Digital Commons Network^™

Race, Sense Of Belonging, And The African American Student Experience At Predominantly White Institutions, Anthony Kane

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research study utilized a critical race theoretical framework and methodology to explore the lived experiences of African American students at a predominantly White institution. The purpose of this study was to identify how race impacts the sense of belonging of African American students at predominantly White institutions (PWIs). This study highlighted the racialized experiences of African American students at a predominantly White institution and how these experiences impacted their sense of belonging. Additionally, this study sought to understand the type of support African Americans students preferred and needed in order to develop a positive sense of belonging.

Six African …

Exploring Appreciative Advising As An Equity Approach For African American Students: A Grounded Theory Study Of Academic Advisors At Predominantly White Institutions (Pwis), Valerie Harper

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

EXPLORING APPRECIATIVE ADVISING AS AN EQUITY APPROACH FOR AFRICAN AMERICAN STUDENTS: A GROUNDED THEORY STUDY OF ACADEMIC ADVISORS AT PREDOMINANTLY WHITE INSTITUTIONS (PWIs)

By

Valerie J. Harper

October 28, 2019

Dissertation supervised by Professor Gretchen Givens Generett

African American matriculation into postsecondary education continues to rise, but degree conferral remains low (Hoston, Graves, & Fleming-Randle, 2010). Arguably, Harper and Hurtado’s (2007) research, as far back as 1992, stated black students and other students of color have dealt with alienation, isolation, and stereotyping at PWIs; this continues to persist today (Lee, 2018), which may interrupt the academic success of African …

Queer Students’ Perceptions Of Inclusion At Abc Community College: A Phenomenology, Francis Canedo

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the lived experiences of Queer students at ABC Community College. Using phenomenology as its guiding framework, transcribed interviews were analyzed in order to seek the phenomenon of the experience. Examination of the literature suggested that Queer students’ experiences of discrimination could have a negative impact on academic achievement and that inclusive and affirming spaces have the opposite effect.

Further, Queer students search for affirming spaces from their faculty and peers, and the engagement these spaces provide may be good prognosticator academic achievement. When students are provided with inclusive spaces, they may be more likely to come …

Exploratory Learning Activities In The Physics Classroom: Contrasting Cases Versus A Rich Dataset., Campbell Rightmyer Bego

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

In exploratory learning, students engage in an exploration activity on a new topic prior to instruction. This inversion of the traditional tell-then-practice order has been shown to benefit learning outcomes, especially conceptual knowledge and preparation for future learning, but not always. In three studies, the current work examines whether the type of exploration activity impacts learning mechanisms and outcomes, on the topic of gravitational field in undergraduate physics classrooms. Activities using either contrasting cases (CC) or a rich dataset (RD) are compared in two instructional orders, explore-first (EF) and instruct-first (IF). Learning outcomes measured procedural knowledge, conceptual knowledge, and performance …

Reaching Zero Waste: Determining The Student Perspective On Campus Food Waste., Cassie Anne Parkins

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Food waste is an ongoing problem in the complex global food system. College campuses are in a unique position to address food waste through reducing it in their own food systems and by encouraging students to develop behaviors to reduce and divert waste from landfills. In this thesis project I seek to understand how students consider food waste and their attitudes and ideas about reducing it. To this end, I observed student behaviors and waste in University of Louisville’s all-you-care-to-eat dining hall and weighed plate waste there. I conducted informational interviews with University and Aramark employees, along with semi-structured interviews …

Education Abroad Participation: Predicting Participation Through High School Academic Record And Intent To Be Involved In College As Reported In The Freshman Survey (Tfs) And In The College Senior Survey (Css)., Elizabeth Karen Liebschutz-Roettger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Globalization is a topic of great interest in higher education yet fewer than 10% of college graduates participate in a formal study abroad program. While according to The American Council on Education [ACE] (2008) data, nearly 80% of incoming first-year students intend to go abroad, the reality is most students do not. Practitioners in Education Abroad (EA) are continually looking at ways to help increase student participation in overseas programs and opportunities. The study looks at frequencies and predictor models to help determine factors that influence student participation in study abroad. The study utilized HERI’s 2009 The Freshman Survey (TFS) …

Factors Influencing Faculty Use Of Screencasting For Feedback, Berlin Fang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study explored faculty concerns in using screencasting to give feedback, why they choose to adopt it, and what training and support would benefit them in the adoption of such a method. This is a single embedded case study using a stages of concern questionnaire, semistructured and open-ended interviews, as well as media comment reviews as data collection methods. Some 21 professors from a southwestern private university participated in the research, representing 51 potential participants who have been exposed to screencasting for feedback through software ownership, training, or coaching. After the completion of this questionnaire, 16 participants were interviewed in …

Organizational Change Within Christian Higher Education Institutions And The Reactions Of Faculty, Dena Counts

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Christian higher education in the United States is experiencing frequent transformational organizational change that is impacting faculty. Researchers have asserted that frequent, second-order organizational change correlates with interpersonal conflict, and conflict is associated with counterproductive work behaviors (CWBs). These associations between change, conflict, and negative work behavior are important to understand as faculty actions could significantly impact change efforts. Because of the context of Christian higher education, this study was designed to determine if faculty organizational identification influenced the correlations of the variables. It specifically utilized a cross-sectional survey design to assess faculty (N = 267) perceptions of organizational change, …

Queering Black Greek-Lettered Fraternities, Masculinity And Manhood : A Queer Of Color Critique Of Institutionality In Higher Education., Antron Demel Mahoney

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Drawing heavily on Roderick Ferguson’s (2012) theory of institutionality, this dissertation constructs a counter-historical genealogy of racialized gender in higher education and U.S. society through the formation of black Greek-lettered fraternities. Ferguson argues that with the insurgence of minority resistance globally and domestically during the mid-twentieth century, hegemonic power took a new form. Instead of rejecting minority difference, power’s new network attempted to work through and with minority difference in an effort to absorb and restrict these radical formations within state, capital and academy frameworks—producing narrow or one-dimensional minority subjectivities. Established at the turn of the twentieth century, black Greek-lettered …

Servant Leadership Measures In Pk-12 Schools, Elizabeth Renfro

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Servant leaders work for the betterment of their followers while also seeking to achieve goals for the organization. Servant leaders, in particular, are among those who strive to work for the greater good of those they serve. Servant leaders possess ethical and moral traits that allow them to serve as an example for followers within an organization, including the public school system.

Permission to use the Servant Leadership Measures Survey was given by the lead author of the survey. The survey measured the degree that leaders exhibit leadership characteristics that are most associated with the servant leadership dimensions of Emotional …

Evaluating The Effectiveness Of Supplemental Instruction On Generation Z Students In Agn 331, Shania Simons, Candis L. Carraway, Stephanie Jones, Frantisek Majs

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine the effectiveness, barriers and benefits of Supplemental Instruction (SI) on Generation Z students in AGN 331. The theory used as a model for this research was the Pace’s Model of College Impress. Prior research indicated that SI improves test scores, final grades, and persistence in historically difficult courses. Correlations and ANOVA’s were performed on SAS in order to determine a relationship between the non-SI attendees to those who did attend SI. The final grade reported an average of 0.56 points higher and on the final exam 4.26 points higher if the student …

A Mixed Method Study Of Community Development In Online Learning Envirnonments, Rachel Olshine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of synchronous and asynchronous communication methods on a sense of community development in online learning environments. The researcher surveyed 734 online students at a small private school in East Texas, examining the variables of synchronous and asynchronous communication methods to evaluate the sense of community experienced in online learning environments.

The study used a convergent mixed method using the Classroom Community Scale along with supplemental open-ended questions. A factorial analysis was conducted, resulting in two factors: supportive relationships and a sense of reliance. The responses expressed the use of discussion boards, emails, and self-recorded videos …

Enhancing Access And Success Of Underserved Students In Dual Enrollment Programs, Theodore Mbaegbu

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examines dual enrollment activities and their impact with a focus on equitable recruitment, persistence, and targeted success mechanisms for Black students and students from low-income families. The lived experiences of four former students from diverse racial and socio-economic backgrounds, and the perspectives of ten dual enrollment practitioners garnered from a purposeful sampling of two Southwestern Pennsylvania universities inform the study. A qualitative approach examines interviews, focus group, and survey data through thematic investigative interpretation to yield common and unique experiences and perspectives relevant to recruitment processes, funding, support systems, and observed outcomes. The findings indicate how adequate preparation, …

A Qualitative Case Study Of Student Persistence In A Bachelor Of Science In Forestry Program, Maxwell Holmes

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educational leaders in forestry have been challenged to increase and diversify the pipeline of ‘society ready’ foresters. To meet these challenges, leaders must shift their focus to student retention. By understanding the factors that influence student engagement and persistence, these leaders will be better positioned to support students in forestry programs, thus positively impacting retention. This qualitative case study investigated student persistence of second-year forestry students in an undergraduate forestry program. The study was guided by Social Cognitive Theory and Social Capital Theory and explored the malleable psychosocial mechanisms of self-efficacy, sense of belonging, emotion, and well-being proposed by Kahu …

Student Perceptions And Persistence : Taking A Person-Centered Approach To Understand Undergraduate Engineering Retention., Brittany Flanery Crawford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Many students are leaving their engineering programs as early as the first semester of their undergraduate studies. Although some of the factors related to engineering retention are largely academic, others are tied closely to students’ beliefs or perceptions. Student perceptions data are useful, but often overlooked by researchers who wish to take a person-centered approach to uncover profiles of student beliefs, both adaptive and maladaptive, when it comes to understanding engineering retention. The sample consisted of full-time undergraduate engineering students (N = 834) in the first semester of their undergraduate engineering programs. I used latent transition analysis (LTA) to …

Inversed Learning In An Intermediate Accounting Course, Ashley B. Bentley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Students enrolled in accounting courses often struggle because of the complexity of the topic. Accounting instructors have searched for effective means of fostering student success, but the learning process continues to change. Critical thinking and problem solving abilities are vital for students and future professionals. Thus, teaching should not be limited to the transmission of information. By moving the dissemination of basic knowledge outside the classroom inversed learning allows class time for deep dives into complex topics and hands-on activities. Students who are actively involved in learning tend to be more successful in the classroom.

The purpose of this study …

Wounds And Writing : Building Trauma-Informed Approaches To Writing Pedagogy., Michelle L. Day

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation builds a trauma-informed approach to writing pedagogy informed by writing studies scholarship about trauma and inclusive pedagogy, clinical social work literature on trauma-informed care, and interviews with nine current University of Louisville writing faculty about their experiences academically supporting distressed students. I identify three central touchstones—“students are coddled,” “teacher’s aren’t therapists,” and “institutions don’t support trauma-informed teaching”—in scholarly and public debates regarding what to do about student trauma/distress in higher education. After exploring the valid concerns and misconceptions underpinning these touchstones, I illustrate how clinical research offers a way forward to help writing instructors develop more complex understandings …

The Alignment Of The Budget Allocation Process To The Strategic Plan At A Liberal Arts University: A Case Study, Mccartney Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how a university aligns the budget allocation process to the strategic plan process. This case study was conducted at a four-year, liberal arts university in the southeastern part of the United States. The qualitative data was collected through personal individual interviews from a purposeful sample of administrators at the university who were knowledgeable about the budget allocation process and the strategic plan. Data were also collected through a document review from items publically accessible online and information received from the interviews.

By analyzing data derived from the interviews and document review, …

Remaking Identities, Reworking Graduate Study : Stories From First-Generation-To-College Rhetoric And Composition Phd Students On Navigating The Doctorate., Ashanka Kumari

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation responds to the decreasing number of first-generation-to-college doctorates in the humanities and the limited scholarship on graduate students in Rhetoric and Composition. Scholars in Rhetoric and Composition have long been invested in discussions of academic and/or disciplinary enculturation, yet these discussions primarily focus on undergraduate students, with few studies on graduate students and far fewer on the doctoral students training to become the next wave of a profession. In this dissertation, I argue that if we engage intersectional identities as assets in the design of doctoral programs, access to higher education and academic enculturation can become more manageable …

Different And The Same: A Comparison Of Vertical And Lateral Transfer Students., Joshua Harris Mckee

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

As more students evaluate their choice for higher education, the rate of transfer students continues to grow. The transfer population is often addressed broadly in research studies, and few examine differences among the population. This study was designed to analyze the differences in transfer shock and retention rates between students who transferred from a community college to a four-year institution (vertical) versus those who transferred from one four-year institution to another (lateral). Participants of this study consisted of 1,032 students who transferred to the University of Louisville during the fall 2014, 2015, and 2016 semesters. Results indicated, when controlling for …

The Impact Of Alcohol Consumption On Academic Success And Athletic Identity In Collegiate Student-Athletes, Zoe E. Arnold

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Upon entering college in the United States, students are exposed to alcohol and, relatedly, the potentially dangerous experiences and effects that come with consuming alcohol. This is especially true for collegiate student-athletes, who have been found to have the highest consumption rate among student groups on campus. The purpose of the study was to understand the relationship between how student-athletes at a focus university, a Division I member of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, experience alcohol consumption, how their consumption affects their academic grade point average (GPA), and how athletic identity plays a role in their experiences. While the research …

Exploring Educational Journeys, Barriers, And Motivating Factors Of Tribal College Students Through Capabilities Approach, Francis Arpan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Educational attainment and success have often been linked to an increase in opportunities in life and when viewed from the lens of lifelong earnings, the greater an individual’s educational attainment, the greater the lifelong earnings. As a population, Native Americans have the highest poverty rate of all racial categories in the United States at 26.2% (Economic Policy Institute 2016). When looking at the connection between education and poverty, it is vital to note that only 14.1% of Native Americans over the age of 25 have a bachelor’s degree or above (US Census 2015). This lack of educational attainment falls well …

Surveying The Soul: Shaping Auto-Criticism With Reflective Arts-Based Inquiry To Assess A Female Doctoral Experience, Monica Fain Rezac

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an arts-based auto-criticism assessing the author's experience in her doctoral program. It is also perhaps the first dissertation elaborating on a method called auto-criticism, as derived from educational criticism and connoisseurship. The process of inquiry is rooted in arts-based methods of representation and theories of educational criticism and critical theory in the humanities. Philosophical approaches to artwork and the use of it in these methodologies was inspired by the independent arts practices of intuitive artists. The purpose of this project is for the author to develop, articulate, and create a sense of what auto-criticism entails in the …

Students’ Perceptions And Strategies For Success In An Associate Degree Nursing Program, Theresa Hargett

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The three-manuscript dissertation is based on perceptions and personal strategies of successful third-semester nursing students about retention interventions at Holmes Community College Associate Degree Nursing Program on the Grenada Campus. Retention and attrition of nursing students is a current area of concern at Holmes Community College in the Associate Degree Nursing Program. Understanding adaptations that led third-semester students in the ADN program to be successful in their first-year is the focus of this study. The research questions seek to answer second-year, third-semester students’ perceptions of their first-year experiences of faculty interventions and personal strategies applied for success. Understanding adaptations and …

Find The Most Here: The Academic Success Of First-Year African American Students At The University Of Mississippi, Earl Presley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Three researchers, Shawnboda Mead, Earl Presley, and Alexandria White, collaborated to complete this Dissertation in Practice (DiP) which includes three manuscripts. The three-member team identified the academic success of first-year African American students at predominantly White institutions as a complex problem of practice. Bean and Eaton’s (2001) Psychological Model of Student Retention and Rodgers and Summers (2008) Revised Model of Retention for African American Students at Predominantly White Institutions provided the theoretical framework for this study. The study examines the relationship of academic success and first-year African American students who participated in the 2015 and 2016 Mississippi Outreach to Scholastic …

A View From Within: University Honors Programs And African American Women At A Predominantly White Institution, Janell Lindsey

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

American higher education undergraduate honors programs are respected for the work they do to encourage college students to push themselves towards achievement in learning during their time earning an undergraduate degree. The social movements of the mid-20th century forced open the doors of predominantly white institutions (PWIs) to African American students. Since that time, the number of African American students attending PWIs has increased; however, the research that focused on African American women in higher education, and more specifically honors programs, has not been a significant topic of study. The findings indicate that being the only female person of color …

Stories Of The 3%: Foster Care Alumni Narratives Of Resilience And Postsecondary Attainment, Molly Sarubbi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although education continues to be a pathway for social mobility, disparities remain in post-secondary attainment for traditionally marginalized populations such as the half-million youth in foster care (Children's Bureau, 2016). Due to multiple personal, social, and system barriers, only 46% of foster youth will earn a high school or GED diploma, and less than 3% will enroll in postsecondary education (Naccarato, Brophy & Courtney, 2010; Sarubbi, Parker, & Sponsler, 2016). Barriers impacting foster care alumni (FCA) have been widely documented, yet their narratives of resilience receive less attention. This study employs a participatory action research design in which FCA participants …

Assembling A Hispanic-Serving Institution: A Campus Landscape Analysis Of A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Brenda Lee Jimenez Sifuentez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Post-secondary educational spaces are often thought of as a backdrop to where education takes place. Architectural designs are seen as neutral sites; however, higher education institutions are sites of ideological production and therefore, fundamental exercises of power (Ford, 2017). The study of campus landscapes is relevant to uncovering and illuminating larger social issues of (in)equality in higher education. Literature regarding campus landscapes is scarce and this study seeks to demonstrate how the study of campus landscapes is both materially "real" and socially constructed. This study takes place at a four-year institution of higher education that has received the Hispanic Serving …

Apply Now!: Utilizing Application Date To Predict College Enrollment, Jennifer Leigh Phillips

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Using Perna’s (2006) college choice model as the conceptual framework, the researcher utilized two data analyses to complete this study. First, multiple regressions were performed on three groups of variables: entrance examination, core high school gpa, and cumulative high school gpa; gender, ethnicity, and residency; and first-generation status and Mississippi congressional district. Second, a chi square test was completed to discover how likely it is that a student’s application date is related to the acceptance rate (likelihood of acceptance) and yield rate (likelihood of matriculating) of the University of Mississippi freshman class.

African American Students In Physical Therapy: Enhancing Diversity, Melanie H. Lauderdale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

African Americans are motivated by early exposure to the profession and future expectations for their personal career path including stability work-life balance and helping others. The elimination of barriers such as finances lack of support and cultural microaggressions influences their career path. Following statistical analysis of admissions data conclusions were made that the current admissions criteria does not successfully predict first year success for any students including African American students. Lastly African American physical therapy graduates from UMMC reported excitement upon admission concerns over quotas lack of African American faculty students and physical therapists and the presence of microaggressions while …