The purpose of this qualitative study is to better understand how children identify with superheroes to allow counselors to have a basis of understanding to inform their use of superheroes in therapeutic settings. The research questions are: (1) How do children ages 3-6 identify with their favorite superhero? and (2) how is children's self-concept…

This qualitative, multi-site case study examines two cases focusing on the dialogic relations of secondary English students and their teachers, as they interact with print and non-print pop culture texts related to sports and/or music as part of a curriculum unit on a politically sensitive topic. The purpose of this inquiry is to examine…

This quasi-experimental, concurrent, mixed method, action research study sought to evaluate how an elective 1-credit course informed by mindfulness and culturally sustaining pedagogy influenced honors students' academic self-efficacy, self-compassion, and their meaning-making about what it means to be an honors student. Theoretical perspectives…

This dissertation is not a dissertation, at least not in the traditional white-normed academic standards. Let's call it a project. This project aims to capture the lived experiences of Latinos navigating a whitestream educational system while using Hip-Hop culture as a form of empowerment. Whitestream schooling is causing cultural genocide that…

This dissertation examines elementary teacher candidates' perceptions of hip-hop culture and utilizing hip-hop pedagogy in a mathematics classroom. This study demonstrates how elements of hip-hop may be integrated into an elementary mathematics methods course to develop pedagogical knowledge that challenges teacher candidates to explore the…

As increasing numbers of foreign language programs have employed multimedia into their curricula, the importance of ways and means to optimize the students' language learning through multimedia has been emphasized. While multimedia with on-screen text in the target language is extensively adopted by foreign language learners, there is no study of…

The purpose of this study was two-fold: a) to investigate the nature of academic entitlement in adult graduate students, and b) to determine if popular culture viewed from a public pedagogical lens influenced adult graduate students in respect to academic entitlement. Academic entitlement, as applied in this research, denotes student expectations…

Black consumers watch and stream television at a higher percentage than any other demographic. Research has shown that presence of Black teachers, administrators, and school officials has positively influenced Black students' academic success. Research on how Black students understand and connect to portrayals of Blackness is needed in order to…

English has become a common medium that has impacted Saudi Arabia's educational system. While Saudi Arabia, on the global stage, is known for its conservative practices especially in relation to women, there has been a significant rise in Saudi women graduating from universities, surpassing their male counterparts. As this rise in Saudi women…

Despite its rich history in the English classroom, popular culture still does not have a strong foothold in first-year composition (FYC). Some stakeholders view popular culture as a "low-brow" topic of study (Bradbury, 2011), while others believe popular culture distracts students from learning about composition (Adler-Kassner, 2012).…

The purposes of this qualitative study, viewed through the New Literacy Studies (NLS) theoretical lens, were to explore third grade students' literacy practices as they composed multimodal informational texts in a digital writing workshop; and examine how these students composed multimodally in a digital format and what their perspectives were on…

This study utilized qualitative single-case study design to provide rich description and offer new understandings within a socio-cultural theoretical frame about how adult and higher education learners perceive and are motivated to participate in study abroad programs. Three faculty-led study abroad courses at a Hispanic serving institution in the…

As a result of a perceived need to improve the music theory curricula for the preparation of church music leaders, this study compared two diverse approaches to the teaching of music theory for church music university students on achievement, attitudes, and self-preparedness. This current study was a quantitative, quasi-experimental research…

This doctoral study concerns itself with the emergent identity formation of art student teachers: the knowledge and cultural systems [including TV and movies] through which art teaching identity conceives itself, and the ontological consequences [affects on art student teachers' collective and self (dis)identifications] that evolve from those…

Women in higher education and the consumer pressures they feel have implications for the quality of an education a woman receives. With college tuition rising, more and more college students are going into deeper financial debt than ever before (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2008). Popular culture influences on the college-going…