Master of Fine Arts, Miami University, 2021, Art

Thousands of children are adopted both domestically and internationally every year. Many of these children come from institutional or foster care and suffer from complex trauma, abuse and neglect, which negatively affect their transition and attachment with their adoptive families (Van Der Kolk, 2005). If left untreated, these effects can last into adulthood, impairing a person's ability to form secure relationships throughout their lives (White, 2014). The purpose of this research is to explore the use of virtual play—especially play therapy—to help adopted children in Pennsylvania work through these past traumas so they can form healthy attachments with their adoptive families. As a result, treating complex trauma in these children requires treatment that addresses the whole child: 1) safety, 2) relationships and 3) self-regulation and management (Purvis, 2013). Up until this point, most interventions are behavioral-based and revolve around the caregiver and family, such as attachment parenting and Trust-Based Relational Intervention (TBRI) training (Chobhthaigh, 2019). However, few studies focus on adopted children and their use of play, and no studies have been published that revolve around the use of virtual play to treat adopted children with trauma.

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2016, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

This manuscript describes an exploratory study that assessed whether play with typically developing peers increased the use of symbolic play in children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). A version of a sandplay intervention previously investigated by Lu, Petersen, Lacroix, and Rousseau (2010), and modified to include peer-mediated play was used. The intervention explored the effects of sandplay with typically developing peers on engagement in symbolic play by children with ASD. A multiple-case intervention design was used with three children with ASD with varying degrees of severity in functioning. While use of symbolic play by two of the children did increase from baseline with the introduction of the peer-mediated sandplay intervention, these effects were inconsistent. Furthermore, only one of the children demonstrated a continued increase in symbolic play at the follow-up phase. While the results of the intervention are inconclusive, these results necessitate further investigation into this method of intervention for children with autism spectrum disorder, specifically in regard to ASD severity. Theoretical and treatment implications are offered, as well as directions for future research.

Doctor of Education, Miami University, 2023, Educational Leadership

This qualitative interview study investigated teachers' perspectives on play pedagogy and the challenges of implementing play as a learning method in early childhood classes. The study collected qualitative data from four preschool teachers and two kindergarten teachers in a school in Midwest Ohio. Teachers shared their experiences through in-depth interviews. Data was analyzed and categorized into themes according to the interview questions. Findings concluded a positive perspective and understanding of play and its benefits among preschool teachers. However, there was a shift in teachers' perspectives about play at the kindergarten level. Teachers felt pressured to meet the state academic standards and prepare children for grade one. They followed traditional teacher-guided methods, reducing play and child-centered learning opportunities. The importance of play in children's whole development is supported by a substantial amount of research (NAEYC, 2009). However, play is disappearing in early childhood classes (Bassok, 2016; Miller & Almon, 2009). Moreover, teachers' perspectives on play are changing due to the pressure to meet high academic expectations at the kindergarten level (Miller & Almon, 2009). This study conveys teachers' voices and contributes to understanding play pedagogy and how it is perceived and implemented in preschool and kindergarten classrooms.

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2023, Antioch Santa Barbara: Clinical Psychology

While not yet an official diagnosis, Complex trauma is considered to be multifaceted and nuanced diagnosis that can include emotional abuse, neglect, physical abuse, sexual abuse, witness domestic violence, ethnic cleansing, and wartime (Herman, 2015; Cook et al., 2005). Perhaps the most distinct consequences of complex trauma lie in its effect on an individual's ability to regulate emotional and affective states (Schore, 2012, Van der Kolk, 2015) as well as one's ability to develop secure attachments (Bosmans et al., 2020; Bowlby, 1988) and ultimately, interpersonal intimacy in adulthood (Schroder et al., 2019). Research has shown that individuals are able to develop secure attachments through mechanisms such as therapy, group support, and therapeutic play (Schwartz, 2013; Syropoulos, 2020; Cossa, 2020). Improvisational Theater has long been revered as an instrument toward psychological healing (Felsman, 2019; Valke, 2018; Bermant, 2013) but little is known about the specific impacts on participants who report a history of complex trauma. This research will serve to bridge a knowledge gap between the serious world of psychology and the playful world of Improvisational Theater by looking at the lived experience of those who participate and report a history of complex trauma. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA, https://aura.antioch.edu/, and OhioLINK ETD Center, https://etd.ohiolink.edu.

Master of Arts, The Ohio State University, 2019, Educational Studies

This study examined the effects of using Behavioral Skills Training (BST) to train peer models on the percent of intervals engaged in interactive play by students with moderate to severe disabilities in the classroom. The percent of intervals engaged in interactive play was measured by direct observation using partial interval recording. The percent of procedural steps implemented correctly by peer models after receiving BST was measured via a checklist data sheet which aligned with the peer models' task analysis. The participants of this study consisted of four students with multiple disabilities (target students) and four typically developing students (peer models). The target students were between the ages of six and eight. The peer models were all age twelve. Two separate multiple-baseline across participants designs were used to evaluate the effectiveness of BST on the peer models' implementation of the procedural steps over time and the target students' percent of intervals engaged in interactive play. Findings indicated that BST was an effective method for teaching all four peer models to implement procedural steps for interactive play to mastery and that mastery was maintained over time. Findings also indicated that using BST with the peer models resulted in an increased percentage of intervals engaged in interactive play for all four target students. Three out of four target students maintained increased engagement in interactive play over time. Both the target students and the peer models were able to generalize their skills to novel activities and play partners.

BA, Kent State University, 2018, College of Arts and Sciences / Department of English

"Rubber Meets Road" is a 60-minute play collaboratively written, directed, and produced by Kent State University senior English major and Writing minor Kelly Gallagher and KSU English and Political Science double major Gabrielle Seed. It sheds light on emotional abuse in heterosexual romantic relationships and what happens if and when it remains invisible to the people directly and indirectly involved. It suggests that sometimes relationships that appear most loving and stable are the ones that contain the most turmoil and dependence. It explores the complexities of female friendships and how abusive romantic relationships negatively affect them. It examines the impact of poor mental health on both abusers and the abused. Finally, Rubber Meets Road considers abusive relationships and affected relationships (such as, in this case, friendship) from several perspectives, challenging the audience to determine who is “right” and who is “wrong” and to pay attention and again be challenged when those roles may actually begin to switch. This thesis—the play itself as well as the descriptive and analytical account of its creation—is the result of roughly three semesters' work. We spent Summer 2017 researching, planning, and otherwise preparing to draft the play. We spent Fall 2017 actually writing the play. And we spent Spring of 2018 finding a performance space, casting the characters, building a production team, producing the play itself, and writing the present account. The following details the planning and thought that went into the final script and production of Rubber Meets Road and how both were influenced and guided by reading, research, specific classes, workshops, and the analysis of other productions. It concludes with a discussion of the most important lessons this process taught us.

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2018, Psychology

The role of video games and today's culture is ever-growing, making it important to understand the effect they can have on our cognitive processes. Because video games provide an outlet for play, there is evidence to support that video game play can produce similar outcomes on cognitive processes as the real-world play it is designed to imitate. By changing the environmental settings within a video game and having objectives that encourage either exploration of the environment or construction of items and structures, specific types of play can be encouraged, thus improve cognitive processes. The goal of these studies was to determine what effects two types of video game play, Exploratory Representational Play (ERP) and Constructive Play (CP) have on divergent thinking and problem-solving, respectively. Study 1 examined the effect of both goals and different video game environments for ERP and CP have on divergent thinking and problem-solving. Study 2 considered CP and ERP goals and different video game environments separately to examine whether either of these manipulations influenced divergent thinking and problem-solving. In Study 1 the ERP and the non-video game playing control conditions had better problem-solving scores than the CP condition. Study 2 found strong support for having either ERP or CP goals to improve divergent thinking. Across both studies, the manipulation of differing play-type objectives and settings led to more of the intended play behaviors, exploration and construction. These studies suggest that video game play can be designed to mimic real-world game play but more research is needed to understand how cognitive processes can be affected by video game play.

Master of Science, University of Toledo, 2014, Exercise Science

Objective: The objective of this study was to determine the effects of an acute lateral ankle sprain on self-reported function, self-reported pain, self-reported global function, joint effusion, dorsiflexion range of motion, and dynamic stability over a 14 day period following injury compared to healthy matched controls. Design and Setting: A case-control design was conducted in a laboratory setting. Subjects: Twenty-nine participants with an acute lateral ankle sprain (LAS) were assigned to a LAS group (10 males, 19 females; 20.41 ± 2.18 years; 176.44 ± 11.00 cm; 74.22 ± 14.33 kg), and twenty-two healthy participants were assigned to a control group (11 males, 11 females; 20.95 ± 2.97 years; 178.61 ± 10.96 cm; 76.39 ± 13.81 kg). Procedure: Experimental measures All participants were asked to report for a total of five tests sessions done at 36 hours, 5, 7, 10, and 14 days following initial injury; or from the day of enrollment as a healthy control. Each testing session lasted approximately 1 hour, with self-reported function and self-reported pain was assessed using the FADI, FADI Sport and VAS. Dynamic balance was assessed using the SEBT anterior, posteromedial, and posterolateral reach directions. Ankle girth was measured using the figure-of-eight method. Dorsiflexion range of motion was assessed using a goniometer. Frequency of rehabilitative exercises athletic, athletic participation and use of therapeutic modalities was collected using a treatment questionnaire. Results: Significant differences were found fourteen days following injury in all self-reported outcomes in the LAS group compared to Healthy controls (P=0.05). Significant decreases DF were found up to seven days post injury (P=0.05). Significant dynamic stability deficits were seen up to fourteen days following injury in the anterior reach and posteromedial reach of the star excursion balance text (SEBT) (P=0.05). No significant findings were seen in the posterolateral reach direction of the SEBT (P= (open full item for complete abstract)

MDes, University of Cincinnati, 2010, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Design

Designers, as creative individuals, are encouraged to play with various ideas to achieve innovation. Although play is acknowledged in design world in the context of ideation, the value of play is underestimated. This is why it is essential to explore ways to promote play in the whole design process. The purpose of this thesis is to introduce a fresh way of viewing play through examining it in the design process with an observational study, which evaluates play to identify potential research implications for its role in the product design process. To evaluate the impact of play, the researcher not only observed, but also worked with design students focusing on a particular project for ten weeks. Based on her observations, the researcher surveyed the students to evaluate their perceptions of play and their work habits. The results indicate that a considerable improvement would be present when play is promoted in the design process. This research is not only significant for examining play in terms of design but also for identifying necessary expertise to develop a comprehensive study in this field.

MDes, University of Cincinnati, 2007, Design, Architecture, Art and Planning : Design

This project considers a body of research about play, inclusion, and the characteristics of children with Down syndrome balanced with first-hand feedback from parents. These findings were used to explore a multi-sensory (visual and tactile) solution for modeling the steps of asking to play for children with Down syndrome who have limited verbal skills. The proposed solution is an educational toy that explores three-dimensional form, color, shape, pattern, and texture to enhance communication and reinforce secondary learning concepts like color and shape recognition, object manipulation, and sequencing. A follow-up practice component is essential to the concept, allowing the child to build confidence through rehearsal. The visual support was tested at an annual Buddy Walk, where both typically developing children and children with Down syndrome were observed. Key findings from this event, project limitations, and implications for further research are outlined in the evaluation section of this thesis.

Master of Arts, Miami University, 2010, Theatre

With this thesis I explore the relationship between history plays and historical studies. In order to look at this relationship, I chose a Korean-American play Yi Sang Counts to Thirteen and a Korean play Our Joyful Young Days, both of which deal with the 1930s Korean poet Yi Sang and his love conflict. The comparison of the two plays reveals that the narratives of the history plays echo the historical studies of each linguistic world. However, preference of the audience to a certain theatrical aesthetic causes the audience reception not to follow the boundary that the languages draw. Thus, I address how the history plays represent two different relations with the historical studies, in their production and consumption.

DMA, University of Cincinnati, 2024, College-Conservatory of Music: Piano

Abstract Friedrich Gulda, one of the leading pianists in the 1950s, was a classically-trained concert pianist who also played and composed jazz. This combination was new at the time, and it may have resulted in a new genre. Reviewers who heard his performance at the Birdland Club in New York on June 21, 1956, claimed that he emerged as a unique artist walking along two paths. After Gulda's Birdland performance, he attempted to reconcile classical devices with the unique characteristics of jazz, which caused him to examine how classical pianists practiced and played jazz. This resulted in his composition of a new type of jazz etude for classical pianists titled Play Piano Play. This etude was designed to train classical pianists how to approach swing rhythms of jazz as well as train them to improvise. Play Piano Play may be considered a self-portrait that reflects Gulda's innovative and creative style. In this paper I will examine how Gulda combined jazz elements of rhythm and improvisation in classical forms that resulted in what Gunther Schuller called “third stream.” I will also identify musicians and music that informed this new style from the view of Clarence Stuessy's “confluence work.” This will give classical concert pianists a guidepost on interpreting and performing Gulda's Play Piano Play.

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2021, Curriculum and Instruction (Education)

Mathematics concepts in early childhood education are often predictors later outcomes for student success, because mathematics is a foundational area of academics. The purpose of the research is to engage educators in conversations regarding experiential learning opportunities in early mathematics through curriculum planning and instructional practices that benefit young children in general and special education contexts. The three manuscripts presented explore topics of play-based instructional strategies that foster growth mindsets, utilizing differentiation strategies in mathematics, and comparing mathematics intervention strategies for children with speech or language impairments. Each manuscript brings unique opportunities for educators through underlying connections including foundational mathematics concepts, special factors that contribute to learning difficulties in mathematics, play-based learning, and instructional strategies. Throughout the research foundational early mathematics concepts and developmental trajectories are examined, specifically in the number sense domain, which is essential for constructing later mathematical concepts including logical thinking and arithmetic processes. Curriculum planning and instructional practices such as play-based experiential learning strategies, explicit instruction, differentiation, and repeated practice opportunities are imperative to creating engaging and meaningful learning experiences in an early childhood classroom. The major outcome of the research has been opening a discussion with educators, administrators, and other stakeholders regarding the importance of mathematics curriculum in early childhood educations. Implications for the field include aspects of teacher preparation courses, bolstering mathematics curriculum, incorporating a variety of research based instructional practices, and considering a diverse range of special factors when designing mathematics interventions. Through the research ed (open full item for complete abstract)

MA, Kent State University, 2020, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences

The ease of online video game functionality has made online video game play the norm in research studies, but offline video game settings are still exercised today among friends. Video game play has grown exponentially as a favorable leisure activity not just among adolescents, but adults as well. This study sought to assess how relationship quality among emerging adults varies with offline video game play with friends. At Kent State University, 222 undergraduate students across multiple disciplines were recruited to complete an online survey on perceived friendship quality and video game play. Of those, 123 reported video game play and their responses were used to analyze support and strain received from friends based on the MIDUS II Support and Strain Scales. In addition, game genre and frequency of play answers were recorded as potential moderators between support and strain received from friends and video game play. Linear regressions revealed no significant association between support and strain receive from friends and offline video game play. Four linear regressions were used to analyze game genre and frequency of play respectively between support and strain received from friends and video game play. Although results showed no significance within these moderator regressions, time with friends was associated with support received from friends.

Specialist in Education, Miami University, 2019, Educational Psychology

Today professions and post-secondary opportunities in the United States in the areas of science, technology, and engineering are continuously growing and requiring students to have complex understandings of mathematical concepts. As the demand for these professions continues to grow, mathematic achievement scores in the U.S. continue to decline. The current study seeks to examine if an alternative to explicit instruction, such as play, through a multiplication fluency game, can improve mathematic motivation and multiplicative fluency. Students in two third grade classrooms were given pre and posttest curriculum-based fluency tests and surveys focused on their attitude toward math to compare results between the treatment and control classrooms. The treatment classroom played a multiplication fluency game for three days a week for four weeks while the control classroom engaged in traditional instruction. Results were examined qualitatively and quantitatively to conclude that the play intervention appears to have no significance when compared to instruction without a fluency game on mathematical fluency scores.

MFA, Kent State University, 2018, College of the Arts / School of Art

ABSTRACT MALCOLM, KRISTINA, M.F.A. DECEMEBER 2018 ART ADULT TOYS Advisor: Andrew Kuebeck My research focuses on creating works to inspire curiosity to heal the body. This thesis investigates the effects of play in recovery from the negative effects of stress. Play improves the quality of life, by forgetting to play we prevent our bodies the opportunity to heal. Play is as essential as rest in recovering from illness because it allows for adaptivity in the brain. In play, we have new experiences which forge new neural pathways which may keep us healthy longer and decrease the chances of developing or stave off the effects of: autoimmune diseases, mental illness, Dementia, and Alzheimer's disease. New experiences through play in adults also improves relaxation while simultaneously acting in the mind as a simulant which fuels imagination and creativity while enhancing problem solving skills and improving emotional well-being. Studies have proven that in adults, play increases joy, relieves stress, supercharges learning, and makes work more productive and pleasurable. Play therapy is a cognitive approach to wellness through counseling or psychotherapy. A room designed for Play Therapy has five types of toys. The models are: Fantasy Play which includes costumes and roll playing type toys. Aggressive Play is represented by warlike toys like guns or swords. Nurturing Play therapy comes in the form of things you care for like kitchenettes and dolls. Adventure Play is considered toys with fear associated with them like snakes. Creative Play in a play therapy room consists of toys like building blocks and drawing utensils. My work uses these models to create accessories dealing with similar principles. Plants with roots exposed are nurtured against the body. Insects encourage you to go out of your comfort zone to wear them. Glow-in-the-dark accessories encourage make-believe. Puzzles and modular artworks a (open full item for complete abstract)

Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing, Cleveland State University, 2018, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences

ABSTRACT Contradictionary Lies: A Play Not About Kurt Cobain is a one-act play that follows failed rocker Jimbo as he deals with aging, his divorce, and disappointment. As he and his estranged wife Kelly divvy up their belongings and ultimately their memories, Jimbo is visited by his guardian angel, the ghost of dead rock star Kurt Cobain. Part dark comedy, part docudrama, this play shows how closely man emulates their heroes, and how in the void of depression, music serves an escape.

Doctor of Philosophy, University of Toledo, 2017, Curriculum and Instruction: Special Education

Often children with disabilities have difficulty engaging in tasks and may display off-task behaviors. Children learn best when they are interested in a topic. This generalized learning is more meaningful than memorization of facts (McWilliam & Casey, 2008). When engagement time is increased, children often display higher cognitive skills and more appropriate social and behavioral skills (McWilliam & Casey, 2008). The use of naturalistic interventions and child initiated activities have been shown to improve children's level of engagement. This study determined how the duration and level of engagement was affected when teachers paired interest materials in the dramatic play center with teacher facilitation, defined as priming using nonfiction literature, implementing topic-related play materials, and suggesting how to play in the center. Three preschool children with speech and language disabilities along with their teachers from three classrooms participated. The children's interests were determined by parent interviews, interest inventories, and systematic classroom observations. The early childhood teachers provided facilitation by reading a nonfiction book about the child's topic of interest, embedding related play materials, and suggesting how children should take on play roles in the dramatic play center. The children's time on task and engagement levels were measured. A multiple baseline design was used across the three classrooms to determine the effectiveness of the intervention.

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2015, East Asian Languages and Literatures

This dissertation examines how Chinese modern drama, or huaju, provided intellectual play-makers a vital but tension-ridden venue to (re)produce forms of “self” as “enlighteners” to the masses and “participatory citizens” of the nation for the task of building a modern China by (re)defining social norms within the huaju “stage.” I present a three-fold understanding of “play-making” that incorporates its textual, performative/theatrical, and meta-theatrical senses while dealing with specific huaju plays that were written and staged in Columbus, Ohio (Chapter 1), Shanghai and Ding County (Chapter 2), Jiang'an (Chapter 3), and Chongqing (Chapter 4). My narrative focuses on four cosmopolitan dramatists—Hong Shen (1894-1955), Xiong Foxi (1900-1965), Yu Shangyuan (1897-1970), and Xia Yan (1900-1995)—while they mobilized self and huaju against the backdrop of successive wars and (re)constructions on domestic and global scales in the first half of the 20th century. I demonstrate how play-making, seen and practiced as a “democratic institution,” attempted to form a “unity” incorporating the metropolitan masses, a rural base for the Mass Education Movement, and shelters for war refugees during the Second Sino-Japanese War. My three-fold approach to play-making problematizes understandings of huaju in extant scholarship and significantly revises the deficient discourse of modern Chinese theatre. Huaju has been designated in both China and theatre studies as being oriented toward intellectuals and informed by “Western modernity,” particularly so during the genre's formative phase in the 1920s. Although such an identity earned for huaju the glory of being an ideal modern cultural form and a social-educational frontier for May Fourth intellectuals, it also rendered huaju an “undesirable other” in the 1990s when scholarly attention shifted from elite May Fourth culture to popular culture and alternative modernities. Today, while “traditional” and popular cultural forms ha (open full item for complete abstract)

Psy. D., Antioch University, 2015, Antioch New England: Clinical Psychology

This dissertation evaluated archival data from the implementation of a child-centered approach to play therapy with a young girl diagnosed with autism. Goals of treatment included promoting spontaneous symbolic play and increasing verbal communication skills. Young children with autism who engage in early intervention often receive behavioral interventions, such as applied behavior analysis (ABA), on a regular basis. However, the use of child-centered play therapy as an intervention is not as common, as play is frequently viewed as being a deficiency for children with autism. In psychological theory, play is often regarded as a child's work, and his or her primary mode of communication. Play, of any type, is vital for the healthy development of all children. Through a review of the literature, the importance of play interventions for children with autism is argued. Next, the use of child-centered play therapy with the goal of enhancing both spontaneous symbolic play and functional language for children with autism is examined. Methods for how the intervention was implemented and evaluated will be described. The results of the coded sessions are reviewed and explored. Results are then discussed through a traditional narrative case study method, highlighted by examples that occurred during therapy sessions. Information from an interview with the parents is narrated to illustrate their perspective on the implementation of the intervention, as well as their own experiences with the diagnosis. Limitations and challenges to the research are explored, followed by recommendations for future research. Finally, who should receive this type of intervention as well as when CCPT should be considered is discussed.