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Effective communication and engineering are not a natural pairing. The incongruence is because engineering students are focused on making, designing and analyzing. Since these are the core functions of the field there is not a direct focus on developing communication skills. This honors thesis explores the role and expectations for

Effective communication and engineering are not a natural pairing. The incongruence is because engineering students are focused on making, designing and analyzing. Since these are the core functions of the field there is not a direct focus on developing communication skills. This honors thesis explores the role and expectations for student engineers within the undergraduate engineering education experience to present and communicate ideas. The researchers interviewed faculty about their perspective on students' abilities with respect to their presentation skills to inform the design of a workshop series of interventions intended to make engineering students better communicators.
ContributorsAlbin, Joshua Alexander (Co-author) / Brancati, Sara (Co-author) / Lande, Micah (Thesis director) / Martin, Thomas (Committee member) / Industrial, Systems and Operations Engineering Program (Contributor) / Software Engineering (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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Current funding for education is largely dependent on property taxes and as a result, there is an inequitable access to resources from school district to school district. This paper addresses this inequity by providing an analysis on the consolidation of school districts. The analysis includes case studies from multiple states,

Current funding for education is largely dependent on property taxes and as a result, there is an inequitable access to resources from school district to school district. This paper addresses this inequity by providing an analysis on the consolidation of school districts. The analysis includes case studies from multiple states, a literature study on existing research on consolidation, and a proposal for the state of Arizona, the state where this paper originates. Overall, this paper acknowledges that consolidation is not a universal solution to educational inequity and the successful implementation of this process. Rather, it is a way to reduce the gap.
ContributorsFu, Angela (Author) / Ludlow, Carlyn (Thesis director) / Clausen, Jennifer (Committee member) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2018-05
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The deficiency of American primary and secondary schools as compared to schools worldwide has long been documented. The Teaching Gap highlights exactly where our problems might lie, and lays out a plan for how to deal with it. Progress would be slow, but tangible. Our country, however, seems to prefer

The deficiency of American primary and secondary schools as compared to schools worldwide has long been documented. The Teaching Gap highlights exactly where our problems might lie, and lays out a plan for how to deal with it. Progress would be slow, but tangible. Our country, however, seems to prefer vast and immediate overhauls that have historically failed (see: New math, etc.). If we had implemented the changes in The Teaching Gap in the decade in which it was written, we would be seeing results by now. Instead, every change we make gets reverted. The Common Core State Standards will prove over the next few years to be either another one of these attempts or a large step in the right direction. It might finally be the latter, as its creation was informed by practices that work best in every state in the US, as well as high- performing countries around the world.
ContributorsMcKee, Emily (Author) / Sande, V. Carla (Thesis director) / Ashbrook, Mark (Committee member) / Schroeder, Darcy (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2012-12
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Description
Visual aides, such as PowerPoint slides, hand-outs, and lecture notes on whiteboards, are often used in classrooms to convey important content to learners, especially in high school and college. When using these visual learning aides, it is important to consider which qualities of these presentations can affect learning— positively or

Visual aides, such as PowerPoint slides, hand-outs, and lecture notes on whiteboards, are often used in classrooms to convey important content to learners, especially in high school and college. When using these visual learning aides, it is important to consider which qualities of these presentations can affect learning— positively or negatively—and how those qualities interact with individual student characteristics. In the present study, we examine the overlap between audio and text and how the effects of overlap potentially interact with reading comprehension abilities. The examination of these potential influences on learning in this study is inspired by Cognitive Load Theory, the Dual-Channel Assumption, and prior research.
ContributorsHarry, Danielle (Author) / McNamara, Danielle (Thesis director) / Presson, Clark (Committee member) / Jackson, Tanner (Committee member) / Roscoe, Rod (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Liberal Arts and Sciences (Contributor)
Created2012-12
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Description
Many high school students demonstrate an overall lack of interest in science. Traditional teaching methodologies seem to be unsuccessful at engaging students \u2014 one explanation is that students often interpret what they learn in school as irrelevant to their personal lives. Active learning and case based learning methodologies seem to

Many high school students demonstrate an overall lack of interest in science. Traditional teaching methodologies seem to be unsuccessful at engaging students \u2014 one explanation is that students often interpret what they learn in school as irrelevant to their personal lives. Active learning and case based learning methodologies seem to be more effective at promoting interest and understanding of scientific principles. The purpose of our research was to implement a lab with updated teaching methodologies that included an active learning and case based curriculum. The lab was implemented in two high school honors biology classes with the specific goals of: significantly increasing students' interest in science and its related fields; increasing students' self-efficacy in their ability to understand and interpret the traditional process of the scientific method; and increasing this traditional process of objectively understanding the scientific method. Our results indicated that interest in science and its related fields (p = .011), students' self-efficacy in understanding the scientific method (p = .000), and students' objective understanding of the scientific method (p = .000) statistically significantly increased after the lab was administered; however, our results may not be as meaningful as the p-values imply due to the scale of our assessment.
ContributorsCotten, Kathryn (Author) / Hoffner, Kristin (Thesis director) / Stout, Valerie (Committee member) / Lynskey, Jim (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / College of Health Solutions (Contributor)
Created2012-12
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Description
Academic tracking has long been a subject of debate due to its potential impact on educational equity, with students who are tracked highly receiving a higher quality education in comparison to students tracked lowly. These disparities in education quality may be affecting students’ outcomes, as it has been demonstrated that

Academic tracking has long been a subject of debate due to its potential impact on educational equity, with students who are tracked highly receiving a higher quality education in comparison to students tracked lowly. These disparities in education quality may be affecting students’ outcomes, as it has been demonstrated that the short-term academic outcomes of students, such as their grades, tend to be affected by their academic track positioning. This dissertation builds upon these previous findings by utilizing a subsample of 20,584 students from the High School Longitudinal Study (2009) to examine the relation between academic track positioning and post-secondary education attendance, program length, college major, and expected future job. Additionally, the relation between academic tracking and each of these outcomes was also assessed using mediation, with potential mediators including education aspiration, expectations, and academic self-efficacy. Findings suggest that academic track positioning in math and science are influential in students’ post-secondary and career outcomes, with students who are positioned highly in either subject having greater post-secondary attendance, program length, higher representation in STEM college majors, and expectations for future jobs in STEM fields in comparison to students tracked lowly. Additionally, education aspirations and expectations mediated the relations between math academic track positioning and each of the outcomes, although the effects were small in size. Educators should consider exploring avenues for improving education quality in low academic tracks.
ContributorsWoods, Kenton Bentley (Author) / Hanish, Laura (Thesis advisor) / DeLay, Dawn (Committee member) / Martin, Carol (Committee member) / Jager, Justin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
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Description
In an era of educational transformation, teacher leaders play a pivotal role in facilitating systemic change within schools. This dissertation presents a single-case action research study investigating the support structures provided by a Team Lead Communities of Practice (TL CoP) to nurture teacher leaders. The primary aim of this research

In an era of educational transformation, teacher leaders play a pivotal role in facilitating systemic change within schools. This dissertation presents a single-case action research study investigating the support structures provided by a Team Lead Communities of Practice (TL CoP) to nurture teacher leaders. The primary aim of this research is to explore the effectiveness of the TL CoP in supporting teacher leaders at one school site. Utilizing qualitative data from interviews, participant journals, researcher memos, and agendas, this study captures the perspectives of team leads of interdisciplinary teams. The findings emphasize the need for flexible support systems tailored to the unique challenges teacher leaders face. Offering teacher leaders agency in their learning is paramount to their success. Additionally, structured time for collaboration and problem-solving within the TL CoP is crucial. One significant revelation is the importance of role clarity. Team leads need a clear understanding of their responsibilities to effectively lead teams and drive systemic change. This research contributes to the literature on educational leadership by highlighting the vital role of teacher leaders and the potential of TL CoPs in supporting their development. It advocates for the creation of such communities as a promising strategy to empower teacher leaders, providing them with essential support, dedicated collaboration time, and role clarity. As schools evolve to meet the demands of the 21st century, the insights from this study offer guidance for educational stakeholders seeking to cultivate a culture of leadership and foster systemic change through teacher leadership.
ContributorsPreston, Lee Allyne Cox (Author) / Markos, Amy (Thesis advisor) / Corner, Kevin (Committee member) / Fourlis, Andi (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Examining the effect of various factors such as class, gender, and status on health inequalities in India is crucial for improving access to health services. However, most research on castes in India is done using broad, government-defined categories, including “Scheduled Castes,” “Scheduled Tribes,” “Forward Classes,” and “Other Backwards Classes.” These

Examining the effect of various factors such as class, gender, and status on health inequalities in India is crucial for improving access to health services. However, most research on castes in India is done using broad, government-defined categories, including “Scheduled Castes,” “Scheduled Tribes,” “Forward Classes,” and “Other Backwards Classes.” These general categories erase the experiences that more specific caste groups have in their health and their livelihood. Using the 2015-2016 Demographic and Health Survey of India, this study analyzes data on 699,686 women aged 15-49 to investigate the association of socioeconomic status, assessed by wealth, education, and community status on two types of contraceptive use–sterilization and other modern methods. Those with secondary education or higher were much less likely to be sterilized and more likely to use non-sterilization forms of modern contraception. Interestingly, those with greater household wealth were more likely to be sterilized but had no different chance of using non-sterilization forms of modern contraception. After controlling for other socioeconomic factors, members of Scheduled Castes and Backward Classes are more likely to be sterilized. However, there was additional heterogeneity between groups, with Muslim groups and Northeastern tribes much less likely to be sterilized, and Southern tribes more likely to be sterilized. Moreover, Muslim groups as well as Northern and Northeastern tribes were more likely to use non-sterilizations forms of contraception, whereas Southern tribes were less likely to use non-sterilization forms of contraception. These findings illustrate that in addition to differences by major caste categories, there is still religious and regional variation in the likelihood of using different forms of contraception. Future research should examine how unique community factors erased within the already present government caste system can affect health. In addition, more research should be done on the various effects of discrimination faced by these communities and how this discrimination affects their health education, access, and autonomy.
ContributorsChandra, Natasha (Author) / Hruschka, Daniel (Thesis director) / Drake, Alexandria (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution & Social Change (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
The primary goal of our nonprofit organization, Plant-ED, is to deepen the average individual’s knowledge regarding sustainability and to inspire our users to engage in a community of like-minded individuals who share a passion for sustainability. To accomplish this vision, we have created a digital platform where users can easily

The primary goal of our nonprofit organization, Plant-ED, is to deepen the average individual’s knowledge regarding sustainability and to inspire our users to engage in a community of like-minded individuals who share a passion for sustainability. To accomplish this vision, we have created a digital platform where users can easily find information on upcoming events, activities, and alternative products that truly embody a mindset of sustainability. Our team will be the main and constant source of content for our website, however our users are also able to interact with the website through blog posts and subscriptions. Additionally, our platform has a section dedicated to explaining the impact of recycling and shows the devastating effects if humans do not take accountability for their choices and develop more sustainable habits. The ultimate goal for our website is for it to be a place where we can promote our partners’ products which are either alternatives to unsustainable products or companies who donate some of their proceeds to help create a greener world. The profit from the commission we receive from our partners and subscription services will be reinvested into expanding our digital platform and partnerships.
ContributorsMahoney, Emma (Author) / Weiderhoft, Isabella (Co-author) / Meyers, Zoe (Co-author) / Smith, Connor (Co-author) / Byrne, Jared (Thesis director) / Balven, Rachel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Dean, W.P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / Department of Finance (Contributor)
Created2024-05
Description
My thesis is a comprehensive, multi-page report highlighting the ethical concerns of Arizona’s English-only law, or Proposition 203. It will emphasize the detrimental effects the law has on bilingualism, language preservation, and educational equity. To do this, I will explore research on the benefits of bilingualism for cultural awareness, brain

My thesis is a comprehensive, multi-page report highlighting the ethical concerns of Arizona’s English-only law, or Proposition 203. It will emphasize the detrimental effects the law has on bilingualism, language preservation, and educational equity. To do this, I will explore research on the benefits of bilingualism for cultural awareness, brain development, and career opportunities. The project will underscore the importance of embracing linguistic diversity in the public education system in Arizona. My report will provide some background on the topic by delving into the historical context and intentions behind the English-only law. This will essentially expose to readers the misguided attempts of the law, some of which include boosting test scores at the expense of genuine learning experiences. I will include information that supports my argument that Proposition 203 discourages bilingualism and strips impactful opportunities from students in the public education system. Additionally, anecdotes and personal opinions from educators will be included to strengthen my argument. By highlighting the ethical implications of prioritizing test outcomes over holistic education, my thesis aims to advocate for a shift towards inclusive, more immersive bilingual education models.
ContributorsErramuzpe, Sophia (Author) / Sipka, Danko (Thesis director) / Amrein-Beardsley, Audrey (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2024-05