Award Date

5-15-2026

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)

Department

Educational Psychology, Leadership, and Higher Education

First Committee Member

Lisa Bendixen

Second Committee Member

Jonathan Hilpert

Third Committee Member

Vanessa Vongkulluksn

Fourth Committee Member

Erin Smith

Number of Pages

535

Abstract

Informal learning environments are powerful sites of meaning-making when learners are invited to move from observer to author. This study positions zine-making as an effective educational tool capable of promoting that transformation. The study advances a new framework—Performatic Learning—to articulate how creative, multimodal practices can support learning as becoming. Developed through foundational pilot studies and an in-depth mixed-methods investigation in a natural history museum, the framework integrates five constructs: Intentional Epistemic Claiming, Experiential Knowing, Cultural Mediation, Performatic Space, and Learning as Becoming. Across cases, zine-making emerged as a generative learning space in which participants authored knowledge, navigated uncertainty, drew on cultural resources, and externalized reflection through material form. Results show strong receptivity among learners and museum practitioners, and demonstrate that zines can function as accessible, low-cost tools for sustained epistemic engagement. This study also develops and offers tools that practitioners can apply immediately in the field. Through a design-oriented taxonomy and an accessible conceptual map, the Performatic Learning framework is translated into concrete resources for planning, facilitating, and reflecting on creative learning experiences. These tools support educators in intentionally cultivating expressive, participatory, and educational practice oriented toward learning as becoming, while remaining responsive to local contexts and learner positionalities.

Keywords

Cultural Positionality Identity Epistemic Authority; Experiential Learning Design Participatory; Liminality Embodiment Enactment; Mixed Methods Case Study Constructive Grounded Theory; Museum Education Informal Learning; Zine Creativity Fanzine Making

Disciplines

Cultural Resource Management and Policy Analysis | Curriculum and Instruction | Educational Psychology | Instructional Media Design

File Format

PDF

File Size

15000 KB

Degree Grantor

University of Nevada, Las Vegas

Language

English

Rights

IN COPYRIGHT. For more information about this rights statement, please visit http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/

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