Education Commons^™

Creating A Learning Environment To Increase Early Adolescent Motivation: A Dissertation, Mark Logan

Educational Studies Dissertations

This study focuses on early adolescent motivation in school. It is an inquiry that seeks to understand the factors that contribute to students’ engagement in their learning through student and teacher perceptions. I examined significant research often cited as impacting motivation, including early adolescent development, middle school structures, transitions, student/teacher relationships, and parental involvement. I surveyed 345 sixth grade students on their perceptions of their own learning, thoughts, and behaviors. Participating students attended schools with various middle school age configurations, including K-8, K-12, 5-8, and 6-8. Schools represented public and charter public schools and were located in urban, suburban, and …

Namaste: Pedagogical Methods For Designing Yoga & Art Experiences For/With Teen Participants, Tiffani Olivia Bryant

English Theses & Dissertations

Within this study, teens are asked to analyze yoga studio homepages in relation to their experiences with the practice of yoga. This dissertation research engages the teen girls as participants responsible for co-designing the learning constructs through which they make meaning out of their experiences. This research is rooted in informational design, experiential design, and design practices for a teen demographic through the artifact of yoga.

Participant observation is used to examine how eight teen girls understand yoga as a practice, internalize their experiences with yoga, and thusly communicate what they have learned about yoga and a sampling of digital …

Deliberate Practice In Professional Speaking Expertise, Helen Lie

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore expertise development in professional speaking from the perspective of deliberate practice. A convenience sample of 10 elite and 12 experienced professional members of the National Speakers Association participated in 30-60 minute phone interviews in which they described behaviors and activities that contributed to their skill development in speaking and what factors motivated them to pursue excellence in their craft. The group of elite subjects averaged 62.9 years of age (SD = 8.03) and 34.9 years (SD = 7.78) of professional speaking experience. The experienced group had an average age of 53.3 years …