Matching Items (64)
Description
The purpose of this study was to examine compulsory schooling in the United States and its potential to provide an inconsistent avenue to employment for students from neighborhoods of differing socioeconomic status. Specifically, this study asked why do students from privileged neighborhoods typically end up in positions of ownership and management while those from impoverished urban or rural neighborhoods end up in working-class positions or involved in cycles of incarceration and poverty? This research involved the use of qualitative methods, including participant observation and interview, as well as photography, to take a look at a reputable private day school in the southwest. Data was collected over the span of eight weeks and was then analyzed and compared with preexisting data on the schooling experience of students from impoverished urban and rural neighborhoods, particularly data focused on juvenile detention centers. Results showed that compulsory schooling differs in ways that contribute to the preexisting hierarchical class structure. The research suggests that schooling can be detrimental to the future quality of life for students in impoverished neighborhoods, which questions a compulsory school system that exists within the current hierarchical class system.
ContributorsTheodoropoulos, Eftyhia (Author) / Margolis, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Nakagawa, Kathryn (Committee member) / Appleton, Nicholas (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Recently, much of the Physical Education literature has focused on confronting the challenges associated with the rising number of overweight children in America's schools. Physical Education programs are often looked to as intervention sites to remedy the current obesity epidemic. Teachers are often also not held accountable for curriculum adherence and student outcomes in Physical Education due to the lack of a common curriculum. Therefore, measuring teacher fidelity to specific Physical Education curricula is imperative to determine student outcomes when teachers follow the model as intended. In response to these issues, it has become increasingly important to measure student physical activity levels in Physical Education programs to determine moderate to vigorous physical activity (MVPA) levels and to learn about teachers' fidelity to curricular models. Thus, the purpose of this study was to investigate teacher fidelity to the Dynamic Physical Education (DPE) curricular model after having completed DPE methods courses at the university level, when teaching in a DPE supported or non-supported districts. A secondary purpose of this study was to measure students' physical activity (PA) outcomes in classes where the curricular model was used with various levels of district support. Data were collected using mixed methods including an observation instrument, field notes, informal interviews, document analysis, and direct observation of physical activity. Descriptive statistics and t-tests were run to investigate differences between teacher support groups and by teacher fidelity groups. Teachers from both teacher support groups were teaching the curricular model with moderate to high fidelity. Findings suggest that fidelity levels were related to preparation on the DPE curricular model, ongoing professional development, and administrative support. Although the students were often standing (i.e., 40% of the lesson) and 30% of class time was spent in MVPA; teachers were frequently promoting physical activity both within (51%) and outside (50%) of Physical Education and the school day.
ContributorsKloeppel, Tiffany (Author) / Hodges-Kulinna, Pamela (Thesis advisor) / Van Der Mars, Hans (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Michael Apple's scholarship on curriculum, educational ideology, and official knowledge continues to be influential to the study of schooling. Drawing on the sociological insights of Pierre Bourdieu and the cultural studies approaches of Raymond Williams, Apple articulates a theory of schooling that pays particular attention to how official knowledge is incorporated into the processes of schooling, including textbooks. In an effort to contribute to Apple's scholarship on textbooks, this study analyzed high school American history textbooks from the 1960s through the 2000s with specific attention to the urban riots of the late-1960s, sixties counterculture, and the women's movement utilizing Julia Kristeva's psychoanalytic concept of abjection to augment Apple's theory of knowledge incorporation. This combination reveals not only how select knowledge is incorporated as official knowledge, but also how knowledge is treated as abject, as unfit for the curricular body of official knowledge and the selective tradition of American history. To bridge the theoretical frameworks of incorporation and abjection Raymond Williams' theory of structures of feeling and Slavoj iek's theory of ideological quilting are employed to show how feelings and emotional investments maintain ideologies. The theoretical framework developed and the interpretive analyses undertaken demonstrate how textbook depictions of these historical events structure students' present educational experiences with race, class, and gender.
ContributorsKearl, Benjamin (Author) / Margolis, Eric (Thesis advisor) / Blumenfeld-Jones, Donald (Committee member) / Sandlin, Jennifer (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
As digital technology promises immediacy and interactivity in communication, sight and sound in motion graphics has expanded the range of design possibilities in advertising, social networking, and telecommunication beyond the visual realm. The experience of seeing has been greatly enriched by sound as visual solutions become dynamic and multi-dimensional. The ability to record and transfer sight and sound with new media has granted the designer more control in manipulating a viewer's experience of time and space. This control allows time-based form to become the foundation that establishes many interactive, multisensory and interdisciplinary applications. Is conventional design theory for print media adequate to effectively approach time-based form? If not, what is the core element that is required to balance the static and dynamic aspects of time in new media? Should time-related theories and methodologies from other disciplines be adopted into our design principles? If so, how would this knowledge be integrated? How can this experience in time be effectively transferred to paper? Unless the role of the time dimension in sight is operationally deconstructed and retained with sound, it is very challenging to control the design in this fugitive form. Time activation refers to how time and the perception of time can be manipulated for design and communication purposes. Sound, as a shortcut to the active time design element, not only encapsulates the structure of its "invisible" time-based form, but also makes changes in time conspicuously measurable and comparable. Two experiments reflect the influence of sound on imagery, a slideshow and video, as well as how the dynamics in time are represented across all design media. A cyclical time-based model is established to reconnect the conventional design principles learned in print media with time-based media. This knowledge helps expand static images to motion and encapsulate motion in stasis. The findings provide creative methods for approaching visualization, interactivity, and design education.
ContributorsCheung, Hoi Yan Patrick (Author) / Giard, Jacques (Thesis advisor) / Sanft, Alfred C (Committee member) / Aisling, Kelliher (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
In this dissertation I present data gathered from an eleven-month qualitative research study with adolescents living and working on the streets of Lima, Peru. Through the pairing of photovoice with participant observations, this work incorporates distinctive methodological and theoretical viewpoints in order to complicate prevailing understandings of street life. In this dissertation, I examine the identities that children and adolescents on the street develop in context, and the ways in which photography can be a useful tool in understanding identity development among this population. Through a framework integrating theories of identity and identity performance with spatial theories, I outline how identity development among children and adolescents living on the street is directly connected to their relationships with the urban landscape and the outreach organizations that serve them. The organizations and institutions that surround children on the street shape who they are, how they are perceived by society, and how they view and understand themselves in context. It is through the interaction with aid organizations and the urban landscape that a street identity is learned and developed. Furthermore, as organizations, children and adolescents come together within the context of the city, a unique street space is created. I argue that identity and agency are directly tied to this space. I also present the street as a thirdspace of possibility, where children and adolescents are able to act out various aspects of the self that they would be unable to pursue otherwise. Weaved throughout this dissertation are non-traditional writing forms including narrative and critical personal narrative addressing my own experiences conducting this research, my impact on the research context, and how I understand the data gathered.
ContributorsJoanou, Jamie Patrice (Author) / Swadener, Beth B. (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arzubiaga, Angela (Committee member) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
The Civil Rights Project estimates that Black girls are among the least likely to graduate from high school. More specifically, only about half, or 56%, of freshman Black girls graduate with their class four years later. Beyond the statistics little is known about Black girls who drop out, why they leave school and what happens to them once they are gone. This study is a grounded theory analysis of the stories eight adult Black women told about dropping out of high school with a particular focus on how dropping out affected their lives as workers, mothers and returners to education. There is one conclusion about dropping out and another about Black female identity. First, the women in my study were adolescents during the 1980s, experienced life at the intersection of Blackness, womaness, and poverty and lived in the harsh conditions of a Black American hyperghetto. Using a synthesis between intersectionality and hyperghettoization I found that the women were so determined to improve their economic and personal conditions that they took on occupations that seemed to promise freedom, wealth and safety. Because they were so focused on their new lives, their school attendance suffered as a consequence. In the second conclusion I argued that Black women draw their insights about Black female identity from two competing sources. The two sources are their lived experience and popular controlling images of Black female identity.
ContributorsGriffin, Erica Nicole (Author) / Powers, Jeanne (Thesis advisor) / Fischman, Gustavo (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
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
This dissertation examines the use of color in lowrider car customizations. It studies the relationships among car owners, car painters, and car clubs in the process of selection, and manipulation of color. This research studies how color is constructed as an element for individual and community differentiation. Also included is the examination of the influence of car clubs in the design process, the understanding of color by car painters and car owners, and the cultural values associated with color in this community. This research argues that through the use, manipulation, and implementation of color as a visual/design element, lowriders challenge, transgress, and resist the preconceived notions of space, aesthetic hegemony, and social disparity they experience. In this case, color as a cultural expression, becomes a pivotal element to narrate and retell their stories of struggle and endurance, as well as to envision a different world. This research frames Chicana/o vernacular production, and color use as being central to the borderland experience of this community. Finally, this research follows the discourse of taste, as this concept has been used to create social categories of exotic otherness and the perpetuation of specific aesthetic epistemologies. In this context, it presents lowriders as expression of a Chicana/o network of vernacular border knowledge. This dissertation concludes by framing the Low n' Slow movement, in the context of healing and emancipating practices enacted by subjugated communities in order to survive, give sense to their reality, and to envision a more egalitarian world.
ContributorsCalvo, William (Author) / Giard, Jacques (Thesis advisor) / Boradkar, Prasad (Committee member) / Foster, David William (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
Climate change is not a thing of the future. Indigenous people are being affected by climate changes now. Native American Earth scientists could help Native communities deal with both climate change and environmental pollution issues, but are noticeably lacking in Earth Science degree programs. The Earth Sciences produce the lowest percentage of minority scientists when compared with other science and engineering fields. Twenty semi-structured interviews were gathered from American Indian/ Alaska Native Earth Scientists and program directors who work directly with Native students to broaden participation in the field. Data was analyzed using qualitative methods and constant comparison analysis. Barriers Native students faced in this field are discussed, as well as supports which go the furthest in assisting achievement of higher education goals. Program directors give insight into building pathways and programs to encourage Native student participation and success in Earth Science degree programs. Factors which impede obtaining a college degree include financial barriers, pressures from familial obligations, and health issues. Factors which impede the decision to study Earth Science include unfamiliarity with geoscience as a field of study and career choice, the uninviting nature of Earth Science as a profession, and curriculum that is irrelevant to the practical needs of Native communities or courses which are inaccessible geographically. Factors which impede progress that are embedded in Earth Science programs include educational preparation, academic information and counseling and the prevalence of a Western scientific perspective to the exclusion of all other perspectives. Intradepartmental relationships also pose barriers to the success of some students, particularly those who are non-traditional students (53%) or women (80%). Factors which support degree completion include financial assistance, mentors and mentoring, and research experiences. Earth scientists can begin broaden participation by engaging in community-inspired research, which stems from the needs of a community and is developed in collaboration with it. Designed to be useful in meeting the needs of the community, it should include using members of the community to help gather and analyze data. These community members could be students or potential students who might be persuaded to pursue an Earth Science degree.
ContributorsBueno Watts, Nievita F (Author) / Baker, Dale R. (Thesis advisor) / Mckinley Jones Brayboy, Bryan (Committee member) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2011
Description
This study aimed to understand, compare and describe details about U.S children and Taiwanese children's visual image reading. The researcher interviewed thirty children ages 8 to 10 in the state of Arizona and Taiwan. The researcher employed quantitative and qualitative methods to analyze the data. The analysis using these two methods provided different ways of comprehending the data. The results showed that the two groups of children's image reading did not have statistically significant differences in most categories; but there were demonstrable trends and viewpoints employed when both groups of children explained the details of the images. First, the children expressed what they saw in the images in six ways. The U.S. children were more able to describe contexts with self-experiences/opinions and/or associations than the Taiwanese children. Second, when interpreting the meanings, the Taiwanese children understood the concepts of the images better than the U.S. group. The U.S. children were more critical and expressed self-opinions/associations more. Third, when asked preferences, the U.S. children paid more attention to identify their favorites and express feeling the images brought to them. The Taiwanese children cared more about style and form. Fourth, when judging the images, the U.S. children emphasized the artist's devotion to creating while Taiwanese children considered the form, composition, colors, structure, design, and composition. The results also indicated that the children decided their preferences and their judgments of artworks might be based on multiple viewpoints instead of a single one, especially for the Taiwanese children. Some cultural differences between the two groups of children and their image readings were presented, such as, cultural differences made children have different learned symbolism.
ContributorsChiou, Yu-ting (Author) / Young, Bernard (Thesis advisor) / Margolis, Eric (Committee member) / Stokrocki, Mary (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2013