Digital Commons Network^™

K-6 Saudi Arabian Teachers' Implementation Of Electronic Textbooks: Factors Associated With Behavioral Intention, Hamed Alghamdi

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Teaching with digitized textbooks is a relatively new domain of education in general and is a completely new domain in Saudi Arabia. This study investigated the relationship between the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT) constructs and the behavioral intention of K-6 elementary school teachers in Jeddah School District in Saudi Arabia to identify predictors of their behavioral intention toward using digitized books in their classrooms. The study employed a modified electronic UTAUT survey for data collection. The results of the study indicated a significant relationship between teachers' behavior intention and the variables of performance expectancy, effort …

Identifying Barriers Faced By Adult Learners In General Educational Development Programs, Matthew Patrick Beasland

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

It is estimated that 70% of all newly created jobs in Illinois by 2020 will need education beyond a high school diploma or General Educational Development (GED) diploma. In Illinois, 12% of adults 25 and older do not have a high school diploma or its equivalent. Individuals without a high school diploma or GED are twice as likely to be unemployed and if they are employed are more likely to be in a low-wage position. On average an individual without a high school diploma or GED will earn roughly $10,000 less annually. Given the increasing need for a high school …

Perceptions On Teacher And Collective Efficacy While Platooning Over An Academic Year: A Case Study Of Three Elementary Educators, Alison Kay Ducharm

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Due to increased accountability requirements under No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and, most recently, the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA), educators and administrators face intensified pressure to increase students’ achievement in their schools. Changing how classrooms are organized for instruction has been one response to this pressure. Platooning at the elementary level is one example of such an organizational change; however, very little research specifically addresses platooning at the elementary-level. Therefore, many interested school districts are faced with making an uninformed decision about platooning, particularly at the elementary level.

This qualitative study studied the perception of platooning on teacher and …

Experiences Of Southeast Asians At A Community College In The Midwest, Emmanuel Canlas Esperanza Jr.

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explored what contributed to Southeast Asian students’ persistence in an urban community college in the Midwest. A qualitative case study was used to reveal how Southeast Asian students perceived personal and educational experiences and how those experiences created an impact on their persistence. This project addressed the lack of research on Southeast Asians and their challenges attaining academic success in higher education. This study is critical, as there is a lack of research on Southeast Asian students’ experiences within higher education institutions, particularly within community college settings. The majority of research has focused on Asian American or international …

Art Assessment Policy And Practice At The High School Level: Validity, Reliability, And Resistance, Deborah N. Filbin

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

National education reform policies that have increased reliance on standardized testing in subjects like reading and math as a way to judge the quality of a teacher’s performance have created challenges for educators in visual art and design when they are required to provide data about student growth. Art teachers who utilize alternate forms of assessment to judge the quality of student artwork as evidence of learning can potentially be in a precarious position because of underlying assumptions that these types of qualitative assessments lack validity. In this context, when compared to colleagues in traditionally tested disciplines, art educators face …

Open Doors And Closed Communities: Creating Community Colleges In White Flight Towns, Kristy Wittman Howell

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The College of DuPage (CoD), in suburban DuPage County, Illinois and Johnson County Community College (JCCC), in suburban Johnson County, Kansas, offer an interesting lens through which to examine topics of institutional history and culture, community relationships, and the leadership decisions of first presidents and their boards. The histories of CoD and JCCC, founded in restricted residency, affluent, and rapidly expanding suburbs in the 1960s also provide telling examples of campus/community interactions around the question of who could be a part of the community – and therefore the campus. Finally, comparing these two campuses affords readers a useful glimpse at …

S.I.S. (Suffering In Silence): The Influence Of Educational Attainment On Black Women’S Health, Quiana Chakeena Jones

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative, narrative inquiry study was to explore the influence of educational attainment on Black women’s perceptions of their health. Empirical research indicates the causes of stress and other health concerns pertaining to Black women are often rooted in racism and discrimination. Within the literature, the barriers that many African American women face within the educational system on all levels are discussed. However, there are few studies that have specifically researched the connection between educational attainment regarding receiving bachelorette degrees or higher and how or if that has an influence on Black women’s health. As such, the …

Untwining Threads: Second Wave Hmong Parents’ Conceptualizations Of Ways To Support Their Adolescent Children’S Education, Mao Sea Lee

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This research identifies the support systems for adolescents’ education within the second wave Hmong refugee family setting. The study examines the parents’ perspectives on their own support systems for their adolescents’ education. The work focuses on studying both the instrumental support and psychological care these parents provide their teenage children and interprets why these parents choose to provide these resources. Studying these parents’ ways of supporting their adolescents provided a more in-depth understanding of why these recent refugee parents choose to invest of their resources to their adolescents’ education and, subsequently, what education means to them. The research also brought …

College Leadership Opportunities' Impact On Life During And After College, Mark Anthony Pietrowski Jr.

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study explores the personal experiences of 14 individuals who engaged in leadership opportunities during their college educations. Through in-depth interviews, this study sought to explore how those leadership experiences impacted their leadership, both in their careers and/or in the community, after their graduation from both 2 and 4-year institutions. Findings from this study indicate that participants identified that their leadership experiences had impacts upon their careers and leadership after graduation. Yet, participants also shared that they engaged in leadership because they were self-motivated to do so, rather than learning about these opportunities on their campus. The final finding indicated …

Principals’ Legal Literacy About Tenured-Teacher Evaluation In Illinois, Elizabeth Pohlmann

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the legal literacy of principals related to the evaluation of tenured teachers. The quality of teachers, while varied, is important. The evaluation of tenured teachers provides a significant opportunity to impact the quality of teachers and the teacher workforce. This study explores principals’ knowledge of the legal framework in Illinois to identify gaps in knowledge regarding the tenured teacher evaluation process and the associated legal constraints (what do they have to do) and opportunities (what can they do).

In this study, a survey aligned with the legal requirements for tenured teacher evaluation is used to measure principal …

Exploring Hip Hop Pedagogy In The Lives Of Four African American Adolescents, Roland Steele

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this case study was to examine how participation in an after-school hip hop pedagogy program influenced the social and academic lives of four African American male adolescents. The researcher viewed this study through the conceptual framework of culturally relevant teaching that incorporated hip hop pedagogy. Hip-hop is currently one of the most popular forms of music and represents the dominant culture of today’s inner-city youth. This study centered on how hip hop pedagogy is being used to educate African American male students.

The study participants consisted of four African American male adolescents who attended an after-school hip …

An Exploration Of First-Year University Students’ Conceptualizations Of Academic Reading: A Multicase Study, Jennifer C. Theriault

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Research indicates that an important tenet of college readiness is the ability to comprehend complex texts and that the transition to postsecondary reading expectations and demands is often difficult for students. Further, students’ perceptions of themselves as academic readers influence their reading habits and practices. More specifically, research exploring undergraduates’ experiences with academic reading suggests that what students think about reading affects their reading choices and expectations. However, literature discussing academic reading has largely come from faculty perspective.

This study examined first-year university students’ conceptualizations of academic reading and perceptions of themselves as academic readers in order to understand how …

Transitional Math In Illinois: A Quantitative Study On Eligible And Enrolled Students, Whitney Lynn Martino

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Completing a post-secondary degree is crucial to being competitive in the current job market. By 2020, the majority of all jobs in the United States require post-secondary education and training; however, barriers to access and attainment exist among individuals working to obtain post-secondary degrees, and there is an overall slowdown in post-secondary attainment. Students entering college identified as under-prepared is one of the attainment barriers to a post-secondary degree. This is particularly problematic at open admissions institutions like community colleges. When students arrive at college academically unprepared, they are often required to take developmental or remedial education coursework. In response …

The Second Prong Of The Tinker Test: A Constitutional Right To Not Be Offended?, Jonathan Pilkington

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

In the landmark 1969 Tinker v. Des Moines case, the Supreme Court ruled school districts could censor student speech if it caused a material and substantial disruption to the educational process or if the speech infringed upon the rights of others. Since then, the Supreme Court has also allowed schools to abridge students’ speech rights if the speech was obscene, if the speech was part of a school-sponsored activity, or if the speech promoted illegal drug use. Most of the court cases since Tinker have applied the first prong of the Tinker decision, focusing on disruption to education as the …

A Phenomenological Examination Of Womanist Leadership In An Urban Community College, Cynthia Denise Armster

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

There is an absence of research addressing Women of Color leaders in the academy, specifically relative to the influence of their cultural identity on their leadership styles. The purpose of this study is to understand the lived experience of Women of Color leaders who served in cabinet-level positions at an urban midwestern multi-campus comprehensive community college system, how their leader persona impacted their decisions and policy-making as Women of Color leaders, and their perception of their impact and legacy in the mentoring of the next generation of Women of Color leaders within community colleges. This study is necessary to increase …

The Efficacy Of Educational Robotics In An Integrated Stem Elementary Curriculum, Colleen Marie Cannon-Ruffo

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

While there has never been a greater demand for STEM education, the U.S. is still struggling to define and implement this type of instruction. Identifying innovative and effective ways of improving STEM education in the K-12 environment is vital to the U.S. to remain economically viable on a global level. The multidisciplinary aspect of educational robotics facilitates an integrated approach to STEM learning which espouses the educational theories of Constructionism and Computational Thinking. The purpose of this study was to compare the cognitive and affective out-comes of participation in an integrated STEM curriculum based on educational robotics. The integrated STEM …

How Secondary English Language Arts Teachers Determine, Select, And Plan Using Complex Text, April Hughes

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study examined how secondary English language arts teachers determined, selected, and planned how to use complex text. Another aim was to detail what resources and instructional activities they found successful in assisting students with diverse, academic, and sociocultural needs. Finally, this study shows the need for additional resources and scaffolding currently absent in the Common Core State Standards (CCSS). The conceptual framework for this study was based on the RAND™ reading comprehension model.

The descriptive design employed both quantitative and qualitative methods. Participants included secondary level ELA teachers from the Denver Public School system. The teachers took a survey, …

I Belong At Harper College: A Qualitative Case Study On Fostering Community College Students’ Sense Of Belonging Through A First-Year Seminar Course, Emily Reabe

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

While community college is often seen as an avenue that provides access to higher education to a greater part of the population, community colleges have struggled with improving retention, persistence, and degree completion. Research highlights the importance of helping students develop a sense of belonging at the institution, which has been found to improve retention, persistence, and degree completion. One avenue to do so may be through requiring students to enroll in a First Year Seminar course. This qualitative case study explored the way in which a First Year Seminar course may influence students’ sense of belonging at a community …

Bully Participant Role Behavior And Social Support From Teachers And Classmates: A Longitudinal Conditional Process Analysis, Logan Riffle

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Youth are involved in a range of bullying-related behaviors. Unfortunately, engagement in such behavior is associated with a variety of poor outcomes and thus it is important to understand the mechanisms behind this phenomenon as well as associated variables such as perceived teacher support and classmate support, as both types of support have been associated with engagement in bullying situations. Using Bronfenbrenner’s Social Ecological Model (Bronfenbrenner, 1977) as a backdrop, the aim of the current study was to investigate the longitudinal associations between bullying participant role behavior and perceived support from teachers and classmates. Specifically, this study examined the mediating …

Assessment Of Faculty Acceptance Of, Behavioral Intention To Use, And Actual Usage Behavior Of Technology In Inquiry-Based Learning In Medical Education: Using The Unified Theory Of Acceptance And Use Of Technology, Max Carl Anderson

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Inquiry-based learning (IBL) is an umbrella term used in this quantitative study to describe three different, yet related teaching methodologies: case-based learning (CBL), problem-based learning (PBL), and team-based learning (TBL). Each of these IBL activities involves a problem or situation for students in teams to find solutions. The problems to be solved have the most impact for students when they are connected to a real-life situation. While none of the three methodologies require the use of educational technology to be successfully implemented, there are situations where it could augment or improve content delivery. In medical education, situational problems for students …

The Effect Of Self-Reflection On Relative Student Success In Undergraduate Calculus 1, Kevin Shryock

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This thesis examines the effect of completion and self-reflection credit on multiple aspects of undergraduate student success in Calculus 1. Specifically, this study assessed the validity of a plug-and-play classroom framework utilizing a combination of a holistic rubric and corresponding worksheets to direct students’ attention towards their conceptual understanding of material and written work, all while removing the pressure of performance grades on all but four summative assessments. By comparing students’ relative performance on these summative assessments, as well as students’ responses on regular surveys, this study found that students who chose to forego performance grades in favor of completion …

Integrating Quality Improvement Concepts Into Nursing Curriculum: Perspectives Of Associate Degree Nurse Faculty, Debbie Krachtus

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Since the groundbreaking report To Err is Human, there has been an increased focus on outcomes and quality improvement (QI) in healthcare. This focus has resulted in a change in nursing education. Nursing programs and nurse educators have been directed to integrate QI into nursing curriculum using innovative teaching methods. However, the voices of Associate Degree Nurse (ADN) educators are absent from the literature. This qualitative research study used a phenomenological approach to ascertain ADN educators’ perspectives about integrating QI into their curriculum. The central questions of this research were: what are ADN faculty views on the integration of QI …

Excess Credit Accumulation Impact On Degree Attainment For Community College Students, Stacy Riley

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study was conducted to examine the relationship between excess credit accumulation and timely degree completion for community college degree-seeking students. The research model used in this study is based on quantitative logistic and linear regression models, whereby the dependent variable was degree attainment within 150% of normal time and time to degree measured in months respectively. This study included all students admitted to a technical diploma or associate degree program excluding one-course technical diplomas over a five-year period (2011-2016) for a total of 27,133 observations at a southeastern Wisconsin technical college.

The study’s findings showed there was no statistically …

Unraveling A Lifetime Of Racism And Sexism: An Autoethnography Of The Educational Journey From Kindergarten To Doctoral Education For An African American Woman, Sandy Lee Barney-Inniss

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Audre Lorde’s (1984) essay titled “The Master’s Tools Will Never Dismantle the Master’s House” is suitable for describing the intent and rationale for this research. My purpose was to use my voice to interpret experiences that assisted in dismantling the master’s house (dominant group) by sharing insights and unraveling the layers (onion peels as a metaphor) of my experiences with race, gender, and age on my academic journey to complete my doctoral degree at a predominantly White university to report a truth that denies the context of power and race in our society.

Higher education continues to wrestle with addressing …

The Relationship Of The First-Year Seminar Course And Degree Completion At Kishwaukee College, Michelle Rothmeyer

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine whether there is a relationship between students’ enrollment in the First-Year Seminar (FYS) course of Counseling and Student Development 100 (CSD 100), which is called The College Experience course at Kishwaukee College, and completion of an associate degree in a three-year period at Kishwaukee College. Specifically, what was the relationship between students who took the FYS course of CSD 100 and completed an Associate of Arts (AA) or Associate of Science (AS) degree over a three-year period, and does the effect of the relationship between students who took the FYS course …

Becoming Gatekeepers: A Constructivist Model Of Gatekeeper Development In Counselor Education, Natasha Joy Salier Schnell

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The need for diligent gatekeeping practices in counselor education is well documented in professional literature, ethical guidelines, and standards of practice; although much has been written about gatekeeping, an extensive examination of the literature did not reveal any studies on how and where counselor educators are learning to be gatekeepers. Therefore, this study sought to ascertain what counselor educators identify as meaningful learning experiences and critical incidents that facilitated their sense of efficacy and preparedness as gatekeepers and to examine how counselor educators acquire and develop the competence to become proficient gatekeepers in the counseling profession. Phenomenological interviewing and analysis …

It’S A Family Affair: Exploring The Needs Of Families In Supporting Trio Upward Bound Students, Tashena Denise Briggs

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

First-generation and/or low-income families have a difficult time navigating the college-going process. These families have daily obstacles that make preparing and entering post-secondary education challenging, including family trauma, financial hardships, decision-making skills, and lack of knowledge regarding college-going strategies. The purpose of this study is to uncover what specific support tools low-income and/or first-generation families participating in the Danielsville College TRIO Upward Bound program need as they support their students through the college-going process at Hinley Park High School. This qualitative study utilized a research methodology case study approach to understand the lived experiences of fifteen participants (one student, three …

Trans*Forming Educational Spaces: The Experiences Of Trans* And Gender Non-Conforming Students In The Community College Environment, Lori Clark

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This purpose of this study was to collect the stories of trans* and gender non-conforming students who attend community colleges. Very little research has been done on this community attending community colleges, so it is not known if the community college environment is supportive of this marginalized student group. The participants in the study shared their experiences with various aspects of the community college environment, from professors, classmates, student affairs, bathrooms, registration and records, to their gay straight alliances. Ultimately, it was found that the students interviewed faced a cadre of microaggressions throughout the areas of their community colleges. However, …

Post-Traditional Student Perceptions Of Academic Advising In Community Colleges, Lindsay Rae Eickhorst

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Fifteen post-traditional, working professional community college students from a public, two-year institution located in the Midwest Region of the United States participated in this case study, which describes the participant’s experiences receiving academic advising. The purposeful sampling of working professional students represented mixed demographics including; five men and ten women, ages 20 to 54, all of whom worked full-time and attended school part-time. The martial status of the participants included single, divorced, and married. Nine of the participants were parents while one participant was responsible for her three younger siblings. For ten of the participants, this was not their first …

Kishwaukee College Alumni: Donating Behavior To Their Alma Mater, Kayte Marie Hamel

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Over the last 20 years, there has been a significant decrease in funding for higher education. Institutions are increasingly forced to look at alternative methods for financing their college operations. One-way institutions are combatting the decrease in funding is through increased fundraising efforts. Fundraising by colleges and universities has become a mission critical fiscal need, especially for those institutions that are publicly funded. In general, charitable giving to institutions of higher education has been on the rise, with foundation support being one of the largest entities, followed by alumni giving. Community colleges are relatively new to the fundraising arena compared …