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 Psychology
Description
I examined the role of children's or teacher's effortful control (EC) in children's academic functioning in early elementary school in two separate studies. In Study 1, I tested longitudinal relations between parents' reactions to children's displays of negative emotions in kindergarten, children's EC in first grade, and children's reading or math achievement in second grade (N = 291). In the fall of each school year, parents reported their positive or negative reactions and parents and teachers reported on children's EC. Standardized achievement tests assessed achievement each spring. Results from autoregressive panel mediation models demonstrated that constructs exhibited consistency across study years. In addition, first-grade EC mediated relations between parents' reactions (i.e., a difference composite of positive minus negative reactions) at kindergarten and second-grade math, but not reading, achievement. Findings suggest that one method of promoting math achievement in early school is through the socialization of children's EC. In Study 2, I examined relations between teachers' EC, teachers' reactions to children's negative emotions, the student-teacher relationship (STR), and children's externalizing behaviors or achievement among 289 second-graders and their 116 teachers. Results from mixed-model regressions showed that negative reactions and teacher-reported STR mediated relations between teachers' EC and math achievement. In addition, teacher-reported STR mediated links between teachers' EC and externalizing problems across reporters and between teachers' EC and reading achievement. Tests of moderated mediation indicated that a high-quality STR was negatively associated with externalizing problems and high levels of teachers' negative reactions were negatively related to math achievement only for students low in EC. In tests of moderation by social competence, teachers' reports of high-quality STRs tended to be negatively associated with externalizing problems, but relations were strongest for students not high in social competence. For students low in social competence only, children's reports of a high-quality STR was related to lower reading achievement. These results highlight the utility of considering whether and how teachers' own intrinsic characteristics influence classroom dynamics and students' academic functioning outcomes.
ContributorsSwanson, Jodi Michelle (Author) / Valiente, Carlos (Thesis advisor) / Bradley, Robert H (Thesis advisor) / Kochenderfer-Ladd, Becky (Committee member) / Lemery-Chalfant, Kathryn (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In the past two decades, the population of so-called "foreign brides" in Taiwan has increased significantly. "Foreign brides" are female immigrants from Southeast Asian countries who have married Taiwanese men through marriage brokers. The term "new immigrant women" is used in this study to describe this particular group of women because it is a self-identified, less derogatory term. New immigrant women's families are at significant disadvantages with their low social class, the commodified nature of marriage, and societal discrimination against them. Guided by a feminist epistemology and grounded in family studies and eco-cultural theories, this study explores this particular group of immigrant women's educational beliefs, practices, and agency manifested through their motherhood. The following research questions guide this study: 1) How do new immigrant women experience their motherhood? 2) How do new immigrant women conceptualize and contextualize their mothering experiences? 3) How is agency developed and displayed in new immigrant women's mothering practices? How does agency influence new immigrant women's mothering practices? 4) What are new immigrant women's mothering beliefs and practices? 5) What are the specific practices related to children's schoolwork in which new immigrant women are engaged? 6) What are the implications of new immigrant women's perspectives on motherhood for their education, including adult education and parenting education? Twenty-five immigrant women originally from various Southeast Asian countries who had at least one child participated in the study. They were interviewed at least two times and the interview duration ranged from one hour to four hours. All interviews were audio recorded and conducted in Mandarin Chinese, Holo Taiwanese, and English by the researcher. Constructionist grounded theory was utilized to analyze data. The findings suggest that new immigrant women's educational beliefs, practices, and agency are strongly influenced by interaction between their original cultural background, social class, family-in-law, and the ecology of the community in which they are situated. New immigrant women demonstrated dynamic mothering practices and developed agency from their mother role. The results can help policy makers to refine a framework to develop educational programs for these parents that are effective and more supportive of their children's development.
ContributorsChen, Tzu-Hui (Author) / Moore, Elsie (Thesis advisor) / Fonow, Mary Margaret (Committee member) / Kochenderfer-Ladd, Becky (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2010