Barrett, The Honors College Thesis/Creative Project Collection
Barrett, The Honors College at Arizona State University proudly showcases the work of undergraduate honors students by sharing this collection exclusively with the ASU community.
Barrett accepts high performing, academically engaged undergraduate students and works with them in collaboration with all of the other academic units at Arizona State University. All Barrett students complete a thesis or creative project which is an opportunity to explore an intellectual interest and produce an original piece of scholarly research. The thesis or creative project is supervised and defended in front of a faculty committee. Students are able to engage with professors who are nationally recognized in their fields and committed to working with honors students. Completing a Barrett thesis or creative project is an opportunity for undergraduate honors students to contribute to the ASU academic community in a meaningful way.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3
Description
This study seeks to understand the role that media coverage of the Red for Ed movement and related teachers strike in Arizona had on college students’ views toward the issues of teacher pay and education funding. I conducted a survey of 448 students from Arizona State University who were first administered a pre-test gauging their initial views on teacher pay and education funding. Participants were then divided into three groups, with the first group watching a video montage of Red for Ed media clips that contained a minute-long clip showing the average annual teacher salary level in Arizona. The second group watched an identical video montage as the first group but without the average teacher salary clip, while the third group watched an unrelated and politically insignificant video. Participants were then given the same series of questions after watching their respective stimulus videos to gauge post-test views. The results show that students exposed to media coverage that showed what teachers make on an annual basis saw significant decreases in what they thought teachers should earn and how much the state should devote to education funding in comparison to those who saw similar media coverage of Red for Ed but did not see what teachers earn. In contrast, the latter group saw no significant difference compared to those who were not exposed to any media coverage of Red for Ed, challenging the widely-touted “protest paradigm” trap often highlighted in current academic literature. Finally, the study shows that while ideology plays a role in support for higher teacher pay and willingness to raise taxes to fund education, liberal students showed no overall difference in how much they would fund education in comparison to moderate and conservative students. This study, therefore, provides insight into how interactions and portrayals in the media can influence public opinion towards teachers protests and their goals, as well as how educators can adapt to this dynamic by adopting specific protest strategies to more effectively build political and public support.
ContributorsTenty, Ryan Nicholas (Co-author) / Tenty, Ryan (Co-author) / Woodall, Gina (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2019-12
Description
The German Chancellor, Angela Merkel, faced the unfathomable difficulty of navigating the Eurozone crisis of 2010-2017. The Eurozone crisis was the economic devastation from Greece’s financial depression, which led to the refugee humanitarian crisis (Elliot, 2018). During this time, the Syrian war took place, which contributed to the refugee crisis as people sought asylum from the war. Although the German Chancellor has undergone severe scrutiny for her decisions, she stood by her choices to enact an open-door policy that would allow asylum seekers to gain access to Germany and offer aid during a time of a humanitarian crisis. Not only was she honoring the Spirit of Europe through her open-door policy, she was also acting as a strategic economist by using the influx of refugees to supply skilled labor to the German workforce, growing the nation’s GDP and using Eurobonds as a means of policy coordination (De Grauwe, 2010).
Through studying Angela Merkel’s humanitarian and economic policies during 2010-2017, it is concluded that Angela Merkel did not simply enact the open-door policy because of her moral convictions as a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), but did so as a policy actor within a rational choice framework (Crozier 451; Downs 146). As a policy actor, Merkel established her preference to enact humanitarian policies that fell in line with her legal obligation, as an EU member, to honor the spirit of Europe and then was able to defensively adjust to the Eurozone’s economic crisis by strategically creating economic opportunities from the refugee influx. While neighboring countries and even her own people provided constant criticism and reproof, Merkel never wavered in her policies and convictions.
Through studying Angela Merkel’s humanitarian and economic policies during 2010-2017, it is concluded that Angela Merkel did not simply enact the open-door policy because of her moral convictions as a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU), but did so as a policy actor within a rational choice framework (Crozier 451; Downs 146). As a policy actor, Merkel established her preference to enact humanitarian policies that fell in line with her legal obligation, as an EU member, to honor the spirit of Europe and then was able to defensively adjust to the Eurozone’s economic crisis by strategically creating economic opportunities from the refugee influx. While neighboring countries and even her own people provided constant criticism and reproof, Merkel never wavered in her policies and convictions.
ContributorsTerrell, Shaylah Elyse (Author) / Kittilson, Miki (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05
Description
This thesis explores the current standards and the progress being made for civic education in the state of Arizona. To develop a new model, it draws on the programs offered to students in the community of Camden, NJ by the thriving civics department at Rutgers University. Motivated by the current lack of civic resources in Arizona high schools, this research seeks out a practical, community-centered approach to improving the civic education standards. Arizona was one of the first states to make civic education a priority by passing the American Civics Act, but there is still a long way to go to create civically engaged classrooms for students. The proposed plan combines citizenship pedagogy with direct service opportunities, mentorship, and community projects to help students become engaged in their local communities.
ContributorsMiller, Mekenna Moriah (Author) / Simhony, Avital (Thesis director) / Lennon, Tara (Committee member) / School of Public Affairs (Contributor) / School of Social Transformation (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor, Contributor, Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2020-05