Education Commons^™

Unpacking Athletics: An Exploration Of Identity Development For Division I Women College Athletes, Kathleen E. Scanlon

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation explored how former Division I National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) women athletes made meaning of their undergraduate experience and how it influenced their post-graduate lives. The study research questions focused on three areas: a) how participants constructed meaning from their athletic experiences and what role those experiences had in shaping their identity; b) how the participants made sense of the various systems they experienced and what bearing various identities had on their meaning making; and c) what concrete knowledge, skills and qualities participants felt they possessed today that they attribute to their intercollegiate athletic experiences.

Three semi-structured interviews …

First-Generation College Student Baccalaureate Attainment: Investigation Of A Psychological Model Of College Student Retention, Timothy Wasserman

Dissertations - ALL

This dissertation examined predictors of retention and graduation for first-generation (FG), first-year students at a selective, private, residential university in the northeastern United States. The theoretical framework was Bean and Eaton's (2000, 2001/2002) Psychological Model of College Student Retention. The purpose of the study was to test the Bean and Eaton model and ascertain how students' entry characteristics, experiences, psychological outcomes, attitudes, and intent to return impacted retention and graduation outcomes. Previous research shows that FG students face challenges in persisting (Cataldi et al., 2018; Choy, 2001; Ishitani, 2016); yet it is through graduating from a prestigious four-year institution that …

The Impact Of The Classroom Climate In Introductory Science, Engineering, And Mathematics Courses On The Persistence Desires And Academic Outcomes Of White Women And Women Of Color In Engineering, Shannon Hitchcock Schantz

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This dissertation utilized survey research to examine the classroom climate in introductory science, engineering, and mathematics courses and its impact on students' desire to remain in engineering, academic success, academic confidence, and enjoyment of their major. Data were collected from 161 engineering students that completed their second year of coursework at a private research university in the northeast. Using Astin's (1991) college impact theory and an intersectional feminist framework (Crenshaw, 1991), the study used hierarchical multiple regression analyses to examine how students' background characteristics and perceptions of supportive or chilly classroom experiences predicted the academic outcome variables. An increase in …

Comparing Effectiveness And Perceived Characteristics Of Active Learning Methods In Undergraduate Biology Education, Linda R. Pesciotta

Dissertations - ALL

Although many undergraduates begin college as STEM majors, attrition rates from the field are high and numerous reports suggest that evidence-based teaching methods are critical for retention. Despite educators' research and near consensus that active learning is more effective than lecture, there are many types of active learning and the literature indicates their effects are not equivalent. The purpose of the current study was to directly compare different kinds of active learning by assessing their correlation with student performance (including learning gains) and understanding students' perceptions of them (including whether they contained Merrill's five principles of instruction and/or met three …

Writing And The Internationalization Of U.S. Higher Education: The Roles Of Ideology, Administration, And The Institution, Melissa May Watson

Dissertations - ALL

In this dissertation,Writing and the Internationalization of U.S. Higher Education: The Roles of Ideology, Administration, and the Institution, I examine one private institution, Syracuse University, for how it has approached internationalization (both currently and in historical efforts), how it has dealt with the increased presence of English language learners (ELLs), and how both realities may affect the research and practice of writing program administrators (WPAs). I use scholarship from Second Language Writing and Writing Program Administration as frameworks for examining some of the sociopolitics involved in addressing the new needs of an internationalized higher education institution, including the politics and …

Predictors Of Postsecondary Education Attendance For Youth With Learning Disabilities, Jennifer Lorene Koehler

Dissertations - ALL

Given the increasing number of students with learning disabilities attending postsecondary educational institutions, it is essential to determine the factors which may play a predictive role in postsecondary education in order to inform educational practices and interventions prior to high school graduation. As such, the primary aim of the current study was to examine which variables may hold predictive value for postsecondary education attendance for students with learning disabilities. This study analyzed the National Longitudinal Transition Study-2 (NLTS2) in an attempt to identify the variables that predicted the likelihood that youth with disabilities would attend more postsecondary education. A total …