Matching Items (6)
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- All Subjects: curriculum development
- Creators: Margolis, Eric
Description
In this dissertation I attempt to find elements of education and curricular perspective in the Qur'an. I argue that there is little research in the field of curriculum instruction that discusses the Qur'an's educational aspects and, as a result, much ignorance of the Qur'an's material that deals with education and curricular perspective in the Qur'an. Researchers may find many materials that deal with reading, memorizing, and reciting the Qur'an, along with references that deal with science and math in the Qur'an. Therefore, this dissertation answers the question: What curriculum exists within the Quran? This dissertation is divided into five chapters exploring various aspects of the curriculum. The word "curriculum" is used in one chapter to mean developing the person as a whole in all aspects of life whether spiritual, social, or mental while in the other chapter curriculum is used to refer to methods of instruction. I concluded that curriculum in the Qur'an uses different methods of instructions to develop the individual as a whole in all aspects of life while granting freedom of choice.
ContributorsRisha, Sarah (Author) / Margolis, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Ali, Souad (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
Description
Guided by Clifford Geertz's notion of culture as symbolic stories people tell themselves about themselves, the purpose of this study is to examine how youth in an urban area of Phoenix, AZ experience collectively creating and performing original documentary theatre. I pay attention to the ways youth participants--also known as artist-researchers--construct, perform, and/or perceive their identities as they practice drama techniques including improvisation, physical theatre, and Theatre of the Oppressed for the purposes of making docutheatre for social justice. First the artist-researchers chose the topics for their play. Next, they learned and applied drama and research skills to gather and examine data sources used to construct a script that explores hiding and exposure. In the process of sharing and gathering true stories our unique docutheatre-making culture was created. This multimodal qualitative research case study draws upon the genres of arts-based research and visual ethnography as primary modes of data collection and interpretation. Narrative description and the ethnodramatic mode of representation are used in conjunction with still images and this study's companion website (www.meant2see.com) to report research findings. Primary data sources include participant observation fieldnotes, over twenty hours of recorded video footage, photographs, and the project's original script and performance of To Be What's Not Meant to See . Further data include journal entries, drawings, and social media. All data were coded using In Vivo and Process Coding methods and analyzed through a cultural studies lens. Codes were sorted into phenomenological categories representative of recurring ideas and themes. Assertions were then solidified once specific key linkages were constructed. This study's key assertions are: Key Assertion 1: Participation in devising documentary social justice theatre influences and affects the construction, perception, and/or performance of urban youth identities through profound connections made with interviewees during the interview process and through the collection of true stories that provide new information and rare opportunities for self-reflection and self-realization; Key Assertion 2: Portions of the roles urban youth play in their identity narratives are disguised or hidden--purposefully, reluctantly, and/or subconsciously--in order to appeal to friends, families, or the codes of dominant culture.
ContributorsGiannone, Enza (Author) / Saldana, Johnny (Thesis advisor) / Etheridge Woodson, Stephani (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
Working with participants in schools for highly gifted students, this study asked adolescents to create a digital story to address the prompt, "How has your life changed since coming to this school?" Participant interviews were conducted in an attempt to determine how gifted students view their educational experiences and how those experiences influence the current development of self-identity. Digital story creation and photo elicitation methods were chosen in an effort to remove researcher bias and allow participant voices to be heard more accurately. Parent and educator interviews were also conducted. Data analysis was completed using narrative construction methods. Findings include several themes among participant self-identity influences including how labels affect participant's view of themselves, perfectionism and competitive drive function in each gifted child, necessity of intellectual challenge, appropriate learning environment helps to create self-confidence and self-identity, and grades are more important than learning for knowledge.
ContributorsHart, Courtney Brook (Author) / Ganesh, Tirupalavanam G. (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
Description
This study examines the possibility of using social and historical contexts, image analysis, and personal themes to engage adolescent photography students in the craft of photography. This new curriculum was designed around large themes that correspond to the developmental stage of adolescence. Issues such as self-identity, teenage stereotypes, school, family, and community were explored through examining historical documents and photographs, comparing popular culture perspectives, and learning basic semiotics. The students then worked within these ideas by creating their own photographs and reflecting upon their art making choices. The new approach was implemented in an analog film class in which basic 35mm camera and film techniques are taught. It is argued that meaning making motivates the adolescent photographer rather than the achievement of strong technical skills. This qualitative study was conducted using an action research approach, in which the author was both the classroom teacher and the researcher. The study incorporates data collected from student-created photographs, student written responses, interviews of students, interviews of photography teachers, and the researcher's field notes. Major themes were discovered over time by applying a grounded theory approach to understanding the data. The curriculum brought a new level of student engagement, both in participation in the course and in the complexity of their image making. By incorporating the chosen topics, students' images were rich with personal meaning. Students retained concepts of historical and social uses for photography and demonstrated a base understanding of semiotic theory. Furthermore, the data points to a stronger sense of community and teacher-student relationships within the classroom. The researcher argues that this deeper rapport is due to the concentration on personal themes within the practice of photography. Setbacks within the study included censorship by the school of mature subjects, a limited amount of equipment, and a limited amount of time with the students. This study demonstrates the need for art curriculum to provide connections between visual art, interdisciplinary associations, students' level of development, and students' personal interests. The research provides a possible approach to redesigning curriculum for photography courses for the twenty-first century student.
ContributorsOverby, Alexandra (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The high rate of teacher turnover in the United States has prompted a number of studies into why teachers leave as well as why they stay. The present study aims to add to that knowledge specifically regarding why teachers choose to stay at urban schools. Several reasons teachers in general choose to stay have been identified in previous studies including faith in their students, continuing hope and sense of responsibility, and love among others. The importance of such a study is the possibility of designing programs that reinforce teacher success through understanding the personal and professional reasons teachers choose to stay. Getting teachers to stay is important to the nation's goal of providing equity in science education to all children. Important to this research is an understanding of motivational theories. Already a challenge in the over-busy modern world, the ability to self-motivate and motivate others is of particular importance to teachers in urban schools as well as teachers struggling against restrictive budgets. Studies have shown teachers extrinsically motivated will need external rewards to encourage them while teachers who are intrinsically motivated will have their own internal reasons such as satisfaction in contributing to the future, self-actualization, or the joy of accomplishment. Some studies have suggested that teachers who decide to remain teaching tend to be intrinsic motivators. Unfortunately, the environment in most Western country educational systems presents a challenge to achieving these intrinsic goals. As a result, self-determination theory should play a significant role in shaping educational programs. The following study examined the perspectives of secondary school science teachers, specifically regarding why they opted to remain within the classroom in urban districts. It was conducted utilizing interviews and surveys of teachers working within urban school districts in Arizona and California. The sample consisted of 94 science teachers. More than half of the participants were White females and 36 percent of them had been teaching for more than 15 years. Participation in the study was based on self-selected volunteerism. Survey questions were based on self-determination theory and used Likert scale responses. Follow-up audiotaped interview requested information regarding identity and their social interaction within the urban settings. The survey responses were analyzed using SPSS for descriptive statistics, one-way ANOVA, and linear regression. The results of this study provide insight on what works to motivate science teachers to continue teaching in less than ideal school settings and with such high bureaucratic impediments as standardized testing and school rating systems. It demonstrates that science teachers do seem to be intrinsically motivated and suggests some areas in which this motivation can be fostered. Such results could help in the development of teacher support groups, professional development programs, or other programs designed to assist teachers struggling to deal with the specific problems and needs of inner city school students.
ContributorsAlhashem, Fatimah (Author) / Baker, Dale (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Husman, Jenefer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012
Description
This visually rich qualitative teacher-action research focuses on the personal learning experience a classroom of first grade students had as they grew in understanding of difference through daily interactions with young friends who have severe disabilities. Each first grader spent 30 minutes, one day a week, visiting the special education classroom down the hall, which was home to their friends who needed total care and spent a majority of their day in a wheelchair.
During these visits, the first graders enjoyed interacting with their friends using a variety of manipulatives, music, movement, games, books, and art. This experience was loosely supervised by the special education teacher after students were given instructions on stations and activities available that day. Upon returning to their classroom, the students reflected on the experience. Reflection for the first few weeks was through oral discussion to build a community feel and common language. Written reflections were later kept in student-created journals.
Though this experience began in the fall, data for this exploration was collected during the Spring semester of the 2013-2014 school year. The following questions guided the design and implementation of this study: 1) How do children make sense of their interactions with children who have severe disabilities, and what do their words reveal regarding their understandings about and across difference?
2) What do interactions between students “look like,” and what can “doing” reveal about human interactions?
Data collection and analysis were informed through a critical, ethnographic-like lens with a participant perspective from the teacher-researcher. Photos and video documentation focused on the hands and feet of the participants to ensure privacy rights. Interviews, journal entries, photo elicitation, and a focus group discussion provided the remainder of the data set after parental permission and participant assent.
Findings are shared visually with an invitation to enter a child’s lifeworld via their voice, both written and verbal. Readers are asked to ponder the evidence through the shared voice and visions and consider the impact of the affective realm on learning and understanding and its significance in all of human interactions—all the selves and all the others.
During these visits, the first graders enjoyed interacting with their friends using a variety of manipulatives, music, movement, games, books, and art. This experience was loosely supervised by the special education teacher after students were given instructions on stations and activities available that day. Upon returning to their classroom, the students reflected on the experience. Reflection for the first few weeks was through oral discussion to build a community feel and common language. Written reflections were later kept in student-created journals.
Though this experience began in the fall, data for this exploration was collected during the Spring semester of the 2013-2014 school year. The following questions guided the design and implementation of this study: 1) How do children make sense of their interactions with children who have severe disabilities, and what do their words reveal regarding their understandings about and across difference?
2) What do interactions between students “look like,” and what can “doing” reveal about human interactions?
Data collection and analysis were informed through a critical, ethnographic-like lens with a participant perspective from the teacher-researcher. Photos and video documentation focused on the hands and feet of the participants to ensure privacy rights. Interviews, journal entries, photo elicitation, and a focus group discussion provided the remainder of the data set after parental permission and participant assent.
Findings are shared visually with an invitation to enter a child’s lifeworld via their voice, both written and verbal. Readers are asked to ponder the evidence through the shared voice and visions and consider the impact of the affective realm on learning and understanding and its significance in all of human interactions—all the selves and all the others.
ContributorsStruble, Gwen J (Author) / Swadener, Beth Blue (Thesis advisor) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015