Theses and Dissertations - Department of Kinesiology

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations - Department of Kinesiology by Author "Ballard, Rebecca M."

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    An analysis of U.S. and Korea newspaper coverage on athletes with disabilities during the 2008 Beijing Paralympics
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2012) Baek, Seung Yup; Hardin, L. Brent; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    The first purpose of this study was to examine how athletes with disabilities have been described and portrayed in the newspaper coverage during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. The second purpose of this study was to explore the socio-cultural perspectives and ideals on athletes with disabilities in the newspaper coverage during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games from the U.S. and Korean newspapers. The last purpose of this study was to compare newspaper coverage from the U.S. and Korea newspaper on how the newspapers differently and similarly described and presented athletes with disabilities. For completion of these purposes, this study has examined and analyzed the newspaper texts and photographs during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. This study was involved in the 14 days of newspapers from September 3rd to 22nd, 2008, in USA Today from the U.S. and 15 days of newspapers from September 3rd to 22nd, 2008 in Donga Ilbo from South Korea during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games. The results showed that: (1) Hegemony of able bodied and male athletes exists in the newspaper coverage in USA Today and Donga Ilbo; (2) Athletes with disabilities and female athletes have been received less attention in newspaper coverage than able bodied and male athletes; (3) The coverage of USA Today on athletes with disabilities and disability sport during the 2008 Beijing Paralympic Games have been trivialized and marginalized; (4) The treatment of female athletes with disabilities have depicted as passive image in Donga Ilbo, whereas no treatment in USA Today; (5) Lack of newsworthiness on athletes with disabilities in USA Today was found; and (6) Gender and race issues in the newspaper coverage in USA Tdoay and Donga Ilbo are still present. For further research, the newspaper coverage in other countries during the Paralympic Games will be helpful to confirm the treatment and description on athletes with disabilities and disability sports. In addition, the study that examines the coverage on athletes with disabilities through the Internet site which is dominated in current period will be required because of impact of technological current period.
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    An awakening: the life history of a female physical educator, coach, and administrator
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2016) Fowler, Vivian; Hardin, L. Brent; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    The purpose of this dissertation was to examine the experiences of a female athlete, physical educator, and higher education administrator born the in the 1930s through the use of life history research. This study documents her life history as a female athlete, physical educator, administrator, and a coach who was working during the Civil Rights Movement and the passing of Title IX. Through qualitative life history methods this participant was interviewed extensively via a variety of naturalistic techniques. The collected data of her life history were analyzed and her story is retold at length in her own words. The data from her life history are also organized into themes that chronicle her journey through sport and athletics as a female athlete, teacher, coach, and administrator for sixty-five years from 1937 to 2002.
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    Effects of purposeful negotiation of the physical education curriculum on one teacher and a middle school minority class (girls, boys, and mixed-gender)
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Guadalupe, Tasha Denecke; Curtner-Smith, Matthew; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Previous research has indicated that more democratic approaches to teaching in the physical education classroom build equity and create the necessary space for students to develop their voice in the physical education curriculum. The purpose of the current study was to examine the effects of purposefully negotiating the physical education curriculum on one teacher and a middle school class. Participants were three middle school teachers with varied teaching experience and a single middle school class for each teacher of either girls, boys, or mixed genders. Three theoretical perspectives guided data collection and analysis: critical feminism, hegemonic masculinity, and critical tradition. Data were collected through a variety of qualitative techniques: non-participant observation, stimulated recall interviews, reflective journal, formal interviews, informal interviews, focus group interviews, and critical incident reports. Analytic induction and constant comparison were used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that more professional development needs to be provided with ongoing mentor support to effectively incorporate democratic approaches in the physical education classroom. Further, the first study’s results indicated that, in an all-girls class, negotiation empowered and motivated the students to participate, as well as encouraging the lower skilled girls to participate in the process equally with higher skilled girls. The second study’s results were similar, reinforcing the suggestion that hegemonic masculinity can be partially negated through participation in a negotiated curriculum and that higher skilled boys can reconnect with their lower skilled peers. The third study showed that curriculum negotiation can be successfully implemented in mixed gender classes, allowing lower skilled boys and girls to reconnect with the curriculum. This research reinforces that building student voice and creating space for a symbiotic relationship between the teacher and students is a critical component in enhancing student engagement.
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    Moral development and sporting behavior in sport education: case studies of preservice teachers
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Schwamberger, Ben; Curtner-Smith, Matthew; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Sport education (SE) is thought to be an excellent curriculum model for the promotion of moral and sporting behavior for students. The first study examined the extent to which one preservice teacher (PT) with a moderate coaching orientation promoted or negated moral and sporting behavior within her students during SE. Guided by social learning and structural development theories, data analysis indicated that students began with a limited understanding of moral and sporting behavior, frequently engaging in unsporting behavior and showing no improve during the two SE seasons. This was because the teacher did little to change the core cognitive structures that guided their views and behaviors. Rather, she reinforced their existing views of these constructs. The aforementioned theories were further used for the second study, examining a teaching oriented PT also using the SE model to promote moral and sporting behavior while teaching middle school students. This teacher was able to further promote moral and sporting behavior during SE seasons, as opposed to his coaching oriented peer in the first study. This was partly due to his own concept of sporting behavior and fair play, his delivery of a pure version of SE, and his pedagogy. More negatively, many of the more skilled students’ willingness to participate in fair play and sporting behavior proved context specific. Past research has suggested using interventions within physical education settings to promote moral and sporting behavior, therefore the third study focused on investigating the influence of an intervention program on one PT’s ability to promote moral and sporting behavior in SE. Many students had been socialized into norms of sporting participation that were mostly negative and therefore believed it was okay to behave in an unfair and unsporting manner during gameplay. Over the two seasons, the PT got many of his students to question this thinking and engage in positive sporting behaviors. Congruent with the second study, the PT was not able to change all viewpoints completely; specifically, some of the higher skilled students’ behaviors regressed upon entering the play-off phase further indicating the potentially powerful negative influences of organized youth and school sport.