Theses and Dissertations - Department of Interdisciplinary Studies

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Browsing Theses and Dissertations - Department of Interdisciplinary Studies by Subject "Communication"

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    Making sense of safety
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2016) Huey, Marcy Rayburn; Meares, Mary M.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    The increased calls for an improved academic safety culture currently being issued by regulatory organizations outlines a very prescriptive approach to addressing safety in colleges and universities. This study focused on how academic researchers made sense of and responded to the safety programs that have been instituted by their organizations. The focus was on scientific researchers who have active research laboratories. The data was collected using semi-structured interviews and analyzed with grounded theory. The results indicated that these researchers grounded their understanding of safety and of institutional safety programs in their professional identity, developed during their own educational and early professional experiences. Further study is warranted to determine if these findings are indicative of these scientific fields across the country. This data suggested that prescriptive compliance requirements regarding safety activities would not be easily accepted by these groups if they were not consistent with this identity. While they were not overtly noncompliant, they did resist institutional safety requirements placed on them that were not in line with the social norms of their professional group. These results could lead to an altered approach towards addressing safety concerns at colleges and universities.
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    Space and consequences: the influence of learning spaces on student development and communication
    (University of Alabama Libraries, 2015) Parsons, Caroline Sue; Holley, Karri A.; University of Alabama Tuscaloosa
    Learning spaces can provide a site for social change by influencing student development and communication in colleges and universities. During a time when teaching, learning, and technology is changing rapidly, researchers and practitioners are addressing the need for learning spaces that promote student development in a modern university setting. From a social constructionist standpoint, this study sought to explore how the design of learning spaces influences three outcomes of student development and communication: 1) student dialogue and community building, 2) interactive learning, and 3) socialization into future professions. McArthur's (2011) paradigm of user-experience of instructional space was utilized to assess the influence of physical and virtual space on these three outcomes. Qualitative analysis of the learning spaces in a liberal arts undergraduate initiative, which employs the use of roundtable classrooms and minimal technology, was conducted. Collection and analysis of interviews and focus group data from students and faculty in the program, in addition to classroom observations, field notes, photographs, sketches, and historical documents, resulted in the finding that the low-tech roundtable classroom not only employed user-design experience principles, but also empowered students to spark their own dialogue, interactive learning, and socialization. While this study found support for the idea that virtual learning spaces can positively influence student development and communication, findings suggest that in-class use of technology can hinder dialogue and learning. Classroom dialogue followed a consistent pattern of socializing intellectual talk, resulting in a typology of instructor follow-up statements.