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- Creators: Barrett, The Honors College
- Status: Published
Description
The purpose of this review is to address issues that high school students face as future adults and the need for a comprehensive financial literacy program. Students today have a wider array of opportunities and a greater number of resources to help them achieve the goals they set for themselves. Financial literacy is the understanding of the impact of today's financial decisions upon one's future selves and their ability to manage their financial resources. There is a need to understand the human capital value of a post-secondary education and how to how to achieve it from a financially sound perspective. For those that choose to seek a post-secondary education there are many financial options for those who need assistance in paying for college. Additionally, it is not enough to succeed in affording a high education, but in also understanding the true worth of the resources one has and the significance of sustaining those resources to keep negative repercussions at bay. Thus, there are benefits of having a comprehensive financial literacy program for high school students, which allow them to make well-informed decisions that would influence their future in significant ways.
ContributorsLawson, Yvonne Terry (Author) / Panneton, Teresa (Thesis director) / Barnett, Juliet (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Division of Teacher Preparation (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
This project created a teaching curriculum resource guide for using the popular series, The Hunger Games, in 6th-8th grade classrooms to introduce cultural issues such as child soldiers and international development to students. Studies have shown that literature can cultivate empathy and encourage youth to act. This combined with the expanding phenomenon of participatory culture and fandom activism as outlined by Henry Jenkins demonstrate the potential for youth to learn and act when given the opportunity and resources to do so. The curriculum is composed of three units: The first is a three-week reading of the books with various activities for students to really understand the narrative and source text. The second and third units address the issues of child soldiers and international development using The Hunger Games as a framework and a keystone to build connections so that these complex issues are accessible to youth. This project is a first step in the development of a curriculum that spans the full trilogy and covers a variety of current event topics.
ContributorsSimpson, Rebecca (Author) / Sivak, Henry (Thesis director) / Blasingame, James (Committee member) / Nelson, Margaret (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Human Evolution and Social Change (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
This project covered different components to strengthen Model United Nations organizations, especially programs in Arizona itself. The lack of strong programs in Arizona can be attributed in many ways to a lack of resources, and this project's work aims to bolster programs by providing some resources. The written component contains a write-up of a 2013 High School Model United Nations Conference at Arizona State University; a write-up of a 2014 Middle School Model United Nations Conference at Arizona State University; a guide on how to run such a conference, focused at the high school level; a university-level curriculum that integrates a Model United Nations organization into a classroom setting, including assignments and; a grade school lesson plan with seven lessons that focuses on teaches students about international relations and global affairs while preparing them for a Model United Nations conference.
ContributorsLanza, Jentry Elizabeth (Author) / Von Hagen, Mark (Thesis director) / Hutchinson, Marcie (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor) / School of Politics and Global Studies (Contributor) / School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
Menstruation curricula in elementary schools presents an opportunity to better examine the early teachings about menstruation, as this is often the first time that young people learn about gender difference within school sanctioned curricula. A closer examination of this pedagogical moment from the perspective of educators helps us to understand the dissemination of the shame narrative present in menstrual socialization. Six teachers were interviewed about their experiences with administering the menstrual health curriculum in elementary schools across a large southwest metropolitan area. A discourse analysis of these interviews was completed in order to find themes of language used surrounding menstrual health curriculum. Themes of shame, legislative restrictions on sex education curriculum and personal narratives surrounding menstruation are discussed in addition to the current neo-liberal structure of public health curriculum. Future research into alternative modes of education on menstruation is proposed.
ContributorsGonzalez, Jaqueline Jean (Author) / Fahs, Breanne (Thesis director) / Grzanka, Patrick (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Humanities, Arts, and Cultural Studies (Contributor) / School of Social and Behavioral Sciences (Contributor)
Created2014-05
Description
The purpose of this project is to aid a chess coach in instructing a scholastic chess team. Included in the project is a guide to starting a scholastic chess club or team and recommended procedures for developing it. The reader is expected to know basic chess terminology and have at least a beginner's understanding of the game of chess (though a chess coach should probably be a competitive chess player). The portion of the introduction on starting a chess club is largely understandable to a person without a background in chess. A tactic is a combination of moves that clarify a chess position in favor of the executor. Chess problems are the demonstration of tactics in a chess game, and their purpose is to increase the player's tactical eye and his or her enjoyment of the game. The chess tactics in this project are geared toward an intermediate to advanced level chess player.
ContributorsGreen, Jeffrey Alan (Author) / Millard, Bruce (Thesis director) / Ashbrook, Mark (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / Department of Management (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
Community Action Research Experiences (CARE) collaborated with Citizenship Counts, a local non-profit organization that provides free civics curriculum to middle and high school teachers nationwide, to evaluate the effectiveness of the current curriculum and create additional curriculum materials. Data were collected over a three-month period through online and paper surveys distributed to teachers who had used some aspect of the Citizenship Counts curriculum previously. Of the teachers contacted, nineteen responded with completed surveys. The results indicate that teachers are pleased with their experience working with Citizenship Counts, but that there were areas where improvements could be made. The additional curriculum materials created were quizzes, which can be added to the Citizenship Counts curriculum as an additional improvement. The main areas of concern from teachers were the Citizenship Counts website and additional help when planning Naturalization Ceremonies.
ContributorsHenderson, Abigail Elizabeth (Author) / Knopf, Richard (Thesis director) / Dumka, Larry (Committee member) / Rodriguez, Ariel (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / T. Denny Sanford School of Social and Family Dynamics (Contributor) / Department of Psychology (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
The civil engineering curriculum includes the engineering fields of environmental, geotechnical, hydrology, structural, and transportation. A particular focus on the structural engineering curriculum outline involves courses in mathematics, engineering mechanics, structural analysis, and structural design. The core structural analysis and design course at Arizona State University (CEE 321) is a transition course to connect realistic structural design and analysis concepts to an engineering foundation created by the first and second year mathematics and mechanics courses. CEE 321 is styled after a flipped classroom model and students are assessed through quizzes, midterms, design projects, and a final exam. Student performance was evaluated for the Spring 2013 and Fall 2013 semesters through an error analysis technique designed to categorize student mistakes based on type of error and related topic. This analysis revealed that student's basic engineering mechanics skills improved throughout the course as well as identified the areas that students struggle in. The slope-deflection and direct stiffness methods of analysis and calculating cross-sectional properties are the primary areas of concern. Using appropriate technology in the engineering classroom has the potential to enhance the learning environment and address the areas of inadequacy identified by the performance analysis. A survey of CEE 321 students demonstrated that technology is a highly integrated and useful portion of student's lives. Therefore, the engineering classroom should reflect this. Through the use of analysis and design software, students are able to begin to develop design intuition and understanding while completing realistic engineering projects in their third year of undergraduate studies. Additionally, incorporating internet resources into and outside of the classroom allows students to be connected to course content from any web-enabled device of their choice. Lecture videos posted online covering the course content were requested by many CEE 321 students and are an emerging resource that supplements the flipped classroom model. The availability of such a tool allows students to revisit concepts that they do not understand or pause, rewind, and replay the lectures when necessary. An expansion of the structural analysis and design online lecture videos for CEE 321 are expected to address and improve the areas that students struggle in as identified by the error analysis.
ContributorsMika, Krista Nicole (Author) / Rajan, Subramaniam (Thesis director) / Mamlouk, Michael (Committee member) / Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering Programs (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2013-12
Description
Abstract As we move forward in education reform in the globalized 21st century, the United States must visit new ways to teach science in high school classrooms. The goal of this investigation is to analyze the current research literature for the best and most promising teaching strategies and techniques in secondary education biology classrooms that promote academic excellence for all students. Looking at policy and school reform literature in science education to establish the context of the current system, the paper will not focus on the political as or systematic changes needed to ground an overall successful system. However, because of their inherent effect on the education system, the political aspects of education reform will be briefly addressed. The primary focus, by addressing the emphasis on standardization, inflexibility of instruction and lack of creativity specifically in high school biology classrooms, seeks to clarify small changes that can influence students' academic outcomes. The United States is performing on such a poor level in science and math proficiency that it cannot match students abroad and this is seen through test scores and the production of competent graduates. This investigation serves to organize literature from education researchers and showcase best and promising teaching and learning practices that catalyze academic excellence for all students in our pluralistic, democratic and complex schooling and societal contexts.
ContributorsHildebrandt, Kevin Andrew (Author) / Ovando, Carlos (Thesis director) / Schugurensky, Daniel, 1958- (Committee member) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / School of Life Sciences (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2013-05
Description
For my honors creative project, I decided to create and teach an elementary school Latin curriculum. As a Classics major, I love the Latin language and I was thrilled to be able to introduce my students to the Latin language in an interesting and fun way. I have taught weekly Latin lessons for this school year on Friday afternoons at a local private school. Each class is forty-five minutes long and involves students from kindergarten through eighth grade. The Latin classes were an optional offering after school. The creative element of this honors creative project was recording and compiling my weekly lesson plans. Since these lesson plans were taught in an after school setting, I wanted to ensure that my students found the lessons enjoyable. Therefore, each lesson has a project for the students to work on which enforces the concepts learned in each lesson. I tried to teach the students a variety of vocabulary that would be found in any introductory Latin course. In addition to teaching Latin nouns and verbs, I also tried to teach the class Latin roots that are found in English. I supplemented these lesson plans with stories of Roman mythology or Roman history, so that my students would have a greater appreciation for the Latin language. Almost all of these stories had to be simplified to ensure that they would be age-appropriate to tell to my class. Although my students all had taken Spanish classes, none of them had experience with Latin instruction. It was therefore unsurprising that most of the class showed huge improvement in their pre and post tests, given at the beginning of the school year in August, and again in March. I supplemented these lesson plans in my honors project with a literature review on the history and benefits of Latin instruction. Additionally, I included an extensive annotated bibliography of scholarly and didactic works useful to Latin instructors.
ContributorsFleming, Emma (Author) / Harris, Pamela (Thesis director) / Smudde, Christopher (Committee member) / Haberman, Lidia (Committee member) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor) / W. P. Carey School of Business (Contributor) / School of International Letters and Cultures (Contributor)
Created2015-05
Description
Resilience is defined as an individual's ability to cope or "bounce back" after experiencing stressful life events (Rew et al., 2001). Survivors of trauma who express high levels of resilience are more likely to experience positive future life outcomes than equally troubled peers with lower resilience scores. It is possible to increase resilience by targeting several core factors: (1) personal competence, (2) sense of belonging, (3) sense of optimism (Lee et al., 2009). I developed an eight-week creative writing curriculum to boost these three core factors in the hopes of both increasing resilience in homeless youth while also introducing creating writing as an effective coping strategy. Each one-hour session included free-form writing exercises, mindfulness practices, writing workshops, and group presentations. Prompts and activities were carefully developed to encourage resilience-building in a group of homeless children and adolescents of ages seven to fourteen at Homeward Bound in Phoenix. With sample writing works and facilitator feedback, this curriculum was designed to be exceptionally easy and cost effective for future implementation. I hope that other organizations in the future will consider implementing this program to help build resilience in youth who have experienced childhood trauma.
ContributorsPopeski, Cara (Author) / Popova, Laura (Thesis director) / Cavanaugh Toft, Carolyn (Committee member) / Pickhart, Kalani (Committee member) / Department of Psychology (Contributor) / Barrett, The Honors College (Contributor)
Created2017-05