Theses and Dissertations
This collection includes both ASU Theses and Dissertations, submitted by graduate students, and the Barrett, Honors College theses submitted by undergraduate students.
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- All Subjects: Educational technology
Description
The country is facing infrastructure crises simultaneous with a labor shortage in fields related to construction management and engineering. These challenges necessitate better and quicker preparation of the incoming workforce so they are prepared to take on responsibilities with more skill and efficiency than has been expected previously. Educators can play a key role in equipping the leaders of this upcoming generation to deal with these challenges. If students are expected to graduate with more preparation and expertise, then educators must also adjust the ways in which they teach. There are many ways that these changes can be accomplished, and researchers play a critical role in exploring new classroom techniques and technologies that may improve the way education is delivered. This dissertation focuses on a high-impact emerging technology, augmented reality (AR), as a training mechanism for students that has the potential to play a crucial role in enhancing the way construction education is delivered. First, this research explores what skills and competencies are most frequently reported as critical needs by industry members by thematically coding open-ended responses of construction internship supervisors. Leveraging the results of this data, this research explores the viability of utilizing AR to simulate hands-on training and authentic learning in ways that target these skills and competencies. The research presented in this dissertation consists of a series of subject tests involving custom-developed augmented reality applications. These full-scale, highly interactive construction mixed reality applications are designed to expose students to simulations of high-impact learning experiences but without the recurring costs of physical materials. Student behaviors and performance during these subject tests are thematically coded to reveal student behaviors and perceptions that contribute to learning objectives. The results of this research demonstrate high potential for AR as an educational tool while also suggesting best practices for creating and implementing these types of activities based on surprising and sometimes counterintuitive student behaviors during these AR experiences.
ContributorsMcCord, Kieren (Author) / Ayer, Steven K. (Thesis advisor) / London, Jeremi S. (Committee member) / El Asmar, Mounir (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
This dissertation explores the professionalization of students enrolled in second language teacher education (SLTE) and their perceptions of the characteristics and obligations of a professional second language teacher (SLT). The sociocognitive approach forms the theoretical foundation, which sees humans as life-long learners and teachers, who adapt by progressively aligning with others and their ecosocial environment. Professionalization is seen as the socialization process of progressive alignment that involves the development of skills, knowledge, identities, norms, and values within a professional community of practice. An SLTE course was observed in an etic ethnographic tradition, all course materials were collected, and semi-structured interviews that focused on SLT professionalism were conducted with 13 participants. Data were analyzed using the lenses of language socialization and membership categorization analysis (MCA) to make visible target phenomena related to professionalization. Language socialization revealed instances of professionalization that took place during the SLTE course or that resulted from processes during the semi-structured interviews, which were illuminated by positive or negative affiliation. MCA revealed participant perceptions about the obligations and characteristics of a professional SLT, from which six themes emerged, which include interacting with students, methods and materials, teacher attributes, student attributes, and the concepts of schools and schooling, which broadly represent the synchronic and diachronic sociocultural contexts for SLTE respectively. The use of computer-assisted language learning (CALL) received further attention. 100% of participants expressed some willingness to use these tools, but 23% had an initial reactionary response that rejected CALL in favor of more traditional methods. Additionally, 54% of responses included unsolicited mentions of the Covid-19 pandemic in a misinterpretation of CALL. Interventions for those with a misinterpretation are suggested to orient CALL appropriately in the context of the pandemic and for 21st century language learning and teaching. Course materials were quantitatively analyzed using semantic similarity indices in an exploratory process with negligible results. Possible modifications are discussed that might result in a useful proxy statistic for professionalization. Further implications are discussed in relation to SLTE curriculum and professionalization along with perspectives about building rapport when using semi-structured interviews as a research method.
ContributorsWinans, Michael David (Author) / Matsuda, Aya (Thesis advisor) / Smith, Byran (Committee member) / James, Mark (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022
Description
ABSTRACT Art educators use a variety of teaching and demonstration methods to convey information to students. With the emergence of digital technology, the standard methods of demonstration are changing. Art demonstrations are now being recorded and shared via the internet through video sharing websites such as YouTube. Little research has been conducted on the effectiveness of video demonstration versus the standard teacher-centered demonstration. This study focused on two different demonstration methods for the same clay sculpture project, with two separate groups of students. The control group received regular teacher-centered demonstration for instruction. The experimental group received a series of YouTube videos for demonstration. Quantitative data include scores of clay sculptures using a four-point scale in three separate categories based on construction abilities. Qualitative data include responses to pre and post-questionnaires along with classroom observations. The data is analyzed to look at the difference, if any, between YouTube instruction and regular teacher-centered instruction on middle school students' ceramic construction abilities. Findings suggest that while the YouTube video method of demonstration appeared to have a slightly greater effect on student construction abilities. Although, both instruction methods proved to be beneficial.
ContributorsLee, Allison (Author) / Erickson, Mary (Thesis advisor) / Young, Bernard (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
As students gain access to personally-owned Mobile Communication Devices (MCDs), schools have begun to embrace MCDs as mobile-learning (m-learning) teaching and learning tools. A research gap currently exists for the innovation of m-learning with student-owned devices, which this study attempts to fill by answering the following Research Question: What are the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) Levels of Use of teachers at a high-performing, high SES suburban high school? To answer this question, I answered 5 sub questions: (1) What instructional decisions did BYOD user-level teachers make with regards to m-learning? (2) How did teachers collaborate on BYOD with colleagues during implementation? (3) How did teachers participate in voluntary professional development for BYOD and m-learning? (4) Was there a difference in Levels of Use between early career and veteran teachers? (5) What barriers to successful implementation did teachers at this school report? To answer these questions, I conducted a Levels of Use interview with 2-3 teachers from each academic department (n=28), at a school that was in its third year of BYOD implementation, as well as observed 18 of the teachers during instruction. I triangulated data from a first and second interview with observation data, and analyzed these data sets to profile the different Levels of Use among the teachers, and present recommendations for research and practice. I rated all participants between Level 0: non-use and Level IVB: refinement; no teachers in this study were above Level IVB. The findings indicate that teachers made instructional decisions based on their Level of Use, and although they did not participate in ongoing professional development specific to BYOD, they did work with others based on their Level of Use. Few teachers participated in voluntary professional development, and cited time as a factor. This study also finds that personal experience with technology and lesson planning for student-centered learning is a greater indicator of successful BYOD implementation than age or teaching experience. Finally, the most commonly reported barriers to successful implementation of BYOD were time, equity/access, and student behavior.
ContributorsRoss, Kyle (Author) / Danzig, Arnold (Thesis advisor) / Wetzel, Keith (Committee member) / Fourlis, Andi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
The Value of Interaction via Moodle for Teaching and Learning: Perceptions of Lecturers and Students
Description
This research utilised the action research design to explore the use of Moodle by lecturers and students in three cycles. The qualitative and mixed methods methodologies used in cycles 0 and 1 respectively, revealed that students’ use was influenced by how lecturers used the platform. Cycle 2, therefore, explored how lecturers delivered courses through Moodle and how students perceived interaction with the instructor, content, and peers and the extent to which these influenced student satisfaction. The research questions examined how lecturers used Moodle to foster interaction between learner-content, learner-instructor, and learner-learner; students’ perceptions regarding interaction between learner-content, learner-instructor, and learner-learner; the relationship between learner-interface interaction and a) learner-content, b) learner-instructor, c) learner-learner interaction and d) student satisfaction; whether perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, computer self-efficacy, sex, age, faculty, and ethnicity predicted a) learner-content, b) learner-instructor, and c) learner-learner interaction; and the extent to which learner-content, learner-instructor, and learner-learner interaction via Moodle influenced student satisfaction. The concurrent mixed method action research design was utilised with qualitative data collected from nine lecturers via interviews and quantitative data collected from 86 students via surveys. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the qualitative data while Pearson correlations and multiple regressions were used to analyse the quantitative data. The findings indicated that perceived usefulness and learner-instructor interaction were positive significant predictors of student satisfaction. The study also revealed that lecturers found Moodle useful for interaction but were challenged to effectively foster engagement with students, content, and their peers, at all times. Lecturers experienced several challenges including engaging students via discussion forums, providing timely feedback on assessment, workload, and complaints from students among others. Lecturers had several recommendations for how the virtual environment could be improved inclusive of the addition of instructional designers to the cadre of support staff and the need for a blended learning policy. These findings suggest that lecturers and students recognised the value Moodle provided for teaching and learning and may be used as a guide for strengthening the use of the resource towards improving the quality of interaction and the degree of student satisfaction at the institution.
ContributorsRose, Shanomae (Author) / Basile, Carole G (Thesis advisor) / Ross, Lydia (Committee member) / Smith, Stephanie (Committee member) / Henry, Paulette (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
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
Collaborative Video Viewing (CVV) transforms passive video-based learning into an engaging, active process. While collaborative modes have different affordances that could potentially influence knowledge co-construction, no study has directly assessed the impact of collaborative modes in CVV activities. Therefore, this current study seeks to investigate how collaborative modes influence learning outcomes, learning engagement, group interaction and the co-construction process.The study utilized a within-subject, counterbalanced experimental design, in which each participating undergraduate student was paired in dyads. These dyads were assigned to engage in two separate CVV sessions: one using synchronous voice-based collaborative mode (SV) and the other using asynchronous text-based collaborative mode (AT). After each session, participants completed a test consisting of retention and application questions. ANCOVA was utilized to analyze the test scores.
To ascertain if the different scores were a result of varying levels of learning engagement, dyad discussions were coded using ICAP coding (Chi & Wylie, 2014). Furthermore, to delve deeper into the group interaction mechanism in SV and AT, a codebook was developed to analyze the discourse that occurred during dyad interaction. Sequential analysis and thematic narrative analysis were employed to visualize interaction patterns and the co-construction process.
The findings indicated that, generally, SV dyads performed better on application scores and have significantly higher interactive learning engagement than AT dyads. In line with ICAP predictions, the higher-score groups in both SV and AT engaged in more generative processes, leading to more constructive and interactive comments than lower-scoring groups. In terms of group interaction, both SV and AT primarily use descriptive discourse for co-explanation. However, the SV groups exclusively introduce discourse expressing uncertainty, which subsequently leads to group negotiation. The study identified distinct knowledge co-construction phases, including (a) co-explanation, (b) negotiation, and (c) application. Although the co-explanation phase is the most frequent in all dyad scores in both SV and AT, the negotiation phase appears to differentiate low-high score dyads from high-high score dyads.
These findings hold research implications for understanding learning engagement and group interaction in various online collaborative modes, as well as for the instructional design of active video-based learning through collaborative video viewing.
ContributorsTechawitthayachinda, Ratrapee (Author) / Chi, Michelene (Thesis advisor) / Hong, Yi-Chun (Thesis advisor) / Nelson, Brian (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Due to the internet being in its infancy, there is no consensus regarding policy approaches that various countries have taken. These policies range from strict government control to liberal access to the internet which makes protecting individual private data difficult. There are too many loopholes and various forms of policy on how to approach protecting data. There must be effort by both the individual, government, and private entities by using theoretical mixed methods to approach protecting oneself properly online.
ContributorsPeralta, Christina A (Author) / Scheall, Scott (Thesis advisor) / Hollinger, Keith (Thesis advisor) / Alozie, Nicholas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023