Education Commons^™

Is Retention Enough? Learning And Satisfaction Of First-Generation College Seniors, David Mahan, Kristin B. Wilson, Joseph M. Petrosko Jr., Michael R. Luthy

Kentucky Journal of Higher Education Policy and Practice

Progress has been made in retaining and graduating traditional-age first-generation college students at four-year institutions. First-generation students, however, often experience college differently because of external factors, which can negatively influence their learning experience and overall satisfaction. This study explored learning and satisfaction measures of seniors at a small private university in the Midwest. Using Astin’s I-E-O model (1970), the following variables were considered: precollege student characteristics (input); academic engagement, co-curricular activities, campus relationships (environment); and satisfaction, learning (outcome). The sample consisted of seniors participating in NSSE and/or ETS MAPP (n=342). Findings confirmed that first-generation students typically worked more for pay, …

Planning Professional Learning, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

With backward planning, schools can ensure that they choose professional development activities aligned with their most important goals.

A Holistic Review Of The Medical School Admission Process: Examining Correlates Of Academic Underperformance, Terry D. Stratton, Carol L. Elam

Behavioral Science Faculty Publications

Background : Despite medical school admission committees' best efforts, a handful of seemingly capable students invariably struggle during their first year of study. Yet, even as entrance criteria continue to broaden beyond cognitive qualifications, attention inevitably reverts back to such factors when seeking to understand these phenomena. Using a host of applicant, admission, and post-admission variables, the purpose of this inductive study, then, was to identify a constellation of student characteristics that, taken collectively, would be predictive of students at-risk of underperforming during the first year of medical school. In it, we hypothesize that a wider range of factors than …

Effects Of Item-Level Feedback On The Ratings Provided By Judges In A Modified-Angoff Standard Setting Study, Michael R. Peabody

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Setting performance standards is a judgmental process involving human opinions and values as well as technical and empirical considerations and although all cut score decisions are by nature arbitrary, they should not be capricious. Establishing a minimum passing standard is the technical expression of a policy decision and the information gained through standard setting studies inform these policy decisions. To this end, it is necessary to conduct robust examinations of methods and techniques commonly applied to standard setting studies in order to better understand issues that may influence policy decisions.

The modified-Angoff method remains one of the most popular methods …

The Perils Of Prescribed Grade Distributions: What Every Medical Educator Should Know, Kenneth D. Royal, Thomas R. Guskey

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

A common practice in medical education is to create a prescribed distribution of grades or ratings so that only a certain percentage of students receive the highest marks. This approach typically is employed to curb grade inflation and as a means to help faculty distinguish outstanding performers. Despite the well-intentioned reasoning for using prescribed grade distributions, a number of associated problems and probable consequences may result from this practice. Thus, the purpose of this article was to discuss the assumptions underlying this potentially unwise practice, the defensibility of this evaluation practice in the high-stakes arena of medical education, and the …

Undergraduate Student Satisfaction: Investigating The Measurement, Dimensionality, And Nature Of The Construct Using The Rasch Model, Paul Stephens

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Of the many potential and espoused outcomes of higher education, it was satisfaction that rose to prominence for Alexander Astin, stating, “it is difficult to argue that student satisfaction can be legitimately subordinated to any other education outcome” (1993, p. 273). This high endorsement of the construct of satisfaction is backed by a plethora of arguments of its importance for college and university decision makers. A thorough and accurate rendering of student satisfaction measurement is requisite.

To calculate student satisfaction as the magnitude of item endorsement leaves a measure that is sample specific. The goal of a universal and unidimensional …

Relationships & Capital In Living Learning Communities: A Social Network Analysis, Leslie Nicole Woltenberg

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This study was designed to explore the possible connections between student peer relationships and individual students’ roles in a network as it pertained to outcomes such as self-reported academic achievement and personal satisfaction with the first year of college. The research question directing this inquiry is: How does a student’s role within a residential community of peers relate to success in college? Social network analysis was employed for examination of individual engagement within the context of a larger community.

The vast learning community literature tells an interesting story: 1.) a history of co-curricular peer learning environments, 2) a tradition of …

Learning To Retell Stories Through Comparative Teaching: Writing And Drawing, Rachel L. Lindle

Theses and Dissertations--Art and Visual Studies

Students who are emergent readers and writers are often difficult to assess, as they are unable to communicate understanding in writing. From my observations, these students communicate ideas best through concrete forms of expression, rather than the abstract formation of letters and writing that is unfamiliar to them. Drawing provides an alternate form of expression from writing. Based on information found in literature review and personal experiences from working with students who are emergent readers and writers, pictures and drawings are a bridge to communicate ideas with these students. This form of expression and communication may be a useful assessment …

Exploring Faculty Adoption And Utilization Of Blackboard At A Community College In The Kentucky Community And Technical College System, Brent A. Eldridge

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The study explored the faculty adoption and use of a Blackboard at a community college in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System. A cross-sectional survey design was constructed through the lens of Rogers’s Perceived Attributes of Innovations and Chickering and Ehrman’s Implementing Seven Principles: Technology as a Lever to investigate perceptions and opinions on faculty members’ use of Blackboard in their courses. The survey was piloted, modified and deployed to a population of 932 central Kentucky community college faculty who were recruited to participate in the online survey. Descriptive demographic items (gender, age, highest degree attained, years of teaching …

Sex And Gender Identity: A New Perspective For College Student Development, Steven Ray Wise

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

One of the goals of college student development professionals is to help undergraduate students develop a meaningful sense of personal identity. Early in the history of the profession, practitioners borrowed freely from related fields such as sociology and psychology to guide their practice, but beginning around the 1960s, scholars began in earnest to develop their own unique body of literature. In this work I examine the development of that scholarly work as it relates to identity development—specifically the evolution of understanding around the issues of sex and gender identity development.

Beginning with William Perry, whose work has impacted so many …

Social And Psychological Factors Related To The Career Exploration Process Of Young Adults, Joanne N. Hellmann

Theses and Dissertations--Family Sciences

This study examined social and psychological factors influencing the career exploration process of young adults. The predictor variables of this study were parental attachment, peer attachment, and self-efficacy; the outcome variables were environmental/occupational exploration, self-exploration, and career indecision. Data for this study were collected using various measures that were compiled into one survey hosted on Qualtrics. Results indicated that secure maternal attachment predicted secure peer attachment and high self-efficacy in young adults. Greater peer attachment was negatively correlated with environmental exploration. A higher level of self-efficacy was positively correlated with environmental exploration and negatively correlated with career indecision. These results …