Theses and Dissertations from UMD
Permanent URI for this communityhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/2
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a give thesis/dissertation in DRUM
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item A Sequential Mixed Methods Approach to Identifying and Understanding Indigenous Ways of Evaluating Physical Activity Programs(2015) Roberts, Erica Blue; Green, Kerry M; Public and Community Health; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Physical activity has been identified as a strategy for addressing the disproportionate prevalence of diabetes and obesity among American Indians/Alaska Natives (AI/AN). Despite the importance of evaluation to improve programs, there is a lack of evaluation among AI/AN physical activity programs. While the absence of evaluation broadly in Indian Country has been attributed to the disconnect between Western and Indigenous ways of knowing and the negative history of research among AI/ANs, barriers to and experiences with evaluation have not been explored in the context of physical activity. To address this gap, this dissertation used an exploratory sequential mixed methods design to explore AI/AN physical activity program evaluation. In-depth interviews were conducted with staff at AI/AN organizations conducting externally funded AI/AN physical activity programs (n=17), transcripts were thematically analyzed, and the findings were used to create and pilot test a survey designed to assess the prevalence of the qualitative findings among the target population. Through the interviews, the following themes emerged regarding barriers to evaluation: (1) measuring desired physical activity related constructs in ways that are scientifically and culturally sound is a challenge; (2) a lack of resources and support prevents AI/AN organizations from evaluating their physical activity programs; (3) collecting evaluation data is challenging due to the unique culture and experiences of AI/ANs and the context of physical activity programs; and (4) the lack of alignment between the evaluation requirements set by the external funding source and the evaluation desired by the AI/AN organization and community being served creates a barrier to meaningful evaluation. The following themes emerged explaining the perception of and interest in Indigenous evaluation: (1) Indigenous approaches to evaluating AI/AN physical activity programs are perceived as narrative and holistic; (2) Indigenous knowledge is used in AI/AN physical activity program decision-making but sometimes is not acknowledged as evaluation; and (3) there is not a universally desired way to evaluate AI/AN physical activity programs. Findings from this study contribute to the knowledge base of physical activity program evaluation in the context of AI/AN programming, and informs the practice of culturally responsive evaluation with AI/AN communities.Item A Quest to Prepare All English Language Teachers for Diverse Teaching Settings: If Not Us, Who? If Not Now, When?(2012) Selvi, Ali Fuad; Peercy, Megan Madigan; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Fueled by present-day globalization and influx of migration, the unprecedented global demand for English language necessitates the provision of high-quality education for English language learners across the world. This picture places English language teaching at the top of the educational agenda in both English-speaking and non-English-speaking countries. As a result of this critical prominence of the global English language teaching enterprise, the need for preparing all language teachers (teacher-learners coming from a range of ethnolinguistic, cultural, racial age, backgrounds with various past teaching, learning and educational experience) for diverse teaching settings in the U.S. and international contexts is more pivotal than ever. The current dissertation research sheds an important light on this need by adopting a TESOL teacher education department and its three MATESOL programs as a research context, and by providing a multifaceted exploration of how program components provide affordances and constraints in developing a knowledge base for ethnolinguistically diverse teacher-learners to work effectively with English language learners in diverse teaching contexts. The current research project is a holistic descriptive case study utilizing quantitative and qualitative analyses to explore the perceptions of (a) an ethnolinguistically diverse group of teacher-learners who were enrolled in, (b) an ethnolinguistically diverse alumni who graduated from, and (c) instructional faculty teaching in three MATESOL teacher education programs housed in a large, research-intensive university located in a bustling metropolitan area in the mid-Atlantic United States. The data collection sources included questionnaires, a series of semi-structured, in-depth interviews, classroom observations, and programmatic documents. The current study primarily draws upon sociocultural perspectives and more specifically utilizes Activity Theory as an analytical organizing framework to examine the complex interrelations among the participants, and to identify existing institutionalized tensions and contradictions among systemic components in the activity system under scrutiny. Activity Theory has proven to be a useful tool to capture the complexity of this teacher-learning context, and gain insights into the personal, pedagogical, and institutional affordances and constraints embedded in the activity system. Activity theoretical analysis of individual and programmatic efforts towards preparing teachers for diverse teaching settings in the U.S. and international contexts brought together three interrelated results that highlight an increased need for (1) diversification and dynamic re-orchestration of programmatic efforts, (2) reimagining distributed agency, and (3) developing practicum alternatives. The study concludes with the urgency of embracing the critical need, role and importance of English language teacher education, re-examining the current efforts in our quest to prepare all teachers for diverse teaching settings. The study closes by providing a series of recommendations for diversifying teacher education practices and developing a shared accountability in teacher preparation for diverse teaching settings and contexts.