Education Commons^™

What Do Students Value? Exploring Instructor Behaviors In Face-To-Face And Online Higher Education Classrooms, Daria S. Lafave

Wayne State University Dissertations

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Teen Perceptions Of Cell Phone And Internet Sexual Messaging: Trends And Predictors, David Gregg

Wayne State University Dissertations

The purpose of the current study was to propose and test a predictive model for high school sexting in order to better understand influences and characteristics that contribute most to one’s decision to sext. Sexting was defined as either sending or receiving photos, videos, or text messages that contained full nudity, partial nudity, sexual requests, or comments of a sexual nature. Rates and typical recipients of sexual content were also examined in this study. A sample of 314 high school students in an urban area of Southeast Michigan were surveyed. Males were found to more frequently report engaging in nearly …

Laughing Our Way To Stronger Democracy: Political Comedy's Potential To Equalize Political Interest And Political Knowledge In Community College Students, Lisa Lynne Lawrason

Wayne State University Dissertations

Political comedy is the one off-line news source – albeit soft news – that young adults access in higher rates than older adults. They are tuning into political comedy to be entertained, but while watching, they also get a healthy dose of politics. For otherwise apolitical young people, does exposure to politics in this format heighten their political interest? Does it make them more politically knowledgeable citizens? Through a 4-weeklong experiment, this study tests the effects of exposure to The Daily Show with Jon Stewart on political interest and political knowledge in a sample of community college students in mid-Michigan. …

Worker Use Of Social Media For Informal Learning In A Corporate Environment, Susan N. Genden

Wayne State University Dissertations

In the global workplace, workers must quickly adapt to changing information and productivity demands. Workers must filter information, avoid overload and find out what they need to know. How can use of social media technologies benefit the knowledge worker and the corporate workplace? This study presents a closer look at the use, perceptions, and reflections of active social media users within the corporate environment. The purpose of this study was to examine, through worker voice, factors in worker use of social media that lead to successful informal learning outcomes in the corporate environment. This qualitative research used a phenomenological methodology. …

Commedia: Rhetoric And Technology In The Media Commons, Conor James Shaw-Draves

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation analyzes the organization of individuals through online social media applications and other community-building websites, such as Facebook, Wikipedia, Google Maps, and online classrooms, using the Aristotelian rhetorical concept of the commonplaces as well as political, critical, and legal theory. Based on these analyses, this dissertation also provides pedagogical recommendations for the teaching of writing with technology in both online and physical classrooms.

Critical Experiential Learning And Rhetorical Interventions In New Media Ecologies, Jennifer Niester-Mika

Wayne State University Dissertations

This dissertation puts into conversation new media and network theories with the philosophical writings of John Dewey to reconstruct a more relevant and current approach to critical pedagogy that takes into account the shift in socioeconomic power as we move into a control society comprised of immaterial labor. My chapters tackle three different critical pedagogy dilemmas: the neglect of affect, agency in late-capitalism, and critical literacy in new media ecologies. Each chapter defines the dilemma, offers a theoretical response, and details a possible pedagogical application for the composition classroom.

Impacts Of Oral Language Proficiency, Television And Internet On Acculturation Of Taiwanese College Students, Huang Yu Lin

Wayne State University Dissertations

The majority of recent cross-cultural research with regard to the media's impact on acculturation has been aimed at Chinese immigrants' acculturation by the media in the United States with relatively little attention to Taiwanese college students' state of change in acculturation by various media sources while acquiring English as a second language. There are significant numbers of studies on assimilation to the host culture by both the ethnic and host media; however, there is a paucity of literature based on the one-dimensional media impact on a particular demographic group which can be easily traced to various types of media affecting …

A Higher Education Case: Millennial Experience Toward Learning Through A Virtual World Designed As An Authentic Learning Environment, Marija Franetovic

Wayne State University Dissertations

Current educational initiatives encourage the use of authentic learning environments to realistically prepare students for jobs in a constantly changing world. Many students of the Millennial generation may be social media savvy. However, what can be said about learning conditions and student readiness for active, reflective and collaborative learning and media literacy within their discipline? Virtual worlds such as Second Life (SL) represent future hybridized work environments which can support authentic learning. With their immersive and interaction affordances, virtual worlds may be designed to incorporate real-world team projects for both online and blended courses.

This qualitative single embedded case study …

Talking Circles For Adolescent Girls In An Urban High School: A Restorative Practices Program For Building Friendships And Developing Emotional Literacy Skills, Martha Ann Schumacher

Wayne State University Dissertations

ABSTRACT

TALKING CIRCLES FOR ADOLESCENT GIRLS

IN AN URBAN HIGH SCHOOL: A RESTORATIVE PRACTCES' PROGRAM FOR BUILDING FRIENDHIPS AND DEVELOPING

EMOTIONAL LITERACY SKILLS

by

MARTHA ANN SCHUMACHER

DECEMBER 2012

ADVISOR: Dr. Loraleigh Keashly

MAJOR: Communication

DEGREE: Doctor of Philosophy

Restorative Practices and Restorative Justice programs in schools are a new and emerging field. Meeting in Circles to build community, resolve conflict, and learn interactively are core components of these programs. This ethnographic study, which took place February 2010 to December 2011, evaluates 12 small, out-of-classroom Talking Circles for 60 adolescent girls as part of a Restorative Practices program in an …

International Student Navigation Through U.S.-American Colleges And Universities: An Autoethnographic Analysis Of Discourse, Nick James Romerhausen

Wayne State University Dissertations

As the population of international students continues to rise at U.S. colleges and universities, the difficulties that international students may face becomes more present and apparent. Intervention strategies used to assist international students in the past have shown remarkable success; however, these strategies have primarily included face-to-face interactions. I explore the role that mediated discourse plays in supporting international students with navigating paths through U.S. colleges and universities by examining ten institutions' assistance handbooks. From inspiration from autoethnography, discourse analysis, and critical education perspectives, I also use an autoethnographic analysis of discourse to understand the types of experiences colleges and …

The Implementation Of Restorative Practices In An Urban Middle School, Katie Rasmussen

Wayne State University Dissertations

Traditionally, schools have turned to zero tolerance policies when dealing with student discipline and punishment. However, it is argued that zero tolerance policies are not only ineffective, but also harmful to students because the policies hinder schools' ability to be democratic spaces. Nonetheless, schools are turning to alternatives to these policies, such as restorative practices, which are thought to resolve conflicts in schools and teach students how to be responsible, democratic citizens. Although advocates of restorative practices claim they teach students democratic values by encouraging student voice and empowerment in schools, it is unclear whether schools implementing the practices consider …

Argument Construction, Argument Evaluation, And Decision-Making: A Content Analysis Of Argumentation And Debate Textbooks, Neil Stuart Butt

Wayne State University Dissertations

Critical thinking abilities, especially the advanced critical thinking abilities required for decision-making, are important to both individuals and democratic policy making processes. Previous studies have indicated that argumentation and debate instruction can improve critical thinking abilities, but there are reasons to believe that current approaches are not as effective at developing decision-making ability as they could be, in part because they focus too heavily on argument construction, rather than argument evaluation and decision-making. In order to test which approaches to teaching argumentation and debate best encourage decision-making abilities, researchers need to know which elements are included in current argumentation and …