EDUCATIONAL IDEALS VS. ARCHITECTURAL EXPRESSION: THE GENESIS OF BUILDING EXCELLENCE Brenda Sisco Vaughan, Ph.D. The University of Texas at Austin, 2011 Supervisor: William F. Lasher How education is articulated, understood or comprehended, in the vocabulary (i.e. the expressive techniques or devices) of architecture provokes a certain fascination and intrigue for those interested in methods of pedagogy and cognition at institutions of higher education. This research entered the discussion about architectural expression in the university setting with a focus on the educational aspects in the programming, planning, and design of new buildings on campus. Educational ideals refer to concepts of perfection or models of excellence at institutions of higher education. Architectural expression refers to design or the determination of form which includes every aspect of every quality of a building (size, shape, materials, texture, color, ornamentation, etc.), while supporting the function and intended use of the building. This research examined the processes by which educational ideals translate into architectural expression. Analyses of the processes or systems used in planning and designing new buildings provided data to understand influences on the system. Qualitative data were analyzed in this study from a systems point of view utilizing Interactive Qualitative Analysis, IQA methodology. Following IQA protocol, the problem of how educational ideals translate into architectural expression produced and named the factors (affinities) influencing the processes on university campuses; identified relationships between these factors in cause-and-effect terms; provided the forum to compare and contrast similarities and differences in the systems; and identified similarities and differences in the processes utilized in planning and designing new buildings at private vs. public institutions. In this study, focus groups of higher education administrators and professional architects explored the case study of The University of Texas at Austin. After the data were analyzed, a theoretical model was produced to explore the case study of Rice University. Research synthesis provides information, guidance, and recommendations for educational administrators and professional architects in leadership and decision-making roles guiding the direction of new building projects on campuses. / text

South Asian Americans are one of the fastest growing sub-groups within the Asian American population in the United States today. Between 1960 and 1990, the South Asian American population witnessed an increase of approximately 900% (Leonard, 1997). This increase in population also corresponds with the increase in South Asian American students enrolling in institutions of higher education. However, despite their physical visibility on college and university campuses across the nation, South Asian American students remain invisible in higher education research. Student affairs practitioners have a limited understanding of the unique needs and issues confronted by South Asian American college students. This qualitative study addressed the paucity of research on South Asian American college students by specifically exploring the college experiences of South Asian American women. In particular, the study examined the central intergenerational issues between first-generation South Asian mothers who immigrated to the United States as adults and second-generation South Asian American daughters who are currently enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin. Secondly, it investigated the impact of these intergenerational issues on the identity development and overall college experiences of second-generation South Asian American female college students. Using a postcolonial, critical feminist framework, this study attempted to dismantle the one-dimensional, dominant narrative of South Asian Americans as the successful, high-achieving, model minority and present instead the multi-layered and complex narratives of these participants. Key findings indicated that the intergenerational issues between mothers and daughters were complex with both negative and positive impacts on the mother-daughter relationships, identity development, and the overall college experiences of the daughters. The transmission of culture and cultural values were primary ways in which mothers affected the identity development of their daughters. South Asian American peers and social networks were another significant source of identity development for the students. Additionally, narratives of both mothers and daughters revealed that the impact of the model minority image on women was qualitatively different than men where women had to often strive to fulfill simultaneous expectations of being a successful student and professional as well as conforming to the standards of being the model traditional South Asian wife and mother. / text

This thesis document details the theoretical and practical implications of using theatrical techniques and drama-based instruction in the visual art museum setting. Presented are four diverse museum theatre programs created and implemented at The Blanton Museum of Art at the University of Texas at Austin. These programs support the argument that drama-based instruction and theatrical techniques can help deepen and/or complicate the notion of visitor engagement in a visual art museum. The theoretical underpinnings of museum theatre are investigated by examining elements of applied theatre and museum learning and the progressive education theory which shapes their practice. The belief is put forth that creative participation in museum education is essential for personal and critical connection with visual art. Theatre is a dynamic and powerful tool to support this creative participation. Findings include recommendations for utilizing museum theatre programming implemented by an applied theatre practitioner as it promotes the use of critical thinking and problem-solving skills, engages the senses, and stimulates meaningful dialogue. / text

The Community and Regional Planning program of the University of Texas at Austin, School of Architecture (UTSOA-CRP) has made course-integrated community-based project work (CCPW) a key - if not a requisite, component of its classroom-based teaching and planning instruction. Often referred to as academic service-learning, the pedagogy of incorporating community-based project work with classroom instruction is recognized to have significant benefits for college students, faculty members, institutions, and communities. More specifically, this teaching approach is understood to have substantial advantages in planning instruction. This professional report attempts to offer recommendations towards addressing the question of how a CCPW, or academic service-learning, approach to planning instruction can best be sustained and/or enhanced by the UTSOA-CRP program. Ideally, this report will add to the growing body of literature and research related to academic service-learning in planning instruction, while offering the CRP program useful tools and resources to consider in program design, implementation, evaluation, and planning. / text

Although much has been written about the challenges affecting transfer students, a mixed method study on transfer admission, particularly at the institutional level is an intriguing, albeit unexplored endeavor. In Texas, there is an added dimension of interest given the presence and popularity of the Top 10% Law. This study sought to provide a comprehensive portrait of transfer admission at The University of Texas at Austin from the 1990s to 2007. A sequential explanatory design was employed to identify changes in transfer admission policy and practice and to address if there were differences in admission rates among the major transfer pathways to the state’s largest flagship institution (Creswell, Plano Clark, Gutmann, & Hanson, 2003). Two main conclusions emerged from this study. First, transfer admission became more competitive and selective after the passage of the state’s Top 10% Law in 1997. Second, qualitative and quantitative findings suggested the implementation of a conditional transfer guarantee program for highly selective freshman applicants resulted in significantly less opportunity for transfer applicants from community colleges and other transfer routes to be admitted. Based on these findings, recommendations included reinvesting in a community college transfer student recruitment and scholarship program and significantly reducing the size of the university’s conditional transfer guarantee program for admissible freshmen applicants. A final suggestion was to identify and value the community college route in the holistic transfer admission process given the large proportion of first-generation college, low-income students who comprise this population. To avoid perceptions of sponsored mobility and to promote a social justice rationale, a pre-selection transfer program to prospective freshmen should be revisited given the adverse effects on the community college transfer population. With over 600,000 students enrolled in Texas 2-year colleges, a viable pathway to the state’s most prestigious flagship university provides increased opportunities for social mobility to the many competitively admissible first-generation and low-income students populating public 2-year colleges and seeking a baccalaureate degree from UT Austin. / text

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Heavy oil production depends on the understanding of mechanical and flow properties of unconsolidated or weakly consolidated sands under different loading paths and boundary conditions. Reconstituted bitumen-free Athabasca oil-sands samples were used to investigate the geomechanics of a steam injection process such as the Steam Assisted Gravity Drainage (SAGD). Four stress paths have been studied in this work: triaxial compression, radial extension, pore pressure increase and isotropic compression. Absolute permeability, end-point relative permeability to oil & water (kro and krw), initial water saturation and residual oil saturation were measured while the samples deformed. Triaxial compression is a stress path of increasing mean stress while radial extension and pore pressure increase lead to decreasing mean stress. Pore pressure increase experiments were carried out for three initial states: equal axial and confining stresses, axial stress greater than confining stress and confining stress greater than axial stress. Pore pressure was increased under four boundary conditions: 1) constant axial and confining stress; 2) constant axial stress and zero radial strain; 3) zero axial strain and constant confining stress; and 4) zero axial and radial strain. These experiments were designed to mimic geologic conditions where vertical stress was either S1 or S3, the lateral boundary conditions were either zero strain or constant stress, and the vertical boundary conditions were either zero strain or constant stress. Triaxial compression caused a decrease in permeability as the sample compacted, followed by appreciable permeability enhancement during sample dilation. Radial extension led to sample dilation, shear failure and permeability increase from the beginning. The krw and kro increased by 40% and 15% post-compaction respectively for the samples corresponding to lower depths during triaxial compression. For these samples, residual oil saturation decreased by as much as 40%. For radial extension, the permeability enhancement decreased with depth and ranged from 20% to 50% while the residual oil saturation decreased by up to 55%. For both stress paths, more shear-enhanced permeability was observed for samples tested at lower pressures, implying that permeability enhancement is higher for shallower sands. The pore pressure increase experiments showed an increase of only 0-10% in absolute permeability except when the effective stress became close to zero. This could possibly have occurred due to steady state flow not being reached during absolute permeability measurement. The krw curves generally increased as the pore pressure was increased from 0 psi. The increase ranged from 5% to 44% for the different boundary conditions and differential stresses. The kro curves also showed an increasing trend for most of the cases. The residual oil saturation decreased by 40-60% for samples corresponding to shallow depths while it increased by 0-10% for samples corresponding to greater depths. The reservoirs with high differential stress are more conducive to favorable changes in permeability and residual oil saturation. These results suggested that a decreasing mean stress path is more beneficial for production increase than an increasing mean stress path. The unconsolidated sands are over-consolidated because of previous ice loading which makes the sand matrix stiffer. In this work, it was found that over-consolidation, as expected, decreased the porosity and permeability (40-50%) and increased the Young’s and bulk moduli of the sand. The result is sand which failed at higher than expected stress during triaxial compression. Overall, results show that lab experiments support increased permeability due to steam injection operations in heavy oil, and more importantly, the observed reduction in residual oil saturation implies SAGD induced deformation should improve recovery factors. / text