Investigating Adolescents' Interpretations And
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INVESTIGATING ADOLESCENTS’ INTERPRETATIONS AND PRODUCTIONS OF THEMATIC MAPS AND MAP ARGUMENT PERFORMANCES IN THE MEDIA By Nathan Charles Phillips Dissertation Submitted to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Vanderbilt University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY in Learning, Teaching and Diversity December, 2013 Nashville, Tennessee Approved: Professor Kevin M. Leander Professor Rogers Hall Professor Pratim Sengupta Professor Jay Clayton Professor Cynthia Lewis To Julee and To Jenna, Amber, Lukas, Isaac, and Esther ! ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My dissertation work was financially supported by the National Science Foundation through the Tangibility for the Teaching, Learning, and Communicating of Mathematics grant (NSF DRL-0816406) and by Peabody College at Vanderbilt University and the Department of Teaching and Learning. I feel most grateful to the young people I worked with. I hope I have done justice to their efforts to learn, laugh, and play with thematic maps. Mr. Norman welcomed me into his classroom and graciously gave me the space and time for this work. He was interested, supportive, and generous throughout. The district and school administrators and office staff at Local County High School were welcoming and accommodating, including the librarians who made some of the technology possible. It would be impossible to express how much my life and scholarship have been directed and supported by Kevin Leander and Rogers Hall over the last six years. Their brilliance, innovative thinking, and academic mentorship are only surpassed by their kind hearts and good friendship. I will forever be blessed by Kevin’s willingness to take me on as a doctoral student and for his invitation to join the SLaMily with Rogers, Katie Headrick Taylor, and Jasmine Ma. Kevin always knew what to say to me—when to push, when to encourage, when to ask for more, when to ask another question, when to say nothing and just listen—and he afforded me the time, space, relationships, and opportunities to grow as a scholar and as a person. More than anything, Kevin always, always believed in me. Rogers has been a generous and enthusiastic advocate for my work, constantly pushing me to believe in the groundbreaking possibilities of the wild things iii we found and studied. He also always found funding to support my efforts, gave me a chance to work closely with academics near and far, and introduced me to all aspects of academic life. Jasmine Ma and Katie Headrick Taylor have been the closest of friends and advisers. Without their guiding lights, kind counsel, words of advice, serious attention to my work, smiles, teasing, and laughter I wouldn’t have made it through this process. I am grateful to my other dissertation committee members—all of whom took the time to carefully engage with my ideas and provide advice, support, and feedback. Pratim Sengupta offered many insights and ideas for future development of this project and of my work generally. Jay Clayton offered thoughtful insights and perspectives and advocated for me as a writer, researcher, and thinker. And Cynthia Lewis has been an invaluable adviser both in person and through her significant scholarship. Cynthia also always sought me out at conferences, checked up on me, and encouraged me to keep working. Many Vanderbilt faculty have supported my intellectual growth the past six years. I am grateful to have learned from the examples and teaching of great scholars and people including Doug Clark, Thomas Gregor, Marie Hardenbrook, Andy Hostetler, Bob Jiménez, Rich Lehrer, Rich Milner, Kris Neal, Carin Neitzel, Ann Neely, Emily Shahan, Marcy Singer-Gabella, Barb Stengel, and Paul Young. Cliff Hofwolt has guided me through the sometimes hidden path of progress through the doctoral program. Melanie Hundley nourished my body, mind, and soul on many occasions and mentored me into teacher education. I was blessed by the guidance, enthusiasm, and encouragement of Bridget Dalton in many academic endeavors and especially through the dissertation process. Bridget’s close reading and careful feedback on the early stages of this and other projects provided invaluable learning experiences. Debbie Rowe has also iv influenced my work and thinking from the day I arrived at Vanderbilt, and I have learned, especially, about diligent qualitative research and balancing home and academic life. I have shared this time with wonderful fellow doctoral students and friends. Our cohort that came in together has now dispersed all over the world and beyond, but I feel like we have been together still in support and friendship and I will always cherish my time and experiences with Karen Anthony, Glenn Colby, Mikel Cole, Tanya Flushman, Sue Ganguly, Lynsey Gibbons, Jill Freiberg Grifenhagen, Chris Keyes, Reveley Lee, Kelly Puzio, Katie Headrick Taylor and with their spouses and families. Tara Alvey and Blake Tenore were and are mentors and guides through life and academia. I have loved the hours of thinking and writing with Blaine Smith, and I’m looking forward to many more. Blaine also kept me writing and kept me hoping when neither was easy. To the end of the dissertation process, Emily Bigelow was a heroic example, kind friend, and wise guide. Chris Keyes and Kelly Puzio were true friends, motivating examples, and partners in the job search. Chris also kept my spirits up in many ways and showed me where to find good food. Kelly was a caring, helpful, and innovative teaching partner; an enduring memory and learning experience will be the semester we taught together. Ty Hollett tried to teach me, by example, how to get better organized and quit procrastinating. Alas. Ty has also been a thoughtful reader of my work, a generator of many innovative ideas and, especially at the end of the writing process, a constant motivator and concerned friend. This work has also greatly benefited from the insights of research group members across many years, including several people I have mentioned already and also Christian Ehret, Robin Jocius, and Summer Wood. Past and current SLaMmers—Jennifer Kahn, Alvin Pearman, Camila Lawson Scheifer, and Benamin Shapiro—have dedicated time to thinking about this work, to responding honestly, and to developing new ideas. v Many others at Vanderbilt have contributed to and supported this work. Vanderbilt library staff enriched much of my research and instructional design—especially Jacob Thornton, Jared Ingersoll, and Jim Toplon and the crew at Interlibrary Loan. Jay Watson made the study during the summer enrichment course possible. Brian Smokler provided gear—lots of gear—and expert and practical technical guidance. John Lynch, the director of the Vanderbilt Television News Archive, went out of his way to support my research and helped me to track down many a map argument performance. David Russell continues to inspire me as a lifelong learner and a self-taught thematic mapmaker extraordinaire. I can’t name all of the many ways I have been supported by the Department of Teaching and Learning office staff, but I am especially thankful to JJ Street, Andrea Houseman, Abby Keel, Shawn Blomker, Michael Kokodynsky, Angie Saylor, Brenda Jones, and Sandra Uti. Brenda and Sandra have particularly inspired and encouraged me to be a better person, husband, and father. I couldn’t get away from Jackie Griffin’s motivation (even on days when I wanted to), and she never let me forget the real reason I was doing this work. Outside of Vanderbilt, my academic work and the development of this project and writing of the dissertation were supported by other scholars near and far. Karen Wieckert seemed to know just what to say to encourage me to keep writing and developing ideas. I am also thankful to have made the virtual acquaintances of Susan Schulten at the University of Denver and Seth Dixon at Rhode Island College. Both answered emails from a guy they didn’t know and helped me to think about the potential contributions of my work. Susan, in particular, continued to support me with her scholarship and by reaching out to share ideas. Importantly, she introduced me to Lincoln’s thematic map. Longtime friends and colleagues Chris Crowe, Debbie Dean, Amy Alexandra Wilson, and Anna Smith offered guidance, advice, and intellectual vi insights. Anna, especially, motivated me by her diligent example of digital engagement. The many scholars I cite here influenced my ideas, and I am thankful for their research and thoughtful theoretical work. Friends and family were reassuring influences throughout the last six years and especially over the last few months. Even in the face of overwhelming challenges in his life, Steve Stubben sought me out to offer kind encouragement and was, ever, a motivating example. With Steve, Ben Beckstead made possible a respite from my studies that was a rejuvenating and formulating experience. Vikas Turakhia kept me laughing, kept me grounded in the world of high school classroom teaching, and kept calling to check on me. So many members of our Smyrna Ward family took care of our children, of Julee, and of me as I worked on this project. Thanks especially, in these last months, to Jon Lifferth, Bill Tigert, Vinnie Hassler, and Bob Copass for inspiring and motivating me. Jared and Emily Halverson have stood by and lifted up our family and personally motivated me to always improve. Jared made possible a weekly spiritual oasis that sustained me. Julee’s siblings and their families have always encouraged me and lifted my spirits in tougher times and good times. My siblings—April Mohlmann, Devon Phillips, Marissa Phillips, Travis Phillips, and Emma Phillips—and their families have been great friends and supporters—swiggzers always. My mother-in-law and father-in-law, Darrell and Christi Burnett, believed in me—most importantly as a father and husband.