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This project-based thesis aimed to facilitate the creation of a collaborative culture quilt that celebrates the diverse cultural backgrounds, heritage, and traditions of students and teachers. The curriculum focused on various artists from different cultures, expanding students' understanding of art and culture both inside and outside the classroom. Students were also introduced to quilting and embroidery, a new and exciting art form for many of them. By exploring their cultural backgrounds, students could develop their artistic identity, enhance their self-confidence, and better understand themselves. This case study took place at Orchard Valley and Chestnut Ridge middle schools, involving seventh and eighth-grade students who worked together to create the culture quilt. Each student was responsible for creating a unique square that showcased a portrait of someone in their family or an aspect of their culture that held significance to them. To prepare for this project, students were encouraged to research their family's coat of arms using House of Names.com and explore cultural recipe books. The students enthusiastically brought in family recipes from their culture or heritage, which were integrated into the thesis and pedagogical choices. In the classroom, students had the freedom to make choices and learn various embroidery and sewing techniques to create their original square. Before starting the art portion of the project, students interviewed an important person to them at home to initiate their research into their family background. This research process helped students develop their artistic identity and increase their self-confidence as they progressed through different stages of the classroom framework. Ultimately, the culture quilt fostered a sense of community, empathy, self-confidence, self-awareness, and cultural appreciation.

The purpose of this case study is to examine the impact that social emotional learning (SEL) has on students within a partnered learning classroom environment. Most research on social emotional learning focuses on elementary aged students, and lacks data from high school aged adolescents. Research interests include topics such as body language when engaging with peers, active and passive listening, how well students can collaborate with peers with diverse abilities, and the effectiveness of collaboration between educators, among other areas of interest. High school students whose ages ranged between fifteen to eighteen and two students whose ages ranged from nineteen to twenty-one, were chosen to partake in this study, based off of an initial observation. Participants consist of general and special education students, as well as instructional assistants, a special education teacher and the lead art teacher. Data was collected through digital observational field notes and a corresponding spreadsheet to track behaviors and analyze the potential benefits of collaborative art-making spaces. Data was coded by the following overarching themes: relationship skills, social awareness, and collaboration among educators; and then branched into smaller themes such as passive/active listening, interactions with peers, redirection, and amount of time on task. The study concluded that collaborative classroom spaces yield positive social outcomes for students with various disabilities, as well as their general education counterparts. The study also yielded results that co-taught classrooms can be successful with proper organization and communication between educators.

Today's society requires students to navigate many challenging situations that require certain social emotional learning skills. Previous research suggests that skills like resilience can be built or developed (Daniel & Wassell, 2002; Masten, 2014; Ngo, 2019). Resilience and sense of belonging are factors that impact climate at after-school program locations. The purpose of this research study was to investigate the impact of the Love in a Big World social emotional learning curriculum implemented at multiple Christian Kids Ministry faith-based after-school program locations. In particular, the researchers aimed to determine the impact of the curriculum on student resilience and sense of belonging. Additionally, the researchers aimed to discover staff perceptions of the impact of the curriculum on the climate at the after-school program locations. The researchers were also interested in staff and student perceptions of the impact of the curriculum on student resilience and sense of belonging. Participants were staff members from the CKM program who taught the LIBW curriculum and students who attended the CKM after-school programs at multiple locations and were exposed to LIBW curriculum during the 2023-2024 school year. The researchers collected data using staff questionnaires and interviews related to student resilience, sense of belonging, and climate at the after-school program locations. Additionally, the researchers analyzed matched data from student participants as measured by the CD RISC-10 and the Psychological Sense of School Membership (PSSM). Then, the researchers conducted student focus groups. The findings suggested that there was a statistically significant difference in student resilience scores from the fall to the spring and no statistically significant difference in student sense of belonging from the fall to the spring. Staff member perceptions of the LIBW curriculum were overall positive but some felt there were opportunities for improvement in implementation. Staff and students saw value in the curriculum and the skills gained from using the curriculum at their after-school program locations throughout the school year. Researchers made recommendations for practice and future research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This qualitative research study examined the experiences of two Black female teachers and six White female teachers who participated in five Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) workshops that incorporated Open Studio Process (OSP) using Expressive Therapy Continuum (ETC). It is informed by research on defensiveness and resistance that often accompanies and presents barriers to effective DEI training. All eight study participants were elementary school teachers, ages 22-56. Participants engaged in five workshops that used artistic mediums to explore DEI topics. Participants visually and metaphorically represented their experiences. Results were analyzed using qualitative techniques. Findings are that OSP using ETC provided study participants with a safe and supportive environment to explore DEI topics. The no-judgment guideline encouraged participants to freely express themselves, facilitating self-reflection and personal growth. Participants reported feeling empowered to challenge biases and beliefs, expanding their critical consciousness and DEI awareness. Expressive therapies tapped creativity and emotions, expanding consciousness and empathy with marginalized groups. Participants expanded their awareness of structural inequalities in educational systems. The study also highlighted the need for support and follow-up to sustain learning. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Student enrollment in higher education is becoming increasingly diverse. Despite this increase in diversity, students from traditionally marginalized groups such as students of color or from low-income families continue to be underrepresented. A lack of cultural understanding and the presence of biases and prejudices are considered a root cause of the inequities and educational disparities. A higher education training program is proposed with an aim to bring awareness of cultural understanding and how one reacts to people and groups who are unfamiliar. The training presents intercultural experiences in Brazilian art forms (samba dance, percussion, and capoeira) using kinesthetic learning modalities combined with strategies for understanding oneself as a first step toward a culturally proficient practice. This research study is two-fold. First, the creation of the training program involved the process of autoethnography to explore the connections between the researcher's lived experience of embodying Brazilian art forms and the cultural proficiency framework. Next, a small group of experts and professionals in higher education (n=5) evaluated the effectiveness of the training program content and design. Evaluators expressed mostly favorable opinions on the organization and presentation of the sessions. They also listed meaningful insights that may increase self-awareness, implement cultural proficiency concepts, and be applied to daily work life. Findings suggest that introducing a cultural and arts-based mindset to foster diversity and inclusion in higher education can provide insight for higher education staff, faculty, and administrators to implement an inside-out approach to further develop self-awareness. The promotion of diversity and inclusion through potentially new cultural activities can broaden perspectives and mindsets and has important implications for higher education students, personnel, and educational leadership. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Preservice elementary teachers' identities and beliefs related to children's creativity and artistry shape current and future elementary students' opportunities. As preservice elementary teachers forge new professional identities, they can engage in critical self-reflection to interrogate their identities and beliefs related to creativity and artistry, improving their understanding of the discourses they enact so they can better serve their students. This mixed methods case study explores how preservice elementary teachers enrolled at a private university in the northeastern United States talked and wrote about their identities and beliefs related to children's creativity and artistry. Findings have implications for preservice elementary teachers, teacher educators, and elementary school curricula. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Many educators are committed to democratic education. However, practitioners who have experienced hierarchical learning structures may unconsciously replicate these norms in their own teaching methods. Through honest reflection, teachers can reckon with their formative experiences and use the resulting insights to transcend ingrained behaviors or educational models that stifle liberatory teaching. Self-knowledge helps teachers create more flexible, humanized spaces that effectively serve a diversity of cognitive learning styles and student voices. Questions, then, arise: How can we support practitioners in engaging in honest self-reflection to develop liberatory practices? What tools do teachers need to facilitate productive introspection? William Pinar's currere process offers educators such supports. Currere scaffolds a transformative journey, enabling teachers to explore their educational past, interpret it in their current context, and use those personal and pedagogical insights to envision alternative educational futures. As a contemporary artist, I fused arts-based research methods with currere stages to unpack my own formative years of schooling. Playing with new approaches to art, I wove together Olivia Gude's & Julia Marshall's creative strategies, Lois Hetland's creative dispositions as processes of understanding, and Jorge Lucero's permissions of conceptual art. I analytically and poetically explored how my life experiences, cognition, art-making and teaching intertwine. Combining currere and creative research made the reflective process more accessible and expressive, offering beautiful tools to capture complex, often inexpressible personal and professional growth. Currere as Contemporary Art offers an experience of liberatory learning, a new art form, and methods of arts-based research, inter-woven through an innovative process for rigorous pedagogical learning. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Using autoethnographic, arts-based, and embodied methods, this postformal dissertation study establishes the first of a two-part research-as-community-building template designed with racially and socioeconomically diverse school communities in mind. Imagined as a double helix in an echo of human DNA, it describes an arts-based, embodied self-study (Helix 1) as a prerequisite for later study of community (Helix 2, not yet complete) typified by mindful engagement across socially constructed lines of difference and attention to the potential building blocks of collaborative leadership across those same lines. As a prerequisite to community work, I explored my lifetime encounters with others of difference (Chang, 2008) by creating, analyzing, and interpreting 74 individual crayon/watercolor/salt artworks representing my memories of key historical encounters and relationships. The collective artwork (Glyph Spiral) and the stories it contains form a model classroom for the practice of "critical pedagogy as onto-epistemology" (Kress & Lake, 2018). Lessons have surfaced about seeing and being seen, sharing, slowing down, structural awareness, feelings and healing, and working with memory, history, and time. Each finding is relevant to the future community work, to the experience of research-creation (Springgay & Truman, 2017), and to arts-based research (ABR) in general. This methodological experiment is my first step in exploring how creative, embodied research-as-community-building might work as Family Community Collaboration (FCC) (Ishimaru et al., 2019) and support a movement toward "beloved community" (Kipton, 2016) in the context of diverse schools. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Many student assessors experience low self-efficacy in giving feedback through peer assessment. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological study was to examine the self-efficacy experiences of online graduate student assessors who supplied feedback through peer assessment in an online Master of Arts (MA) in Art and Design program at a university in the southeastern United States. Eight online graduate student assessors shared their self-efficacy experiences about supplying feedback through peer assessment during semistructured one-on-one interviews. The interview questions were based on Bandura's (1986, 1993, 1994) self-efficacy theory, which is the personal judgment of one's ability to achieve a task. The interview questions examined online graduate student assessors' mastery experiences, vicarious experiences, social persuasion experiences, and affective state experiences to give feedback through peer assessment. The data revealed themes of enactive peer feedback learning, writing confidence, peer collaborations, self-fulfillment, and peer feedback guidelines. This study's conclusions included the following: 1. Online graduate student assessors are willing to learn to give feedback through peer assessment and persist through challenging experiences to evaluate their peers' artwork. 2. Online graduate student assessors function as peer supporters. 3. Online graduate student assessors have empathy for their peers' feelings. 4. The emergent themes from this study may strengthen online graduate student assessors' self-efficacy to give feedback through peer assessment. Future researchers may want to consider interviewing 12 to 20 participants to explore future topics about online graduate students' self-efficacy experiences with giving feedback through peer assessment in other academic subjects such as English, math, and science. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation is based on auto-criticism, a new qualitative inquiry that combines educational criticism and arts-based research. It focuses on my own experiences as an aspiring educator who struggles with stuttering and public speaking anxiety. The study aims to describe, interpret, evaluate, and thematize my experiences of dealing with public speaking anxiety and stuttering before, during, and after classroom teaching. In addition, this dissertation highlights the potential contributions of auto-criticism as a methodology to qualitative research and higher education. I utilized journaling to document data. Photos and music were also used to enhance the understanding of my lived experiences and the study's findings. This research highlights the importance of understanding stuttering, practicing self-care, and taking appropriate measures to manage the public speaking anxiety associated with stuttering. Additionally, the study sheds light on the hope and optimism for aspiring teachers who struggle with public speaking anxiety and stuttering. Finally, auto-criticism is a creative and flexible new methodology and has the potential to narrate the lived experiences of teachers' struggles in a more accessible and engaging manner. Auto-criticism promotes collective reflection, engagement, and public discourse which leads to meaning-making and offers the potential for real-world improvement in education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study focused on South Asian American students' experiences of belonging at a historically women's college (HWC) in the United States. The purpose of this study was to understand where, how, and with whom South Asian American undergraduate students experience and enact belonging at historically women's colleges. The research questions that guided this study are: (1) How do South Asian American undergraduate students feel belonging at historically women's colleges?, and (2) How does the campus environment shape South Asian American undergraduate students' feelings of belonging? I sought to problematize current notions of belonging as simplistic and requiring assimilation to dominant structures within higher education and instead consider belonging as complex feelings, emotions, and experiences. I utilized four tenets of Asian American feminism to guide this study: restive orientation, coalitional praxis, in/visibility, and multiplicity. I also engaged an Asian American and Pacific Islander feminist epistemology. This was an arts-based study utilizing photovoice methods, including engaging participants as co-researchers. Two co-researchers from Agnes Scott College participated fully with this study. We engaged in six 90-minute Zoom meetings covering training, photo sharing, and photo discussion/analysis. The findings demonstrate that feelings and experiences of belonging are nuanced, layered, complex, and in motion. The co-researchers shared their experiences of belonging in relation to people, family and parents, racial and cultural identity, religion and its intersection with sexuality, white queer culture on campus, achievement culturally and on campus. And much more. Through these example and their discussions, they demonstrated the necessity of reorienting how we approach and understand belonging in higher education and student affairs. The findings and implications from this study point to the need of engaging in a restive orientation to dismantle oppressions in higher education and belonging and of considering South Asian American students through a lens of multiplicity. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Physician assistant (PA) programs must teach medical communication skills that facilitate effective patient care. Empathy is one such skill that is explicitly mentioned in relevant documents, but there is no common definition of empathy nor a formal curriculum to teach it. Current literature suggests that empathy is a feeling resulting from cognitive, emotional, and behavioral processes that are observable and teachable. This constructivist grounded theory study articulated a definition of medical empathy, then conducted a guided art viewing (GAV) experience with five PA faculty in which they viewed three artworks and were asked to identify examples of cognitive, emotional, or behavioral processes illustrated in the art that suggest an act of or a need for medical empathy. All participants found medically empathetic behaviors illustrated in the art. Findings suggest that medical empathy is a contextualized feeling that calls for a certain response by the PA. GAVs can teach medical empathy by guiding learners to find the illustrated behaviors and discussing appropriate responses. Results of this study are likely transferable to other professions where assessing and responding to human emotion is needed. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation and research study is dedicated to the exploration of "critical posthuman educational technology." Research in this study determines, evaluates, and considers educational technology in U.S. art museums through a wide-reaching survey and case study evaluations of the implementation of digital content creation in museums during the COVID-19 era. Critical posthumanism provides a way to understand and restructure expectations of the educational goals of museums that are aligned with the experiences and expectations of digital learning as well as incorporate a multitude of ontological considerations through Critical Race Theory, Queer Theory, and Critical Disability Studies. Beyond simply assessing what has happened in museums, this study seeks to find opportunities for greater change within the system of museum practice and education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Arts integration is an interdisciplinary teaching model in which the arts become a conduit for the contextualization and understanding of non-arts content. Research has shown this approach increases academic engagement and content retention (Rinne et al., 2011). The use of arts integration also provides gains for teachers. Teachers perceive their practice more innovative and better able to reach the needs of diverse learners (Bellisario & Donovan, 2012). For the benefits of arts integrated learning to be achieved, teachers must acquire the knowledge and techniques of this teaching model. This requires knowledge in both arts content as well as the pedagogical strategies of the instructional model. Professional development (PD) is often how this learning is disseminated (Saraniero et al., 2018). Understanding what information is retained from these PD experiences may help provide a foundation to design subsequent training. A mixed-methods research design was utilized to discover to what extent learning from a prior arts integrated PD was retained by K-12 classroom teachers. Instruments used were a 5-point Likert survey and in-depth interviews. Retention from the PD was examined using Knowles' Six Assumptions of Andragogy (1980). Results showed an increase in teachers' understanding and implementation of the arts integration teaching model. Confidence and use of visual arts strategies were reported at higher levels than other art forms. Teachers identified a need for continued support after the PD to help with implementation of arts integration into their teaching practice. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Higher education institutions' organizational identities, cultures, and praxis have neglected to honor the values, culture, and knowledge assets of Latinx communities, making it difficult to gain educational justice and equity, which could be attained through Latinx-centered models of higher education. The Latinx higher education experience needs to be deconstructed and reconstructed by resisting whiteness as normative and including People of Color as "holders and creators of knowledge" (Bernal, 2002). Alternatives to normative higher education institutions are limited in the literature, particularly those that have been founded by Latinx communities. Thus, the purpose of the study was to explore how organizational identity, culture, and praxis at higher education institutions founded by Latinx communities reflected Latinx-centered approaches that built upon, promoted, and centered the assets (knowledge, values, culture, and experiences) of Latinx People. As a counternarrative, FUBU-"About Us" was considered a concept and approach for the study, informing decisions around literature, design, and centering of research participants (referred to as collaborators) in the findings. Through a qualitative interpretive instrumental multi-case organizational study approach of two U.S. historically Latinx-founded institutions, data collected included 28 individual interviews and five focus groups, document and artifact reviews, and observations. A conceptual framework brought together organizational theories with asset-based concepts from Latinx theorists that helped guide the design of the study, data analysis, and discussion of the findings. Individual college portraits and distinct findings for each case were presented, for example for case 1: ownership as resistance and empowerment, integrated roles as a practical and values-oriented practice, and for case 2: rooting historical activism as central to identity and planning processes speaking to values, among others. In addition, an analysis of shared and nuanced findings across the cases revealed the importance of place; naming strengths in the midst of challenges; arts and culture as staples of institutional identity, culture, and practices; and counterspaces, among others. The study offers a discussion on contributions of the study to the literature, a revised conceptual to real-life framework for FUBU-"About Us" institutions of higher education, as well as implications for practice, policy, and future research. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The following inquiry asks the question: "What is the experience of transformation using imaginal knowing in counseling education?" Inspired by personal experience of transformation through education, the author engages this question by exploring others' experience of imaginal knowing in the context of a core-curriculum graduate-level counseling course. This course incorporates a 10-week artmaking process aligned with the school's transformative learning pedagogy.A modified a/r/tography methodology within a phenomenological paradigm was employed to effectively convey the richness and complexity of the lived experience. Using this innovative methodology integrating multiple modes of presentation, the author weaves her therapist identity with elements of narrative research and a/r/tography, thus creating a novel "a/r/T/tography" research method fulfilling the iterative and emergent spirit of arts-based research and written with a capital "T" to highlight this unique modification to the well-established a/r/tography body of literature. This approach illuminates students' narrative experience of transformation, incorporating a researcher created one-canvas art process as a research text. Ten licensed therapists who completed an Archetypal Psychology course during graduate school were invited to share their artwork, participate in an interview, create art in response to the interview, and offer reflections on the author's one-canvas process, shared as a video presentation. From this, five representative narrative vignettes are offered to exemplify diverse paths of personal transformation within an educational setting centering on imaginal knowing. A transdisciplinary dialectical process of evocation, elucidation, artistic expression, and reflection created new opportunities for meaning making for participants and researcher within the hermeneutics of creation. The integration of narrative research, thematic analysis, observation of participant artwork, the researcher's one-canvas process, and participant responses revealed five significant themes: (a) new insight and understanding emerged from discussing past artwork; (b) artmaking provided an avenue for self-awareness, growth, and professional development; (c) a supportive learning environment was essential; (d) validating attunement with the interviewer facilitated integration of experience; and (e) transformation through imaginal knowing is fluid, dynamic, and ever-evolving. This research acknowledges the need for innovative solutions to education in modern times, benefits the field of counseling education, and expands arts-based research methodologies. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

We are currently experiencing unprecedented waves of forced migration (UNHCR, 2022a), leading to an increase in anti-refugee rhetorics which in turn fuel policies that have life or death consequences for refugees (Gotlib, 2017). In this context, refugee voices are urgently needed in scholarly, public, and political realms, yet these perspectives are frequently neglected, overlooked, and silenced, even (and especially) in research around refugees' literacy and language practices. This study sought to amplify the voices of refugee teens resettled in Western Pennsylvania, U.S.A. in order to continue to push back against these harmful (mis)representations and to center the voices and perspectives of those with refugee experience as creators of their own selves and narratives. To do so, I adopted a transmodal (Hawkins, 2018) paradigm to test its potentials for honoring participants' agency, building upon their assets, and fostering advanced rhetorical processes. My overarching research question was, "(How) do resettled refugee youth perceive and enact transmodal practices in a zine-making workshop?" Within this core question were several sub-questions around compositional choices, workshop perception, and asset identification. To address these questions, I facilitated a five-week transmodal zine-making workshop with a partner non-profit organization in Western Pennsylvania. By taking a community-based research (CBR) and participatory action research (PAR) stance, I enacted an arts-based research (ABR) methodology by writing field notes during the workshop, conducting an anonymous survey, collecting zine scans as artifacts from participants, and using these zines for arts-based interviews with study participants. Working with three study participants, I engaged in a polytextual thematic analysis (Edmondson et al., 2018) to cross reference findings across all data sources and participants. Key findings included that participants perceived the transmodal zine workshop overwhelmingly positively, experiencing many benefits and few to no challenges. They easily identified existing assets like mental processes (including planning and translation) and artistic skills, as well as newly gained skills and knowledge such as how to make a zine and express themselves with both words and images. All participants noted using their home languages (Swahili or Dari) in constructing their written English zine portions, and all meshed languages and images for transmodal zine creations. Importantly, these findings support previous work in transmodalities and other trans-paradigms, as well as zine studies, that suggest such an approach does, in fact, uphold learners' agency and build upon their assets to foster advanced rhetorical processes. In addition, findings also complicate prevailing beliefs in refugee literacies work around the visibility of refugees' literacies and histories in creative products alone, and the subtle expectations of refugees to always create something profound, political, or embodying push-back when given the chance. Instead, this study focuses on celebrating youths' agentive expressions and the way they identify their own (sometimes invisible) strengths. With these implications come key recommendations in pedagogy, policy, methodology, and future research to center refugee teens' voices on how they best learn and communicate, in order to change pedagogies and policies that have embodied, tangible impacts on refugees' lives, to be more just, equitable, and affirming. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The purpose of this study was to explore the anxiety and stress-reducing effects of drawing, using different drawing materials by promoting the development of student confidence. The drawing activities were designed to foster the exploration of identity, emotion, and sense of self, while encouraging the exploration of materials and mark making. Researcher interests included theories surrounding the therapeutic effects of drawing, the aspects of art therapy that can be utilized in art education, the effects of anxiety and stress on adolescents during development, and the promotion of art-making as a stress management tool. Through an inductive case study, a series of daily drawing warm-up activities, the theme of which changes weekly, were implemented over an eight- week period during the student participants' regularly scheduled art class periods. High school students, whose ages ranged from sixteen to eighteen, were chosen based on the self-evaluation of their stress and anxiety levels and did not need to have a diagnosed anxiety disorder. Data was collected through observation field notes, student pre and post-activity self-anxiety-rating-scales, student journal responses, audio recordings, interviews, and artwork. Data was coded by the following themes: stress and anxiety; reduction of stress; and improvement in self-confidence, as assessed by the student. The study concluded that the implementation of anxiety-reducing drawing warm-up activities into an art education curriculum could foster improvement in student confidence, as well as the exploration of drawing materials and methods; which positively impacted student stress levels.

Teachers who have no formal arts background and yet integrate the arts consistently may provide essential understanding on how to render to all students a well-rounded education that encompasses the arts. Education that embraces the arts helps students to develop essential thinking skills, expand their creativity and ways of expressing, and understand the diverse world in which they live. There is limited research, however, on how teachers do this despite having no formal education in the visual arts. Sixteen elementary school teachers in the Los Angeles area were interviewed about their experiences, beliefs, and professional development opportunities and how these factors led them to see the importance of visual arts in their teaching and to consistently apply the arts in their practice. The findings showed that the teachers were at schools where the arts were valued and visible, and where they were able to collectively engage in supportive collaborations with colleagues. The schools embraced inquiry-based pedagogy, where the arts played a significant role in deepening understanding and representing learning, as well as engaged teachers and students in continued learning and growth. Professional development in the arts that was experiential and involved the teachers in hands-on investigations similar to those of their students contributed to their knowledge base and confidence. Lastly, these educators recognized the power of mentor artists and used these artists to enhance their arts integration process. Through these teacher stories we learned that arts integration is a practice that can be learned and incorporated into one's teaching despite one having no formal arts background. In order for the learning to occur for teachers, all the described findings needed to be present and functioning in unison. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Three key constructs--the self, the body, and the dance classroom--help define how community college dance students develop their artistic voice. I identify the educational context of a community college dance class as a significant space where dance students can engage in artistic practices that lead to transformative and empowering experiences. The central goal in this research study is to understand how an individual constructs their artistic voice as part of their educational experience in a community college dance class. Data collection techniques used in this study include semi-structured interviews, video recording of participants performing choreographed dances, and a reflective one-page journal where participants described the attributes of their artistic voices. Findings are derived from the narratives and performances of ten participants who are current community college dance majors, or previous community college dance major students that have either transferred or graduated from a four-year college or university. Participants gained awareness about their subjectivity, made choices concerning their performativity, and negotiated, accessed, or resisted power and authority as part of their dance practices. These three developmental processes were instrumentals in how the ten dance students explained, experienced, and expressed their artistic voices. Central to the findings is the identification of specific dance pedagogical practices that facilitated or impeded the development of students' artistic voice. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Our institutional approaches to problems in the changing global landscape of internationalized higher education are being challenged, and many scholars call for new approaches for understanding and addressing the complex problems we face (e.g., la paperson, 2017; Lee, 2021; Patel, 2016; Stein, 2019, 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the need to make changes in how we approach our evolving problems and possibilities for human-centric transformation. This multi-paper dissertation is a call to action and proposes the use of new approaches to research and educational practice--specifically, critical futures studies (see Equity Futures (Brown, 2017; IFTF, 2019)) and arts-based research (see Barone & Eisner, 2012; Cahnmann-Taylor & Siegesmund, 2008). Design justice principles and participatory action approaches frame and motivate these possibilities. First, "A Public University Futures Collaboratory: A Case Study in Building Foresightfulness and Community" addresses a defining critical need of our communities and institutions, namely, developing social capacity for responsible foresights praxis on an institutional level. Next, "'Art and Documentaries in Climate Communication': A Review and Participant-Voiced Poetic Inquiry" considers how Arts-Based Research (ABR) approaches can impact perceptions of the need for social change. Finally, "Transforming IHE in a post-COVID world: Using methodologies of Futures thinking and ABR to Amplify International Students' Voices" proposes utilizing the pluralistic perspectives and participatory methodologies of futures thinking and ABR to amplify students' voices and reimagine international higher education futures. This multi-paper dissertation outlines four futures-facing, arts-based, participatory methodologies that could be used in international higher education (IHE) and other educational settings to amplify student voices: design futures (Costanza-Chock, 2020; IFTF, 2021), scenario building (Dator, 1998), ethnographic experiential futures (Candy & Kornet, 2017), and poetic inquiry (Prendergast, 2009; Reilly, 2013). The IHE Design Futures Framework I propose is outlined in paper 3 and toolkits intended for use in IHE are included. These participatory, critical, and creative methodologies are a form of jargon-free, open-access, public scholarship. In a world struggling with the evolving global COVID-19 pandemic, they could help us re-envision and re-learn how we engage with IHE by amplifying transnational, multilingual voices through design justice principles in order to re-imagine globalized HE as otherwise. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This phenomenological study explored how art museum educators and administrators in art museums in the Netherlands and Belgium perceive technology enhanced learning. The participants consisted of 14 museum educators. Interviews from this study were recorded and transcribed for further identification of themes within the data. A general conclusion from this study showed that the majority of art museum educators are not fully aware of current technology-enhanced learning developments. They do, however, feel compelled to adapt their practice in order to meet the changing expectations of their (potential) audiences. The museum educators who took part in the study saw opportunities to customize experiences, facilitate interaction, and facilitate multiple narratives, as well as to use multiple senses to extend the museum experience and using and analyzing data on learning to know more about their visitors and the effectiveness of their programs. Many of the participants in this study, however, are having difficulty doing so. Expectations of current visitors have been reported as a barrier; this current core audience was born before the technological revolution and may be wary of using technology in museums. Another factor is opposition to technology; in this context, the idea of the museum as a technology-free, slow zone is discussed extensively. Furthermore, the lack of knowledge among art museum staff appears to be a barrier to implementing technology-enhanced learning programs successfully. Furthermore, there is a lack of digital leadership; the critical leadership to successfully integrate technology enhanced learning appears to be insufficient. Another stated barrier is that technology requires ongoing upkeep. Finally, there appears to be no formal peer network or industry association providing professional development for technology assisted learning in museums, which is a major barrier. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The paradigm of "Buen Vivir" (Good Living) in education turns on the educational purpose regarding the transformation of the world. This autoethnography, which draws from "transnationalism theory" (Vertovec, 2009) and "transnational academic mobility" (Kim, 2010), explores how my critical self-examination of transformation shaped my lived experiences within transnational spaces to advance the conversation on postcolonial entanglements in education from the standpoint of a transnational migrant scholar and educator. Throughout three academic mobility journeys between Western and Latin American society, I explore privileges and disempowerment afforded me by my education, laden with postcolonial influences. To think about a different kind of education presumes recognizing and learning from my transnational lived experiences that evolved through the "seven stages of Conocimiento" (Anzaldua, 2015). These lived experiences flourished my "transnational identity capital" (Kim, 2010) and activated my spirit for advocating for pedagogies for social transformation, relevancy, autonomy, resistance, liberation, and dialogue. This inquiry uses "writing as a method, process," and "product" (Richardson & St. Pierre, 2005), "strategies for self-narratives data collection" (Chang, 2016), "narrative portraits analytical strategy" (Rodriguez-Dorans & Jacobs, 2020), "arts-based" (Barone & Eisner, 2012), and "poetic" (Cahnmann-Taylor, 2003) approaches for representation. By creating a "self-portrait artwork" and the composition of a "poem," I aim to inform, inspire, and reveal my self-exposure in my findings, which authenticates my critical/decolonial thinking by merging artistic practices with autoethnographic research. I reflectively, critically, and evocatively explore and disclose vulnerabilities, positionality, and perspectives as disruptive experiences of my progressive metamorphic process that initiates from my self-identification as an "Azoguena caterpillar" to transmute myself to a "transnational purple butterfly." [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

After enduring the hostile Trump administration, undocumented students faced the transition into the Biden administration in 2021 with both hope and uncertainty. Online searches show hundreds of articles announcing various policy changes, and even more opinion pieces on who is and is not worthy of legal status and citizenship in the United States. Tangled in these policies and very much affected by this discourse are the undocumented students themselves, whose stories are often generalized to fit certain narratives to appease public opinion or political tensions. The increased diversity of research in education and a greater push for a social justice focus has meant that fortunately, much more comprehensive research exists on undocumented students now than in previous years. However, there is still much to learn about the lived experiences of undocumented students to better be able to support and help them thrive in higher education. Furthermore, we must allow for undocumented students to lead the research that is about them. Using tenets of Undocumented Critical Theory, this dissertation presents stories of survivance through storytelling, conversation, and artwork. Findings show how participants resist a political ontology of threat through stories of survivance and acts of joy. Through anecdotal evidence, narrative inquiry and ethnographic observations, the findings reveal the intricate complexities of life for undocumented students and showcase the stories they want to share as co-researchers. Being aware of the dynamics of their lived experiences is the key to create educational spaces where undocumented students are welcome, understood, and can finally thrive. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This phenomenological study provides a comprehensive approach to unmasking the artist to understand the potential effects of enhanced learning through an integration of the arts, mental health, and education. This research aims to discover a new method to enhance learning through storytelling and counter-unmasking through multicultural children's books. The study will explore social-emotional expression and the hidden narratives within one's biopsychosocial factors (biological, psychological, and social). [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

"Paideia," a Classical ancient Greek notion of education, encompassed both holistic formal instruction and art (particularly poetry) as means to develop cultural values and understanding. This dissertation examines how the new media arts--as a transdisciplinary and computational field--can be leveraged to fulfill a contemporary notion of "paideia" in both its practice and instruction, demonstrated through respective artistic and pedagogical proofs-of-concept. Specifically, we analyze the ways in which the computational platform can facilitate the creation and readability of causal relationships across information to embody value, meaning, and holistic thought. We examine how we design affordances--formal qualities that constrain an object's possible uses by an agent--for guiding participant behavior (observed or enacted) and interpreting meaning as part of experiential learning. We will achieve this through artistic installations and objects. We discuss pedagogical strategies with a cross-disciplinary conceptual framework to support holistic thinking through digital design-based learning. We compare these new efforts toward paideia with ancient Greek media and approaches. Toward imparting values, the cybernetic nature of physical computing and other interactive systems offer a means to model or to incentivize (and thus train for) certain kinds of participant actions and behaviors. We present an original body of performance and installation work designed to cultivate the values of social cooperation and attention to nuance.Toward shaping meaning, we propose that complex non-verbal ideas may be communicated by strategic formal design that 1) follows "natural [somatic] mappings" or culturally established associations and/or 2) explicitly defies them, directing attention through "strangeness." To this end, through a theoretical framework and artistic proofs-of-concept, we explore how computation facilitates abstraction and metaphor via operations of mapping, analysis, and execution. Lastly, to promote trans-paradigmatic thinking, media arts education and practice through fictional worldmaking can provide a means for organizing complex knowledge and systems. We discuss conceptual framework contributions within the THEMAS (STEAM + creative Humanities) pedagogical model (as originally conceptualized by Marcos Novak). In these ways, building upon ancient roots, this research both informs the field of media arts and technology and informs education through design strategies for (artistic) experiential and making-based learning. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

My dissertation elucidates how art practice can be a useful and helpful model for learning, teaching, and conducting research for HCI and the broader STEM fields. It focuses on "improvisation", a fundamental strategy and skill often used in the broader genres of arts, including cool jazz and the avant-garde. To achieve this goal, this dissertation provides three main chapters in which individual chapters explore different but interconnected topics about improvisation and aesthetic engagement for HCI. The first chapter, "Intermodulation", embarks on theory building about improvisation. Based on various studies of improvisation drawn from art, music, HCI, the social sciences, and two ethnographic studies, we identify five key features of improvisational action ("reflexivity, transgression, tension, listening," and "interdependence"). With this theoretical foundation, the second chapter, "Tech-Art-Theory", explores the implementation of improvisational practice in HCI and STEM education. Based on three pedagogical interventions of our own at Cornell University, we point out three specific pedagogical conditions ("socio-material evaluations, multi-sensory practices," and "making safe spaces for error") that can support improvisational ways of learning and computing. In the third chapter, "The Electronicists", we finally build our own research/inquiry framework called "techno-aesthetic practice" that pursues mediated creativity from the situated negotiation of engineering, art, and humanistic inquiries, including through the production of "techno-aesthetic objects" that can travel across and in some measure connect these worlds. The fourth chapter also provides an "Online Gallery" in which readers can find various curated audiovisual data and artworks that our research team has collected and produced during our ethnographic studies in the above chapters. Finally, this dissertation answers the question "How can HCI and STEM practitioners living in the early 21st century to benefit from improvisational art practice as a model of learning, teaching, and research?" [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Teacher self-efficacy is a construct that continues to be extensively researched. With the onset of the Coronavirus pandemic, the learning environment has shifted dramatically and has had an impact on Jewish educators' sense of efficacy. This study examined the pre- and post-test scores for self-efficacy of Jewish educators who engaged in either an online psychodrama-based professional development workshop, a hevruta-based workshop, or an integrated session using both psychodrama and hevruta study. The participants were 28 Jewish educators from around the United States who were split into one of six groups. Two psychodrama-based groups and two integrated groups met online for 3-hours, and two hevruta-based groups met for 2-hours. Participants filled out a participant information form which provided demographic data and all participants filled out the TSES-short form at the start of their respective sessions. Only 22 participants filled out the post-TSES survey sent one week after the session. Data analysis consisted of ANOVA to compare the means of the three groups with the respect to the TSES subfactors of Student Engagement, Instructional Efficacy, and Classroom Management. Due to the small sample size, statistically significant results were not expected, and the data were examined through a lens of program evaluation. Of interest was the higher post-scores of the psychodrama-based groups and the lower scores for the hevruta-based groups. Expanding the sample size could be a way to rectify some of the study's limitations. This study contributes to knowledge on the practice of psychodrama and expressive arts in an online format as it relates to teacher training and could help support the growth of expressive arts pedagogy in Jewish education, both as teacher professional development training and as a methodology for classroom teaching. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

My research study titled, "Connecting Universal Design for Learning with Gallery Tours in Art Museum Education," establishes a relationship between gallery tours in art museum education and the principles of UDL, (CAST, 2011). Through this study I will address contemporary theories on art museum education, volunteer guide training, and art museum accessibility. Through a qualitative research approach, I will support guides in developing a tour model based on UDL (CAST, 2011). This study will highlight guide led tours to assess the effectiveness of the guide training strategies. The following are appended: (1) Study Protocols and Permissions; (2) Training Agendas; (3) Training Worksheets; (4) Surveys; and (5) Resource Handout.

In China, little research has been done regarding literacy in the minority languages. The Nuosu people, a thriving minority ethnic group in China, are proud of their language and its script. However, most Nuosu do not use Nuosu script in their daily lives. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand and explain Nuosu people's conceptions of their script, that is, how they think about it, what value it has, and where it fits into their world and lives. Data were collected utilizing semi-structured interviews with 22 Nuosu adults from both rural and urban settings, having a range of levels of education and literacy. Using grounded theory methodology and engagement with the data, themes emerged that informed the construction of a theory: For the Nuosu, their script embodies and carries the collective life of Nuosu people passed down to them from their ancestors. This theory explains the four most significant themes that surfaced in the data: (a) the connection of Nuosu script to Nuosu identity; (b) the importance of transmitting Nuosu script; (c) the prominence of Nuosu classics and proverbs; and (d) the use of Nuosu script in religion and the arts. The theory also helps make sense of apparent contradictions in two other puzzling themes which surfaced in the data: usefulness/uselessness of the Nuosu script and reading/writing discrepancy. Moreover, the theory helps explain two secondary themes: the need for pinyin and the use of technology. This study provides an emic perspective to the literature investigating local language literacy. Generating new theory regarding the value, role, and learning of local language scripts, this study contributes to a fuller understanding of literacy for local languages. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation seeks to better understand how an urban policy, creative placemaking, is adopted within a localized context. Creative placemaking is an ascendant urban policy borne out of a global pressure to adapt to industry changes within the 21st Century knowledge-based economy (Florida, 2002; Howkins, 2001; Jackson, 2012; Nicodemus, 2013). However, there is a need to better understand how a globalized policy response trend is adapted within a localized context, especially with respect to creative placemaking, which is based within a localized identity formation. Additionally, there is a need to understand how areas already dedicated to the knowledge-based economy are adopting creative placemaking for the 21st Century. With this need in mind, higher education institutions and their urban environs are a useful case study for investigating how creative placemaking policy is adopted within an area that has a knowledge-based economy focus. This dissertation research was a qualitative, within case study approach to answer the following sub-questions: (Q1) a policy content question of how does Ohio State University's 15th+High Art District, and its predecessor plans, score in terms of meeting the criteria for being creative placemaking plans?, (Q2) a policy context question of how are current university campus creative placemaking practices perceived by stakeholders?, and (Q3) a policy process question of how equitable is the manifested 15th+High Arts District design? A multiple methods qualitative, within case study research approach was undertaken to answer these sub-research questions through: (M1) a content evaluation of Ohio State University's planning documents pertaining to creative, and proto-creative, placemaking policy adoption using a modified American Planning Association's Comprehensive Plan Standards for Sustaining Places evaluation instrument, (M2) a content analysis of stakeholder perspectives on the 15th+High Arts District providing local context of this policy adoption, and (M3) an equity analysis of 15th+High Arts District manifestation of the district's design to consider the implementation processes of creative placemaking. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This narrative-based qualitative research investigated the distinct journeys of eight cross-cultural artists (four artists from South Korea and four artists from China). Utilizing a variety of theoretical frameworks surrounding cross-cultural research, this dissertation examined current discussions on cross-cultural challenges and their implications in the field of art education. Methods of data collection focused primarily on interviews and were examined through the lens of Bandura's (1997) self-efficacy theory. Evaluating the lived experiences of artists illuminated nuances in cross-cultural environments, specifically, how socio-cultural transitions influenced their artwork and professional lives. The findings of this research correlate with previous literature surrounding current challenges in the lives of cross-cultural students. These challenges were discussed in the context of how art educators can best confront issues that emerge in the classroom. The analysis and discussion presented in this thesis seeks to provide insights into the experiences of cross-cultural artists, while highlighting the educational implications for both artists and educators. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

The following document considers the role of digital information organization in the creation of knowledge and value within and beyond the physical space of the art museum by interrogating two major scholarly products of the well-endowed, early-21st-century Western art museum's ecosystem: online catalogues and online exhibitions. The questions sustaining this research converge at the junction of three major areas: the new museology movement, exhibition culture, and museum computing. Public-facing, museum-based digital scholarship practices--especially those focused on translating catalogues and exhibitions into online spaces--have emerged fairly recently (mostly from the mid-1990s onwards). The impact of these practices within the space of the art museum has not yet received a critical treatment, so the costs and benefits of this new mode of interpretation and scholarly production remain a mystery.In this study, the author first defines physical exhibitions and catalogues to contextualize their digital counterparts, and building on this, examines two sites in depth using a case study approach. Although "The Gallery of Lost Art and On Performativity" are inherently different in that one represents an online exhibition and the other an online catalogue, they are similar in that they shared overlapping lifespans and emerged in similar technological and museological landscapes. They also both document ephemeral artworks. The data collected throughout demonstrates the significance of socio-technical infrastructures and project management approaches, and how museums have struggled to adapt these practices to produce new information outputs. Museum computing remains "disruptive" in 2019, but rather than revolutionizing through decentralization or democratization, computing seems to interrupt the mechanisms occurring behind the scenes of the art museum. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

There is a current push to understand and address the under-representation of Black folks in physics, and STEM more broadly. This dissertation presents research that explores this lack of representation through studies of identity and practice, premised on an understanding of systems of oppression operating within the culture of physics. This work includes studies that explore identity for Black physicists, and postulates that bridging the gaps between science and art can help us begin to address the challenges we face in physics learning environments. The first study presents the development of the Critical Physics Identity (CPI) framework, a methodological tool to understand the structural and systemic factors that impact identification with the physics discipline. The second study applies the CPI framework to analyze Black physicists's narratives in order to highlight themes in the institutional and structural resources that mold their physics identities. The third study explores ways that performance art might be used as a tool to address the issues found from the analysis of these narratives. This informs the iterative design and implementation of an informal physics program designed to support student identity, that incorporates the content and practices from the performing arts and from physics. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Walter Benjamin (1936) provocatively suggests that art is an object consumed in a state of concentration. That is, you give yourself over to the artwork in a conscious decision to contemplate it deeply. John Dewey (1934) argues that art requires long periods of activity and reflection, and it comes only to those absorbed in observing experience. I have heard it said that Marcel Duchamp believed "art is not about itself but the attention we bring to it." These are especially interesting ideas for theorists of composition, a field which Geoffrey Sirc (2002) claims "really lacks ... a truly broad definition of artistry" (117). This dissertation argues that not only does visual meaning-making have a place in the composition classroom, but that first-year composition can benefit from the disciplines of art and design's attention to what it means to create and contemplate art, especially in studio environments. This dissertation examines the relationship between art, design, and writing through a range of texts in the fields of composition studies and art education. Many themes already overlap in art and composition theory and pedagogy, including a privileging of process, freedom of expression, discussion and collaboration, and compositional flexibility; I investigate how art, design, and composition studies can be in dialogue to reveal new ways to conceptualize pedagogy and curricula. As the written and the visual, the handmade and the digital, the alphabetic and the multimedia continue to influence each other, we can expect to see further cross-disciplinary hybridization and curricular mutation manifesting in current disciplines as well as in transdisciplinary contexts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study tested whether mental rotation performance of 186 high school students (80 males and 106 females) in grades 9 through 12 in art and nonart classes on Vandenbergs Mental Rotations test (S. Vandenberg and Kuse, 1978) was affected by gender, visual-spatial activities, strategies used while performing the test, and the ease of test taking. The major findings were: (1) males outperformed females; (2) students scored higher if they participated in visual-spatial activities in their past; (3) specific strategies yielded higher test scores, such as the mental rotation of the whole figure, and not just a section of the figure; and (4) as the Mental Rotations Test scores improved, the perceived ease of taking the test increased. No significant relationships were found between test scores and art ability, body movement strategy, visual-spatial activities performed in the present, or reported best academic subject. An appendix describes the pilot study. (Contains 11 tables and 131 references.) (Author/SLD)

The purpose of this study was to apply a social justice lens to arts attendance. I utilized the data from the 2012 Survey of Public Participation in the Arts, a subsection of the Current Population Survey, to explore which variables influenced benchmark arts attendance. The research questions focused on three variable groups: demographics of socioeconomic status, arts learning, and technology. The problem is that arts attendance is in decline; however, the literature in the field supports the intrinsic and extrinsic value of the arts. Arguments for "arts for arts' sake" and for "arts as a means to an end" stress the positive impacts of the arts. To better understand who attends the arts, how arts learning impacts arts attendance, and how technology influences arts attendance, I completed a series of statistical analyses. While the logistic and multiple regressions highlighted the importance of educational attainment and arts learning, the predictive strength of the regression models was low. The descriptive statistics revealed insight into who attends the arts. Audiences for each benchmark arts activity were mostly non-Hispanic white. Patterns in age, income, and educational attainment provided a blue print for how arts organizations can study audience composition. In addition, an evaluation of the SPPA as a research tool is provided. This study concludes with recommendations for future iterations of the SPPA. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

As oil is the fuel of the industrial society, software is the fuel of our current information society. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, there will be more demand for computing jobs in the future. By 2024, more than one million computing jobs will be available. Statistics show that there is more demand for computing jobs than there is a supply of qualified graduates from universities. In this experimental study, three groups of high school students were targeted to explore how integrating art, animation, and code sharing into programming affects their interest in pursuing a degree in computer science (CS) after graduation. Moreover, the study also explored the effect of social factors and attitudes of the students toward programming and a CS degree. Pretest-posttest survey questionnaires were used to measure the study variables before and after taking a programming course. A new web-based learning environment was developed and used as a treatment in this study. The developed tool included the use of art, animation, and code sharing to increase students' motivation in learning computer programming. Three groups of students from Ann Arbor public and private schools participated in this study with different coding time. The demographic data were also collected and analyzed in this study. The field of CS is currently dominated by White and Asian males. This study also aimed to encourage and increase the motivation of female and underrepresented racial groups towards CS. The results of this study showed that the use of art, animation, and code sharing increased students' knowledge, enjoyment, and motivation in learning computer programming. It thereby increased their interest in pursuing a degree in CS after graduation. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Latino English learners (ELs), among the largest student population in the United States K-12 school system, continue to lag behind their English-proficient peers. They also tend to attend segregated schools, have less-qualified teachers, and lack access to rigorous curriculum, including the arts. Museum education departments have increasingly sought to fill the gap in arts education for underserved populations. This mixed methods study explored the degree to which teaching artists (TAs) from a large metropolitan museum are effectively addressing the art education needs of Latino ELs. The dissertation study occurred in two phases. Phase 1 included quantitative analysis of observations of the TAs using the numeric components and ancedotal evidence of the Observation Protocol for Academic Literacies. Phase 2 consisted of semi-structured interviews with the participants. Findings of the study indicate that while TAs can improve instruction in terms of providing materials of students' native language and providing opportunities to transfer skills between their primary and the target language, they nevertheless use numerous strategies for effective English language instruction. This can inform museum education departments on effective teaching practices of ELs, an area of study that has almost no scholarship. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

As higher education moves increasingly to online and hybrid programs, more students will be taking art appreciation courses virtually. The research that exists on student perceptions related to hands-on art making suggests that active creation is valuable in fostering creativity, inspiring knowledge, and supporting and motivating students. The purpose of this case study was to explore non-art major, college-level students' experiences, perceptions, and reflections of an active learning component within an online art appreciation class delivered at a public university in the southeastern United States. Three research questions were developed to explore the students' experiences, perceptions, and reflections of this hands-on art making component. The conceptual framework was based on the combined work of prominent theoreticians, educators and scholars in the arts including Dewey, Piaget, Bruner, Gardner, and Eisner. To complete this case study, in-depth interviews were conducted with 10 non-art major, college level students (enrolled in online art appreciation during the 2015-16 academic year) and included discussion about a specific art work that each student made. The interview data was analyzed using open-coded thematic analysis. The overall findings indicated that: there is an emotional response to hands-on art making, appropriate faculty instruction is an important factor in actively engaged learning, and students gain knowledge through the active learning component of the online art appreciation class. Findings were used to design a 3-day professional development workshop. Implications for educators include advocating for variations in art coursework for online students. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Across the United States, hundreds of universities house dance programs, and the vast majority of degrees offered through these programs focus on modern dance. Despite the mainstream popularity and cultural esteem of the dance genre of ballet, fewer than fifteen university programs offer ballet-focused degrees. From this relatively small number of ballet-focused programs, this study identifies six that do not self-identify as conservatories. The six academic units included in this study attempt to balance academic rigor with studio practice, rather than focusing exclusively on studio and performance coursework. This qualitative, multi-site case study utilizes methodological practices including observation and interviews. Two-day site visits were completed at each institution, and twenty-eight fulltime faculty members were interviewed. This dissertation begins with a brief history of dance in American higher education, including discussion of the peculiar absence of ballet within this history, before introducing the six programs. The programs are discussed in terms of their unique histories, missions, and philosophies before curricular comparison and analysis is presented. Two major themes that emerged from interviews with faculty members are presented: 1) the ever-present negotiation of balancing the artistic elements of pre-professional ballet training with the academic requirements of institutions of higher education and 2) how the programs strive for connection with the professional realm of ballet in a variety of ways. Each of these themes is multi-faceted, and the complexities are considered and analyzed. This line of inquiry provides information about how ballet exists as a focus of study within the realm of higher education and how ballet and other, even more marginalized, dance forms might be welcomed into the curricula and conversations concerning dance in American higher education. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

A practicum program was developed and implemented to improve narrative writing skills, composition skills, and related attitudes among the targeted second grade students. Objectives for the program were for: 75% of the students to increase their narrative writing skills by at least one proficiency level; 75% of the students to increase their writing composition success by at least one proficiency level; and to increase positive attitudes toward writing by 20%. Strategies chosen to solve the problem included integrating word processing techniques, graphic organizers, and art into the process approach to writing. To prove that the writer's solution strategies worked, the targeted students' pre- and post-writing attitudes surveys were evaluated and compared. The writing prompt pretest and posttest samples were assessed using a rating scale to measure narrative writing skills and a scoring rubric was used to measure composition skills. All the program objectives were met with the target group improving in all areas. (Includes six tables of data; contains 33 references. Appendixes include a writing attitude survey, narrative writing prompt, rating scale for narrative writing, scoring rubric, writing process poster, writing workshop poster, guided lesson plan, narration criteria worksheet, narration revision checklist, Arrow map, Donut on a Napkin map, narrative writing results, writing composition results, writing attitude survey results, and a software evaluation form.) (Author/CR)

This study analyzes the lyrical content of popular music recordings, cited as censored from 1986 through 1995, in order to examine characteristics of the recordings that were found to be objectionable and the frequency with which the objections occurred. Out of 60 articles from the music trade magazines, "Billboard" and "Rolling Stone," 77 instances of censorship were recorded and analyzed. The categories for evaluation were the year of citation, music style, and reason for censorship. Nineteen ninety was the year with the highest number of journal articles (21) covering music censorship. Rap (48%) and rock (44.2%) music accounted for a large portion of the total censored recordings and the majority of recordings were censored because of lyrics seen as explicit, profane, obscene or vulgar. In addition, five rock recordings were censored because of objectionable artwork on or inside the covers. Recordings were also censored because of opposition to a view the artist expressed. Two tables depict the years of citation and the reasons for censorship, each according to music styles. Appendices contain a list of the music censorship articles and a coding form for the year of citation, music style, and reason for censorship. (Contains 20 references.) (AEF)

This ethnographic study examines the process of cultural colonialism and the effects of cultural colonialist institutions in West Virginia on the mountain culture arts and artists. Interviews, observations, written material, and video recordings were used to substantiate interviews with artists and institutional administrators. Interpretation of local art forms by outsiders and issues of understanding, presentation, and stereotyping of local culture and artists were examined. Conflict and contradiction was found. The concluding chapter looks at the decolonialization process undertaken by participating artists. (NP)

This report describes alternative assessment approaches to elementary visual art studies at an inner-city school in a large city in the Midwest. Sixth-grade neighborhood students participated in the study. Data revealed that sixth-grade students have spent little time on alternative assessment. Time constraints, a lack of curriculum addressing self-assessment, and the failure of educators to understand or appreciate the value of art for academic growth were revealed as areas of concern. Intervention strategies included revision of sixth-grade art curriculum with self-assessment pervading all lessons and creation of lessons that provided self-assessment awareness and the teaching of portfolio skills. Through the use of portfolios, students gained skills in self-reflection and metacognition, learned to set goals, and were able to document and observe personal growth in art. (EH)

This dissertation is a hermeneutical phenomenological analysis of the value of mindfulness practices intervention for children diagnosed with emotional disturbance (ED). My research is based on the work of mindfulness scholars such as Daniel J. Siegel, Jon Kabat-Zinn, H.H. Dalai Lama, Thich Nhat Hanh, and others. Mindfulness is described as non judgmental and non-reactive attention to the present moment (KabatZinn, 2005). I provide observations and insights from 16 years of experience as a special education teacher implementing an organic gardening, art, and nature study program for children classified with ED. A four-season curriculum for incorporating mindfulness practices into gardening, art, and nature study is developed. Students and teachers are led to co-create a therapeutic space that invites simple presence in a natural setting. Immersion in natural environments can cause a sensitive awareness to inherent relationships in the web of life. The benefits of mindfulness practices for children who experience ED can be: increased attention, increased emotional stability, increased emotional, social, and ecological intelligence, and the development of resiliency. Resiliency skills provide children with the ability to move through challenges in a self-compassionate way that promotes mental health. The treatment goal for children who experience ED is to build enduring resiliency skills. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

In western societies, the persona of the artist has largely been associated with prevailing myths of the creative individual including the artist as genius and outsider. In my inquiry I endeavored to understand what it means to be an artist from the perspective of budding "creatives." In this study I explored the process of becoming an artist that is how college students construct and navigate an artistic self (selves), and the factors that influenced this process. My purpose in this multiple text narrative inquiry was to discover how undergraduate art majors construct and navigate their artistic identity/identities, particularly while engaged in an artistic undergraduate research (UR) experience. I selected to explore students engaged in an undergraduate research project as a way to understand the process of artistic becoming within a unique educational practice, and to determine the role of creativity within this process. My study involved students who participated in an undergraduate research scholarship program developed by the Office for Undergraduate Research at a large research university in the southeast of the United States. Ten undergraduate art majors participated in this study. Data included in-depth interviews, and participant writings in the form of "artist" reflective journal entries (which included both written and visual text), and a final self-reflection essay. I analyzed the interview data through a holistic-content approach (Lieblich et al., 1998). I identified specific themes in order to understand the complex, "whole" individual, which assisted me in understanding participant "artistic selves," and how creativity played a role in this process. I analyzed participant art products using methods adapted from Riessman (2008) and Keats (2009). Three key findings emerged from my inquiry. First, for the majority of participants, the construction of artistic identity/identities involved a significant evolution in their meaning making structures. Second, the notion of "doing" for oneself through research was profound for most individuals, which resulted in a stronger sense of artistic identity/identities. The third major finding was how participants weaved their artistic identity/identities through creativity. Implications of my research underscore the need for more robust institutional support and resources to assist emerging artists with developing career skills, creating supportive environments for art majors from a variety of backgrounds to help them succeed and thrive in college, the design and implementation of additional educational practices in the arts that promote self-authorship, and the expansion of UR activities within the arts. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This study utilizes an educational historical narrative research method to understand the unique viewpoint of Lowenfeld toward visualization as a holistic concept in progressive art education. Employing a social constructivist framework, it explores the problem that the emphasis in education on the surface elements of standardized subject-based curriculum has overlooked development of the student's creativity, critical thinking abilities, and holistic growth; and that this may be harmful to the mental and human growth of the student, lead to dictatorial practices, and repress self-expression, creativity, and student sensitivities. It explores the development of visualization in progressive art pedagogy, and helps to comprehend and appreciate the pedagogies of the seminal educators who inspired its emergence. In studying the unique holistic pedagogy of Lowenfeld it investigates the books, journal articles, class lectures, speeches, and educational child artwork of Lowenfeld. The study concludes with concrete findings and recommendations for practice with respect to the diverse social and educational environments that differ with every unique setting and individual. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

Integration of art into school curricula has the potential to increase multiple abilities in student populations. However, the process through which cognition and behavior are affected is not well understood. The current study is among the first large-scale, longitudinal examinations of arts integration on improving student creativity and engagement. The current investigation focused on change in student creativity and engagement during one academic year for fourth and fifth graders, comparing children at schools with multiple years of sustained, intensive arts integration through the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts' Changing Education through the Arts (CETA) program with children at matched control schools using traditional classroom instruction. Multiple measures of student creativity and engagement were assessed from the perspective of 746 students, 86 teachers, and 746 parents. In addition, standardized test scores were analyzed to assess changes in student achievement. Key findings demonstrated that on dimensions of creativity, students receiving arts integrated instruction reported a greater increase in Attitudes about Artists subscale scores over the course of the study compared to matched controls. Contrary to expectations, students receiving arts integrated instruction reported little change in Engagement subscales of Interest, Effort, and Challenge over the course of the study while students who did not receive arts integrated instruction showed an increase in their Interest and Effort scores over time, and a decrease in Positive Challenge scores over time. However, there were no significant differences between treatment and control groups across time for Attitudes about Flexibility and its subscales, or for the Idea Judgment Scale. Teachers in arts integrated schools reported a greater increase in their students' effort and global scores of Teacher Evaluations of Student Creativity, student's Creativity Core and Social Creativity over the period of the study compared to teachers in the control schools. There were no significant differences for parent reports of student engagement or creativity between treatment and control groups across time. No significant differences were found in Math and Reading standardized test scores between the treatment and control groups. Implications are discussed for arts programming, education, economics, and STEM. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]

This dissertation addresses the question of how participation in an arts-based sojourn influences university instructors' perspectives and understanding as related to working with international female Muslim students (FMS). It also addresses what participation in a social justice oriented arts-based inquiry reveals about transformation of perspectives and practices of FMS in instructors' long-term trajectories. Social justice oriented arts-based inquiry is a powerful tool to unearth issues and challenges associated with creating and sustaining equitable practices in the classroom. This type of inquiry provided instructor-participants with a platform that facilitated their use of "equity lenses" to examine and reflect on external phenomena which may influence their classroom practices as related to FMS. Participation in the art-based sojourn facilitated multiple opportunities for the instructor-participants to reflect critically on their practices, understanding, and perspectives of FMS. This study revealed that the most significant shifts in understanding and perspectives about FMS followed from long-term events and moments in the instructor-participants' teaching careers. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]