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- Genre: Art--Study and teaching (Secondary)--Arizona.
- Genre: Music--History and criticism--Web-based instruction--Arizona--Case studies.
- Creators: Arizona State University
- Member of: Theses and Dissertations
Description
This study examines the experiences of participants enrolled in an online community college jazz history course. I surveyed the participants before the course began and observed them in the online space through the duration of the course. Six students also participated in interviews during and after the course. Coded data from the interviews, surveys, and recorded discussion posts and journal entries provided evidence about the nature of interaction and engagement in learning in an online environment. I looked for evidence either supporting or detracting from a democratic online learning environment, concentrating on the categories of student engagement, freedom of expression, and accessibility. The data suggested that the participants' behaviors in and abilities to navigate the online class were influenced by their pre-existing native media habits. Participants' reasons for enrolling in the online course, which included convenience and schedule flexibility, informed their actions and behaviors in the class. Analysis revealed that perceived positive student engagement did not contribute to a democratic learning environment but rather to an easy, convenient experience in the online class. Finally, the data indicated that participants' behaviors in their future lives would not be affected by the online class in that their learning experiences were not potent enough to alter or inform their behavior in society. As online classes gain popularity, the ability of these classes to provide meaningful learning experiences must be questioned. Students in this online jazz history class presented, at times, a façade of participation and community building but demonstrated a lack of sincerity and interest in the course. The learning environment supported accessibility and freedom of expression to an extent, but students' engagement with their peers was limited. Overall, this study found a need for more research into the quality of online classes as learning platforms that support democracy, student-to-student interaction, and community building.
ContributorsHunter, Robert W. (Author) / Stauffer, Sandra L (Thesis advisor) / Tobias, Evan (Thesis advisor) / Bush, Jeffrey (Committee member) / Kocour, Michael (Committee member) / Pilafian, Sam (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Many alternative schools for at-risk students do not offer art classes to their students. Phoenix Job Corps is one of those schools. I conducted a qualitative study about a voluntary summer art course at Phoenix Job Corps, a vocational school for at-risk students. I had thirteen student volunteers, eight of them refugees from other countries. All the participants created a narrative painting about something in their lives. The purpose of this study was to examine this voluntary summer art course and to determine its usefulness as a beneficial tool to the lives of the students. This included looking at participants' narrative paintings to determine common themes or subjects, finding out their opinions on whether or not their school should offer an art course, their willingness to share their stories, determining whether they think it's important for others to see their work, and lastly concluding what artwork they like best and why. I found that the majority of students do want an art class offered at their schools, and all but one participant was more than willing to share their story about their narrative painting. Common themes amongst their paintings were family, a specific memory or event, or their present and future lives. I found similar subject matter in their paintings such as animals, houses or huts, and people. My research also unveiled a large difference in the refugee students' paintings as opposed to the other United States participants. The findings also suggest that participants judged other work based on meaning more so than aesthetics. This study explores, in detail, the narrative art and experiences of a very diverse group of students.
ContributorsSchaller, Kimberly (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Erickson, Mary (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2012