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.

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This thesis project examines the likely factors that cause students to drop out of Barrett, the Honors College. Honors literature regarding retention and attrition suggests four areas encompassing individual student attributes and honors program characteristics which may impact a student's decision to stay or leave an Honors College. The primary

This thesis project examines the likely factors that cause students to drop out of Barrett, the Honors College. Honors literature regarding retention and attrition suggests four areas encompassing individual student attributes and honors program characteristics which may impact a student's decision to stay or leave an Honors College. The primary question in focus is, "Why do students leave the Honors College?" followed by the tertiary questions of, "what can be done to mitigate this occurrence?" and, "how does this affect the quality of an honors education?" Assessing attrition can be broken down into biographical, cognitive-behavioral, socio-environmental, and institutional-instrumental components. Students who graduated with honors and those who did not graduate with honors were assessed on these four components through survey methods and qualitative interviews to investigate specific reasons why students leave the honors program. The results indicated a wide array of reasons impacting student attrition, the most significant being negative perceptions towards (1) honors courses and contracts, (2) difficulty completing a thesis project, and (3) finding little to no value in "graduating with honors." Each of these reasons reflect the institutional-instrumental component of student attrition, making it the most salient group of reasons why students leave the Honors College. The socio-environmental component also influences student attrition through peer influence and academic advisor support, though this was found to be within the context of institutional-instrumental means. This project offers solutions to ameliorate each of the four components of attrition by offering standardized honors contracts and more mandatory honors classes, mandatory thesis preparatory courses instead of workshops, and emphasizing the benefit Barrett gives to students as a whole. These solutions aim at increasing graduation rates for future honors students at Barrett as well as improving the overall quality of an honors education.
ContributorsSanchez, Gilbert Xavier (Author) / Parker, John (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05
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Description

This research was conducted through the form of interview with Belizean citizens in Belize, Central America where I invited three of Belize’s most pivotal and influential figures behind social and civil injustices. Belize is a Caribbean country in Central America that was once a colony of the British known as

This research was conducted through the form of interview with Belizean citizens in Belize, Central America where I invited three of Belize’s most pivotal and influential figures behind social and civil injustices. Belize is a Caribbean country in Central America that was once a colony of the British known as “British Honduras”, gaining its independence on the 21st of September, 1981, making Belize the third to last youngest Caribbean country.

This has been made into a documentary that started filming back in September of 2017 during Belize’s 36th Independence Day where the country indulges in a month full of celebrations that brings a great feeling of togetherness for everyone. The film company that shot and edited this project is a local Belizean company by the name of KnightandDay Photography, with the consideration of helping to create work in Belize, support local business, and to be fully immersed in Belize and all of its resources.

This documentary is structured into five components: (1) Introduction; (2) Interview with guest number one; (3) Interview with guest number two; (4) Interview with guest number three; (5) Interview with five randomly selected Belizean citizens on the street; (6) Outro.

The main objective of this research was to speak in depth with specific Belizeans that have spent significant time in America, whether working, or going to school in order to have the knowledge to compare the experience of the black Belizean in their home country versus that of what America offers as far as the black experience and to explain the history of other ethnic groups of peoples that inhabits Belize and how the tensions and stereotypes among Belizeans arose over time.

ContributorsVaccarro, TKeyJah (Author) / Hinds, David (Thesis director) / O'Flaherty, Katherine (Committee member) / School of Criminology and Criminal Justice (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05