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How Participation In A Peer-Led Writing Center Impacts Struggling Students’ Self-Efficacy And Motivation, Laura Peterson

Doctor of Education in Secondary and Middle Grades Education Dissertations

Many secondary students struggle with writing, both in terms of skill and confidence. This qualitative case study follows six students who have a history of struggling in English Language Arts class as they undergo a tutoring intervention based on the writing center model of peer tutoring. Students were observed in seven writing sessions which took place at multiple stages of the writing process and with informational, narrative, and analytical writing assignments. Through interview and observation, the researcher examines how students’ self-efficacy and motivation shift over the course of the intervention. Students who began with low self-efficacy and low motivation were …

Employee Experiences With Leaders’ Influence On Autonomous Motivation: A Mixed Methods Study, Melissa Wheat

Dissertations

Organizational performance and success require employee motivation (Delaney & Royal, 2017; Devarapalli & Hinkes, 2016; Good et al., 2022; Howard et al., 2016; Mohamud et al., 2017; Olafsen et al., 2018; Ryan & Deci, 2017; Van den Broeck et al., 2021; Wiley, 1997). However, organizational leaders fail to effectively motivate employees to engage in the workplace and achieve high performance (Delaney & Royal, 2017; Fisher, 2009; Good et al., 2022; J. D. Jensen, 2018; Pappas, 2021; Webb, 2007; Workers Are Motivated by Different Drivers and Needs, 2022). This study explored employee experiences with leaders’ influence on autonomous motivation to …

Planty: The Fitness App With A Plant, Zixin Alice Ouyang

Theses

It is common knowledge that physical exercise has multiple physical and mental benefits, yet many often find it challenging to maintain a consistent exercise habit. How can we design a more motivating exercise experience so more people would exercise? The proposed solution is Planty, an innovative fitness app. Planty aims to change the user’s exercise habits by providing an alternative motivation behind physical exercise by locking a live plant inside a terrarium. Users can only care for the plant through the Planty app through exercise. By linking users’ behavior to the livelihood of a live plant, Planty forces its users …

Examining Discourses In A College Readiness Program: A Qualitative Study, Kendra Marie Farr

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

In the past ten years, there has been an increase in the Hispanic student population incollege across the United States (Krogstad et al. 2022). However, U.S. Census Bureau statistics (2021; 2022) have shown that they are still less likely to attain a four-year degree compared to their White counterparts. To begin understanding why this occurs, researchers look to curriculum at the high school level to see how students are becoming college ready. High schools utilize college readiness programs to help students prepare for the rigor of college courses. One program is an elective course offered at primary and secondary levels …

A Self-Exploration Of A Project Leader’S Career Tilt, Transformation, And Motivational Challenges In The Face Of A Mass Organizational Layoff: An Organizational Evocative Autoethnography, Valentina Rada

Theses & Dissertations

In this study, I reflected on my behavior as a project leader in an organizational culture undergoing significant transformations. I explored motivational and engagement best practices for personal and professional career growth in a changing environment, such as layoffs due to downsizing. This study includes my research rationale for improving performance given the impacted career of a project leader. I highlighted the role of goal setting as a critical part of project leadership to facilitate performance in times of organizational crisis. Additionally, I focused on autoethnography as a research method to self-reflect on the impact of self-determination on goal achievement. …

Meeting Students’ Needs To Improve Motivation And Higher Academic Achievement In Rio Grande Valley Schools, Tanya Jessica Reyes

Theses and Dissertations

Educational systems are to prepare students for future success in our ever-changing world. Administrators must realize that before a student is willing to learn, crucial needs must be met, especially in low-socioeconomic areas such as the Rio Grande Valley. Some basic needs consist of food and shelter, which are vital for survival. Other needs deal with one’s social and emotional needs that support a child's safety, sense of belonging, and their self-esteem. In this study, focus groups were conducted with sixth, seventh, and eighth grade student participants that gathered the phenomenon of their experiences and their fulfillment of needs …

Perceptions Of Educators On Motivational Strategies Influencing Middle School Students In Mathematics Courses, Amy Rigsby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined educators' perceptions of motivational strategies influencing and motivating middle school students to comprehend and perform in mathematics courses. This study used interview data from 15 participants with 2 to 30 years of teaching experience. Educators may utilize this information in multiple settings within the classroom to influence and motivate students in mathematics courses.

Data collection strategies included one-on-one semi-structured middle school educator interviews. Analysis of data occurred in three phases: (a) categorization of data under the five organizational factors, (b) building the explanation in narrative form, and (c) re-examination of the data. The analysis of the …

Essays On Salesperson’S Motivation And Job Satisfaction-Performance, Claire H. Cha

Doctoral Dissertations

Salesforces are important to firms as they drive a significant part of the firm’s brand, financial, and relational performance. Salesforce performance, job satisfaction, and motivation have remained key topics of interest to practitioners as well as researchers (Hansen & Levin, 2016; Pullins, 2001; Williams & Plouffe, 2007). This dissertation includes three essays. Essay 1 aims to address a lingering question theoretically and managerially. What is the relationship between satisfaction and performance? That question is assessed with a unique longitudinal simultaneous design to test four leading hypotheses of the causal relationship between salespeople’s job satisfaction and performance. The study’s design addresses …

Examining Motivational Trajectories And Need-Fulfillment Dynamics Of Students On Academic Probation, Mary Moore

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed methods phenomenological study was to explore undergraduate students’ experiences of academic probation by examining changes or stabilities in the quality of their motivation and students’ basic psychological needs, i.e., autonomy, competency, and relatedness, using Self-Determination Theory (SDT) as the theoretical framework. The study was conducted during the Fall 2021 and Spring 2022 semesters. Students were recruited from three 4-year private and public research universities located in the Southern and Northeastern parts of the United States. Fifty-nine undergraduate students completed the survey, and five participated in semi-structured interviews. The key findings of this study identified three …

The Moderating Effect Of Volunteer Motives On The Relation Between Job Demands And Exhaustion, Aaron Whitely

Theses and Dissertations

Developments in the burnout literature have shown that concepts such as a personality can function as job resources in a framework where resources buffer the relation between job demands and burnout. The present study looked at the concept of volunteer motivation as a job resource used to buffer the relation between job demands and exhaustion. With a sample of 338 volunteers from various volunteer organizations, this research examined the relation of motivation, broken into intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, and exhaustion. Both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation were negatively associated with exhaustion. Intrinsic motivation was found to interact with job demands such …

An Examination Of Reward-Based Crowdfunding Performance And Success, Matthew Alan Grace

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Reward-based crowdfunding (RBCF), where fundraisers raise funds from a crowd of investors in return for a reward, has carved a niche as a proven option for not just entrepreneurs seeking early-stage funding, but also for established firms looking to presell or market a new product or service. Establishing crowdfunding performance and success factors is important for researchers and practitioners alike. Fortunately, a large portion of the RBCF academic literature is immediately applicable to entrepreneurs, with very little additional interpretation required. However, important questions about RBCF remain. The first paper in this three-part dissertation, a systematic literature review, examines some of …

How Does Classroom Management Affect Student Behavior?, Lucy Hoelscher

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question discussed is, how does classroom management affect student behavior? This capstone project is a research-based professional development training for educators. The training is made up of two sessions. The first session focuses on the components and principles of classroom management and the impact of classroom management on student behavior, engagement, and academic performance. The second session consists of successful classroom management approaches and the challenges and barriers educators may face.

A Need For Culturally Relevant Texts To Motivate K-2 Students In Reading, Thi Hoai Anh Nguyen

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The research question addressed in this capstone project was: How can K-2 teachers boost student motivation in reading through interactive read-alouds using culturally relevant texts? After delving into the research on reading motivation, Culturally Relevant Texts, creating a Culturally Relevant Text set, developing student identity, promoting students’ appreciation of cultural diversity, and Interactive Read Alouds, the author created a "We Are All Different and That’s Beautiful” Text Set Unit which promotes students’ appreciation of cultural diversity by incorporating culturally relevant texts and interactive read-alouds. The text set unit with eight chosen culturally relevant texts and matching interactive read-aloud lesson plans …

Representaciones De La Violencia En El Cuerpo Femenino En María, Llena Eres De Gracia, El Despertar De Las Hormigas Y Cuando Las Flores Hablan, Catalina Lancheros Villa

Theses and Dissertations

ABSTRACTO Son muchas las mujeres que han aportado a la historia y a las luchas contra la violencia de género. Mujeres que han sido registradas en libros, documentales o películas y marcadas en hechos como heroínas del cambio y la transformación social (ej. Policarpa Salavarrieta Ríos / colombiana, Magdalena Carmen Frida Kahlo Calderón / mexicana, Manuela Sáenz/ ecuatoriana). Son estas mujeres fuertes y empoderadas las que han querido un mundo igualitario para todos desde la antigüedad hasta los tiempos modernos. Desde su capacidad intelectual descubrieron que podían mejorar las condiciones de vida, dejando un legado de transformación en un sistema …

Avoiding Success: How Does Fear Of Success Impact Today's Workforce?, Bradley E. Gray

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Fear of success refers to the anxiety experienced by individuals as they come close to accomplishing a goal, ambivalent and even paralyzed over choosing to accept or avoid success. Success fearers are more likely to avoid success, choosing to forego their goal to avoid the assumed negative repercussions that will accompany the success (Canavan, 1989). Though interest in fear of success has waned since its introduction in the 1970’s, evidence of fear of success still exists today. However, original theories of fear of success cannot explain its impact on both men and women, and little is known about how it …

Brainwaves, Memory, And Reward, Rebecca Mccune

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The development of effective educational curricula for enhancing learning involves the crucial consideration of effort and rewards. In the realm of education, teachers commonly employ rewards as motivational tools. Traditionally, these rewards are given to students as a recognition of their successful performance. However, a thought-provoking idea emerges: What if we were to extend rewards to students not solely based on accurate answers, but also on the effort they invest, even in cases where their actual response might be incorrect? Our study explores the potential impact of this approach on the way information is absorbed and subsequently retained, specifically focusing …

Digital Game-Based Learning Activities In Primary Grade Mathematics Achievement, Chris Anderson

Graduate Teacher Education

The research paper has gathered and analyzed research from online databases to find how digital game-based learning activities were used in mathematics and how it influences the affective domains of academic engagement, motivation, and academic self-perception. The paper aims to inform primary educators of the benefits and limitations of digital game-based activities in primary mathematics. Digital game-based learning has positively influenced students' academic engagement through interaction, play, and effort, which had a positive effect on their mathematical achievement. Increased motivation felt by students when doing digital game-based activities resulted in higher mathematical achievement and an increase in learning more mathematics …

A Qualitative Phenomenological Study Of Former Maine Adult Education Students Who Successfully Earned A High School Credential, Kayla Sikora

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

Students who unenroll from traditional high school often seek a nontraditional pathway to earn a high school credential. Maine adult education programming provides a nontraditional pathway to a high school credential for high school non-completers. This qualitative phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of former students who obtained their high school credential through a Maine adult education program. Through one-on-one semi-structured interviews, eight participants shared their lived experiences working with Maine adult education programming to obtain their high school credential. Two themes emerged in this study: The significance of self-motivation and the importance of support. The significance of self-motivation was …

Re(Engineering) Student Success: Constructing Knowledge On Students’ Experiences In Engineering Education Programs To Encourage Holistic Student Success, Shaylin Williams

Theses and Dissertations

If a group of engineering deans were asked whether students at their institutions were successful and why, what information might they immediately or subconsciously use to measure or gauge the engineering students’ success? If only academic performance outcomes like GPA, individual course grades, or graduation rate race to their minds, then their rationale aligns with the majority of researchers. My research seeks to shift the mindset that frames engineering student success mainly within the boundaries of academic performance measures. By measuring students’ perceived autonomy, competence, social integration and relatedness within their programs, and aspirations after graduation, one can more accurately …

Using Motivation To Assess Affective States Of Captive Red Kangaroos (Macropus Rufus) In Response To Visitor Presence And Crowd Size In A Walk-Through Zoo Exhibit, Julia King

Theses and Dissertations

This study investigates how visitor presence influences affective states of captive red kangaroos housed in a walk-through zoo exhibit by using motivation to consume a food reward in desired vs undesired locations and with/without an additional challenge feeder as a proxy for affective state, while considering individual variation and personality.

Examining The Influence Of The Classroom Environment On Motivation, Belonging, And Academic Confidence In Engineering Education: A Relational Developmental Systems Approach, Robert O'Hara

All Dissertations

This dissertation explores the impact of the classroom environment on undergraduate engineering students by integrating three manuscripts using the process-person-context-time (PPCT) model within Bioecological Systems Theory. Each manuscript focused on students’ sense of belonging, motivation, and academic confidence. The study confirms prior research suggesting a link between students' perceptions of the environment and their sense of belonging, motivation, and academic confidence. The findings highlight the complex nature of student and classroom environment relationships throughout their college experience. Moreover, the results are demonstrated across different engineering majors. Overall, this dissertation highlights the significance of understanding the complex interactions between students and …

Why We Leave: The Role Of Approach And Avoidance Motivations In Romantic Relationship Dissolution, Emily Connard

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Romantic relationship dissolution (i.e., a breakup) is one of the most stressful events a person can experience. Breakup initiators often encounter a range of emotions (e.g., guilt, depression, anxiety) after leaving their romantic partner. Yet, little is known about how an initiator’s unique motivations for leaving impact their breakup strategies and emotions in the aftermath. The current study examined the association between dissolution motives, breakup strategies, and experienced outcomes in 273 marital and non-marital breakup initiators. As predicted, initiators who left due to approach dissolution motives (e.g., seeking more freedom; draws to leave) experienced greater positive outcomes following a breakup; …

Risky Behavior As Motivated Emotion Regulation: A Mixed-Method Approach, Lyneé A. Herrera

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Engaging in risky health behaviors is a ubiquitous human experience that often marks developmental progression from adolescence into adulthood. While much previous research has framed risky behaviors in terms of negative legal, social, and public health consequences, less empirical work has been done on potential benefits of their engagement. A growing body of research has identified emotion regulation deficits as a significant driver of risky behavior engagement, suggesting that these behaviors may offer perceived emotional benefits when other regulation strategies are less accessible. Previous research has shown that emotional outcomes can be influenced by the regulation strategies one chooses to …

Using Written Self-Assessment To Improve Student Motivation In The Social Studies Classroom, Zachary Robbins

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Theses and Dissertations

The main research question addressed in this study was: How do written self-assessment reflections affect student motivation in a social studies classroom? To answer this question, this study reviewed the student motivation literature to explore the causes of intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, and amotivation. Based on the existing research, this study then examined the self-assessment literature as one way to improve student motivation in linguistically diverse classrooms. To test the impact of short self-assessment writing prompts at the end of each class on student motivation, a pre-experimental design of eight students (four English learners (ELs) and four non-ELs) in three …

Music As An Ergogenic Aid During Resistance Training In An Adult Population: A Pilot Study, David R. Boulais

Master of Science in Kinesiology

Music has been found to produce feelings and emotions of power, reduce physical pain, and manage mood and affect. Ergogenic aids are regularly used in the resistance training (RT) setting to help improve performance. While the ergogenic effects of music are widely documented in aerobic exercise, research is lacking in the RT setting. The aim of this study was to examine the possible ergogenic benefits of music during RT workouts. Twelve individuals (mean age in years 49.8 ± 17.5 years) participated in the present online study, with nine female participants (mean age in years 48.2 ± 17.7) and three male …

Career Choice Motivation For Commercial Pilots, Brett Watts

Doctoral Dissertations and Master's Theses

Career choice motivation research studies the factors involved during a person’s decision-making process regarding which career to pursue (Skatova & Ferguson, 2014). These factors are often studied in individuals who have not yet entered the workforce, such as students. Although there is a significant amount of research on career choice motivations for doctors, dentists, and other related fields, research on career choice motivations for pilots is sparse. As air traffic is expected to grow at approximately 4.7% per year for the next 20 years (Federal Aviation Administration, 2022), a key factor in the aviation industry’s growth is the availability of …

Using Multicultural Texts To Motivate Special Education Middle Schoolers To Read Independently, Ramona Maria Di Maria

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research study was to investigate and examine middle school students’ motivation to read independently. The goal was to see what happens to seventh grade special needs students’ motivation when using authentic multicultural texts during independent reading. Motivation profiles, student interest surveys, reading habit observations and student multicultural book choices were collected and analyzed. The special needs students that participated in the study showed how a structured daily independent reading schedule, choice of multicultural literature, and classroom environment can increase their motivation to read independently. The implications for teaching independent reading in a middle school special needs …

Witnessing Academic Dishonesty And Student’S Satisfaction With Learning, Motivation For Studying And Evaluation Of Faculty, Dawoon Lee

Student Theses

Academic dishonesty has been a long-term problem in secondary and higher education. Previous studies reported that an average of two-thirds of students reported that they have engaged in academic dishonesty in high school or college. This study explored witnessing academic dishonesty and its influence on students' experiences in the learning environment. The hypothesis is that witnessing academic dishonesty will negatively impact the student’s satisfaction with learning, motivation for studying, and evaluation of faculty. In conducting the study, participants (N = 250) completed an online survey assessing their satisfaction with learning, motivation for studying, and evaluation of faculty. Participants also reported …

Analyzing Motivation And Sense Of Belonging Belonging In Cs1 Review Sessions, Cory Longenecker

Senior Honors Projects, 2020-current

The Computer Science Department at James Madison University has a Teaching Assistant program which aims to help students succeed in early-level Computer Science courses. Part of this program is a review session, the Fourth Hour, which provides students extra help on the concepts taught each week in class. Historically, attendance at this review session has been low. Because of this, the study aimed to increase attendance by motivating students through interventions, primarily offering quiz retakes to students who attended. Additionally, this study looked at the reported sense of belonging for participants who attended.

We made three conclusions from survey data …

The Impact Of Covid-19 On Para-Athletes: A Case Study On Motivation And Psychological Training For The 2020 Paralympic Games, Irina Perfilova

Masters Theses, 2020-current

In the 61-year history of the Paralympic Games, the Games have never been canceled for any public health reasons. In order to participate in the Paralympic Games, the preparation process for professional athletes is planned at least four years in advance. Interruptions to this schedule can present significant challenges for elite athletes. Such was the case in 2020 with widespread cancellations of many athletic events due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The impact of in-home isolation can potentially cause athletes to experience different psychological conditions, including depression and anxiety as well as losing motivation. The purpose of this study was to …