Digital Commons Network^™

Perceptions Of Social Belonging Within Higher Education Students, Sydney Hicks, Magdalene Moy

SACAD: John Heinrichs Scholarly and Creative Activity Days

The purpose of this research was to investigate the efficacy of a student-centered social media platform for higher education students. Social belonging significantly influences educational success, as heightened feelings of belonging among students correlate with increased motivation to stay engaged and learn (Marler et al., 2021). The conceptual framework for this study uses the intersection of social presence and social capital as resulting in social belonging. Social capital refers to the networks students build through interactions with others that could prove to be valuable resources (Lefebrve et al., 2016). Social presence looks at the interaction and relational aspects of these …

Stereotypes Of A Black Man Misunderstood: The Experiences And Development Of Black Men With Bipolar Disorder On College Campuses, Gerron Scott

Theses and Dissertations

Black men graduate from universities at a lower rate compared to other groups. Students with disabilities also graduate at a lower rate. When the two groups intersect, the results can be disastrous. Black men with bipolar disorder face a host of problems on college campuses. From a lack of sense of belonging to trouble in class, they struggle to stay afloat in college. The purpose of this study was to document the experiences and development of Black men with bipolar disorder on college campuses. A grounded theory approach was used in this study. Grounded theory was chosen because it leads …

Interrogating Silences In The Postcolonial Classroom, Sheema Khawar

Feminist Pedagogy

In this paper I explore my experiences as visiting faculty teaching English language and Feminist Studies courses at a private university in Karachi, Pakistan. While balancing these different fields I aimed to integrate feminist pedagogies (Keating, 2007; Hooks,1994; Swarr and Nagar, 2010) and strategize with other politically aligned faculty to draw out important issues in our courses. I was faced with the challenging task of constructing syllabi attendant to the training of students in the ‘canons’ of the field and finding course content that allowed us collectively to engage with critical conversations on regional issues. Formal academic publication processes have …

Feel The Burn(Out) And (Mom)Guilt Of Doctorate Programs Amongst Latina Mothers: A Testiomonio Reflection, Judyann Armijo

Theses & Dissertations

Research Focus. This research aims to explore the experiences of Latina mothers residing in San Antonio, Texas, using testimonios as a form of data collection; asynchronous interviews were completed to obtain the participants' experiences as they journeyed through their respective doctoral programs. Through this qualitative study, the research provided an in-depth analysis to understand the relationship between motherhood, academia, and culture in relation to advanced degrees. In this study, LatCrit served as the leading theoretical framework, allowing the researcher to understand the obstacles the participants underwent not only as doctoral students but also as the other critical roles in …

The Language Of 21st Century Skills: Next Directions For Closing The Skills Gap Between Employers And Postsecondary Graduates, Gabe A. Orona, Ou Lydia Liu, Richard Arum

Chinese/English Journal of Educational Measurement and Evaluation | 教育测量与评估双语期刊

The onus of preparing skilled employees for the modern workforce is largely placed on institutions of higher education. However, recent surveys consistently show a skills gap between what employers’ desire and what graduates possess. This review engages this discussion in the context of measuring and assessing 21^st century skills. We begin by succinctly reviewing literature pertaining to the skills gap, including what types of skills are commonly referenced, before moving to examine literature indicating the relations between current 21st century skills and job-related outcomes. Finally, we conclude with recommendations for higher education researchers examining skill development. Our recommendations cover …

Resistencia Indocumentada: Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Higher Education Undocumented Students In The San Diego-Tijuana Border Region, Adan Escobedo Sanchez

Dissertations

Undocumented students face myriad obstacles while attending higher education institutions that would deter them from completing their academic journeys. Furthermore, they are placed with a dual narrative that labels them as either dangerous or exceptional. This study explored the lived experiences of undocumented students in college in the San Diego-Tijuana border region to consider what factors have led to resilience and resistance in their academic journey. By understanding these factors, the research aimed to tackle the dual narrative that burdens undocumented students from the illegality as a master status they possess.

This study used narrative inquiry and a literature review …

Translanguaging In World Language Higher Education, Alessia Barbici Wagner

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Increased global migration and a myriad of other social and political factors has made today’s universities more diverse than ever. As a result, teachers in higher education regularly find multilingual learners from a variety of different linguistic and cultural backgrounds in their classrooms and must consider this diversity in their teaching. One of the ways that teaching can better serve today’s multilingual and multicultural student population is through translanguaging. The objective of this dissertation is to investigate the intentional and unintentional use of translanguaging by multilingual language learners and world language instructors in higher education. Additionally, this qualitative case study …

How Doctoral Students In A Formal Leadership Program Conceptualize Followership: A Mixed-Methods Study, Katy J. Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory mixed-methods study was to determine how doctoral students in a formal leadership program conceptualize followership. The methods used to conduct this analysis included distributing a Qualtrics (released in August 2022) survey and conducting one-on-one interviews with a sample of degree-seeking doctoral students within a formal leadership program. The researcher collected quantitative and qualitative data addressing students’ followership style, leadership attitudes and beliefs, and perceptions of followership. These data were analyzed concurrently using a triangulation design. A total of 67 students completed the survey, and seven students were interviewed. The findings revealed that the participants employ …

Making Composition-I Count: “Tilt-Ing” The Course To Better Aim At Student Learning, Anish Dave

Perspectives In Learning

This article is being submitted on behalf of the author for consideration in the TILT special-topics issue. An abstract was not included with the manuscript.

Institutionalizing Tilt Across A University, Judy O. Grissett

Perspectives In Learning

Transparency of learning and teaching (TILT) is key to student success, as it allows students to understand directions and make concrete steps toward completing a set of tasks. The present paper outlines the early stages of a campus-wide program at one institution that infuses TILT practices across campus in the classroom as well as non-academic units. TILT practices make the purpose, required tasks, and criteria for success clear to students in everyday campus interactions with faculty and staff. TILT programming for faculty and staff is described, including strengths, challenges, and future directions.

Positive Impacts Of Tilt: Two Professors’ Journeys In Creating More Student-Centered Teacher Education Courses, Michael Crosby, Rebecca Short

Perspectives In Learning

As the K-12 classroom changes to support the needs of our every-changing society, so should the teacher education courses change on the university level. Additionally, the focus on higher education has become more student-centered with an emphasis on transparency in teaching and learning (TILT). The purpose of this article is to highlight the positive experiences two teacher education professors had using TILT to examine assignments and course syllabi. The journey of developing transparent assignments and student-centered syllabi is time-consuming, challenging, and on-going, but the benefits of a student-centered classroom are invaluable.

The Impact Of Transparent Instructions Upon Academic Confidence And Writing Performance, Ellen Cotter, Kerri Ann Battle, Cedarian Holsendolph, Jonathan Nguyen, Annabelle P. Smith

Perspectives In Learning

Recent demographic changes in college enrollment have led to an increased emphasis on retaining students. High-impact practices such as transparent assignments are one possible way to encourage student retention, but more empirical data related to student outcomes are needed. In this quasi-experimental study, students received either transparent or standard instructions for written assignments and completed a survey of academic confidence. A pre-test/post-test design was used to examine potential differences associated with instruction type. Results indicated no significant differences in essay scores or survey responses between conditions, and there were no consistent trends indicating improved performance in the transparent condition. Implications …

Using Doctoral Education And Research-Based Learning To Advance The Nurse Leader, Kara R. De La Fosse

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Nurse leaders perform in highly autonomous positions in two dimensions; academia, and the clinical setting with the awesome responsibility to serve and protect others. To guide nursing practice, research-based skills are crucial to ensure leadership decisions are founded in evidence-based practice. Random controlled studies are gold-standard in healthcare compared to correlation or descriptive studies and employ a systematic review to strengthen findings (Schmidt & Brown, 2021). Research skills are prominent in numerous components of the leadership scope to perform at a stellar level.

The Effect Of A Specifically Designed First-Year Experience Course On Student Veteran Retention And Graduation Rates At A Public University, Anthony Dotson

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Abstract

According to the United States Congressional Budget Office (2019) nearly $100 billion tax-payer dollars have been spent on education since the passing of the Post-9/11 Veterans Educational Assistance Act of 2008. That is more than the gross domestic product of at least 130 different countries per the latest World Bank’s (2022) rankings. Given the sheer enormity of the figure, one would likely assume that the educational needs of our veterans and their families have been well met if not surpassed. Unfortunately, like many assumptions related to veterans, that would be an inaccurate one. The reality is far more disturbingly …

Critical Civic Engagement: Creating Yards And Building Community At Predominately White Institutions, Heather Moore Roberson

Journal of Research Initiatives

This article details the journey of a Black Greek professor who created yards on a predominately white campus. This piece of scholarship challenges the historical narrative of the civic engagement movement and considers equity and inclusion with existing civic engagement literature. Specifically, this research contends that civic engagement scholarship must consider the historical legacy of historically Black Greek letter organizations, their commitment to service, and undergraduate education. The construction of “yards” is a civic engagement initiative that builds meaningful connections between college campuses and local communities.

Learning Analytics In Post-Secondary Business Education: A Scoping Review Of Reviews Protocol, Jisu Kim Mr., Tiffany Bayley

Undergraduate Student Research Internships Conference

Learning Analytics is a growing discipline as educational institutions aim to exploit data and data analytics for several reasons, especially in higher education. Unfortunately, there is a lack of consensus on how learning analytics should be defined and what subjects fall under the purview of learning analytics. The blurred boundaries of what learning analytics encompasses have given rise to multiple studies and systematic reviews that have been published without any consistent agreement to develop the field in a particular direction. Consequently, we are outlining a protocol for a scoping review to map and summarize existing scoping reviews that have been …

Prologue: Faculty Of Color Expressions And Perspectives, Kathryn Engdahl

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

This special issue of the Journal of Advancing Education Practice featuring Faculty of Color Expressions and Perspectives creates a critical forum for truth-telling, education, and empowerment. It offers an invitation to deepen understanding of each other’s experience, and to integrate that deeper understanding in practice to enhance ongoing equity and inclusion work.

Intentional Mentoring: A Shared Journey Of Discovering And Supporting Diverse Talent In Academia, Barbara Holmes, Kent Willis

The Journal of Advancing Education Practice

Thriving in academe for faculty of color is difficult and challenging (Gasman, 2022). Faculty of Color face enormous odds of overcoming barriers such as an unwelcoming culture, isolation, lack of professional support, imposter syndrome and disengagement from the community of scholars. In recognition of these factors, intentional mentoring provides a strategy of support in facilitating successful persistence in the academy.

This autoethnographic paper explores the mentor-mentee relationship of a tenured faculty member whose contributions in mentorship and coaching produced notable professional growth for countless doctoral students and new faculty members. Sharing the experiences of one mentee and mentor may inform …

Gaining A Better Understanding Of Higher Education: During And Post-Pandemic Scenario, Krati Sethi, Manas Roy

International Review of Business and Economics

Because of the coronavirus epidemic, faculty as well as the students have had to respond to “out of the ordinary” difficulty by quickly switching from traditional class - room education to online learning forms via “virtual classrooms”. Students facing challenges and continuing facing difficulties for various reasons required to adapt this modification in this delivery of curriculum becoming un attentive. Few solutions have been developed for students to assist them in freely transferring to virtual classrooms and maintaining proper online learning etiquette. A series of recommendations is offered in the present study to help students so that they can explore …

Exploring (Mis)Alignments Between First-Year Students’ Expectations And Experiences, Matthew G. Meyers

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Understanding what expectations first-year students have for their first semester of college can help university faculty, staff, and administrators have a better understanding of how to best provide support and resources that meet the needs of their students and lay the necessary foundations for their academic and social success early on. Unfortunately, many students report a variety of social, academic, personal, and environmental experiences that do not fully match their expectations. The purpose of this study was to examine what expectations and experiences first-year college students had about their first semester and how they interpreted both alignments and misalignments between …

Secret To Success: A Survey Of The University Of South Carolina Student Success Center, Lilian Mitchell

Senior Theses

This paper seeks to survey the practices of the Student Success Center (SSC) at the University of South Carolina (USC) and show the effectiveness of those practices. Through the analysis of the history of student success in higher education, current literature on student success, and the 2020- 2021 Blueprint for the SSC at USC, it is clear that the SSC has developed a successful and effective method of guaranteeing student success on USC’s campus. At USC, the main focus is on Supplemental Instruction, Peer Tutoring, and Academic Coaching (a.k.a. Success Consultations). By setting goals and measuring the outcome of those …

A Case Study In Resiliency: How A University Survived A Pandemic, Mary Ellen Stewart

Dissertations

This case study was conducted to investigate how the COVID-19 pandemic affected the campus of a small private university in central Mississippi, where traditionally, relational community and interaction were key contributors to campus culture. Through document analysis, individual interviews with campus leaders, and focus groups consisting of members of key departments, the role of resiliency was examined during the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic. Emerging from the data were the four thematic categories of leadership, campus culture, engagement and interaction, and challenges. Key components in each category revealed the significance of resiliency of university leaders, faculty, and staff as …

Using Ability Grouping To Examine The Effects Of Differentiated Instruction In An Undergraduate Course In Communication Sciences & Disorders, Katherine B. Green, Jacqueline Towson

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Differentiated instruction is a student-centered approach to instruction that considers the differing characteristics and aspects of the learner. With increasing diversity in higher education, differentiated instruction is one strategy that instructors may use to facilitate student success. However, there is limited empirical research examining the effectiveness of differentiated instruction in higher education. Using a quasi-experimental pretest posttest group design, the effects of differentiation of instruction, specifically differentiation of content and variable grouping, on student content knowledge were examined in an undergraduate course in a Communication Sciences and Disorders program. Students in the intervention group scored significantly higher on final course …

Seeking Equity, Agility, And Sustainability In The Provision Of Emergency Remote Teaching During The Covid-19 Pandemic: A Center For Teaching And Learning Takes An Expanded Role, Henry Trotter, Cheng-Wen Huang, Laura Czerniewicz

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: The purpose of the study was to illuminate and assess the experiences and feelings of the staff of a center for teaching and learning at one South African university during the early months (April–June 2020) of the COVID-19 pandemic lockdowns when it switched from face-to-face teaching to emergency remote teaching (ERT). It explores the practical, operational, ethical, cultural, and emotional questions that the staff of this center dealt with as they supported the university in ERT provision.

Method: This paper draws on in-depth interviews with 23 staff members of the Centre for Innovation in Learning and Teaching (CILT) who …

A Student Conduct Administrator’S Journey To Wellness, Corie Amanda Marie Mccallum

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation research chronicles my experiences with emotions and learning as a student conduct administrator throughout the arduous process of investigating, becoming, and transforming by engaging sociocultural theory. Grounded in Authentic Inquiry (Tobin, 2006), this research centers my lived-experience and nuances the role of emotions in student affairs and especially student conduct practices. Throughout this dissertation I address themes surrounding reflexivity (Bourdieu, 1992), emotions (Turner, 2002) (Collins, 2004), and self-care. Each chapter is interpretive and impressionistic and represents my thinking as a researcher and conduct administrator. Throughout the chapters I narrate salient events and experiences in my student conduct practice …

Coil Experience. Intercultural Case Analysis: Sports Brand Company Perspectives From Canada And Spain, Jody-Lynn Rebek, Víctor Del Corte Lora, Eunjung Riauka

Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse International Students in Open or Online Learning Environments: A Research Symposium

The COVID-19 pandemic posed many challenges, including travel restrictions, which limited the opportunities for student-exchange programs. One solution to promote intercultural learning during the pandemic and form relations with students in different countries was COIL. This paper presents a Collaborative Online Intercultural Learning (COIL) case study that engaged students from Canada and Spain in an intercultural learning experience. Instructors worked collaboratively to design learning objectives and related course activities to establish a five (5) week program of co-instruction within their higher-education course schedules. Using technology, and a combination of asynchronous and synchronous opportunities, students were engaged in the course content …

Real Pandemic: Institutional Neglect, Goli Rezai-Rashti,, Shamiga Arumuhathas, Fengchenzi Zhao

Teaching Culturally and Linguistically Diverse International Students in Open or Online Learning Environments: A Research Symposium

The neoliberal market-reform within the Canadian tertiary education sector led to the proliferation in student mobility, which has translated to 600,000 international students (IS) over the past two decades (Scott et al., 2015; Firang, 2020), contributing to Canada’s gross domestic product (GDP) by $26.1 billion (IRCC, 2019). Racialized IS attending post-secondary education (PSE) in Canada accounted for systemic barriers that thereby hinder their student experience and academic outcomes. Such challenges included culture shock (Popadiuk & Arthur, 2004), linguistic speaking barriers (Guo & Guo, 2017), discrimination (Myles & Cheng, 2003; Chen & Zhou, 2019), employment exploitation (Scott et al., 2015), securing …

Interprofessional Education And Practice: Perspectives From Students In Speech-Language Pathology And Recreational Therapy, David Hajjar, Jan Elich-Monroe, Susan Durnford

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Interprofessional education and practice (IPE/IPP) are important components for undergraduate and graduate students to experience during their programs of study in speech-language pathology and related health professions. The American Speech-Language Hearing Association (ASHA) is a member organization of the Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) which promotes four core competencies required for effective practice: values/ethics, roles/responsibilities, interprofessional communication, and teams and teamwork. The purpose of this study was to gather the lived experiences from eight pre-professional students, four from speech-language pathology (SLP) and four from recreational therapy(RT), during focus groups and discussion forums conducted before, during, and after a 14-week IPE/IPP clinical …

Systemic Functional Linguistics In The Community College Composition Class: A Multimodal Approach To Teaching Composition Using The Metalanguage Of Sfl, Jennifer James

Education (PhD) Dissertations

This qualitative research study sought to understand the affordances and limitations of a systemic functional linguistics (SFL) approach to teaching composition at the community college level. The study took place over the course of a semester in two developmental college composition classes using the language of SFL to teach writing through multimodal assignments. The study was developed in response to the increasing diversity in writing skills and educational goals of students in the community college composition class. The increase in diversity is a result of legislation in California that restructures developmental class offerings and affects placement in the transfer-level composition …

The Role Of The Academic Librarian: A Comparison Of Administrator And Librarian Perspectives, Christina Prucha

Dissertations

Abbott (1988) theorized librarians belonged to a class of professionals whose division of labor required constant negotiate with other stakeholders. Regardless of or perhaps because of constant negotiation, librarians have advocated for and documented roles as educators, faculty, and professionals from the earliest days of the profession (Sawtelle, 1878) to the present (Coker et al., 2010; Cronin, 2001; Gabbay & Shoham, 2019; Galbraith et al., 2016; Garcia & Barbour, 2018; Hicks, 2014; Hill, 1994; Zai, 2015). To a lesser extent, librarians have also documented how others view librarian roles (Christiansen et al., 2004; English, 1984), and Fleming-May and Douglass (2014) …