Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Peer Social Support In The Classroom, Dennis Paul Debeck

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Social support in the classroom is an under-researched area of instructional

communication literature. Cutrona and Russell’s (1990) five dimensions of social support were

used as a framework to investigate peer social support. Those five dimensions were expected to

predict engagement, classroom participation behavior, attitude towards attending class, and

identification with the university. Participants (n=222) were asked to respond to measures that

were developed to assess the five social support types and the four criterion variables. All the

types of social support were found to be positively correlated with the criterion variables when

the zero-order correlations were examined. It was also …

Feminism And Message Alignment Within Girl Scout Camps, Emily Susan Hinrichsen

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

There has been a recent move in the United States for individuals and organizations toactively empower girls and women, provide them with equal opportunities, and help them build confidence. One organization that has been pursuing these goals is Girl Scouts of the USA (GSUSA), and Girl Scout camp is a specific setting in which the organization communicates empowerment, leadership, and inclusion to its members. This study utilized a feminist lens to explore message alignment within GSUSA, focusing on Girl Scout campers and Girl Scout camp staff as two important stakeholders who receive messaging from the organization. The researcher evaluated the …

Discourses Surrounding Multi-Role Relationships Among Graduate Teaching Assistants, Elizabeth Megan Weaver

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Graduate teaching assistants fulfill many different roles in their relationships with one another. As they develop these multi-role relationships, it is essential to understand the discourses surrounding these roles and the interplay of the discourses. Through the lens of relational dialectics theory 2.0, this study used semi-structured interviews to further the knowledge surrounding multi-role relationships and the discourses surrounding them. Results noted four discourses – coworker, classmate, friendship, and individualism – as well as interplay among the discourse through diachronic segmentation and synchronic interplay.

“I Never Shared My Opinion Again”: Political Communication Apprehension And Conservative College Students, Megan Elise Montgomery

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Higher education faculty have long struggled with getting students to participate meaningfully in classroom and campus dialogues. Some students avoid participating due to fear or anxiety of communicating with others. Certain topics, such as politics, can cause higher degrees of apprehension. Political minority groups can experience greater apprehension when communicating with majority groups. One minority group in academia with the potential to self-censor is the conservative student.

This study used state-based communication apprehension (McCroskey, 1984) and political communication apprehension (PCA, Jones-Carmack, 2019) as theoretical backings to explore how conservative opinion expression and self-censorship in academic settings might change over time. …