<p> Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) experience impairment in social cognition, which contributes to a variety of challenges for individuals with ASD, including elevated risks of loneliness, depression and anxiety. For this reason, various interventions have been developed to improve social ability in ASD populations. However, many existing interventions lack strong research support, or are inaccessible to many individuals with ASD due to high financial cost. Therefore, a need exists for affordable, effective psychosocial interventions for ASD that are widely accessible. One potential intervention is improvisational theater training (improv). Improv training for youth and young adults with ASD is already provided at multiple theaters across the US, and the current study collected information on one such program, measuring change in participant ratings of social ability, depression, anxiety, loneliness, and growth mindset as a result of participation. Participants reported a significant reduction in their perceptions of nervousness and being left out after completing the improv theater training, suggesting that improv theater decreases nervousness and feelings of exclusion among individuals with ASD. Participants also reported a significant increase in their perception of lacking companionship, suggesting that improv theater increases participant desire for companionship among individuals with ASD. Reliable Change Index analysis suggests that younger participants, male participants, and participants with greater social impairment were more likely to evidence reliable change as a result of improv theater training. Finally, positive correlations were found between social impairment and ratings of depression and loneliness and negative correlations were found between growth mindset and ratings of depression and loneliness. These findings provide preliminary evidence that suggests improvisational theater may be an effective intervention for reducing anxiety and nervousness among individuals with ASD.</p><p>

Student stories are a potentially rich natural resource running through the veins of our schools, but this resource sometimes goes untapped. One strategy teachers can use to take advantage of this resource is to formally introduce oral storytelling into the classroom--to explicitly teach students how to choose and craft stories from their lives and then allow them to publicly perform those stories. The Story Shop Community Education Program (a pseudonym) in New York City is a non-profit devoted to bringing the art and craft of oral storytelling to populations that might not otherwise have access to it through series of free workshops. This research project took place over sixteen weeks of one such workshop at a Title I public high school in East New York, Brooklyn. It addresses the following question: How does an oral storytelling unit affect both individual students and their classroom relationships? More specifically, (1) How do individual students engage with an oral storytelling unit? (2) What is the perceived impact of an oral storytelling unit on classroom relationships? (3) How do students perceive the impact of an oral storytelling unit both on their understanding of themselves as individuals and on their relationships with each other? and (4) How does the teacher perceive the impact of an oral storytelling unit on her individual students and her classroom relationships? Drawing on an interpretivist/social network approach and grounded in the tenets of narrative qualitative research, this project utilizes mixed methods to investigate whether an oral storytelling unit provided students with opportunities for growth in identity development and deepening of their classroom relationships. This investigation documents how granting students the time and space to bear witness to each other's lives and `go public' with stories that could otherwise go unheard might improve classroom community and therefore student motivation.

The 1970s are widely considered the decade of performance, with both the formulation of the term “performance” and fierce debates about its precise definition. Championing this novel genre, critics and artists sought to distinguish performance from the conventions of theater and the prescriptions of commercial entertainment. In the definition that has since dominated art history, performance implied the exclusion of narrative, script, artifice, and theatricality. However, this understanding of performance relies on a caricature of the genre that excludes much of the work made in downtown New York City in the 70s: performance’s constitutive moment. Drawing on original archival research, the dissertation is a critical study of this important but heretofore neglected history. Structured around case studies of pivotal works by Laurie Anderson, Julia Heyward, and Jill Kroesen, pioneering figures in the downtown milieu, the project considers how artists melded narrative forms, theatrical devices, and charismatic onstage personae with biting social critique. Often challenging television, rock music, and advanced art alike, the performances at hand exemplify the period’s complicated matrix of “selling out” and “crossing over,” adding new dimensions to a longstanding conversation about the relationship between the avant-garde and mass culture. Rather than a total denial or negation of the elements of theater, as has often been proposed, “performance” I argue, emerges in the 1970s, in a complex dialectical relation with theater’s elements (while often nonetheless rhetorically distancing itself from theater tout court). “Performance” as a genre, I argue, emerged in the 70s as something to be fundamentally staged.

Las artes escénicas, forman parte de la vida y el desarrollo del ser humano, a lo largo del tiempo este ha ido evolucionando, creando diferentes espacios y técnicas que le permitan mejorar la expresión del arte para así poder acceder mejor al público. En el Perú, las artes escénicas se han ido desarrollando con mayor fuerza durante estos años, sin embargo, existen muchas carencias en los espacios, y las edificaciones dificultando así una adecuada preparación del artista y a su vez la difusión del arte. Con este proyecto se busca crear artistas íntegros, que no solo conozcan de una especialidad, Danza, música o teatro, sino que tengan conocimientos de las otras disciplinas con el fin de que tengan una mejor formación profesional, y mejores oportunidades laborales, a su vez se busca que el arte llegue a más usuarios de diferentes clases socioeconómicas difundiendo así la cultura y el arte para que esta pueda ser mejor valorada y reconocida. / The performing arts are part of the life and development of the human being, over time it has evolved, creating different spaces and techniques that allow it to improve the expression of art in order to better access to public. In Peru, the performing arts have been developing with greater force during these years, however, there are many gaps in the spaces, and the buildings thus hindering an adequate preparation of the artist and in turn the dissemination of art. This project seeks to create completed artist who not only know a specialty, dance, music or theater, but have knowledge of the professional training, and a better job opportunities in turn it is sought that art reaches more users off different socio – economic classes thus spreading culture and art so that it can be better valued and recognized. / Trabajo de suficiencia profesional

Approximately 12% of students at the study middle school failed to reach proficient levels on state assessments in mathematics from 2010-2012. Poor performance on assessments can limit future mathematical trajectories and opportunities for students. One of the causes for failing to meet proficient levels on mathematics assessments could be the inconsistent use of teaching practices targeted at supporting lower achieving students; according to such reasoning, a consistent use of research-supported practices could result in improved student performance. Kolb's experiential learning theory, Vygotsky's social development theory, and Maslow's motivation theory provided a framework for this case study. Interviews and observational data were used to ascertain 5 teachers' perceptions concerning instruction for students who fail to reach proficient levels on state assessments. Research questions examined teachers' perceptions regarding implementing best instructional practices and regarding number sense, computational, problem-solving, working memory, and self-efficacy needs of lower level basic skills students. Data from 10 teacher interviews and 15 observations were analyzed using typological coding and thematic analysis. Results indicated that teachers perceived that homogenous groupings prevented teachers from meeting needs of students scoring below the proficient level and from using research-based strategies. The resulting position paper outlines the recommendation to de-track mathematics classrooms into heterogeneous groupings. Study results can be used to help provide teachers with research-based strategies targeted toward improving instruction for basic skills students.

With the trend of globalization, the Creative industry has become a useful tool to compete in the global market. Fine performing art is definitely included, and dance artists play an important role in this field. A successful individual brand can prosper the dance industry and help dance artists stand out in fierce competition, even in the future when the agency system has a mature market mechanism. The researcher strives to delve into the necessities for the individual brand-building of dance performance artists, and further draws up ¡§The Framework of Individual Brand-building of Dance Performance Artists¡¨ based on Aaker¡¦s ¡§Brand Identity Planning Model,¡¨ McNally & Speak¡¦s ¡§The Inner and Outer Facet of Individual Brand¡¨ and Kaputa¡¦s ¡§Key Elements of Celebrity Brand-building,¡¨ in order to concoct suitable strategies. The research applies literature review, case study and interview techniques to collect niches and factors for the initial strategy framework. Furthermore, the way of evaluation applies Modified Delphi method with an aim to re-fortify reliability, validity and objectivity of the study. Finally, totally 4 main strategies and 14 secondary strategies are presented in the research result. The main strategies are as follows: (1) Analyze the artist personality, work image and the style of body expression, in order to grasp strength and overcome weakness in the process of building individual brands. (2) Build individual brand identity through unique choreography style and consistent characteristic; meanwhile, increase brand awareness through award acquisition. (3) Actively promote differential personal traits to strengthen image competitiveness. (4) Expand the global market and, with perceived quality, maintain long-term brand loyalty among customers; furthermore, achieve more benefits with the individual brand.

The internet marketing is a common tool for performing arts administrators to use today. However, there are still many things to improve since the environment, technologies and internet resources are changing quickly. To comprehend the variations and problems of internet marketing that performing arts companies may face in the future, the researcher studies the network environment, communication and its applications. The purposes of this study include understanding how performance companies utilize internet marketing, blog marketing and their influences. The primary cases of this thesis were selected from the lists of 2002-2006 ¡§The Support Plan for the Development of Performing Arts Groups¡¨ of The Council for Cultural Affairs. The data was collected through observations and in-depth interviews. This study shows that the most beneficial outcomes of internet marketing are ¡§brand management¡¨ and ¡§market expansion.¡¨ In the present circumstance, shortage of manpower and budget, search for external resources, and development of customers are still the major problems in performing arts marketing. On the other hand, by using blog marketing can greatly improve the performance companies¡¦ ¡§brand image,¡¨ ¡§media exposure,¡¨ and ¡§customer communication.¡¨ Most of study cases consider that the benefits of blog marketing are accumulated from many internet marketing tools. It is impossible to evaluate single factor of blog. Furthermore, the investment on blog marketing are limited, thus only a few cases can develop special promotion plans through blog marketing. Without certain statistic approval, most of performance companies can only adjust their blog marketing strategies by doing. This study suggests that performing arts companies should take advantage of the cyber communities. They can let audience share the internet space by offering them chances to participation openly. Secondly, they can combine with virtual or physical events to create viral and word-of-mouth marketing effects, and to expand the segmental community promotion through internet opinion leaders. Thirdly, the companies can use ¡§keyword search engine¡¨ and ¡§differential marketing¡¨ to create diversities among performing arts blogs. The study also makes four suggestions for blog service providers: customization threshold, cluster effect, performing arts blog portal, and sponsorship, and hope to encourage the cooperation between them and the performing arts groups.

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Since there are no limits on the number of non-performing asset management companies imposed by the Financial Firms Merger and Acquisition Act of 2000, total numbers of such companies has been increasing in resent years. Under the circumstances of keen competition and shrinking market, non-performing asset management companies are facing enormous challenges. For this study, experts were interviewed and literatures were reviewed, resulting in a key factor structure of Taiwan¡¦s non-performing asset management companies. Quantified data are gathered and analyzed via questionnaires and AHP methods, and the most important key factors applicable for Taiwan¡¦s non-performing asset management companies are derived. To the large-scale AMCs, the most important key factors are: impact from the overall economic or real estate market condition, assisting corporations in restructuring, employees¡¦ past job experiences, and the accurate estimation for investment return. To the medium-scale AMCs, the most important key factors are: employees¡¦ past job experiences, and bidding in conjunction with large-scale AMCs or foreign capital. To the small-scale AMCs, the most important key factor is the overall economic or real estate market condition.

Thesis (M.A.)--York University, 2000. Graduate Programme in Musicolgy and Ethnomusicology. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 143-157). Also available on the Internet. MODE OF ACCESS via web browser by entering the following URL: http://wwwlib.umi.com/cr/yorku/fullcit?pMQ56180.