Browsing by Author "Reid, Louann, committee member"
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Item Open Access Complicating creativity: student insights into the production of a literary anthology(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2017) Moyer, Craig, author; O'Donnell-Allen, Cindy, advisor; Reid, Louann, committee member; Fahey, Patrick, committee memberThis study originated from my curiosity about the link between critical thinking and creativity and my desire to foster both in my high school visual art and English language arts students and classes. Using qualitative data--student interviews and field notes, and an examination of literature focused primarily on critical thinking and creativity--I attempt several things: 1. to understand and define how critical thinking and creativity interact or inform one another in practice; 2. to reconcile historical and contemporary models of creativity with my own observations, experiences, and student responses; and, 3. to identify and recommend classroom practices and approaches that best promote critical thinking and creativity in students across modes of literacy. I also propose, and ultimately challenge, a conceptual theory for promoting creativity. I refer to this concept as "metacreativity," which is an active process of considering the factors that affect the creative process during creative acts in order to "optimize" the process itself. As a teacher and faculty advisor for a high school literary and art magazine, I conducted classroom research via initial and exit interviews with three students in my Writing for Literary Publication class. I also maintained field notes from my observations of student discussions and their written evaluations of student writing and art pieces submitted to the magazine, as well as discussions with colleagues and mentors. Findings suggest that the curricular student-published literary anthology supports students' intellectual and creative growth in unique ways and offers tremendous opportunities for students to claim ownership of their learning. A review of the literature revealed numerous incongruities in the ways creativity is studied, understood, and defined, as well as the sophisticated yet often ambiguous nature of creative processes. I conclude that most historical models or paradigms for understanding creativity are inadequate and/or problematic for either understanding or fostering creative thinking. I contend that a much more holistic approach to both examining and promoting creativity is necessary. More research is needed, but ultimately, I argue that the curricular model employed in Writing for Literary Publication is one of the most effective ways to promote critical and creative thinking in students.Item Open Access Development and validation of the teacher writing to learn scale(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2014) Perkins, Mark, author; Gloeckner, Gene, advisor; De Miranda, Michael, committee member; Reid, Louann, committee member; Gibbons, Alyssa, committee memberDespite numerous efforts by educators and U.S. government agencies to improve the public education system, students continue to struggle with writing, mathematics, science and reading. Researchers and educators have employed a wide range of interventions, but proficiencies are still not at desired levels. One intervention that lacks empirical research is writing to learn (WTL). Social constructivist learning theory and cognitive learning theory of information processing provide an explanation as to why WTL promises to be an effective tool for improving content knowledge and writing skills. Further, the theoretical literature on WTL and the research on general writing mirror such theories of learning. However, despite over thirty years of theoretical and inductive research, little research examines the generalizability of WTL's effectiveness on writing and other content areas. Before measuring the effects of WTL on students, it is necessary to address teacher knowledge and efficacy of WTL. Therefore, the purpose of this proposed study is to develop an instrument to measure teacher knowledge and efficacy of WTL in the content areas of mathematics, science, social studies and language arts (which includes reading). Using the theories of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1977) and using the literature on effective teaching of writing, WTL and theories of learning. This study began with item development using the literature and teacher input. Next, experts were used to test content validity and appropriate item response. The result was a six factor model to be tested empirically. Internal consistency measures using alpha and omega, exploratory factor analysis and confirmatory factor analysis were used to check the response processes of the measure. The scale was correlated with other measures and differences tests were used to examine attributes of respondents. Results indicated problems with the first, second and last factors. The remaining two factors, perceived relevance of writing to the content and efficacy of teaching with writing showed the best fit indices, though future research is needed to refine them. The final two factors negatively correlated with writing apprehension, positively with teacher efficacy (with little explained variance) and positively correlated with number of years teaching. Difference tests indicate a strong difference between content areas of teachers on both factors and a small difference in efficacy to teach writing given gender. No differences were found between urban, rural and suburban teachers and none were found between middle school and high school teachers. This research adds to the body of work by developing a measure of teacher readiness to use WTL. However, future research is needed to refine the instrument to a usable state so that intervention research and staff development can use it.Item Open Access Gloss: an incomplete glossary(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2000) Lindsten, Scott, author; Gravdahl, John, advisor; Lundberg, Thomas R., committee member; Reid, Louann, committee member; Kwiatkowski, Ronald W., committee memberArtmaking at the end of the twentieth century became engulfed by theory. In the wake of such movements as poststructuralism, deconstructionism, and postmodernism, came a reexamination of aesthetics which incorporated an ever-broadening intellectual discourse. Many of these theories have their conception in the realm of linguistics, and language itself begins to exert its ascendency on other fields of study-indeed, on reality itself. This written accompaniment to my thesis art exhibit examines the complex, sometimes oppressive, sometimes sublime, nature of words and language and their effects on my approach to art.Item Open Access Multi-literacies in the 21st century and the role of the print-based text in public education(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2010) Dixon, Michael S., author; Coke, Pamela K., advisor; Mallette, Dawn M., committee member; Reid, Louann, committee memberThis study examines the appeal of print-based and multimodal-based texts in relation to the 21st century learner and in context of the modern secondary level public education classroom. A review of literature gives depth to the ways in which print-based and multimodal-based texts have established themselves within the institution of education as well as how each type of text relates to the fields of semiotic systems and technology. The aim of the study is to examine and measure the appeal of print-based and multimodal-based texts to the 21st century learner. To achieve this goal, two types of research provided results: a quantitative classroom study in which students engaged and interacted with a print-based assessment and a multimodal-based assessment and provided feedback via a survey, and a qualitative study in which educators provided their thoughts and opinions on the role of print-based and multimodal-based texts at the secondary level of education via an electronic questionnaire.Item Open Access Performativity in comics: representations of gender and sexuality in Alison Bechdel's Fun Home(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Vincent, Aimee E., author; Langstraat, Lisa, advisor; Reid, Louann, committee member; Dickinson, Greg, committee memberThis thesis examines the role of comics in rhetoric and composition studies. By examining Fun Home: A Family Tragicomic by Alison Bechdel, this thesis shows that comics employ specific forms of visual-verbal rhetoric that can be useful to developing visual-verbal literacies in rhetoric and composition instruction. This thesis also suggests that gender and sexuality are underexplored areas in comics studies and examines representations of gender and sexuality through three main lenses: Foucauldian feminism through theorists such as Sandra Bartky, performativity through Judith Butler's framework, and queer theory through theorists such as Ann Cvetkovich. In the conclusion, this thesis proposes that one use for comics, specifically Fun Home, in rhetoric and composition classrooms is as a way to introduce queer theory and queer pedagogy into a first-year composition class.Item Open Access Problematizing diversity in American education: language and curriculum as catalysts for change(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Huseman, Nathan Lee, author; Coke, Pamela K., advisor; Reid, Louann, committee member; Lucero, Rodrick S., committee memberDiversity in American education is problematic. The language that both defines and exemplifies diversity is unclear, which produces competing definitions of diversity. As a result, diversity in American education is constructed as a composite of differences between student groups, which include: race, class, language, socio-economic status, and [homo] sexuality. The language, then, promotes pacification with education in the form of sloganizing and tolerance. In addition, diversified curricular pursuits focus on further pacification in the form of recognition and hospitality. For these reasons, I argue that education must move away from diversity as a concept within education, and move toward an inclusive model of education. In order to do so, American education must look at constructing a model based on dialogue and equality, action and transformation. I further argue that language and curriculum are the catalysts for change, and offer possibilities for change within education related to each.Item Open Access Supporting student engagement and learning through the dialogic-inquiry activity of written conversations in an elementary classroom: an ethnographic case study(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2020) LaFond, Kitty, author; Jennings, Louise, advisor; Aragon, Antonette, committee member; Stevenson, Cerissa, committee member; Reid, Louann, committee memberThis study describes a fourth-grade elementary, general-education classroom located in a city in Colorado. The participating teacher was also the researcher in this study. She spent 10 weeks in field observation and data collection. The study was informed by two pilot studies, was based in the theoretical framework of constructivism, and an ethnographic methodology was utilized to describe the classroom environment. Analyses of the data were completed using the five parts of an ethnographic case study: (a) data managing, (b) coding and developing themes, (c) describing, (d) interpreting, and (d) representing. The research question for this study focused on examining how the dialogical inquiry activity of written conversations supports or constrains student engagement and the learning process. The findings from the study present evidence that the dialogical inquiry activity of written conversations played a supportive role in the interconnection between relationship building and the emotional, behavioral, and cognitive (EBC) constructs of student engagement and the learning process. The study found that relationships were the integrated factor that tie the three EBC engagement constructs together. Findings illustrate how written conversations support building a classroom community, helping the teacher see students through a relational lens, and building student-to-student relationships and teacher-to-student relationships. Written conversations were also an effective pedagogical tool in supporting the learning process. iii Findings illustrate how written conversations provided opportunities for engaging in a wide array of literacy practices through authentic writing activity. Multiple examples of students' written conversations demonstrate how student literacy practices grew more proficient through the written conversations over time. The findings also illustrate how teacher-researcher-devised assessment tools made visible a broad range of literacy skills that students developed and demonstrated through the practice of written conversations, addressing many learning standards that are less prevalent in other areas of the curriculum. Although there is much evidence in this study of how written conversations support relationships, student engagement, and the learning process, one constraint should be noted. Written conversations are a tool that facilitates dialogue; but if the teacher attends to only what the writing looks like and not what the student voice is saying, the result could be a decrease in student engagement. Additional constraints to the effective implementation of written conversations that relate to culturally responsive teaching practices are addressed. In summary, written conversations supported student engagement and the learning process because written conversations played a key role in building relationships within a community of learners. Written conversations supported relationship building, relationship building supported student engagement, and student engagement supported the learning process.Item Open Access The language of shame: exploring the relationship between vulnerability and flow in teachers' professional lives(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2021) Crowe-Stover, Kayla R., author; O'Donnell Allen, Cindy, advisor; Mallette, Dawn, committee member; Reid, Louann, committee memberSocial emotional intelligence (SEI) strategies and curricula have been developed for over a decade, but the impact of incorporating SEI into education has only recently begun to surface. The majority of research conducted incorporating SEI into the classroom focuses primarily on student impact, whereas, little to no research has been done on how these strategies can be incorporated into professional development and educator sustainability. This study looks specifically at how addressing the emotional complexities of shame and vulnerability, experienced within the teaching profession, is connected to whether or not educators can reach flow state within their classroom. By comparing secondary English teachers' experiences to those of teachers in other secondary disciplines through a survey, narrative journals, and focus group interviews, this study uses grounded theory to investigate how English teachers uniquely experience shame, vulnerability, and flow within their career. Implications from this study may help open up professional dialogue around shared experiences of shame and vulnerability in small teaching communities, as well as helping educators consider implementing strategies that encourage flow within classrooms.Item Open Access The stories of how two different student teaching models impacted teacher identity: six narratives of beginning teachers(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2023) Pike, Elizabeth, author; Sebald, Ann, advisor; Tschida, Christina, committee member; Jennings, Louise, committee member; Reid, Louann, committee memberThis study looks beyond the student teaching experience into the world of six beginning teachers and how their capstone experience impacted their thinking, practice, and professional identity. Three of the teachers participated in a coteaching during student teaching model (CTDST) and the other three participated in a traditional student teaching placement (TST). A collective case study research design was used to gain an understanding of the complex process of constructing a professional identity. Within-case analysis and between-case analysis found that although the six research participants shared budding teacher identities, growth mindsets, and courage, there were differences between the TST participants and the CTDST participants. The two groups differed in the accuracy of their assessment of their classroom management skills and in the timing and placement of the first time they recognized themselves as teachers. Moreover, the experiences of participants in effective CTDST placements supported previous research findings that extensive collaboration with mentor teachers was beneficial for beginning teachers and strengthened their teacher identity.Item Open Access "Wait, am I blogging?": an examination of school-sponsored online writing spaces(Colorado State University. Libraries, 2011) Hunt, Bud, author; O'Donnell-Allen, Cindy, advisor; Lucero, Rodrick, committee member; Reid, Louann, committee memberIn this study, I explore a school district's blogging engine, one that I helped to develop. Using both qualitative and quantitative methodology, I attempt to better understand how a school-sponsored online space might influence the type of writing occurring therein, while also trying to better understand how new tools like hyperlinks and commenting features on online text are changing student writing. I conclude that online writing looks a great deal like other classroom discourse, with teachers and students maintaining similar power and voice relationships in both spaces. More research is certainly needed, specifically around the role of these spaces in assessment and how feedback from teachers is incorporated by students into future work, but it seems that online writing spaces, at least in the school district studied, are quite similar to offline classroom composition spaces.Item Open Access When the bough breaks(Colorado State University. Libraries, 1997) Clarke, Amy Catherine, author; Lundberg, Thomas R., advisor; Reid, Louann, committee member; Coronel, Patricia D., committee member; Voss, Gary Wayne, committee memberTo view the abstract please see the full text of the document.