Digital Commons Network^™

Coping Strategies And Stress Of The Undergraduate Nursing Student In The Clinical Setting: An Evidence Based Practice Quantitative Study, Ashley Calverley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The assessment of perceived stress and coping behaviors related to first-semester clinical might benefit students in nursing education. The assessment of most common coping behaviors and perceived stress related to the clinical setting is essential due to difference in personalities, learning abilities, and coping behaviors among nursing students today. Previous research has suggested the initial clinical period results in adverse outcomes, such as poor academic performance, elevated burnout levels, and diminished personal well-being. These factors are detrimental to academic success in nursing programs. Evidence supports that helping students develop positive stress/coping abilities will aid in adapting in both the academic …

Exploring Expatriate Academics' Perceptions Of Job Satisfaction Relating To Organizational Support At International Branch Campuses In China, Liam P. Duffy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

International branch campuses are generally a recent institutional development, especially in China, which has built several campuses in recent years. As such, researchers have a limited understanding of these growing higher education sites. The purpose of this study was to learn more about how these campuses can improve, expand, and thrive, instead of shuttering as many have in other countries. Literature shows a clear relationship between job satisfaction, perceived organizational support, employee retention, and the imperative to support expatriate academics. This qualitative study focused on expatriate academics’ perceptions regarding job satisfaction and organizational support. The researcher utilized individual faculty interviews …

Perceptions Of Introverted Students And Their Teacher In A Middle-School Elar Classroom, Kimberly Rempel

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study was to determine introverted students’ perceptions about their honor’s ELAR class and to determine if they succeed better with choice board assignments versus non-choice assignments. This study was conducted at a West Texas middle school in an honor’s eighth-grade ELAR classroom. Students completed the Myers-Briggs personality test to determine their status as introverted or extroverted (Myers & Myers, 2014). Data was collected through a survey, student and teacher interviews, and student assignment grades. Data was analyzed through the constant comparative method, and students’ grades were compared using descriptive statistics. The study found that teacher and …

Dual Credit: The Relationship Between Grade Point Average, Hours Earned, And Semesters To Degree Attainment, Amanda R. Ritchie

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite the reported benefits of dual credit programs, questions remain regarding the long-term influence of dual credit courses on long-term student achievement and time to degree attainment. A lack of consistent policies regarding dual credit results in students taking college courses without knowing what courses they may need for their anticipated major. Dual credit programs are continuing to expand, and if dual credit courses are to contribute to college success, policymakers, educators, high schools, and institutions must understand how the combination of dual credit courses taken impacts student success and academic progress towards degree completion. The purpose of this non-experimental, …

Impostor Phenomenon, College-Going Knowledge, And Staff Expectations: Ramifications On First Time In College Students Enrollment, Julia A. Vickery

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A lack of technically trained, skilled, and educated workforce has become a critical issue in Texas. Furthermore, an educated workforce improves communities and individuals with economic, health, and personal benefits. Community colleges not only provide open-access admissions and low-cost tuition but are specifically aligned with educating the technical and industrial skilled workforce. Although a post-high school education has never been more accessible or necessary for obtaining high-earning jobs, post-high school college enrollment is declining, and conventional reform strategies do not appear to be effecting change. Graduating high school students aspire to attend postsecondary training by applying and being accepted but …

“I Can’T Calm Myself”: Mindfulness In A Special Education Resource Setting, Paige Schmidt

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

The purpose of this study was to examine how brief mindfulness practices influence students receiving special education in a resource setting that provides one-on-one support outside of the general education classroom. The researcher utilized three to five minutes of breathing exercises, stretches, and discussion every day before beginning instruction. Data was collected through observations, pre- and post-surveys, and post-activity interviews. The constant comparative method was used for analyzing data to find emerging or recurring themes in the data collected. Three major themes emerged from the collected data: social-emotional regulation, making a choice, and the flexibility of mindfulness. Through observations, four …

Perceptions Of Classroom Management Coaching At District A Independent School District, Ashley L. Brittain

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study addressed teacher retention and research-to-practice gaps in the literature related to classroom management coaching and what types of teacher support are the best and why. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of teachers, campus administrators, and campus intervention coaches regarding District A Independent School District’s campus intervention coach model. This study attempted to understand better the perceptions of how the campus intervention coach model influences teachers’ decisions to remain in the profession; how teachers, campus administrators, and campus intervention coaches perceive the campus intervention coach model’s effectiveness in reducing the percentage of …

Interventions For Ninth-Grade Middle-Achieving Students, Bradley C. Cook

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Implementing intentionally designed interventions to improve students’ academic performance has been a focus of educational stakeholders for decades. However, the implementation of academic interventions for average-achieving students, particularly during their freshman year of high school, appears to be lacking. The purpose of this qualitative grounded theory study was to explore designed interventions implemented by high school administrators from two unified school districts in California that focused on the academic performance of middle-achieving students during their ninth-grade year. This qualitative grounded theory study focused on the perspective of a purposive sampling group of high school administrators, which included principals, assistant principals, …

Critical Thinking In Law Enforcement Training Academies: A Phenomenological Study Of Officer Experiences, Billy J. Spruill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Recently, law enforcement officer use of force incidents resulting in death has seemingly become more prevalent. Generally, the educational requirement for a law enforcement officer is a high school diploma or general education development degree. One must question if this requirement is sufficient for a law enforcement officer to be successful in a modern world as the law enforcement training academy may be the law enforcement officer’s only postsecondary education. Critical thinking is a needed skill identified by high-stress professions such as the military, nursing, and disaster management, yet there is limited study regarding critical thinking in law enforcement. The …

Experiences That Support Persistence And Retention Of Latinx First-Generation College Students (Fgcs) At Community Colleges, Veronica Rios

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this instrumental case study was to describe experiences of successful Latinx first-generation college students that support persistence and retention toward graduation for Latinx first-generation college students at California community colleges. The study was framed using Tinto’s retention theory. Successful Latinx first-generation college students were defined as those who have attained graduation from a California community college. This study focused on Latinx first-generation college students not persisting toward graduation at California community colleges, a situation that extends to the national level. This case study included nine Latinx first-generation college students, and the researcher collected data through virtual semistructured …

Restorative Strategies Used To Reduce Disproportionality In Texas Schools That Have Implemented Restorative Practices, Shenita Y. Alsbrooks

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify restorative practice strategies than can be used to reduce disproportionality in school discipline in Texas schools. Exclusionary discipline practices have created disproportionality in school discipline. While zero-tolerance policies are no longer considered effective in addressing conflict in schools, many schools are implementing restorative practices as a promising alternative. Restorative practices have shown to contribute to positive school culture, specifically by improving student achievement, improving attendance, improving student-teacher relationships, and lowering discipline issues. Interviews using semistructured questions were used to conduct this study. In this qualitative case study, participants at suburban …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Role Of Teacher-Parent Partnerships That Best Benefit Students In A Parochial College Preparatory High School, Sarah H. Gates

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

Current research on teacher–parent partnerships has increasingly focused on early childhood education. This transcendental phenomenological study expanded and extended the understanding of effective teacher–parent partnerships in secondary education at a parochial college preparatory high school. According to Bronfenbrenner’s bioecological systems theory (BST), academic growth and development in late adolescents are impacted by the overlapping systems of influence: the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem. The purpose of this qualitative study was to identify secondary educators’ perceptions of teacher–parent partnerships that best benefit students. Faculty at a parochial college preparatory high school were asked about their perceptions of parental involvement …

Strategies Exemplary Social Studies Teachers’ Implement When Facilitating Discussions About Race, Candice Nicole Jasmer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Teachers experience difficulty in introducing some sensitive and controversial issues in the classroom environment. The purpose of this qualitative instrumental case study was to identify strategies that exemplary secondary social studies teachers implement when facilitating classroom discussions about sensitive and controversial issues, specifically, racial issues framed within Singleton and Linton’s 4 agreements of courageous conversations: stay engaged, speak your truth, experience discomfort, and accept and expect nonclosure. This study utilized qualitative data collection. Semi-structured, online one-to-one internet-based interviews were used to document the lived experiences of exemplary secondary social studies teachers and the strategies they use when facilitating discussions about …

Using Behavior Economic Nudges To Facilitate Client Follow-Through In Financial Coaching, Charlene Hurst

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

While benevolence-based programs have been a large part of meeting immediate financial needs of the poor, they lack the relational aspect needed to facilitate long-term behavior change. Recently many social service organizations have adopted financial coaching as a promising replacement for benevolence programming. The field of coaching has dealt with its own challenges. Most coaching practitioners surveyed in 2016 and 2019 acknowledged lack of client follow-through as their number one challenge. Behavior economics offered nudges as a solution. Nudges are cues placed within the physical environment to prod clients toward behavior change. A quantitative field study was conducted to evaluate …

Teacher Competencies Related To Family Engagement: The Impact On Families, Melissa Kay Williamson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Although there is a large body of research that addresses the essential elements of family engagement, little information was available on the impact that a family engagement program had on teacher evaluation and familial self-efficacy. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to assess teacher competencies and family self-efficacy in a large urban district in West Texas. The research was conducted by gathering baseline data using questionnaires derived from the Measure of School, Family, and Community Partnerships survey and the 2015 Equitable Parent-School Collaboration Research Project University of Washington. In-depth interviews followed with both teachers and parents. Findings indicated …

Utilizing Classroom Meetings To Understand Student Values And Perceptions, Stacy Spink

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This study addressed classroom meetings in order to teach social skills and address specific behavior issues. The author was completing a yearlong clinical teaching placement in a kindergarten classroom. The goal of her study was to observe what happens when class meetings are implemented to teach specific problem-areas in the classroom. In the study data was gathered through observations, student surveys, sociograms, and student interviews. The students participated in a class meeting twice a week for about thirty minutes. During the class meetings needed social skills were taught through play and role-playing activities and discussions were had to cooperatively solve …

Creating Real-World Readers: Literacy Circles In Third Grade, Dejanee Gregory

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

This study addresses the topic of literature circles in an elementary classroom and their implications on students’ attitudes toward reading and their self-perceptions as readers. The author was a preservice teacher placed in a yearlong clinical teaching internship in a third-grade English Language Arts departmentalized classroom. The goal of the study was to implement literature circles in hopes to better understand students’ attitudes and self-perceptions as readers. For this study, the author collected data in the form of student interviews, survey data, a personal reflective journal, observations, and students’ reflections. Utilizing the constant comparative method, the author analyzed data for …

The Leader In Me? Understanding Student And Teacher Perspectives Of Leader In Me, Summer El-Attrache

Masters of Education in Teaching and Learning

Within the last 20 years, Leader in Me has become increasingly popular among elementary schools looking to incorporate leadership skills in their curriculum. The purpose of this study was to look at the perceptions that students and teachers have of Leader in Me and their perceptions about its impact on student leadership. The author collected data through student and teacher surveys, student and teacher interviews, observations, and document collection. After analyzing and coding the data using the constant comparative method, the author found four major themes. First, participants believed Leader in Me helped students take more ownership of their learning. …

The Relationship Of Locus Of Control And Social Learning On Academic Achievement In A Supplemental Instruction Program, Tina Fleet

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACT

A large number of high school students entering college are arriving academically unprepared. Abilene Christian University’s newly founded Bridge Scholars Program seeks to help and support academically at-risk students based upon low ACT/SAT scores and low high school GPA averages. This research utilizes the Supplemental Instruction program, (based upon Bandura’s social learning theory), as its academic intervention. The research questions are 1) How does Supplemental Instruction contribute to an at-risk student’s college readiness (knowledge, skills, attitudes, behaviors and strategies)? And, 2) Does a student’s internal or external locus of control predict academic performance? A pretest and posttest using Rotter’s …

Your Face Betrays You: A Fantasy Theme Analysis Of Lie To Me, Caroline Campbell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research concerning the consequences of edutainment has revealed that television shows have the capability to influence audience members. As the lines between education and entertainment are becoming increasingly blurred, viewers may not be aware of how watching such shows impacts them. Lie to Me is a popular edutainment television series that educates viewers about the power of micro expressions. Ekman has dedicated a large part of his life to the development of research related to micro expressions. The show’s main character, Cal Lightman, portrayed Paul Ekman’s special talents and knowledge through his ability to detect micro expressions. The first three …