This qualitative case study of a Southern California community college dance program explored structural/administrative and social/cultural barriers faced by faculty and students who plan to transfer to university dance programs that require an audition for admission. Interviews with faculty (n = 4) and recent alumni (n = 6) were analyzed with…

Enactment of the "Rehabilitation Act of 1973" and the "Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990" expanded and clarified the rights of students with disabilities in higher education (Connor, 2011; Pena, 2014; Troiano, 2003). In the past three decades, the enrollment rate of students with learning disabilities (LD) in higher…

Evidence exists that the performing arts (dance, music, and theatre) foster skills, qualities, and capacities that are vital to a 21st century education. However, despite being known to promote essential learning experiences, the performing arts are often overlooked, underfunded, and undervalued across institutions of higher education because of…

The purpose of this action research study was to gain an understanding of the learning experiences and outcomes of 12 undergraduates enrolled in Creative Dance, a general education choreography course, in Fall 2019 and the teaching strategies and practices that guided their learning. Research questions that guided this study were: what does…

The purpose of this dissertation is to illuminate the missing voices of historically black college and university dance programs in the national discussion on the history and development of dance in American higher education. The methodology included the selection of five subject schools that are historically black colleges and universities…

Across the United States, hundreds of universities house dance programs, and the vast majority of degrees offered through these programs focus on modern dance. Despite the mainstream popularity and cultural esteem of the dance genre of ballet, fewer than fifteen university programs offer ballet-focused degrees. From this relatively small number of…

This study intended to identify commonalities of fine arts programs at selected private liberal arts colleges and universities in order to ultimately develop an exemplary fine arts program in a similar setting. This study searched for answers to three research questions within the context of art, music, dance, and theatre. The first research…

My interest in student engagement stems from my own experiences as a student and educator. Desire to better understand student experiences of engagement, to develop my own pedagogical practices, and to contribute to theory of dance pedagogy has motivated this work. Stemming from the traditions of Husserl and Heidegger, specifically their studies…

My dissertation, a self-reflective autoethnography, examines, analyzes, and interprets children's dances created by seventeen nine-11 year olds attending a Midwestern, urban elementary school. The significance of this longitudinal study is in the offering of a fresh perspective on children's dance-making as a mode of embodied understanding and as…

This dissertation describes two studies, based on data collection within a pre-existing collegiate course for pre-service teachers in a children's dance setting at a northwest public university. The overall purpose of these experimental studies was to compare traditional movement/dance with the influence of a relevance-based instructional model,…

As digital literacy increases in the world and as educational institutions respond, changes are occurring across disciplines, including dance. This study examines the current status of "integrated dance technology curricula" at two universities and one community college in the United States, all of which have differing pedagogical and…

Educators are in need of appropriate interventions for teaching individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASD). A widely used (Bellini & Akullian, 2007; Delano, 2007) and evidence-based (Horner et al., 2005) instructional intervention for individuals with ASD is video modeling. Video modeling involves the learner viewing a video…

This dissertation chronicles the qualitative case study of a dance artist-in-residence at a diverse and inclusive K-5 school in an urban district, integrating science, social studies, physical education, music, and visual arts school curriculum and culminating in two public performances. This study focused on how students made meaning through this…

Kentucky school districts have been charged to present an academic program review that documents the use of dance across curriculum content at all grade levels. This program review will replace statewide standardized tests for all students in the state of Kentucky and will count 20% toward each school's accountability score. Schools within the…

This research explores issues involving gender, education, and learning/using English as a second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) by investigating three Japanese women's experiences of fashioning their lives in ways that made them feel satisfied and happy. In order to develop an "emic" point of view--one derived from grounding myself as…