<p> Research in teaching and learning in higher education in the last fifteen years addresses the importance of integrating disciplinary ways of thinking &ndash; i.e. an understanding of the ways that questions are asked and investigated within disciplines -- in undergraduate courses. However, the application of this emergent research varies in history departments and in large lecture survey courses. This study addresses the gap in research about effective modes for introducing disciplinary thinking in a large lecture history course through the means of the threshold concepts framework. This dissertation contributes to three areas of research in higher education: application of threshold concepts at the course level; what this application looks like in terms of practices at the discussion section level; and the role of the teaching assistant in his or her own development in teaching history and within the discipline.</p><p> This study looked at how threshold concepts were introduced in a large lecture history course. The analytical framework for viewing the results provided a lens to look at how the concepts were introduced and carried throughout the course. This framework, shaped by the situated learning and threshold concepts literature, looked at the "careers" of the concepts and how they were woven through a large learning system from professor to TAs to students. </p><p> In order for the careers of the concepts to carry through the course, certain teaching capabilities need to be in place to ensure the concepts reach students. The methods used to determine the uptake of concepts in the TA discussion sections were classroom observations, online surveys and interviews. Results show that teaching assistants are a crucial link for the careers of the concepts within a large lecture course. Moreover, teaching assistants' orientation to threshold concepts contribute to an explicit emphasis on the disciplinary concepts within their own work as disciplinarians and researchers. Tracing the careers of these concepts yielded more information about what is needed within the large course system in terms of the types of processes that need to be in place to support the inclusion of the concepts in the course. Threshold concepts afford faculty an opportunity to rethink the goals and principles that drive their course. Translation and framing of these concepts represented the threshold capabilities needed on the part of the teachers (both the professor and TAs) to support the movement of concepts from professor to students. The historical thinking strategies, such as analyzing primary sources, represented the particular threshold actions needed to support students in moving through thresholds to the discipline. While this is a baseline qualitative study of one large lecture course at UCSB, implications of this work contribute to graduate student teaching development and threshold concept course design. </p>

<p> The goal of this study was to determine how the Acadiana cultural region (St. Martin, St. Landry, Acadia, Vermillion, Lafayette and Iberia parishes) used social media in crisis response strategies. The researcher used a purposive sample and qualitative long interviews to gather data from six public relations practitioners in Acadiana. Practitioners were selected from the Lafayette Chamber of Commerce website in the section labeled "Advertising &amp; Media" (http://business.lafchamber.org/list/ql/advertising-media-1). Results proved the hypotheses that practitioners used Twitter for the dissemination of information and Facebook was perceived to have the most interaction among all social media sites in the study. In addition, the results determined how practitioners used social media in the following categories and themes: usability, service and frequency.</p>

<p> This study addresses how my freshman world history students come to understand controversial issues as provocative within the secondary social studies classroom, and in what ways does their engagement with provocative issues influence their understanding of the content and the world around them. In addition, this research study seeks to discover in what ways does the teaching of these provocative materials inform and influence my curricular decisions, my pedagogy, and my relationship with my students. The three research questions were established to guide this study. </p><p> 1. How do my world history freshman students come to understand provocative materials in regards to the historical content? </p><p> 2. How does my students' engagement with these provocative materials influence their understanding of historical events and the world around them? </p><p> 3. In what ways does the teaching of these provocative materials inform and influence my curricular decisions, my pedagogy, and my relationship with my students? </p><p> Self-Study methodology was selected as a way to personally explore and examine my students understanding of provocative issues as well as my instruction. Grounded theory was utilized exclusively as a coding and analyzing device. To address these questions, thirteen student participants were selected for this study based on the criteria assumed by the questions. Data was collected from individual interviews, group interviews, student blog posts, and my own journal. </p><p> As the data was analyzed and coded, nuanced constructs of the students' thinking began to coalesce on three distinct perceptions of provocative issues which evolved into the findings of this study. The first finding involved students who advocated for the inclusion of provocative issues. Their rationales for this inclusion were; <i>Real World Phenomenon, Provocative for Grade Sake, Provocative for Interest Sake.</i> A second finding involved a student who opposed the inclusion of provocative issues. This student's rationales were labeled <i>Oppositional.</i> The first two findings were partnered with the six students' rationales. The third finding involved the other seven students who had a varying range of nuanced articulation, varied their opinion across time, or lacked a clear robust rationale. This finding was labeled developing rationales. These students' perspectives were labeled <i> other voices.</i> </p><p> In addition to the student data, journaling was utilized to explore my own rationale for using provocative issues within my world history classroom. These journals provided a space for reflection on my practice in regards to the teaching of provocative issues, thus addressing my third research question. The journals, like the other data sources, were coded using grounded theory as the main analytical device. Upon completion of the data analysis of my journals, themes began to emerge that progressed into findings. The self-study findings were categorized as; <i>The Closed Space of Sexuality, The Banality of Violence,</i> and <i>Anti-Americanism Linked to Racism to Foster Critical Thinking. </i> </p>

<p> Preparing students to become effective citizens in an increasingly interdependent world is one of today's most critical challenges. Effective global citizens need to be able to do more than imagine themselves in another's position, a common definition of perspective-taking. To bridge current divides of culture, religion, and nationality, they also must be willing to deeply question and sometimes revise their own prior beliefs and assumptions.</p><p> This study explored how interactions with diversity at a highly diverse and international community college impact students' capacity for perspective-changing. Through a hermeneutic inquiry, it brought community college students' voices into the scholarly conversation about the impact of campus diversity. Eighteen students from 11 countries participated in semi-structured interviews, discussing their pre-college experiences with diversity, their own definitions of diversity, critical incidents in their interactions with diversity, and the impacts of those interactions. </p><p> Several strands of scholarship informed this research. The first was the literature on perspective-taking particularly Piaget's original work as it was extended by Robert Selman and Jack Martin and his colleagues. Other core contributions included Jack Mezirow's theory of perspective transformation, Robert Kegan's work on self-authorship, and recent research on campus diversity conducted by educational researchers including Patricia Gurin, Sylvia Hurtado, Rona Halualani, and Victor Saenz. </p><p> Findings suggest that pre-college experiences shaped students' interactions with peers and the benefits they accrued. Almost all benefited from their interactions with diversity, but they benefited differentially. Work and family demands, limited English speaking ability, lack of prior experience with diversity, and deeply engrained cultural norms sometimes hindered their ability to engage with diverse peers and perspectives. </p><p> The analysis indicates that interactions with peers led to a range of outcomes including learning about and becoming more open to diversity, being able to engage with diversity, questioning and revising prior beliefs, and changing behaviors. A key finding was that engaging with diverse viewpoints did not occur informally, only in structured settings and almost always with the support of faculty or staff. Findings pointed to a need for more opportunities for engaging with diverse viewpoints, more targeted approaches, specific professional development for faculty and staff, and more research on community college campuses.</p>

<p> The term &ldquo;at risk&rdquo; is a label that is used to describe students who encompass a host of prominent socially and politically constructed titles that are intended to simplify student understanding and awareness and allow for clear reporting. The purpose of this study was to demythologize the concept of &ldquo;at risk&rdquo; by creating the conditions for student voice and critical dialogue to emerge, through the use of narrative inquiry. This research hoped to provide an outlet for young people to find and use their own voices, while finding their own place within their lived histories. The research also aimed to raise awareness of the reality of the contemporary U.S. educational system: we often create policies and programs without considering the perspectives of the young people whom these services are designed to serve. Through critical narrative inquiry, six former student's engaged in unstructured interviews and a focus group. Through analysis of the data set, five themes emerged and include 1) relationships with bicultural adults who understand, 2) instrumentalizing pedagogy, 3) the impact of money-driven policy, 4) the awareness of limitations of opportunities, and 5) the overall theme of the transparency of hegemony. This research hoped to problematize the label in an effort to move toward an emancipatory understanding of how we speak about young people and make sense of the circumstances these young people must navigate through their education and their world.</p>

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Instructional Systems Technology, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed on May 13, 2009). Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 69-08, Section: A, page: 3117. Adviser: James A. Pershing.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Rutgers University, 2008. / "Graduate Program in Education." Includes bibliographical references (p. 173-187).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-111). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 1998. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 106-111). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Indiana University, Dept. of Instructional Systems Technology of the School of Education, 2006. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 67-01, Section: A, page: 0066. Adviser: Thomas M. Schwen. "Title from dissertation home page (viewed Dec. 11, 2006)."