This post is part of a series focused on highlighting outstanding defense videos from the graduating class of fall 2022. Each post features a brief interview with the student about their experience in the MA program and includes their research defense video.
At ASU, the capstone is the culminating experience for all online MA graduates and a growing number of immersion students as well. The capstone helps students revise and polish two papers, prepare a research defense video, and display their work in a digital portfolio. This portfolio can be shared with family, friends and even potential employers. The research defense is based off of the one of the student’s research papers. It asks students to provide an overview of the project, argument, methodology, the relevance of the findings and research limitations.
Allonie Moncriffe is an AP U.S. history teacher for the Fort Bend Independent School District in Texas. She was awarded a Teaching American History Grant from the National Humanities Center (under the U.S. Department of Education). Her research and teaching focus on historically marginalized groups in American history and helping students of diverse backgrounds realize the contributions their ancestors made to American history.
Q: What was your favorite part of the history program?
AM: The SHPRS faculty and staff are wonderfully caring and detail oriented. I entered the history MA program as a transfer student, but I soon “found my feet” with the expert tutelage of my professors. As a veteran educator, I gained the skills necessary to enhance my knowledge and instructional pedagogy. I will be forever grateful for my experience and the memories that I made with the program.
Q: What did you learn from the process of creating and recording a research defense?
AM: The oral defense helped me to concisely synthesize my research in an effective manner. The format of the oral defense gave me the structure needed to present a historical argument to my peers at professional development classes and aided in my marketability as an instructor. In the coming years, I will present my doctoral defense using the detailed structure of the program.
Q: What advice would you give to someone currently in the program?
AM: The best advice that I can give current and incoming students is to keep an open line of communication with your professors who are eager to help. I also suggest that you take care with your time management. As a full-time Advanced Placement teacher, this skill was key to my effectiveness in school and work. The history MA program is rewarding but please remember to carve out time for yourself so that you can fondly remember your time in the program. In the end, I have no regrets, but an overwhelming sense of gratitude and pride in myself and the program.
Her paper, “Divergent Paths,” examines Benjamin Franklin’s efforts to promote colonial literacy from the 1730s to 1780s.
You can view the presentation here:
