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A Patchwork Quilt of Perspectives: Polyphony in Faulkner
No full textEnglish Department Honors Thesis.In these pages, I will examine the dissonant voices of Faulkner the author and the Faulkner the man alongside the voices of the characters and narrators in his fiction. My interest lies not in finding a satisfactory compromise among his works but in examining how Faulkner uses the concept of polyphony—here used to describe the presentation of distinct and independent voices within a literary text or collection of texts unbound by authorial consciousness—to dismantle the concept of authorial authority in both his fiction and his own extra-textual commentary on his work.Vanderbilt UniversityEnglish DepartmentCollege of Arts and Scienc
Jorie Graham’s Overlord: Poetics, Ethics, and Différance
No full textEnglish Department Honors Thesis.*Overlord* by Jorie Graham requires a theoretical paradigm which can account for the Overlord within it; this paradigm, I will argue, is Jacques Derrida’s différance. Just as différance produces an endless chain of violent repetition, so too does the Overlord. The latter is merely an addressable version of différance, one which Graham can refer to by name—though that fact does little in the way of containing its violence. I will also explore the power of différance to interpret the entire volume, revealing ways in which Graham’s theoretical commitments shape her ethical and stylistic choices into a unified whole. This does not mean that I will deconstruct Overlord—in fact, my primary deconstructive move will be targeted at deconstructive ethics. From the outset, it is important to keep in mind that although différance is central to an understanding of Graham’s poetic, it cannot explain the force of her ethical commitments. The burden of making that claim believable, of course, is mine. Much of this work will be concerned with the possibility of ethics after différance, a possibility that will ultimately open true resistance to the Overlord.
Although it is not my intention to produce an apology for Overlord as good poetry, any careful reading must begin by expecting to find something of worth in the text under consideration. Yet this defense, though true, will not satisfy pessimistic readers—and rightly so. I have already indicated where my allegiance lies by my selection of Overlord as a candidate for analysis. To borrow a phrase from J. Hillis Miller, “The choice of examples…and their ordering, is never innocent” (The Ethics of Reading 10). The authors in my introduction appear in the order that they do—Graham, Derrida, Hillis Miller—precisely because that is the order in which I will discuss them. From a close reading of Graham, I will pass into a close reading of Derrida and Graham together. Finally, I will place the ethical commitments of Hillis Miller in concert with those readings.Vanderbilt UniversityEnglish DepartmentCollege of Arts and Scienc
Acoustic properties of speech under stress in preschool children who do and do not stutter
No full textPrevious research has shown that stuttering, a potentially life-altering developmental disorder with typical onset during the preschool years, is linked in severity to temperamental and situational emotionality. Thirty-three participants, aged four to six years old, 14 of whom stutter and 19 of whom do not, provided temperamental measures of emotionality via parent-report surveys. Measures of stress/emotionality were derived from acoustic data (fundamental frequency and jitter) drawn during a card stressor task as part of a larger study. Analyses included correlations between temperamental and acoustic measures of emotionality for all participants, as well as comparisons of temperament data and lab acoustic measures of fundamental frequency and jitter between children who do and do not stutter. Although independent samples t-tests and discriminate function analysis showed no significant difference between the two groups for either temperamental or acoustic data, bivariate correlations for both groups showed significant correlations between temperament measures of emotional reactivity and regulation, and acoustic measures, such as mean jitter and jitter range. Results support acoustic measures as indicators of vocal stress in children who do and do not stutter.Vanderbilt UniversityPsychologyCollege of Arts and SciencesThesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Honors Program in Psychological Science
Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in Action for Teaching ELLs
No full textTeaching and Learning Department Capstone ProjectMy fundamental thinking on the issues and ideas in educating EL students are influenced by two courses EDUC 3530: Foundations for Teaching English Language Learners by Prof. Lisa Pray and EDUC 3590.01: Issues in ELL Education: Research, Policy, and Instruction of English Learners by Prof. Robert Jiménez. Through these two courses I have been familiarized with the changing demographics of public schools in the US and the challenges and needs of students learning English while learning content knowledge. It was Prof. Henry Milner who first introduced the concept of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy in the course EDUC 3900.01.2: Culturally Responsive Pedagogy. Prof. Milner also deeply influenced me with his compassion and care for the wellbeing and success of African American students. I have carried this compassion and care when I work with English learning students. My methodology in this project was shaped by the course EDUC.3170.01: Analysis of Teaching where Prof. Catherine McTamaney equipped me with a critical perspective in analyzing school setting, classroom environment and teacher discourse.Department of Teaching and LearningPeabody College of Education and Human Developmen
Comparing the Performance Characteristics of Autism Spectrum Disorder Screening Measures in Toddlers
No full textComparing the performance of ASD screening measures and a structured observation of behavior in identifying children with and without ASD. Course #psy-2990, Honors Research, Dr. Megan SaylorThe current study represents a preliminary investigation of a new screening measure, the
Vanderbilt Scales for Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). This measure’s psychometric
performance in toddlers referred for developmental evaluation (N=159, ages 18-36
months) was compared to the most common screening measure (i.e., the Modified
Checklist for Autism in Toddlers [M-CHAT]) and a structured observation of behavior.
Results indicated that the Vanderbilt Scales had a lower sensitivity than the M-CHAT,
but a higher specificity and positive predictive value. Adding a structured observation of
behavior resulted in a higher positive predictive value than when either respective
screening measure was used alone. Results highlight the limits of self-report screening
measures and the potential value of hybrid screening methodologies utilizing parent
report and structured observations.Vanderbilt UniversityPsychology and Human DevelopmentPeabody CollegeThesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Honors Program in Psychological Science
A Closer Look at Enhanced Ebooks: Compatible Versus Distracting Games
No full textCompleted for Dr. Megan Saylor's PSY-PC 2990 "Honors Research" class, this thesis investigates different types of games embedded in children's interactive eBooks and how the quality of these games (i.e., how much the games relate to and enhance the story content) affects how much a kindergarten child can learn from the story. Word document is accompanied by a PowerPoint presentation.The current literature on eBooks contains conflicting results for enhanced eBooks containing games and hot spots as effective reading tools for children. This study investigated different types of interactivity within enhanced eBooks to understand how the relation of the games embedded in eBooks to the story line may affect how much the child learns from the story. The study also involved observation of the different co-reading styles of parents and children as an exploratory analysis. The results indicate that interactivity within the enhanced eBooks neither helped nor hurt children’s ability to learn new words from the story and to remember the story content. It was also found that all of the eBooks elicited content-related co-reading, but enhanced eBooks elicited more non-content-related co-reading. Implications of the findings are discussed.Vanderbilt UniversityPsychology and Human DevelopmentPeabody CollegeThesis completed in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the Honors Program in Psychological Sciences Under the supervision of Georgene Troset
Critically Examining the Discourse of Urban Asian American and Pacific Islander Achievement
No full textTeaching and Learning Department Capstone ProjectThe practice of critical discourse analysis examines the relationship between language, institutions, and power. This capstone essay critically examines the bimodal, culture-bound, racialized discourses to describe both high and low academic achievement in urban Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) students and institutionally position them using deterministic and oversimplistic stereotypes in school and society. As it currently stands, the discourse of urban AAPI education relies on dichotomous identities of the model minority or the urban delinquent to explain achievement. These identities are embedded in racializing discourses that are critiqued for emphasizing anthropological explanations of culture clash and assimilation-opposition typologies. The underlying ideologies, pervasiveness in urban school culture, and disempowering impacts of this discursive positioning on the racial and academic identity development of urban AAPI youth are explored. Furthermore, culturally responsive practices are proposed as potential teaching strategies to create dynamic, diversified discourses that accurately represent urban AAPI academic experiences.Department of Teaching and LearningPeabody College of Education and Human Developmen
Collaborative Learning via Simulations and Games
No full textTeaching and Learning Department Capstone ProjectCollaborative learning and simulations and games have been studied extensively for their utility in educational settings. An amalgamation of the two, however—collaborative learning via simulations and games (CLSG)—has not been researched substantially. Collaborative learning and simulations and games for learning are grounded in sociocultural/situated learning theory; knowledge is co-constructed by learners with each other and with the tools of their context. Learners engaged in a CLSG environment are afforded opportunities to enhance 21st century skills, teamwork skills, and a variety of content-specific skills and knowledge. CLSG contexts include a range of possibilities, from massively multiplayer online role-playing games, to team building sites, to simulated medical emergencies. Such contexts encourage inquiry, risk-taking, creative-problem solving, and student construction of knowledge. CLSG curricula should
encourage instructors to take on a role of facilitator, rather than enacting direct instruction.
Assessments of CLSG are not traditional paper-and-pencil tests. Rather, learners can be assessed through demonstrating potential for future learning, through choice-based assessments, through assessment inherent in simulations and games, and through practicing reflection. Implications of CLSG for my career in education include implementing aspects of CLSG into teaching high school equivalency classes to adult learners, as well as training other adult education teachers and developing adult education curriculum. In general, CLSG affords educators a motivating and engaging tool to enact in diverse ways in a myriad of learning environments to teach a variety of
possible skills. Unfortunately, the benefits of CLSG have been largely unrealized in traditional school settings. As technological advancement continues, CLSG may take on a larger role in schools, which could help bring about higher quality learning for students.Department of Teaching and LearningPeabody College of Education and Human Developmen
The Potential of Service-Learning as an Effective Instructional Strategy in Middle School Social Studies Classrooms
No full textTeaching and Learning Department capstone projectThis paper examines the current research and theories concerning service-learning and its potential as an effective instructional strategy in middle school social studies classrooms. Traditional social studies classrooms rely mostly on textbooks and class lectures. Students learn knowledge by rote memorization, without seeing their learning connected to real-world settings. However, in recent years researchers and teachers have paid increasing attention to student-directed investigation methods and see their potential as instructional strategies in K-12 classrooms. One of these methods is service-learning, which combines authentic community services with integrated academic outcomes. Although service-learning has been used for teaching various subjects to students of all ages, the goal of social studies and the unique characteristics of middle school students make it particularly suitable for middle school social studies learners. This paper begins with the use of service-learning in a broader context. Then the potential of using service-learning to teach social studies in middle school is addressed through four specific elements: learning context, learner, curriculum and instructional strategy, and assessment. Next, the concerns and limitations of service-learning are presented. Last, this paper concludes with the recommendation of using service-learning as an effective instructional strategy in middle school social studies classrooms.Department of Teaching and LearningPeabody College of Education and Human Developmen