Education Commons^™

A Strategic Priority Funding Process: Advancing Big Ideas, Lynn D. Akey, Pat Nelson

Academic Affairs Publications

This session will showcase a strategic priority funding process used to make organizational investments that advance big ideas, priorities and innovation. The speakers will share how the core components of the process were developed, implemented, and improved to increase results.

Individual Differences As Predictors Of Success For Learning Community Students, Nicole Haffield

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Learning communities have been receiving attention by the higher education community in recent years (Cross, 1998; Smith, 2001; Stassen 2003). The attention around learning communities seems to largely be centered around their apparent wide-ranging benefits for student outcomes, including improved student retention, achievement and engagement. This research focuses on which types of students may be most successful in learning community programs in a college setting. Specifically, we wanted to understand if and how the Hogan Personality Inventory, and other motivational factors predict learning community student outcomes such as GPA, retention, and program engagement. None of the original hypotheses were supported. …

Student’S Oral Health Knowledge, Oral Health Practices, And Their Susceptibility To Oral Health Diseases At A Midwestern University, Mouhamed Koubaytari

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Poor oral health knowledge and poor oral health practices have been a silent epidemic in the United States of America. This self-perpetuating cycle of poor oral health knowledge and poor oral health practices have affected groups of people in the United States with low income who are at risk of population due to the lack of insurance. Scholars have shown that poor oral health can result from a lack of access to preventive care (dental appointments) and restorable care when dental diseases or issues may be fixed. Poor oral health knowledge may lead to poor oral health self-care practices down …

Evaluating A Measure Of Student Effectiveness In An Undergraduate Psychology Program, Colin Omori

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

This study evaluates the utility of a measure of student knowledge in various areas of psychology. The 40-item measure is a revision of a pilot test from last year, and was distributed to 90 undergraduate psychology students at a Midwestern university. The average score on the assessment was 19.87 (SD = 6.20), or 49.68%. Future directions for the assessment include validation by professors, leading to the revision and removal of items. An additional suggestion is increased enforcement in regard to student participation: The study's 90-student sample was obtained after omitting 173 students who did not finish the exam, did not …

Pedagogy, Partnership, And Practice: Challenges And Opportunities Through Service-Learning, Matthew Aaron Pajunen

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Service-learning has been prominently featured as a best or high impact practice for education. Yet throughout its existence, this pedagogy has been troubled with questions regarding its effectiveness, controversy in its impact on communities, and even confusion surrounding what its definition is. Within the Anthropology Department at Minnesota State University, Mankato, the impact of service-learning has often been uncertain, with exemplary stories coming out as much as negative ones. This mixed success of service-learning's application throughout the years motivated Dr. Susan Schalge to commission a student research project in 2012 to interview service-learning stakeholders to obtain a more certain grasp …

Self-Grading: A Commentary, Hunter C. King, Qijie (Vicky) Cai

iSALT Resources: Theories, Concepts, and Measures

The theoretical perspectives and the various ways for implementing the self-grading strategy have been extensively discussed in the literature. In this paper, we aim to synthesize pertinent information and resources to deepen our understanding around self-grading and demystify any uncertainties about this concept, if any.

The Small-College Communication Program: An Assessment Of Communication Program Organization And Curricula At Private Liberal Arts Colleges In The Midwest And South, Brian R. Mcgee, Deborah Socha Mcgee

Speaker & Gavel

The study investigates selected features of communication degree programs at small, private liberal arts colleges in the Midwest and South. Topics covered include how communication programs at such colleges are organized at the departmental level, what courses are most commonly offered in small-college communication programs, and what course enrollment limits are typical for such programs. Our findings suggest that communication programs are now commonly found at such institutions, with most housed in academic units that refer to communication in the unit name. Beyond relatively widespread commitments to restricting course enrollments, these programs are generally marked by great diversity in their …

A Graduate Student Perspective On How Student Engagements Enrich And Enhance Multicultural Awareness On The Campus Of Minnesota State University, Mankato, Tomoko Matsui

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The challenges of enhancing and enriching student engagement, in order to promote multicultural awareness, on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato are the impetuses of this study. Multicultural awareness involves a greater understanding, sensitivity, and appreciation of the history, experiences, and lifestyles of different racial and ethnic groups. Therefore, the main goal of this study is to promote multicultural awareness through domestic and international students' engagements on the campus of Minnesota State University, Mankato. Four different theoretical perspectives explained the study, for example, Tinto's (1975) social integration theory, which emphasizes that one main function of higher education is to …

It Centralization And The Innovation Value Chain In Higher Education: A Study For Promoting Key Innovations Through Innovation Management And Organizational Design, Edmund Udaya Clark

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of the present study was to investigate the impact of organizational centralization in higher education technology support units on institutional innovativeness. The centralization tools used for the present study included measures developed by Hage & Aiken (1971), Kaluzny, et al. (1974), and Ferrell & Skinner (1988). The innovativeness measures were established by Hansen & Birkinshaw's (2007) tool for evaluating innovation value chain activities in organizations. Data were gathered from a nation-wide sample (n = 303) of IT workers at 38 research one institutions in the United States. The results indicated that innovation value chain activities (idea generation, conversion, …

Not Your Average Speech Of Self-Introduction: The "Talking Resume" Alternative, Lauren Mackenzie

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

The “talking résumé” activity is designed as a creative and useful alternative to the standard speech of self-introduction exercise in the university public speaking classroom. Using Visual Communicator software, this assignment guides students through the process of preparing, orally delivering, and critiquing résumés for themselves and their classmates. This brief article is geared toward public speaking instructors looking for innovative ways to begin the semester and provides suggestions for how to assign, conduct, and evaluate the “talking résumé” activity.

Tomkat!: Linking Theory And Practice In Communication Studies Course Through The Introduction And Application Of Social Exchange Theory, Rita L. Rahoi-Gilchrest

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This article describes an activity suitable for either high-school or university-level communication courses. Combining outside online research, small group discussion, and class interaction, this exercise uses Social Exchange Theory, applied to examples of celebrity relationships generated by students and discussed in groups, to illustrate the process by which individuals decide whether or not to initiate and sustain interpersonal relationships. Although students should be reminded that the reasons relationships do or do not survive are difficult enough to understand when we are involved in them, let alone when we view them from an outside perspective, the activity proves intriguing and involving …

Making Historians Of Theatre History Students: The First Three Steps, David Wintersteen

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Without the guidance of a clear hypothesis, student research projects founder. This paper outlines a process by which students undergo the essential first stages that lead to successful research projects in Theatre History. The paper outlines three stages: “Quest for Fire,” in which the student identifies a subject area that interests them; “Fence Me In,” in which the student defines the research area and established distinct parameters; and “The Dreaded Hypothesis,” in which the student articulates a clear, unique and functional hypothesis. By implementing these initial three stages, teachers can create the conditions under which students motivate themselves to complete …

Dusting Off The Trophies: Filling The Gaps In The Forensics Collective Memory, Brian T. Taylor

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

With any organization or group, certain areas, events, and individuals eventually become forgotten and left out of the collective memory. Forensics, at the institutional level, is no exception. This essay explores the concept of collective memory, with particular attention to how some areas are left out. It examines how and why certain areas of forensics history are lost, and the impact that has on the forensics community. Finally, it offers some suggestions for forensics educations on how to keep desired stories from being left out of the collective memory. Advice includes recording the stories in written or audio/visual format, bringing …

Developing A Senior Capstone And Portfolio Course, Nanette Johnson-Curiskis, Daniel Cronn-Mills, Warren Sandmann

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Our purpose in this essay is to explain how the Speech Communication Department at Minnesota State University, Mankato developed a senior capstone and portfolio course. We describe how this course helped the department improve its curriculum and teaching, and helped its students enhance their learning of the discipline.

Recognizing College Students Of Today: Generational Shifts Prompt Pedagogical Shifts, Kristen Cvancara, Kristen P. Treinen

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

As educators strive to continually improve the learning potential of the students in our classrooms, it is wise to evaluate traits of the students that may influence the effectiveness of the pedagogical methods employed. To this end, this essay introduces the reader to descriptions of today’s college students that identify this cohort as unique in learning style as well as life experience from all previous generations. An assessment method was used to investigate the degree to which current students identify with these generational stereotypes. The method and results of the assessment are discussed, and suggestions for adopting new pedagogical strategies …

Assessing Student Learning: Growing The Culture, Cultivating Buy-In, Improving Quality, Paul Force-Emery Mackie

Social Work Department Publications

All institutions face the common challenge of developing, conducting, and maintaining high quality, purposeful, and relevant student learning assessment processes and protocols. In 2012 Minnesota State University, Mankato created the University Assessment Coordinator position as a reassigned faculty line. This position initially focused on strengthening linkages between institutional, academic, and co-curricular/service program assessment needs through the development of training opportunities, program assessment of learning model development, reporting assistance, data interpretation, and information integration. This presentation highlights how the process and position was structured, challenges identified and addressed, and successes that emerged from the process.

Integrated Academic Planning: Developing An Intentional Path Forward, Marilyn J. Wells, Lynn D. Akey

Academic Affairs Publications

This presentation will focus on successful completion of Phases 1–3 of an integrated academic planning process, with engagement of 180+ degree programs and four extraordinary education task forces. Presenters will discuss successful and provocative elements, including consensus building, community involvement, data utilization, shared governance, and transparency.

Telepresence: Democratizing The Higher Education Classroom, Jason A. Kaufman, Candace Raskin

iSALT Outcomes: Publications, Presentations, and Other Scholarly Works

This session will present current research on how a dynamic university is using telepresence to effectively educate undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral students. Participants will explore the potential of this cutting-edge technology to facilitate face-to-face distributed learning. Special attention will be afforded to the finding that sense of community continues to be a challenge to telepresence in the classroom and how departments are seeking to address it. Recommendations will be offered to guide departments regarding potential opportunities and roadblocks toward incorporating telepresence into the classroom.

Synchronous Social Presence Experiences: Student And Faculty Perceptions Of Courses Delivered Via Telepresence, Qijie (Vicky) Cai

iSALT Outcomes: Publications, Presentations, and Other Scholarly Works

In order to determine the efficacy of TelePresence in supporting teaching and learning, a survey study was conducted to assess the experience and perceptions of the faculty and students in courses delivered through TelePresence. The survey questions were designed around four components: perceived connection, stability, ease of use, and support for teaching and learning. 18 faculty members and 46 students from a medium-sized public comprehensive university completed the survey. The results of the study are largely positive across the four components, with both faculty and students indicating a low incidence of problems with the functionality of TelePresence and a demonstrated …

Through The Looking Glass: Barriers And Coping Mechanisms Encountered By African American Women Presidents At Predominately White Institutions, Maria Louise Baxter-Nuamah

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research is to identify factors (experiences, career paths, and barriers) that influence the career advancement of African American women administrators in higher education. African American women's experiences in higher education are molded by both external factors and internal factors specific to "traditional" social roles within and outside of the university. This qualitative study examines the personal and professional growth of five African American women who rose to executive leadership positions as presidents at predominately white colleges or universities .

There are five main themes in this study. First, African American women who aspire to senior level …

Religiosity, Spirituality, And Quality Of Life Among Selected University Students, Abby Austin Kreitlow

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Objective: College marks a time of transition and self-exploration. Quality of life can be enhanced or diminished throughout this experience. The objective of this study was to identify the level of religiosity, spirituality and quality of life and identify if there was a relationship between a person's level of religiosity and spirituality and quality of life.

Participants and Methods: The sample group, consisting of 548 Midwestern university undergraduate students, completed the Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (SWBS) and the Ontological Wellbeing Scale (OWBS) in the spring semester of 2015.

Results: Findings indicate that Midwestern university students have a moderate sense of spiritual …

Campus Paper Waste, Joshua E. Randall

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

The fall of 2004 at Minnesota State University, a new program called MavPrint was introduced. The user submits a document to be printed at a computer, the expense is deducted from their account, and then their document can be retrieved from any MavPrint station. In years past printing had been free, but seeing how according to Bryan Schneider, the director of Technical Services at Minnesota State University – Mankato, from the year 2003 to the year 2004 the printing costs for the University rose 200 percent, they felt it was time to make a change. MSU students printed out over …

Designing An Articulation-Agreement Database For The College Of Science And Engineering And Technology Advising Center, Stephanie Fasen, Susan Hendley, Tim Pham, Danish Zaman

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

During their academic careers, some college students transfer to different universities. To allow students to transfer seamlessly to other colleges, advisors at Minnesota universities create articulation agreements that list the classes that transfer between two universities. To use these documents, students and advisors must search through binders to find the correct articulation agreement and then manually review it. This is a time-consuming process for both students and advisors. To make this information more accessible, we created a web-based database that instantly produces a list of equivalent classes for majors offered at Minnesota St ate University, Mankato (MSU) and other Minnesota …

An Investigation Of Student Perspectives On Classroom Resource Usefulness, Joshua Randall, Lindsey Thompson

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Central to the post-secondary education is the textbook, and central to complaints regarding post-secondary education is also the textbook. Textbook use and price are a serious issue at Minnesota State University, Mankato, and at other colleges and universities around the country. Concern regarding textbooks inspires students to become very vocal, filing complaint after complaint regarding the price, the quality, and the utilization of textbooks in the status quo. This is an issue that inflames the hearts (and empties the wallets) of many students, and therefore should be an issue of concern with the university. In two separate studies surveying students …

Modeling Student Engagement In The Classroom, Sarah Painter

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Connections to Community is a multi-institutional study that looks at the influence of community on post-secondary, science and engineering students and their engagement in academic activity. This paper focuses specifically on student engagement within the classroom as a follow-up to a previous paper by Wendy Hoffman, Identifying Influential Variables of Student Academic Engagement (Hoffman, 2013). The goal of this work is to model student engagement in the classroom using classroom observation data that has been cleaned and then compare the results with those found in Hoffman’s paper which used pre-cleaning data. The cleaned data is used to create two data …

An Automatic Dialog System For Student Advising, Brian Mcmahan

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Automatic dialog systems are an implementation of natural language processing theory with the goal of allowing the use of natural sentences to communicate with a computer system. The general purpose of this project was to design and implement an automatic dialog system for augmenting university student advising. Student advising is a relatively narrow domain of possible questions and responses. The automatic dialog system focused on prescriptive advising rather than developmental advising to further narrow the domain to scheduling and registration matters. A student advisor was interviewed and recorded during a mock advising session in order to model the interaction between …

Work In Progress - Peer Directed Learning In A Project Based Model, Andrew Mcnally

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Iron Range Engineering is a new, unique, undergraduate program using problem-based learning. One guiding principle is student responsibility for learning. In order to facilitate learning, faculty and students alike have come up with several learning methods. Learning modes may include self-directed learning, peer-directed learning, one-on-one faculty directed learning, or industry mentored learning. Peer directed learning often manifests in the form of learning groups (a group of students learning similar competencies), led by either a faculty member or a student who has previously excelled in that competency and has taken an interest in pursuing advanced credit. Recently, Iron Range Engineering has …

Change In Cultural Competency Among Students During An Intentional Human Relations, Camille Mcnabb, Samantha Tupy

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

This study measured changes in the intercultural competency of undergraduate students in a course, Human Relations in a Multicultural Society. The hypothesis for this study was that the intentional, cross-cultural experiences in the course will have an impact on the cultural competency of each student. This course is taught each semester at a Midwestern public university. The study included 70 undergraduate students between 18 and 35 years old who voluntarily enrolled in the course and represented students in academic majors such elementary education, sports management, social work, mass communications, journalism, and pre- professional studies (e.g., mortuary science, veterinary medicine, therapy). …

Statistical Models Of Self-Efficacy In Stem Students, Sarah Painter

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Persistence through undergraduate education may be explained by self-efficacy. It is the belief in one’s self to persevere through challenges. Bandura stated four areas that are thought to influence self-efficacy: mastery experience, social persuasion, vicarious experience, and physiological state. In this study, we focused on general and academic self-efficacy in STEM students, in the hopes of learning more about the relationships between Bandura’s categories, demographics, and self-efficacy. Data was taken from two institutions: one, a large research focused university, and the other, a smaller teaching focused university. In the first phase, surveys on general self-efficacy were taken at both institutions …

Examining The Effectiveness Of The After Action Review For Online And Face-To-Face Discussion Groups, William Cradick

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is not enough research in the utilization of the After Action Review (AAR), in a college setting. The purpose of this study was to determine the effectiveness of the AAR in both face-to-face and online classroom environments. Over the period of a semester, participants of undergraduate psychology courses, at a mid-sized university, conducted AARs with their static groups. Overall course and group activity grades were measured, along with self-efficacy, satisfaction, and motivation ratings. The AAR was found to be overall ineffective at improving performance outcomes. The evidence is not conclusive enough to suggest that the AAR will not be …