The implementation of a learning environment for young African American males, called the Glitch Game Testers, was launched in 2009. The development of this program was based on formative work that looked at the contrasting use of digital games between young African American males and individuals who chose to become computer science majors. Through analysis of cultural values and digital game play practices, the program was designed to intertwine authentic game development practices and computer science learning. The resulting program employed 25 African American male high school students to test pre-release digital games full-time in the summer and part-time in the school year, with an hour of each day dedicated to learning introductory computer science. Outcomes for persisting in computer science education are remarkable; of the 16 participants who had graduated from high school as of 2012, 12 have gone on to school in computing-related majors. These outcomes, and the participants' enthusiasm for engaging in computing, are in sharp contrast to the crisis in African American male education and learning motivation. The research presented in this dissertation discusses the formative research that shaped the design of Glitch, the evaluation of the implementation of Glitch, and a theoretical investigation of the way in which participants navigated conflicting motivations in learning environments.

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of North Carolina Wilmington, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (February 16, 2010) Includes bibliographical references (p. 38-42)

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-191).

The purpose of this study has been to determine what extraliterary forces--cultural, historical, political, social--shaped the critical reception of Alice Walker's first novel, The Third Life of Grange Copeland (1970). The philosophies of Hans Robert Jauss, as espoused in Toward an Aesthetic of Reception (1971), guided this study. Particular interest was placed on Jauss's claim that every work has its own specific, historically, and sociological determinable audience, that every writer is dependent on the milieu, view, and ideology of that audience and that literary success presupposes a book which presents what the audience expects, a book which presents the audience with its own image. (26)The Third Life of Grange Copeland appeared at the end of the Civil Rights Movement, in the midst of a Black Arts Movement (a movement that presented black artist with a criteria for representing their people), and on the cusp of a black feminist movement which moved black women from the object to the subject position in black literary discourse.The politically charged context in which Walker's first novel appeared determined her first audience's reception to her work. The reception from black civic leaders, literary critics, scholars and the black community was largely negative. This initial negative response has followed Walker throughout her literary career despite the fact that she has won both the American Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize for fiction. / Department of English

Thesis (D. Min.)--Ashland Theological Seminary, 2002. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 189-191).

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103).

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2009. / Title from PDF title page (University of Texas Digital Repository, viewed on Sept. 9, 2009). Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Miami University, Dept. of Communication, 2006. / Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 83-86).

Thesis (D. Min.)--New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary, 2003. / Includes abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 99-103).