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In a conscious effort to combat the low enrollment of women in construction management, a program was created to retain women through a mentorship program - Advancing Women in Construction. A qualitative analysis, facilitated through a grounded theory approach, sought to understand if the program was indeed successful, and what

In a conscious effort to combat the low enrollment of women in construction management, a program was created to retain women through a mentorship program - Advancing Women in Construction. A qualitative analysis, facilitated through a grounded theory approach, sought to understand if the program was indeed successful, and what value did the students derive from the programs and participating in the mentoring process.
ContributorsEicher, Matthew (Author) / Wilkinson, Christine Kajikawa (Thesis advisor) / Calleroz-White, Mistalene (Committee member) / Gibson, Jr., G. Edward (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
ContributorsWasbotten, Leia (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-30
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Description
Libby Larsen is one of the most performed and acclaimed composers today. She is a spirited, compelling, and sensitive composer whose music enhances the poetry of America's most prominent authors. Notable among her works are song cycles for soprano based on the poetry of female writers, among them novelist and

Libby Larsen is one of the most performed and acclaimed composers today. She is a spirited, compelling, and sensitive composer whose music enhances the poetry of America's most prominent authors. Notable among her works are song cycles for soprano based on the poetry of female writers, among them novelist and poet Willa Cather (1873-1947). Larsen has produced two song cycles on works from Cather's substantial output of fiction: one based on Cather's short story, "Eric Hermannson's Soul," titled Margaret Songs: Three Songs from Willa Cather (1996); and later, My Antonia (2000), based on Cather's novel of the same title. In Margaret Songs, Cather's poetry and short stories--specifically the character of Margaret Elliot--combine with Larsen's unique compositional style to create a surprising collaboration. This study explores how Larsen in these songs delves into the emotional and psychological depths of Margaret's character, not fully formed by Cather. It is only through Larsen's music and Cather's poetry that Margaret's journey through self-discovery and love become fully realized. This song cycle is a glimpse through the eyes of two prominent female artists on the societal pressures placed upon Margaret's character, many of which still resonate with women in today's culture. This study examines the work Margaret Songs by discussing Willa Cather, her musical influences, and the conditions surrounding the writing of "Eric Hermannson's Soul." It looks also into Cather's influence on Libby Larsen and the commission leading to Margaret Songs. Finally, a description of the musical, dramatic, and textual content of the songs completes this interpretation of the interactions of Willa Cather, Libby Larsen, and the character of Margaret Elliot.
ContributorsMcLain, Christi Marie (Author) / FitzPatrick, Carole (Thesis advisor) / Dreyfoos, Dale (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Puerto Rico has produced many important composers who have contributed to the musical culture of the nation during the last 200 years. However, a considerable amount of their music has proven to be difficult to access and may contain numerous errors. This research project intends to contribute to the accessibility

Puerto Rico has produced many important composers who have contributed to the musical culture of the nation during the last 200 years. However, a considerable amount of their music has proven to be difficult to access and may contain numerous errors. This research project intends to contribute to the accessibility of such music and to encourage similar studies of Puerto Rican music. This study focuses on the music of Héctor Campos Parsi (1922-1998), one of the most prominent composers of the 20th century in Puerto Rico. After an overview of the historical background of music on the island and the biography of the composer, four works from his art song repertoire are given for detailed examination. A product of this study is the first corrected edition of his cycles Canciones de Cielo y Agua, Tres Poemas de Corretjer, Los Paréntesis, and the song Majestad Negra. These compositions date from 1947 to 1959, and reflect both the European and nationalistic writing styles of the composer during this time. Data for these corrections have been obtained from the composer's manuscripts, published and unpublished editions, and published recordings. The corrected scores are ready for publication and a compact disc of this repertoire, performed by soprano Melliangee Pérez and the author, has been recorded to bring to life these revisions. Despite the best intentions of the author, the various copyright issues have yet to be resolved. It is hoped that this document will provide the foundation for a resolution and that these important works will be available for public performance and study in the near future.
ContributorsRodríguez Morales, Luis F., 1980- (Author) / Campbell, Andrew (Thesis advisor) / Buck, Elizabeth (Committee member) / Holbrook, Amy (Committee member) / Kopta, Anne (Committee member) / Ryan, Russell (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
Legislative changes and discussions about the United States falling further and further behind other nations in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) achievement are growing. As they grow, STEM instruction in elementary school has earned its place as a national area of interest in education. In the case of Ivory

Legislative changes and discussions about the United States falling further and further behind other nations in science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) achievement are growing. As they grow, STEM instruction in elementary school has earned its place as a national area of interest in education. In the case of Ivory School District, teachers are being asked to radically change their daily practices by consistently implementing inquiry-based STEM experiences in their classrooms. As such, teachers are being asked to scale a divide between the district expectations and their knowledge and experience. Many fourth grade educators are teachers who have been trained as generalists and typically do not have specific background or experience in the philosophy, instructional strategies, or content associated with STEM. Using a prototype approach, this study aims to understand how such teachers conceptualize STEM instruction and the relationship between their experience and conceptions.
ContributorsKenney, Meghan (Author) / Fischman, Gustavo (Thesis advisor) / Powers, Jeanne (Committee member) / Rasch, Katherine D (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
ContributorsYi, Joyce (Performer) / ASU Library. Music Library (Publisher)
Created2018-03-22
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Description
ABTRACT For decades the United States has tried to increase the number of students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers. Educators and policy makers continue to seek strategies to increase the number of students in the STEM education pipeline. Public institutions of higher education are involved

ABTRACT For decades the United States has tried to increase the number of students pursuing science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education and careers. Educators and policy makers continue to seek strategies to increase the number of students in the STEM education pipeline. Public institutions of higher education are involved in this effort through education and public outreach (EPO) initiatives. Arizona State University opened its largest research facility, the new Interdisciplinary Science and Technology Building IV (ISTB4) in September, 2012. As the new home of the School of Earth & Space Exploration (SESE), ISTB4 was designed to serve the school's dedication to K-12 education and public outreach. This dissertation presents a menu of ideas for revamping the EPO program for SESE. Utilizing the Delphi method, I was able to clarify which ideas would be most supported, and those that would not, by a variety of important SESE stakeholders. The study revealed that consensus exists in areas related to staffing and expansion of free programming, whereas less consensus exist in the areas of fee-based programs. The following most promising ideas for improving the SESE's EPO effort were identified and will be presented to SESE's incoming director in July, 2013: (a) hire a full-time director, theater manager, and program coordinator; (b) establish a service-learning requirement obligating undergraduate SESE majors to serve as docent support for outreach programs; (c) obligate all EPO operations to advise, assist, and contribute to the development of curricula, activities, and exhibits; (d) perform a market and cost analysis of other informational education venues offering similar programming; (3) establish a schedule of fee-based planetarium and film offerings; and (f) create an ISTB4 centric, fee-based package of programs specifically correlated to K12 education standards that can be delivered as a fieldtrip experience.
ContributorsFisher, Richard D. (Author) / Clark, Christopher M. (Thesis advisor) / Kelley, Michael (Committee member) / Glasper, Rufus (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013
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Description
The research described in this dissertation involved the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to characterize II-VI and III-V compound semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and dilute-nitride alloys grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and intended for photovoltaic applications. The morphology of CdTe QDs prepared by the post-annealing MBE method were

The research described in this dissertation involved the use of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to characterize II-VI and III-V compound semiconductor quantum dots (QDs) and dilute-nitride alloys grown by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) and intended for photovoltaic applications. The morphology of CdTe QDs prepared by the post-annealing MBE method were characterized by various microscopy techniques including high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HR-TEM), and high-angle annular-dark-field scanning transmission electron microscopy (HAADF-STEM). Extensive observations revealed that the of QD shapes were not well-defined, and the QD size and spatial distribution were not determined by the amount of CdTe deposition. These results indicated that the formation of II-VI QDs using a post-annealing treatment did not follow the conventional growth mechanism for III-V and IV-IV materials. The structural properties of dilute-nitride GaAsNx films grown using plasma-assisted MBE were characterized by TEM and HAADF-STEM. A significant amount of the nitrogen incorporated into the dilute nitride films was found to be interstitial, and that fluctuations in local nitrogen composition also occurred during growth. Post-growth partial relaxation of strain resulted in the formation of {110}-oriented microcracks in the sample with the largest substitutional nitrogen composition. Single- and multi-layered InAs QDs grown on GaAsSb/GaAs composite substrates were investigated using HR-TEM and HAADF-STEM. Correlation between the structural and optoelectronic properties revealed that the GaAsSb barrier layers had played an important role in tuning the energy-band alignments but without affecting the overall structural morphology. However, according to both XRD measurement and electron microscopy the densities of dislocations increased as the number of QD layers built up. An investigation of near-wetting layer-free InAs QDs incorporated with AlAs/GaAs spacer layers was carried out. The microscopy observations revealed that both embedded and non-embedded near-wetting layer-free InAs QDs did not have well-defined shapes unlike conventional InAs QDs. According to AFM analysis and plan-view TEM characterization, the InAs QDs incorporated with spacer layers had smaller dot density and more symmetrical larger sizes with an apparent bimodal size distribution (two distinct families of large and small dots) in comparison with conventional InAs QDs grown without any spacer layer.
ContributorsTang, Dinghao (Author) / Smith, David J. (Thesis advisor) / Crozier, Peter A. (Committee member) / Liu, Jingyue (Committee member) / Mccartney, Martha R (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
In the United States, there is a national agenda to increase the number of qualified science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) professionals and a movement to promote science literacy among the general public. This project explores the association between formal human evolutionary biology education (HEB) and high school science class

In the United States, there is a national agenda to increase the number of qualified science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) professionals and a movement to promote science literacy among the general public. This project explores the association between formal human evolutionary biology education (HEB) and high school science class enrollment, academic achievement, interest in a STEM degree program, motivation to pursue a STEM career, and socioscientific decision–making for a sample of students enrolled full–time at Arizona State University. Given a lack of a priori knowledge of these relationships, the Grounded Theory Method was used and was the foundation for a mixed–methods analysis involving qualitative and quantitative data from one–on–one interviews, focus groups, questionnaires, and an online survey. Theory development and hypothesis generation were based on data from 44 students. The survey instrument, developed to test the hypotheses, was completed by 486 undergraduates, age 18–22, who graduated from U.S. public high schools. The results showed that higher exposure to HEB was correlated with greater high school science class enrollment, particularly for advanced biological science classes, and that, for some students, HEB exposure may have influenced their enrollment, because the students found the content interesting and relevant. The results also suggested that students with higher K–12 HEB exposure felt more prepared for undergraduate science coursework. There was a positive correlation between HEB exposure and interest in a STEM degree and an indirect relationship between higher HEB exposure and motivation to pursue a STEM career. Regarding a number of socioscientific issues, including but not limited to climate change, homosexuality, and stem cell research, students' behaviors and decision–making more closely reflected a scientific viewpoint—or less–closely aligned to a religion–based perspective—when students had greater HEB exposure, but this was sometimes contingent on students' lifetime exposure to religious doctrine and acceptance of general evolution or human evolution. This study has implications for K–12 and higher education and justifies a paradigm shift in evolution education research, such that more emphasis is placed on students' interests, perceived preparation for continued learning, professional goals and potential contributions to society rather than just their knowledge and acceptance.
ContributorsSchrein, Caitlin M (Author) / Toon, Richard (Thesis advisor) / Johanson, Donald (Thesis advisor) / Hackett, Edward (Committee member) / Molina-Walters, Debra (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014
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Description
In recent years, women have made significant advances in traditionally male occupations. Despite this progress, women are still underrepresented in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the model of Achievement Related Choices are two widely accepted career development theories. Both theories highlight

In recent years, women have made significant advances in traditionally male occupations. Despite this progress, women are still underrepresented in many science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields. Social cognitive career theory (SCCT) and the model of Achievement Related Choices are two widely accepted career development theories. Both theories highlight the importance of self-efficacy and personal factors in career development; yet, neither of them has considered the predictive power of a specific outcome expectation, anticipated work family conflict (AWFC), in relation to the career development of men and women in STEM undergraduate programs. The purpose of this study was to assess the incremental validity of AWFC over and above that of self-efficacy and role salience, in predicting educational and occupational aspirations of undergraduate students in STEM programs at a large southwestern university. The study provides evidence that the factor structure of the AWFC scale does not hold up with the undergraduate population, and this finding was seen as reason to combine the AWFC subscales into one composite score. In a hierarchical multiple regression higher levels of STEM self-efficacy predicted higher intentions to persist in STEM. Role salience, AWFC, and the gender-AWFC interaction were not significantly related to intentions to persist. Although the study does not provide evidence for the incremental validity of AWFC, it does suggest that work-family balance considerations that have been observed in mature STEM populations may not yet be salient for students at the undergraduate level.
ContributorsDawson, Amy (Author) / Bernstein, Bianca L (Thesis advisor) / Homer, Judith (Committee member) / Spanierman, Lisa (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2014