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
Inclusive educational spaces are necessary for all post-secondary students to thrive and enjoy their college experience. Faculty and staff may unintentionally create non-inclusive educational spaces, however, with behaviors relative to race/racism and microaggressions driven by racial implicit bias. Via this mixed-methods action research study I examined ASU faculty and staff attitudes relative to (1) race/racism, (2) implicit bias, and (3) microaggressions, all of which influence perceptions of and intentions toward (4) creating inclusive educational spaces. Specifically, five ASU faculty and staff completed a Canvas based online training that I developed (i.e., BIAS training) during which they were provided information in separate modules about systemic and color-blind racism, implicit bias, microaggressions, and two components of inclusive educational spaces, culturally sustaining pedagogical and race-conscious educational practices. Prior to and at the completion of the training, participants completed a survey instrument that I designed to measure participant attitudes relative to these four concepts. At the completion of each BIAS module with which they engaged, they responded to reflective questions which essentially prompted participants to think about what they learned per module and how it applied to their educational practices. After completion of the BIAS training and an identical post-survey that I used to measure participant’s changes in attitudes and perceptions over time, I invited participants to also share their thoughts in an interview. Both quantitative and qualitative data suggested that participant’s attitudes positively shifted relative to each of the abovementioned four concepts; knowledge acquisition occurred as intended. In addition, faculty and staff identified specific practices they could, or intended to incorporate to facilitate more inclusive educational spaces within their spheres of influence. Overall, my BIAS training seemed to have had a positive impact on the ASU faculty and staff who participated in this study. A few participants even discussed practices they were able to implement immediately, as well as positive student reactions, while anecdotal, that they received in response. Future iterations of my BIAS training will include additional information that will help to further clarify the four concepts of primary interest herein, particularly in support of creating more inclusive practices inspired by culturally sustaining pedagogy and race-conscious educational practices. Additionally, I will add a mindfulness component as another opportunity to increase awareness of faculty and staff attitudes and behaviors that may also impact their ability to create more inclusive educational spaces.
ContributorsCorte, Corinne (Author) / Beardsley, Audrey (Thesis advisor) / McGuire, Keon (Committee member) / Ross, Lydia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
College instructors are critical to increasing completion rates and creating more equitable educational opportunities that position all learners for upward mobility. Yet, few have received formal, comprehensive training in inclusive teaching practices that positively affect student learning, improve retention and completion rates, and close equity gaps. The Association of College and University Educators (ACUE) has helped to fill this gap through its Inclusive Teaching for Equitable Learning (ITEL) microcredential course, a cohort-based professional development opportunity with an international reach. However, no prior studies had investigated whether the ITEL program resulted in transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991) for participants. In this mixed-methods, action research study, I examined whether eight ITEL participants from four higher education institutions experienced perspective changes when enrolled in a cohort that offered synchronous discussions; if so, what experiences contributed to their perspective changes; and how the changes informed their teaching and nonteaching contexts, including professional and personal interactions. Data sources included participants’ module reflections, transcripts from synchronous discussions, and responses to an adapted version of King’s (2009) Learning Activities Survey (LAS). Descriptive analysis, content analysis, and grounded interpretation approaches were used to analyze the data. Research findings showed that most participants experienced changes in their perspectives about teaching and outside of teaching that they attributed to their participation in ITEL. Participants identified learning activities that were both unique to this offering and core to ACUE’s standard learning design as contributing to their transformations. The majority of participants also attributed their perspective changes, in part, to learning that occurred in multiple course modules. Participants’ qualitative responses were grouped into three major themes––reimagining students’ experiences, reimagining one’s professional identity as a learner, and reimagining one’s life experiences––which were reflected in an emerging framework. The study’s results have critical implications for researchers and practitioners, including how they design professional development experiences and the extent to which they incorporate community-building activities, reflection and application opportunities, and facilitation. Additionally, research findings demonstrate the power of inclusive teaching programs to develop educators’ personal and professional identities and make them more equity-minded instructors, family members, friends, and community members.
ContributorsCandio Sekel, Julianne (Author) / Buss, Ray R. (Thesis advisor) / Ross, Lydia (Committee member) / Lawner, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
As schools continue to focus on outcome-based instructional practices, less emphasis is placed on the creativity and reasoning necessary for students to become effective critical thinkers. As a result, students struggle to demonstrate creative problem-solving skills in the classroom. This study examines how the facilitation of an instructional problem-solving intervention, Creative Cognitive Process Instruction (CCPI), can foster creativity, improve student metacognitive regulation, and support students in developing problem solving strategies. Participants included (n = 33) 7th grade science students in a California public middle school. Mixed methods were used to assess how and to what extent CCPI changed students' metacognitive regulation and attitudes and approaches to creative problem solving. Outcomes from this study indicate that a structured approach to problem solving along with creative and metacognitive instruction and a scaffolded support system had a positive impact on students' creative problem-solving perceptions and abilities. Notably, students demonstrated an attitudinal shift from “getting the work done” to “getting the work done well”, corresponding with a focus on understanding the problem followed by an improvement in solution synthesis. Students also demonstrated improvement in comprehension and metacognitive planning abilities, divergent thinking, their perception of science, and their self-perceived competency in science. This research may suggest how to enhance classroom practices to facilitate a more creative and engaged problem-solving mindset, foster the implementation of creative problem-solving strategies in the classroom, and support existing theories of the intersectionality of metacognition and creative problem solving.
ContributorsEl-Awar, Nadine (Author) / Markos, Amy (Thesis advisor) / Wolf, Leigh (Committee member) / Rillero, Peter (Committee member) / Ross, Lydia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Community college students make up nearly half of all college students (41%) and community colleges provide a unique opportunity for educators to instruct students in a more close-knit learning environment. While one goal at Estrella Mountain Community College is to support all students in their learning, some students, particularly Black and African American students, face equity gaps in milestones such as successfully completing classes, which may be due in part to a lower sense of belonging in the classroom. To address this problem of practice, a book study was conducted using the tenets of Communities of Practice (CoPs) to explore Culturally Responsive Teaching and the Brain (CRT-B) by Zeretta Hammond. The study aimed to enhance educators' self-efficacy in culturally responsive teaching (CRTeaching) and cultural care and empathy towards their students, which was aligned with the goal of increasing inclusion and belonging in EMCC classrooms. This is because CRTeaching has been found to boost students' sense of belonging in classrooms. Pre- and post-measures were used to assess any changes in these constructs, with educator participants also distributing surveys to their students before and after the book study. Both surveys included quantitative and qualitative measures, with additional interviews conducted with four educator participants.
The study found a significant increase in educators' self-efficacy for CRTeaching and general instruction, as well as a non-statistically significant increase in cultural care/empathy and students' sense of belonging and inclusion in the classroom. This increase was documented using several measures. Qualitative findings from both groups were also closely analyzed, leading to the development of a conceptual framework that can be used to advance CRTeaching or increase buy-in for such professional development opportunities in the future.
ContributorsWager, Erica (Author) / Judson, Eugene (Thesis advisor) / Ross, Lydia (Committee member) / Van Puymbroeck, Christina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2024