College of Education
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Item SOUTH KOREAN FAMILIES’ CONCEPTUALIZATIONS OF MUSEUM-BASED SCIENCE LEARNING(2020) Jeong, Hannoori; Elby, Andrew; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This exploratory research study examined how three South Korean families in theU.S. conceptualize museum-based science learning by exploring varied contexts in which they are embedded. In applying a sociocultural perspective, I investigated the families’ backgrounds, views of school and museum learning, in conjunction with their virtual museum tours to address my overarching research question: How do South Korean families in the U.S. conceptualize museum-based science learning? The purpose of this study is to understand how, or by what means, South Korean families’ conceptualizations about museum-based science learning are socially and culturally situated. In adhering to the guidelines of Yin’s (2018) suggestions to conduct multiple case research, I collected individual interviews prior to and following the families’ self-guided virtual museum tours, observations, self-reflections, and self-generated photographic images that captured their views of museum learning. Guided by the Contextual Model of Learning framework (Falk & Dierking, 2000), I used three analytic lenses to explore and analyze the data: personal context, sociocultural context, and physical context of learning. Through the use of narrative analysis, I reported within-case and cross-case findings across the three cases of families. In doing so, I first synthesized each family’s background setting, views of school and museum learning, and museum-based learning interactions to seek insights into how they shaped the family’s conceptualizations about museum-based science learning. Findings showed that the interweaving of each family’s varied contexts, namely personal, sociocultural, and physical, appeared to shape how they conceptualized museum-based science learning. Aspects of the families’ personal context—such as individual goals and beliefs—appeared to motivate their learning experience during the virtual museum tours mediated by sociocultural and physical contexts—such as within- group interactions and orientations to the physical space, respectively—that reinforced or shaped their conceptualizations of museum learning. Thus, in connection with prior literature, the families’ views of learning and authoring their sense of self that manifest their unique contexts may have spurred their conceptualizations of museum-based science learning. Broad implications of the study for museum education research, virtual museum learning, and future research related to informal science education are also discussed.Item A family affair: African immigrant families conceptualizing and navigating college choice(2014) George Mwangi, Chrystal Annunciata; Fries-Britt, Sharon L.; Cabrera, Alberto F.; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to understand the postsecondary aspirations, expectations, and access strategies of sub-Saharan African immigrant families in the United States. This study generates knowledge around how 1.5- and second-generation African immigrant college going students and their first-generation immigrant parents conceptualize and navigate the college choice process. The primary framework utilized for this study was Hossler and Gallagher's (1987) combined model of college choice, with funds of knowledge (Moll, Amanti, Neff & Gonzalez, 2005) and ecocultural theory (Weisner, 1997) serving as supplemental frameworks. Following an ethnographic multiple case design, four families (cases) from Nigeria and Kenya were recruited to participate. Data from demographic questionnaires, in-depth interviews, participant observations and participatory diagramming were used to identify how families conceptualize and navigate college choice. While Hossler and Gallagher's (1987) model was useful, findings reveal a much more rich and complex college choice process that reflects the development of a college-going culture. Therefore, this study presents a new frame for understanding the college choice process of the cases by using baobab trees as a metaphor to illustrate how the families in this study engaged in college choice as Baobab Families. Baobab Families engaged in college choice as a family process, which emphasizes the development of a college-going culture within the home and community. Although Baobab Families experienced challenges in navigating the U.S. educational system and the college choice process, they used a number of proactive strategies as well as familial and culturally based resources to socialize children into a college-going culture as well as to navigate the college choice process. These included college-going legacies, active home-based parental involvement, high academic expectations and pressure, the use of cultural and familial identity, and extended family/community networks. This study can contribute to emerging scholarship on African immigrants in higher education and push education research, practice and policy to keep pace with today's changing student demographics.Item An Instrument Development Study of Men's Planning for Career and Family: Contributions of Parental Attachment and Gender Role Conflict(2008-05-02) Mereish, Ethan H.; Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Karen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The present study first investigated the factor structure and assessed the psychometric properties of a scale that measures the degree to which future family responsibilities are considered by men when making career decisions. The study then examined the contributions of parental attachment and gender role conflict in predicting men's career and family planning. Participants included 205 college men. The findings suggested that two subscales comprise the measure: the Incorporating Future Family in Career Plans subscale (IFFCP; α = .80) and the Choosing a Career Independent of Future Family subscale (CCIFF; α = .80). Convergent validity was supported through a negative correlation among the IFFCP subscale and career aspirations. Discriminant validity was supported, in which the IFFCP subscale lacked a correlation and the CCIFF subscale had a low correlation with the career decision-making self-efficacy. Attachment to father positively predicted incorporating future family considerations in career planning, and gender role conflict in the success, power and competition domain positively predicted choosing a career independent of future family considerations.