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HOW ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE BEGINNING SPANISH STUDENTS USE ORAL COMMUNICATION: A DESCRIPTIVE CASE STUDY
No full textThesis (Ed.D.) - Indiana University, Department of Curriculum and Instruction/School of Education, 2025Communicative language teaching places an emphasis on oral language usage within the L2 classroom, yet although asynchronous online courses can incorporate multimedia, they often rely on written communication. Because there are online asynchronous language courses, and there is a juxtaposition between the communicative language practices and online course delivery, this qualitative descriptive case study explored the main question: How do beginning students use target language oral communication in an asynchronous online beginning Spanish course at a community college? The two subquestions guiding the study were: (a) What are the factors that mediate students’ oral engagement in an asynchronous online beginning Spanish course at a community college? and (b) What are the ways that students demonstrate interpersonal and presentational oral communication in an asynchronous online beginning Spanish course at a community college? This study adopted a qualitative descriptive case study approach and used activity theory and ACTFL guidelines frameworks to frame the study of a 1st semester asynchronous online beginning Spanish course. Content analysis was used to analyze the oral communication assignments of 11 student participants, interviews with 5 focal student participants, and course materials and documents. The findings illuminated the variety of artifacts (tools and signs), their roles, and the role of community in mediating oral communication. Additionally, the findings showed that technology as well as norms can hinder oral communication. The findings also demonstrated types of interpersonal and presentational language that learners produced. Based on the findings, this study highlighted how students learn target language oral communication in an asynchronous online environment. The findings suggest the usage of a variety of artifacts and social interaction with community are important considerations for course design and asynchronous teaching practices. Furthermore, the findings suggest that counter to the belief that teaching oral language mastery is not achievable in online courses, beginning language students in a completely asynchronous online course are capable of producing L2 interpersonal and presentational oral language in alignment with ACTFL novice level proficiency Can-Do statements
2024 Jetstream2 Community Assessment Summary Report
No full textThis document summarizes the results of the 2024 Jetstream2 Community Assessment conducted among 1932 individuals from August 26 through September 12, 2024. This was the second assessment conducted under the National Science Foundation-funded Jetstream2 project awarded in 2020 and which began operations in 2022, but the seventh survey of the broader Jetstream community. We have opted to retain data collected under the original Jetstream project (NSF award #1445604), referred to herein as Jetstream1, for comparison and to preserve longitudinal trends.National Science Foundatio
AN ANALYTICAL STUDY OF STRING QUARTETS BY MIECZYSŁAW WEINBERG AND DMITRI SHOSTAKOVICH
No full textThesis (DM) – Indiana University, Music, 2025This dissertation investigates the complex artistic relationship between Soviet composers Mieczysław Weinberg and Dmitri Shostakovich through a comparative analysis of their string quartets. Spanning three stylistic periods—early, middle, and late—the study reveals how their friendship fostered mutual influence while allowing each to cultivate a distinct musical identity. The early period (1939–1956) highlights their shared incorporation of Jewish musical elements, with Weinberg expressing cultural heritage and Shostakovich embedding covert political critique. The middle period (1957–1970) demonstrates Weinberg’s shift from direct borrowing to broader stylistic synthesis, blending Shostakovich’s techniques with influences like Bartók, while their “friendly competition” spurred structural innovation. The late period (1973–1986) explores their divergent engagement with twelve-tone methods: Shostakovich integrated rows within tonal frameworks, whereas Weinberg embraced harmonic ambiguity and fluid transitions.
Drawing on score analysis, historical documents, and secondary scholarship, the study underscores how both composers navigated Soviet cultural constraints. The dissertation concludes that their artistic exchange evolved from intimate collaboration to independent innovation, enriching twentieth-century chamber music. By contextualizing their works within political and cultural dynamics, this research contributes to understanding how creative dialogue coexists with individuality in oppressive regimes
ENSURING EQUITABLE OPPORTUNITIES TO IMPROVE HOW BLIND STUDENTS CONCEPTUALIZE THE NATURE OF SCIENCE
No full textThesis (Ed.D.) - Indiana University, Department of Curriculum and Instruction/School of Education, 2025This study explored the impact of online explicit-reflective instruction on visually impaired students’ conceptions of the Nature of Science (NOS). Blind and low vision students enrolled in grades K-12 were recruited to participate in a six-week, online, Saturday science program during which they engaged in tactile NOS activities and received explicit-reflective NOS instruction. In order to assess the students’ understandings of various NOS aspects, students completed the Views of Nature of Science (VNOS) questionnaire, pre- and post-NOS instruction. Additional qualitative data were obtained from weekly exit slips, the students’ verbal commentary, semi-structured interviews, and a teaching journal kept by the instructor of the science program. The study participants, as a whole, were shown to hold a majority of inadequate views on the various aspects of NOS prior to receiving any explicit-reflective NOS instruction. However, results showed that after receiving explicit-reflective NOS instruction, the students were able to improve their understandings of the creative, empirical, subjective, and tentative aspects of NOS, as well as being able to distinguish between the scientific processes of observation and inference. Results also indicated that the students found science to be fun and were willing and able to actively engage in adapted NOS activities. Based upon these findings, it is imperative that researchers identify ways to provide blind and low vision students with equitable and inclusive opportunities to comprehend NOS ideas as a means to increase their scientific literacy and to make informed decisions about the world around them
US Forest Service National Accessibility Program: Rogue River-Siskiyou National Forest - Accessibility Review & Findings
Get PDFTwo decades of foreign direct investment in Africa: a systematic literature review, integrative framework, and agenda for future research
No full textDespite the increase in research efforts on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in International Business (IB), the literature on FDI in Africa suffers from disintegration, theoretical boundaries and empirical vagueness, leaving important countenances uninvestigated. The purpose of this article is to reveal how much work has been done, what knowledge has been obtained, and what directions need to be taken for future FDI in Africa research. We conduct a systematic literature review of pertinent theoretical and empirical studies encompassing 105 articles from reputable management and economics journals on FDI in Africa. Our study contributes to this body of scholarship by identifying and discussing prior research, agglomerating them into themes, providing a structured debate about what is already known, as well as offering an explanation of why and how Africa is a distinctive context different from other emerging markets. We further develop an integrative framework that provides extensive knowledge of contemporary and promising avenues for future research
Enhancing Public School Funding Impact: How to Better Position the NLCS Career Center
Get PDFNorth Lawrence Community Schools (NLCS) wanted to explore ways to maximize the effectiveness of public funding.
Graduate accounting students from the Kelley School of Business completed a review of the NLCS Career Center analyzing market fit and continued financial viability. In this presentaation they recommended innovative funding frameworks to help the district increase the impact of its Career Center