ASU Electronic Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes most of the ASU Theses and Dissertations from 2011 to present. ASU Theses and Dissertations are available in downloadable PDF format; however, a small percentage of items are under embargo. Information about the dissertations/theses includes degree information, committee members, an abstract, supporting data or media.
In addition to the electronic theses found in the ASU Digital Repository, ASU Theses and Dissertations can be found in the ASU Library Catalog.
Dissertations and Theses granted by Arizona State University are archived and made available through a joint effort of the ASU Graduate College and the ASU Libraries. For more information or questions about this collection contact or visit the Digital Repository ETD Library Guide or contact the ASU Graduate College at gradformat@asu.edu.
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Description
Artists and designers are preparing for rapidly changing and competitive careers in creative fields that require a healthy dose of resiliency to persevere. However, little is known on how students within these fields become more self-efficacious, gritty, situated toward a growth mindset, and persistent over time. This mixed-method action research study investigates how undergraduate arts and design college students approach and navigate perceptions of failure as well as incorporates an intervention course designed to increase their self-efficacy, growth mindset, and academic persistence. Participants were eighteen arts and design students representing a variety of disciplines from an eight-week, one-unit, 300-level course that utilized arts-based methods, mindfulness, and active reflection. After the course, students had significant changes in their self-efficacy and academic persistence as well as moderate significant change in their fixed mindset.
ContributorsWorkmon Larsen, Megan (Author) / Kulinna, Pamela (Thesis advisor) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Heywood, William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2018
Description
A sequential mixed-methods action research study was undertaken with a group of 10th-grade students enrolled in a required English course at an independent secondary school. The purpose of the study was to investigate students' negotiation of agentic writer identity in a course that featured a three-strand intervention: (a) a high degree of student choice; (b) ongoing written self-reflection; and (c) ongoing instruction in mindset. The researcher drew on self-determination theory and identity theory to operationalize agentic writer identity around three constructs—behaviors, identity, and belief. A questionnaire was used to identify an array of cases that would illustrate a range of experiences around agentic writer identity. Questionnaire data were analyzed to identify a sample from which to collect qualitative data and to identify prominent central relations among the three constructs, which were further explored in the second stage through the qualitative data. Qualitative data were gathered from a primary group of six students in the form of student journals and interviews around the central constructs of writing belief, writing behavior, and writer identity. Using a snowballing sampling method, four students were added to the sample group to form a second tier of data. The corpus of qualitative data from all 10 students was coded and analyzed using the technique of re-storying to produce a narrative interpretation, in the style of the Norse saga, of students' engagement in agentic writing behaviors, espousal of agentic writing beliefs, and construction of agentic writer identities. A defense of the chosen narrative approach and genre was provided. Interpretation of the re-storied data was provided, including discussion of interaction among themes that emerged from the data and the re-storying process. Emergent themes and phenomena from the re-storied data were realigned with the quantitative data as well as with the constructs that informed the survey design and sampling. Implications for classroom teachers, as well as suggestions for further research, were suggested.
ContributorsAvery, Andrea, 1977- (Author) / Buss, Ray (Thesis advisor) / Carlson, David L. (Committee member) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Rende, Richard (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
The focus of this research study was to better understand the development of a Professional Learning Community (PLC) culture within an urban middle school campus and to analyze if the intervention, intended to develop a campus PLC culture, had any positive or negative impact on student achievement. This mixed-methods research study utilized pre and post surveys and interviews with campus educators to delve into the perceptions of the development of a PLC culture within the middle school campus. Furthermore, student academic performance was explored through the analysis of state academic performance reports.
The first significant finding of this study was that the results of the concurrent method of data analysis affirmed that, potentially because of this intervention during the 2018-2019 academic school year, the middle school of this study did commence the development of a professional learning community culture. The second significant finding was that based on the data analyzed of student performance for the three previous academic years, student achievement did increase academically when accounting all students and all contents. Furthermore, both math and English language arts had the lowest percentage of students not meeting grade level standards since 2016. Finally, the largest subpopulation within the school campus, English Learner students, demonstrated large gains at 23 percentage points over the last three years in the academic performance tier of approaching grade level or above. This increase in academic performance by the students did ultimately lead to the campus performance rating to increase positively, as measured by the state of Texas.
The first significant finding of this study was that the results of the concurrent method of data analysis affirmed that, potentially because of this intervention during the 2018-2019 academic school year, the middle school of this study did commence the development of a professional learning community culture. The second significant finding was that based on the data analyzed of student performance for the three previous academic years, student achievement did increase academically when accounting all students and all contents. Furthermore, both math and English language arts had the lowest percentage of students not meeting grade level standards since 2016. Finally, the largest subpopulation within the school campus, English Learner students, demonstrated large gains at 23 percentage points over the last three years in the academic performance tier of approaching grade level or above. This increase in academic performance by the students did ultimately lead to the campus performance rating to increase positively, as measured by the state of Texas.
ContributorsHerrera, José Antonio (Author) / Gee, Elisabeth (Thesis advisor) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Marsh, Josephine (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
The purpose of this study was (a) to build embedded reflective practices with qualitative data in alignment with existing continuous improvement (CI) for equity processes and (b) provide professional development (PD) to support educators in using qualitative data sharing processes with the expectation of collective teacher efficacy (CTE) development. CTE and the enabling conditions (ECs) of embedded reflective practices and empowered teachers were studied to determine how educator engagement in structured storytelling about evidence of success could support their CTE development. The underlying theoretical frameworks for this study were CI and CTE in the context of liberatory approaches to education.This mixed methods action research (MMAR) study was conducted in the United States in Northern California at a public charter high school utilizing the EL Education learning model. Six participants in a representative sample engaged in a four-week intervention involving four collaboratively-designed, virtual, 2-hour PD sessions. Pre- and post-intervention surveys were administered and based on the CTE Scale and the Enabling Conditions for Collective Teacher Efficacy Scale (EC-CTES). Two individual interviews and a four person focus group were also conducted post-intervention. Quantitative data from the surveys were analyzed through descriptive statistics and a one sample t-test. An inductive analysis process was utilized to analyze qualitative data to determine codes, categories, and themes. Both the quantitative and qualitative data were synthesized.
Results suggest a consistent presence of CTE and the existence of embedded reflective practices and empowered teachers both before and after the intervention.
Although the quantitative data demonstrates no significant change from the pre- to post-survey in the development of CTE across the whole staff, the qualitative data demonstrates that participants were positively influenced by the intervention in regards to their CTE, empowerment, and embedded reflective practices. The discussion focuses on CTE development with qualitative, educator-generated evidence of success in a liberatory school environment. Findings inform the local and larger educational context by providing an example of how educator storytelling as evidence of success in CI for equity processes can influence CTE development.
ContributorsCrane, Erica (Author) / Carrillo, Juan F. (Thesis advisor) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Warner, Nathan (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
The profession known as industrial design is undergoing a transformation. Design thinking and strategy are replacing form giving and styling. Critics are calling for curricular reform to meet the changing needs of practice, yet surprisingly little knowledge is available about how and why design teachers do what they do. In an effort to frame the problem of (re)designing design education, this study provides a framework for understanding the pedagogical beliefs and preferences of design students and educators utilizing Bruner’s four folk pedagogies. This study also provides evidence that the practices of industrial design teachers exhibit what Cross (2006) has described as ‘designerly ways of knowing.’
ContributorsChristensen, Tamara Fawn (Author) / Nocek, Adam (Thesis advisor) / Brooks, Kenneth (Thesis advisor) / Heywood, William (Committee member) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Mishra, Punya (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
Online education and virtual learning spaces have become increasingly incorporated into the educational landscape. Even before the Covid-19 pandemic closed most institutions in 2020 for in-person learning, online education was growing rapidly. As the world emerged from the pandemic, online education and virtual learning environments of all types were commonplace in K-12, higher education, and professional development. This action research explored two main areas in the virtual learning space. First, this research focused on how to provide a more connected and social online learning experience. Specifically, the goal was to determine how participation in Supporting Online Connections in Asynchronous Learning (SOCIAL) helped faculty to provide opportunities for social interaction and learning within their online contexts. Second, this research sought to determine if the development experience itself impacts how the participants share and implement the knowledge they gain. Of particular interest was identifying if by providing this type of development within the same educational context (virtual, asynchronous, and diverse) there was a direct impact on their ability to develop and deliver similar virtual learning experiences to their students. This research provided asynchronous learning opportunities for educators within a private Facebook group designed to deliver professional development to educators in different countries. Participants learned about both Connectivism and Community of Inquiry/Social Presence through both content and explicit modeling within the various Facebook “events” structured around the group and learning objectives. Pre- and post-innovation surveys, one-on-one interviews, and materials collected during the events provided insight into what the participants experienced and what they were planning to implement in their own contexts. The data revealed that participants felt they gained knowledge and had a beneficial experience. In addition, they incorporated what they learned in their context in theory through their action plans and in practice through immediate implementation. Findings suggest that providing professional development in this structure was beneficial in knowledge acquisition through both content and modeling as well as facilitating the creation of similar experiences within the participants’ professional contexts.
ContributorsBuehler, Charles (Author) / Dorn, Sherman (Thesis advisor) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Farmakis, Heather (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
This study aimed to enhance students’ experimental skills and laboratory techniques in cell and molecular biology. A trifold intervention involving a Gene Screen Worksheet, a Gene Screen Flowchart, and a laboratory manual were used, along with a mixed methods approach to data collection. The trifold intervention was grounded in constructivism, design-based, inquiry-based, and project-based learning theories. The Gene Screen Worksheet was an inquiry-based learning assignment, while the Flowchart was a design-based learning activity. The laboratory manual was an open educational resource that incorporated project-based learning and constructivism within each experiment. This study addressed three research questions: the ability of the Gene Screen Worksheet to increase predictive power, the ability of the Gene Screen Flowchart to increase explanatory power, and the ability of the lab manual to increase both predictive and explanatory power. The results reported that students increased their predictive and explanatory power related to genetic screenings, addressing all three questions.
ContributorsLloyd, Jennifer Yadegari (Author) / Garcia, David (Thesis advisor) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Salik, Steven (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024
Description
This dissertation research study examined the use of a social-emotional learning curriculum framework (SELCF) to respond to opportunities for growth in social-emotional learning (SEL) skills among students in the early childhood classroom. The five skills addressed within this study include empathy, emotional intelligence, social problem-solving, communication, and self-advocacy among kindergarten students following the COVID-19 global pandemic. This study employed an action research mixed-methods concurrent triangulation framework where data were collected through semi-structured interviews and the collection of participant-produced illustration artifacts to create a comprehensive and holistic data set. Pre-interview data shows that the participant group had minimal background knowledge of the five social skills examined during the study. Post-interview data shows that participants made significant growth in all five skills taught within the SELCF. The quantitative and qualitative data is triangulated to reinforce the findings of this mixed-methods action research project. Through thoughtful and intentional instruction delivered to kindergarten students through the SELCF, all students showed statistically significant growth in all five skills assessed. Data triangulation provided further insight into participants’ critical thinking and cognition to show a deeper understanding of the social-emotional learning skills addressed in the SELCF. By providing young children with effective instruction and opportunities to practice their social-emotional skills, educators pave the way for children to be successful and capable members of society.
ContributorsSchneider, Brooke Rose (Author) / Ross, Lydia (Thesis advisor) / Chapman, Kathryn (Committee member) / Henriksen, Danah (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024