Proceedings
Negotiating femininity: Paying attention to sorority leisure spaces.
Current research on sorority women tends to homogenize the experience of sorority women, simplifying their existence down to the understanding of specific behaviors such as binge drinking and sexuality. However, in order to have a better understanding of the complicated negotiations of gender that are both accommodated, challenged, and created by these woman we need to consider the leisure contexts within which these behaviors take place and how such contexts enable or disable certain behaviors based on specific discourses of power and knowledge. This presentation will discuss the need for leisure studies to critically explore sorority leisure spaces in order to expose sorority women's behaviors in relation to legacies of power and knowledge, particularly as that power and knowledge constructs the gendered subject of 'woman'.
Lisbeth A. Berbary is a doctoral candidate in the program of Recreation and Leisure Studies. Her interests include post-structural feminist theory, gendered subjectivities, qualitative methodology, and leisure studies. She can be contacted by e-mail at lberbary@uga.edu
Teachers' beliefs and belief change: What do we know now?
Research concerning beliefs with respect to teacher education has become increasingly popular over the last few decades as it provides insight into the mental lives of teachers and illuminates the intimate relationship between teachers' beliefs about teaching and learning, and their approaches to instruction. Beliefs are thought to be stable and highly resistant to change and so, much of the research has been done in the area of belief change in relation to pre-service and in-service teachers, proposing several models to explain this phenomenon. This presentation begins by providing a brief overview of the literature related to beliefs, including definitions of beliefs and a description of how they are conceptualized from both a psychological and philosophical perspective. An overview of the history of the study of beliefs for the past 35 years will also be provided, beginning with Perry's (1970) pioneering work on epistemological beliefs and covering the research to present. Additionally, the presentation will show the progression of research associated with the epistemological development of beliefs and outline how these theories serve as the foundation for a discussion of belief change as it relates to domain-specific beliefs. It concludes with an overview of some of the past and current models that have been proposed to address the issue of belief change.
Dionne I. Cross is a doctoral candidate in the department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology. Her research interests include examining the individual and social factors that influence learning and how teachers' beliefs about student learning influence their pedagogical decisions.
Towards an era of mergers, acquisitions and buyouts in higher education: Strategy or tragedy?
Today's collaborative efforts in higher education (HE) differ from the past in that collaboration has become necessary for the survival of many providers of education. Mergers and acquisitions are at the extreme end of the continuum of today's collaborative efforts in higher education and the educational training market. Mergers and acquisitions are occurring locally, nationally and internationally and frequently between various profit and non-profit providers. Many providers would find it necessary to close or discontinue their programs if these options were not available. However, mergers are not devoid of problems, and do not always produce the 'expected' strategic outcomes of increased economies-of-scale and scope. This paper highlights the 'rope effects' of the merger and acquisition phenomenon and its resulting impact on higher education. Altheide's (1996) qualitative media analysis theory is the framework used in the design and analysis of this literature review study. Implication for practice and future research is also addressed.
Sandria Stephenson is a Ph.D. student at the University of Georgia's Lifelong Learning, Administration, and Policy department. She is currently a professor of accounting at Kennesaw State University with several years of experience in business. She has also presented at various conferences on various topics and is a volunteer instructor and mentor with several community programs.
Guidelines for Conducting High-Quality Mixed-Methods Research
In the last decade, mixed-methods research has emerged as a distinct methodology. As a result, graduate students are increasingly interested in learning how to combine quantitative and qualitative methods in a single study. Because faculty mentors have typically specialized in either quantitative or qualitative methods, they may lack experience in conducting mixed-methods research and feel ill-equipped to guide students' mixed-methods endeavors. However, qualitative researchers in particular have begun to embrace mixed-methods out of their desire to preserve the integrity and epistemological tenets of qualitative inquiry. At UGA, QUAL faculty members have expressed interest in having guidelines for ensuring the quality of mixed-methods dissertations completed as part of the Interdisciplinary Qualitative Studies Graduate Certificate Program. This paper, therefore, summarizes the literature on how to conduct and produce high-quality mixed-methods research and suggests criteria for assessment. Specifically, the paper details core elements of mixed-methods research proposals including study design and procedures, explicit rationale for data mixing, and standard notation for data prioritization, sequencing, and integration. Features and challenges of various designs are also discussed. The intended audience for this paper and presentation are graduate students contemplating or conducting mixed-methods research and faculty members who advise them.
Rebecca Glover Kudon is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior in UGA's College of Public Health. Her research interests include cancer risk perception, cancer worry, and cancer screening among persons with ambiguous biological family medical history. She is currently planning a mixed-methods research study for her dissertation entitled When Family History is a Mystery: How Adult Adoptees Cope with Ambiguous Risk for Breast Cancer.
African American Women's Increased risk for HIV transmission
Despite representing 13% of the population, African Americans now represent nearly half of all newly reported AIDS cases in the US and continue to be the highest racial and ethnic group with the highest population rates of reported AIDS cases (Fitzpatrick et al., 2004; CDC, 2005a). Surveillance data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that in 2001, the annual AIDS case rate per 100,000 persons for Black men (111.5) were 8 times than that for White men (13.7) and more than twice the rate for Black women (49.7), which was itself nearly 23 times that for White women (2.2) (Fitzpatrick et al. 2004; CDC, 2005a). Among Black men in the US, men having sex with men, or MSM, represents the predominate mode of HIV exposure followed by injection drug use and heterosexual contact (CDC, 2005b). For Black women, heterosexual contact is considered the predominant exposure risk followed by injection drug use (Fitzpatrick et al. 2004; CDC, 2005b). In fact, 34% of African American women living with AIDS have been infected through heterosexual contact (Foreman, 2003). HIV among women, especially African American women, is steadily increasing and heterosexual transmission has become a growing concern (Foreman, 2003). Although Black women represent only 12% of the female population in the US, they account for 68% of reported HIV/AIDS cases for all women (Bowleg, 2004; CDC 2005b). In 2002, 26% of reported AIDS cases and approximately % of newly reported HIV infections were in women. The objective of the presentation is to describe theoretical frameworks used to explain behavioral change related to condom use. The presentation will also provide a brief literature review and illustrate a possible correlation between heterosexual African American male's attitudes about safer sex practices and African American women's HIV transmission rates.
Kimberly Parker is a PhD candidate in the College of Public Health's Department of Health Promotion and Behavior. Her research interest includes women's health issues, minority health issues, feminist theories used to shape views of women's sexuality. She also develops pre-college educational programs for teachers and students aimed at increasing awareness and knowledge pertaining to careers in the sciences and health professions at the Emory Center for Science Education.
Teachers' Professional Identity
Teachers' professional identity is one of the most important issues in the area of teacher education. However, an equivocal framework to discuss teacher identity has yet to be established. As an attempt to clarify this burgeoning and messy area, different identity theories rooted in different assumptions and emphases are reviewed in this presentation. First, psycho-social identity theories are discussed. Psycho-social identity theory is one of the core traditional theories in the field of identity research. This perspective focuses on individuals rather than social context, and emphasizes the individuals' mental state and intrapsychic processes. Second, socio-cultural identity theories which focus on social-cultural context and its interaction with individuals are reviewed. This perspective emphasizes socially-constructed roles, meaning-systems, and symbols of the cultural contexts. Given this review of literatures about different identity theories, I propose a hypothesized model which depicts core dimensions and structure of teachers' professional identity. This model attempts to provide holistic and multidimensional explanations about teachers' professional identity using four different dimensions: cognitive, motivational, emotional, and contextual.
Ji Y. Hong (jyhong@uga.edu) is a doctoral candidate in the department of Educational Psychology and Instructional Technology, University of Georgia. She received her M.A. from Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona, in 2004. Her research interests include students' motivation, teachers' professional identity, and career goal development.
Influence of Culture and Religion on the Attitude of Immigrant Parents to Sex Education of Young Adolescents
Adolescence is the critical transition from childhood to adulthood; young people may face serious health risks as they mature and become sexually active. Unfortunately many of them face these risks with too little factual information and too little guidance about sexual responsibility. Adolescents need accurate and comprehensive education about sexuality in order to practice healthy sexual behavior as adults. But, the offering of sex education in public schools is often a topic of debate in the United States. Hence, the present descriptive study seeks to understand the attitude of immigrant parents towards sex education at home and schools. Using a semi-structured in-depth interview, data were collected from five immigrant parents of young middle school adolescents. Data was analyzed using thematic analysis; the emergent themes include role or responsibility, techniques and methods, and co-operation with schools. The sub-themes include culture, religion, media, relationship and gender of adolescent. This study showed that parents have positive attitude about sexual education, they just preferred to be the primary source of sexual education to their young adolescents. Also, several factors that influence positive attitude of parents towards sexual education of young adolescents should be taken into consideration when developing the curriculum for the students. The influence of culture and religion should not be underestimated when developing programs on sexual education of adolescents, perhaps this will lead to more involvement of parents in sex education of adolescents in schools.Download complete manuscript
Folasade Kembi is a doctoral candidate in the department of Health promotion and Behavior at the University of Georgia. She is interested in adolescent health, sexual behavior, and prevention of infectious diseases. She has published some scholarly articles in national and international journals. She currently works with the Public Health Foundation Enterprises as a research scientist.
Newlywed Conceptions of Marriage: The Decision to Marry and the Purpose of Marriage
This presentation provides a literature review of marital and divorce patterns in North America. The research is presented in a historical context and examines topics such as the decision to marry, age of first marriage, the purpose of marriage, infidelity, and divorce. Each of these topics is explored in the context of changing social norms and the increasing human lifespan. The literature presented will relay the significance of answering key questions related to marriage and divorce. For example, considering recent shifts in social norms and high rates of infidelity and divorce, why are the vast majority of North Americans choosing to marry? What do young adults (i.e., newlyweds) consider to be the purpose of marriage? Are young adults entering into marriage with expectations that infidelity and divorce may be inevitable?Download complete manuscript
Kelly Campbell is a third year doctoral student in the Department of Child and Family Development at the University of Georgia. She is involved in research projects focused on her central interest of commitment in intimate relationships. Kelly has presented at international, national, and regional conferences and was awarded the Elizabeth T. Sheerer scholarship by her department for research excellence.
The Young People's Project: A 'Youth-Led' Initiative in Mathematics Education
As urban schools work toward improving student achievement in a variety of disciplines, including mathematics, some scholars have suggested a possible avenue for improving student outcome ' allowing students to take a more active role in the mathematics learning process. The Young People's Project is a youth led organizing group with the mission of promoting mathematics literacy. In so doing, they utilize mathematics literacy as a device in the development of youth leaders and organizers who radically change the quality of education and life in their communities. In this presentation, I will discuss the Young People's Project in greater detail and I will present a literature review to support the need to study youth-led initiatives in mathematics education.
Denise Natasha Brewley-Corbin is a doctoral candidate in mathematics education at The University of Georgia. Her research interests include equity, critical race theory, and identity. In particular she is interested in understanding the role that the Algebra Project and Young People's Project play in mathematics learning, agency, and the mathematical identity development of Black students.
Integrated Curricula and Visual Arts-based Activities in English Language Arts Contexts
This paper investigates the definition of an integrated visual arts/ English language arts (ELA) curriculum. The integrated ELA curriculum and visual arts-based activities I envision have four qualities: The visual arts/language arts curriculum provides opportunities (1) to integrate visual art as texts for reading and composing alongside literature, (2) to teach students how to transmediate responses from one type of text to another, (3)to teach students to use qualitative reasoning to perceive and respond to visual texts, and (4) to embrace multiple pathways to make meaning of the ELA curriculum. Extant research in ELA contexts are then investigated in terms of the definitions of integrated curriculum and visual arts-based activities.
Michelle Zoss is a doctoral candidate in Language and Literacy education. A former art and English teacher, she is investigating a year-long ethnography with a sixth grade teacher who teaches an integrated visual arts and language arts curriculum. Michelle is a recipient of the University of Georgia Dissertation Completion Award and plans to enter academia in the fall of 2007.
Exploring the career development of Black women faculty in academia
The career development paths of Black women in the academy are complex and require a nuanced understanding that extends beyond individual career choices and decision-making within the career. Furthermore, it is argued that research on women's career development must reflect the various contextual factors that shape their career paths. The purpose of this paper is to explore multiple aspects of five, successful Black women faculty members' lives that shape their academic career development from a black feminist perspective. The following preliminary themes will be explored: defining success differently, the positive influence of early schooling experiences, family and community support, and continued professional socialization.
Nichole Ray is a doctoral candidate in the Adult Education Program at the University of Georgia. She is also a graduate teaching assistant in the Institute for Women's Studies at UGA. Her dissertation research focuses on the career development of Black women faculty in the historically White university.
Reading Others, Writing Ourselves: A Collaborative Critical Memoir
This critical participatory action research study uses the reading and writing of personal memoir with a group of 12th grade high school students in a predominately white suburban high school in the southeast to investigate how the reading of personal memoir in a high school writing class be used as a springboard for fostering dialog of social, political and cultural issues and how the writing of personal memoir serve as a tool of conceptual change and a location for reflexive contemplation and critique of ideological positions as a way of confronting social and systematic relations that constitute society.
Holly Isserstedt is a doctoral candidate in the Department of Language and Literacy Education. Her research interests include adolescent literacy, critical theory and narrative and arts based inquiry.
Intersection of Servant-leadership, Faculty Mentoring, and Doctoral Completion: Perspectives from African American Ph.D Students
The doctoral degree has an important role in the future of the American society. Yet, significant numbers of students, including African Americans, attrite from Ph.D programs. Research has revealed strong links between degree completion and faculty mentoring and findings suggest when students are mentored well, in caring holistic relationships, their chances of success increase exponentially. Nonetheless, not all of doctoral students experience mentoring. Literature suggests race, power, and positionality, determine students' access to doctoral education, characterize the student-advisor interaction, and shape the student-advisor relationship. Because of its importance, researchers have focused on how the mentoring relationship is conducted. Much of the literature has examined mentoring based on Cloning, Nurturing, Friendship, and Apprentice models. It would seem though that a more comprehensive model could be used in the student-advisor mentoring relationship. An in-depth study of successful mentoring relationships through the lens of Greenleaf's Servant-leadership Model might well provide insights as to how to successful mentor doctoral students to complete the degree. The purpose of this study is to understand African American Ph.D graduates perspectives of their mentoring experiences with their faculty advisors. A qualitative design will be used in the study. The research questions are: What are African American students perspectives of the mentoring relationship with their advisors? How do students' race affect advisor mentoring? How does power and positionality intersect with African American students' completion or noncompletion of the degree?
Minavia Guadeloupe-Williams is currently a Ph.D student in the Department of Lifelong Learning, Administration, and Policy. She is a current member of a research team working on a project sponsored by the Council of Graduate Schools (CGS) and implemented by The University of Georgia, The University of Florida, and North Carolina State University. The project's goal is to better understand doctoral student dropout and facilitate interventions to improve doctoral completion. Her research interest is in the areas of mentoring, doctoral completion, and faculty development.
African American female collegiate athlete experience at a predominantly white institution: Let Her Be Elevated
African American females, often a forgotten populous in the world of sport and viewed as a marginalized group in American society, experiences in sport are often written in connection with African American males or with that of White females. The purpose of this project is to explicate the experiences of African American female collegiate athletes as an independent group. This project explores issues of gender roles, race relations, and identity formation at a Predominantly White Institution in the context of intercollegiate athletics through the lens of Critical Race Theory and black feminist thought. This project will attempt to provide insight into these experiences through addressing how the organizational and institutional construct of sport foster the developmental formation of identity for African American female athletes.
Akilah R. Carter is a second year Ph.D. student in the Department of Kinesiology ' Sports Studies. Her first line of research explores athletic retirement and transition which include: collegiate athletes, African American athletes, and women in sports. Her second line of research explores student athletic experience and identity formation within higher education.
Understanding a Professional Learning Community Using Partnerships
The purpose of this study was to understand membersŐ perception of a professional learning community and how they value community activities by providing a learning community through partnerships. I examined how the groups of members in a learning community perceive their practices and community, how they value their learning community and activities, and what difficulties the members have in building the learning community. As intervention research, it helps to understand the development of the mathematics teachers in the community and the process of building a mathematics teachersŐ community using partnerships with schools and university.Download complete manuscript
As part of the project, Partnerships in Reform in Mathematics Education (PRIME), this study was conducted during a ten-week student teaching period. Three student teachers, three mentor teachers, and a university teacher participated in this study. Data sources included cluster meeting observations, interviews, and documents such as open-ended surveys and e-mails. Data were analyzed using case study and narrative analysis. This study showed three episodes of the three groups of members in a learning community. The three episodes provided the membersŐ thoughts about their learning community, value, and difficulties in building the learning community
Nayoung Kwon is a PhD candidate in Mathematics and Science Education at the University of Georgia. Her research interest includes professional learning communities, professional development of teachers and teacher educators, teachers' knowledge and beliefs, and reflections.
A STUDY OF YOGA, ITS HEALTH BENEFITS AND THE TRUE SELF
The purpose of this study is to explore the lived experience of yoga practitioners, and their search for the true self. The research questions guiding this study were: 1) How does a yoga practitioner describe the concept of the true self? 2) How does a yoga practitioner describe the experience of the true self while engaged in a yoga practice? 3) How does a yoga practitioner describe the experience of the true self in everyday life? I interviewed three yoga practitioners for this qualitative study. The participants were purposively chosen. The methodology of Heideggerian phenomenology was used to examine the lived experience of the true self. Participants define yoga as being in union with the One, God, or the Self. They use the practice of yoga to connect with their self, and believe that the practice of yoga can be present in all daily activities, through the act of mindfulness.
Colleen McCoy is a Master of Art's graduate student in the Department of Health Promotion and Behavior. Her research focus is on yoga and its philosophy, and qualitative inquiry. She graduates in December, and plans to work in her field as a health promoter/educator.
"Let Me Tell You a Story: a Preservice Science Teacher's Pedagogical Content Knowledge in a School-based Internship Course"
Hoping to offer an alternative approach to looking at pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), this study was aimed at gaining a better understanding of a preservice science teacher's PCK from stories based on her experiences in a school-based internship course. One in-depth case study was conducted with a participant. Multiple data sources were used including (1) semi-structured interview transcripts, (2) classroom observation notes, and (3) documents. Recognizing narrative inquiry as a way of understanding teachers' knowledge, data were analyzed in the light of Polkinghorne's (1995) notion of narrative analysis and analysis of narrative. The constructed stories provide a rich backdrop for understanding a participant's PCK. The preservice science teacher showed that she had (a) proto PCK, (b) limited repertoire in terms of presentations and strategies, and (c) insufficient knowledge of students' learning and concepts. Implications for both science teacher education and research methodology are suggested.
Youngjin Song is a doctoral candidate in the science education program in the Mathematics and Science Education Department. Her research interests include teachers' thinking and their learning.
The Effects of Evidence-Based Practices on Formative Portfolio Development in Social Studies Teacher Education
Portfolio development has received considerable attention in recent years as a method to document evidence of preservice teacher practices. Portfolios have been touted as a method to promote teacher reflection, hone skills, and document effectiveness. However, many portfoliios focus on summative assessments. Some researchers have also questioned the value of portfolio production, wonder whether practices learned through portfolio development are continued after hire, and doubt the validity and reliability of portfolio assessments. This paper presents an alternative method for portfolio development that emphasizes systematic evidence collection and examination for formative portfolio construction. Results indicate that while preservice teachers identify benefits of such portfolios for examining practices, developing development plans, and critically reflecting on classroom practices, additional supports are needed to help preservice teachers follow through with these plans.Download complete manuscript
Craig Shepherd is a doctoral student in Instructional Technology at the University of Georgia. His research interests include facilitating teacher induction and teacher education through portfolio development, action research, and self-study.
Issues and Theories of Women's Career Development
This paper is a literature review paper on issues and theories of women's career development. Among various issues on women's career development, the following issues are reviewed in this paper: Career interruptions, gender role socialization, work and family balance, and discrimination in the workplace. Based on these issues, Farmer's women's career development theory and Krumboltz's happenstance theory are selected for review, with the effort of synthesizing women's career development issues and theories
DongJin Kim is a doctoral student in program of Adult Education, department of Lifelong Education, Administration, and Policy. She is from South Korea and is currently completing her dissertation prospectus. Her research interests include women's career development and her dissertation is about exploring the meaning of life-career success in women's lives.
"Seeing" Instructional Decisions: The use of video-based evidence to analyze, act on and adapt preservice teacher practice.
Instructional decision making has been called the basic teaching skill (Shavelson, 1973). Instructional decision making encapsulates the curriculum related decisions teachers make on a daily and momentary basis. High-level decisions, such as lesson planning, require teachers to synthesize and evaluate their thinking and actions through reflection (Wilen, Ishler, Hutchison, & Kindsvatter, 1999). Yet, research has failed to provide evidence connecting reflection to teacher development and student learning. The purpose of this series of studies is to explore preservice teacher development as they use video-based evidence to analyze and subsequently act on their instructional decisions. Initial results indicate marked differences in teaching as well as the ability to discover and address discrepancies between thought and action.Download complete manuscript
Peter Rich is a doctoral candidate in the Instructional Technology program at the University of Georgia. He is currently in the throws of finishing up collecting dissertation data and hopes to graduate by May 2007. For the past two and a half years, Peter has worked on ETEACH, a federally-funded Preparing Teachers To use Technology grant. Through this grant, Peter has established connections with several teacher education programs and local school districts. His research focuses on the use of video technologies and evidence to help preservice teachers analyze and adapt their own instructional decisions.