The purpose of this study was to determine if a summer camp utilizing academic and behavioral remediation programming could increase the academic achievement of children with autism spectrum disorders. Academic achievement was measured using the Wide Range Achievement Test-Fourth Edition (WRAT4; Wilkinson & Robertson, 2006) and an Informal Reading Inventory (IRI; Burns & Roe, 2002) in a sample of 21 children ranging from 6 years, 0 months to 13 years, 1 month prior to and after attending a summer camp for children with autism around a Midwestern city. Repeated measures MANOVAs were used to analyze WRAT4 and IRI assessment results. MANOVA results indicated there were no significant changes on any of the tests of the WRAT4 over time after a Bonferroni correction. MANOVA results further indicated there was no interaction between gender and time. A nonparametric sign test also was conducted to examine changes in the WRAT4 tests. Results of the nonparametric sign test did not reveal significant changes in the WRAT4 tests; however, the Sentence Comprehension test did approach significance. Although participants did not make statistical gains on the WRAT4, they also did not demonstrate a decline in academic skills as measured by the WRAT4. Participants demonstrated less consistent results on the word lists of the IRI as well as the passage comprehension component of the IRI. The number of children who declined or improved on the IRI overtime appeared to be random. A qualitative analysis of four participants selected based on age and gender did not reveal any hypotheses for the differences in performance on the IRI over time. Suggestions for future research include replicating the study with a larger sample, children with multicultural backgrounds, and controlling for the cognitive abilities of the participants. / Department of Educational Psychology

The claim that mentorships are particularly appropriate and in some ways unique educational experiences for high ability students was empirically tested. Students who had and had not taken part in a gifted, creative, or enrichment program (n = 39) completed a questionnaire that consisted of scenarios and statements addressing mentees' vocational and psychosocial needs. Of particular interest were the factor analyses generated from students' responses to the direct statements. As predicted, the high ability group preferred mentorships addressing psychosocial needs to those addressing vocational ones. All five psychosocial items loaded on factor 1, while nine of the 11 vocational items loaded on factor 2. For students who had not participated in a program for high ability pupils, a combination of vocational and psychosocial items loaded on factors 1 and 2. This suggested that these students shared a more general preference for mentoring relationships regardless of whether they addressed vocational or psychosocial needs.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 1989. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [311]-327).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Toronto, 2005. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 264-276).

Thesis (PhD) -- School of Education and Innovation, Central Queensland University, 2005. / Title from opening screen ; viewed 1 June 2006. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 351-367). Also available in print format.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Wisconsin--Madison, 1970. / eContent provider-neutral record in process. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (D.Min.)--Liberty University, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.S.)--The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, 2009. / Directed by Lauren Haldeman; submitted to the Dept. of Nutrition. Title from PDF t.p. (viewed May 14, 2010). Includes bibliographical references (p. 48-50).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2000. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references: (p. 329-345). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

The research reported in this thesis explores children’s perceptions of beauty. It investigates how children reflect upon and articulate their perceptions of beauty and examines how these perceptions relate to philosophical thinking about aesthetic experience. For the past 100 years, beauty has been marginalised in art and education and it is widely regarded as a problematic notion in a range of social and cultural contexts. Art educators have often portrayed beauty as a peripheral concern, and those who have studied children’s responses to artworks have tended to characterise their references to beauty as evidence of passive appreciation and a relatively low level of aesthetic development. In recent years there has been growing evidence of a revival of interest in beauty as a theme for reflection; however, to my knowledge, this is the first study to specifically research children’s perceptions of beauty. The theoretical part of the study examined two fields of literature, in terms of (i) art educators’ strategies for engaging children with art and (ii) philosophical theories of aesthetic experience. These sources influenced the design of the empirical part of the study, which consisted of 18 group interviews with 51 children aged 9-11 in two schools, one in inner London and the other in a rural village 40 miles from the capital. Before the interviews children completed two tasks independently in which they found and photographed images they thought were beautiful. Therefore there were two kinds of research data: (i) the images children found and photographed and (ii) the interview transcripts. A content analysis approach informed the interpretation of the images, while a number of themes that emerged from the interview data were identified and discussed in the context of the literature. The research findings indicated that children have diverse perceptions of beauty and that they are interested in a range of visual properties and expressive qualities of images. Children in one school tended to find beauty in images that reflected relationships, while those in the other judged the subjective nature of such images to be problematic. Children in the rural area often photographed landscapes, flowers and animals, suggesting their direct connection with nature influences their perception of it as beautiful. Those in London also found beauty in the natural world but preferred stylised, digitally generated representations of nature designed to appeal to the viewer. During the interviews children were often highly motivated to articulate their responses to beauty, and many reflected thoughtfully on their own and others’ images. Evidence suggests that children experience beauty in a wide range of contexts and that they variously understand it as an intersubjectively valid, shareable experience or, alternatively, as an individual experience. Several talked about beauty in ways that related to notions well-rehearsed in aesthetic theory while others, though less able to conceive or articulate such ideas, were nonetheless receptive to them when they heard them expressed. Photography played an important part in the research, and the findings suggest the medium has the potential to play a far more prominent role in art education as a means of expression. When combined with group interviews, photography can also be a highly effective method of understanding children’s perspectives on their experiences, and the study offers a useful model for researchers and educators to develop further. The research makes several contributions to knowledge. Firstly, it demonstrates that children’s experiences of beauty are often valuable and meaningful to them. Secondly, it provides evidence that children are motivated to explain their ideas about beauty and to engage with the ideas of others. Thirdly, it challenges previous assumptions in terms of both children’s aesthetic development and aesthetic preferences by highlighting the diversity and complexity of children’s perceptions of beauty.