood as a social justice issue (Theoharis, 2007). Specifically, this research addressed the roles of principals and investigated the research question:

How do urban principals and school leaders perceive the value of the arts within a …

Laban Movement Analysis As A Methodology For Promoting Creativity And The Arts Across The Curriculum, Dr. Leonard Arvisu Cruz

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative participatory action-research study was to explore how four elementary school teachers incorporated Laban Movement Analysis (LMA) methodology, in particular the eight Effort Qualities (Dell, 1977) (light/soft or strong/powerful, fast/quick or slow/sustained, direct or indirect/flexible, and bound/close or free/open), across their curriculum and instruction. The study took place at both an urban parochial elementary school and an urban private school. Stories were collected through interviews, journals, lesson plans, e-mails, mail, and photos using a qualitative methodology over a period of 2½ months. Teachers came up with their own research questions and answered them throughout the study. …