Education Commons^™

The Role Of Story In The Creation And Life Of Man, Leah Ginion

Senior Honors Theses

Story was created by God as a vehicle for the revelation and glorification of Himself. Man, made in the image of God, was created as an innate storyteller. The world was created through story, and story is how it progresses and is sustained. As such, story is the foundation of all culture and the most natural and effective method of human communication. Research points to all of man’s stories being derivatives of the Great Story: the metanarrative of Scripture. Exploring man’s relationship with story reveals his place within the metanarrative and ultimately provides evidence for the existence and active presence …

The Silent Secret: College Instructors’ Nonverbal Behavior And Its Correlation With Student Immediacy, Jared Van Fujishin

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative research study focuses on the relationship between college teachers’ nonverbal communication behaviors and the influence that those behaviors have on college students’ perception of immediacy. Understanding the factors of immediacy, or trust and rapport with another, is imperative for educators as the current literature suggests that how students feel toward their instructors plays a role in the retention or attrition of students. Although nonverbal communication is only one part of a complex set of variables that go into the equation of student retention, it is an important aspect of the equation to study because nonverbal communication is constantly …

Zooming In On Zoom Fatigue: A Case Study Of Videoconferencing And Zoom Fatigue In Higher Education, Chandra Kaye Massner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore how faculty and students in higher education experience videoconferencing in online courses and why they feel fatigue. Zoom fatigue, the exhaustion users feel when communicating through videoconferencing platforms, is a recently identified phenomenon associated with the extensive use of synchronous videoconferencing communication. The research employed a qualitative case study approach to investigate how faculty and students experience videoconferencing and Zoom fatigue in online courses at a small liberal arts university in Appalachia. Document review, qualitative surveys, and in-depth interviews informed the case study. Faculty and student respondents reported dissatisfaction with …

How Participation In Student-Run Media Impacts A College Student's Sense Of Self-Efficacy: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, Hugh Davis Bouchelle

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to discover and understand college students’ perceptions of the ways their lived experiences while participating in college student-run media have impacted their sense of self-efficacy. The central research question was, what are college student perceptions of how participation in college student-run media impacts their sense of self-efficacy? Bandura’s social cognitive theory of self-regulation, which explains how an individual’s environment, behavior, and personal factors combine and intertwine to produce feelings of self-efficacy, was used as the framework for this study. Purposeful sampling was used to select full-time students that had worked at least …

Students’ Experiences Of College Professor Communication In Online Instruction: A Transcendental Phenomenological Study, William E. Carpenter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to describe 13 students’ experiences of college professor communication in asynchronous online courses at a large urban community college in central North Carolina. The focus was to answer the central research question of how online students describe communication experiences in an online college learning environment. The theories guiding this study were Knowles’ (1980) theory of adult learning- andragogy, and Short, Williams, and Christie’s (1976) social presence theory, as they correlated the need for professor communication with adult learning and social presence since communication can impact academic success for adult learners. To collect …

Microfinance: Combating World Poverty One Small Business At A Time, Alison Basney

Senior Honors Theses

Poverty is a major problem that reaches millions of people around the world. Although many organizations and individuals work daily to combat this, much of the work done to reduce poverty lacks sustainability and serves only to remedy to the effects of poverty, rather than create a solution to the causes of poverty. Microfinance can be very basically defined as the provision of banking to the impoverished who would not otherwise have access to these services. This purpose of this thesis is to show that microfinance is the ideal solution to the poverty problem by using research and evidence from …

An Analysis Of Students' Perception Of Biblical Community Within The Environment Of Digital Media: A Mixed Methods Study, Matthew Alan Vander Wiele

Faculty Dissertations

This study is an examination of teen perception regarding their understanding of biblical community within the environment of digital media. The study also examines the principles, essentials, or characteristics of biblical community regardless of environment.

The researcher surveyed a sample of teens that attend classical, open enrollment, and closed enrollment Christian schools of various denominations as well as no denomination. A survey presenting a list of the essential principles of biblical community, regardless of environment, including questions for each objective was sent to the sample. The respondents were asked to participate in a quantitative Lickert-scale survey. An expert panel was …

A Phenomenological Study Of Facebook Messages From Female Friends To Middle School Girls And The Multi-Dimensional Effect On Self-Esteem, Eileen Elizabeth Hegel

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study investigated positive and negative Facebook messages from female friends to middle school girls and the multi-dimensional effect on self-esteem. This study also examined what role these messages play in female friendships. Purposeful sampling was used to recruit nine participants, 13 years old, the minimum age to have a Facebook account or 14 years old, in the 7th or 8th grade in the South Atlantic region of the United States. Gilligan's theory of moral development underpinned this study. Data collection included a descriptive survey, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, semi-structured interviews, journals, and site artifacts. The questions framing the …

English In South Asia And Pedagogical Implications, Brittany R. Ehret

Senior Honors Theses

English at present maintains a significant role as a second or foreign language in the region of South Asia as well as globally. In a discussion of this topic, it is important to explore a brief history of the expansion of English and its origins in South Asia. It is also essential to provide a background of South Asian English and its unique linguistic characteristics as well as its use in different contexts of South Asia. The perspectives of linguists and educators who are native to the region of South Asia should be included as much as possible in this …

Social Mathworking: The Effects Of Online Reflection On Algebra I Students' Sense Of Community And Perceived Learning, Patricia Allanson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to determine if online reflections through social networking affect students' sense of community and levels of perceived conceptual learning in Algebra I courses. Social constructivism, connectivism, and computer-mediated communication in relation to reflective practices form the theoretical and practical framework for the use of Web 2.0 technologies in this investigation. A quasi-experimental nonequivalent control group design was used to examine Algebra I students' sense of community as measured by the Sense of Classroom Community Index, and perceived learning as measured by Perceived Learning Instrument. The sample consisted of 27 Algebra I students at a …

The Relationship Between Facebook™ Activity And Academic Performance Among African American Students, Eric Brubaker

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This non-experimental, regression study examined the relationship between Facebook^TM activity and academic performance for an African American sample population. The study was conducted at a large, four-year, private university in the Mid-Atlantic. All undergraduate, African American students enrolled in the College of General Studies, School of Health Sciences, and School of Education comprised the sample population. Volunteer participants completed a Facebook^TM Activity Survey, which is an instrument used to collect semester grade point averages (GPAs), time-use of Facebook^TM, multitasking information, type of Facebook^TM activities, and demographic information. The results of the survey were analyzed using …

Facebook As An Instructional Tool In The Secondary Classroom: A Case Study, Stephanie Hunter-Brown

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study is to describe how social media networks impact secondary students when utilized as an instructional tool . The problem this study seeks to address is exploring the roles that social media play in the lives of high school students and the experiences they encounter by utilizing these networks academically and socially. A case study approach was utilized to evaluate the impact of technology integration via social media networks in a secondary English classroom. The focus of the study was to determine the academic and social impact the social media network, more specifically Facebook, has on …

Digital Immigrant Teacher Perceptions Of Social Media As It Influences The Affective And Cognitive Development Of Students: A Phenomenological Study, Robert Williams

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study is to describe how digital immigrant teachers perceive the influence of social media on the affective and cognitive development of students at three high schools in Alabama. As the prevalence of social technologies is increasing, educators must understand how it is affecting students in order to instruct students and utilize technologies in an effective manner. Thus, a phenomenological study should inform teacher practitioners on how to address concerns and issues associated with social media in order to positively influence the learning environment. Ten teachers were selected from one private and two public high …

Comparing The Success And Experiences Of Developmental Algebra I Students, Christy Lowery-Carter

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Students enrolled during the spring 2011 and summer 2011 semesters taking developmental Algebra I were invited to participate in a study. Students were required to complete a researcher-made pretest prior to instruction, complete the course over the semester, and complete an identical posttest at the end of the course. The online students voluntarily completed a researcher-made survey. An ANCOVA analysis, using the pretest scores as a covariate, showed a significant difference between the online and seated students, as the online students scored significantly higher. The survey showed online students tended to utilize the captured lectures, with a larger percentage of …

The Manifestation Of Biblical Community Understanding In A Facebook Community: A Qualitative Study Among Christian College Students, Paul Perkins

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Applying theoretical studies of social capital, social presence, cognitive presence, and community helps researchers understand more fully the phenomenon of online social networks. The debate has moved from the positive and negative effects of online social networks to understanding how they fit into daily life. However, do biblical community beliefs transfer to Facebook? If Facebook is considered a community, does it exhibit the characteristics of a biblical community? Through a qualitative case study design, this research explored eight Christian college students, four men and four women, from two Midwest Christian colleges, investigating their understanding of biblical community and its application …

The Impact Of Multimedia And Redundancy On The Efficiency Of History Presentations, Adam Leach

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The use of educational technology to create classroom presentations is already commonplace in American history classes. Therefore, this study focuses on how multimedia presentations can promote efficient instruction specifically, can the employment of the multimedia and redundancy principles (Mayer, 2009) improve the efficiency of student learning in high school history. The goal is to identify methods of multimedia presentation design that maximize the efficiency of instruction, as a gap in literature exists when referencing the performance of adolescents in a public high school and in the study of history. Keeping the focus on efficient learning, this study uses a quasi-experimental …

Interpreter Roles And Transition For Public School Students Who Are Deaf: A Multiple Case Study, John Hinz

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This qualitative multiple case study research project examines interpreter use for students who are Deaf in the public school system and juxtaposes it with interpreter use found in the work sector after the school-to-work (STW) transition. Semi-structured interviews with 16 Deafness professionals and 6 study participants who are Deaf, as well as workplace observations yield bits of data which are coded and themed for review. Results confirm that interpreter use is abundant in public schools and scant in the work sector. Further results determine that STW placements for students who are Deaf can be haphazard, while employers are largely unaware …

The Relationship Between Text Message Volume And Formal Writing Performance Among Upper Level High School Students And College Freshmen, Brian Wardyga

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this study was to reveal whether there is a relationship between students' volume of text messaging and formal writing performance on the Scholastic Aptitude Test writing section. The study also examined gender as a contributing variable in this measure. As a supplementary correlation, student text message volume was also compared to their Writing I course final grade. The study focused solely on texting because texting has become the preferred method of telecommunication among teens and young adults (Lindley, 2008, p. 19). The design included a questionnaire that collected data to show whether any relationships exist that indicate …

The Effect Different Synchronous Computer Mediums Have On Distance Education Graduate Students' Sense Of Community And Feelings Of Loneliness, Lorene Heuvelman-Hutchinson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Because distance education is such a rapidly developing educational venue, knowing what factors impact success must be known. Loneliness and sense of connectedness, or community, are issues facing graduate distance education students. These issues may influence retention. The theoretical framework of a Community of Practice assisted in understanding the development of community using computer-mediated communication (CMC) systems. The research questions answered included whether the type of synchronous CMC used (text- or video-based) could impact loneliness and community from a distance. An experimental design (randomized subjects, control group, posttest only) was used with distance education graduate students to address the research …