Education Commons^™

Life Adversity, Social Support, Resilience, And College Student Mental Health, Joshua Mello

All Master's Theses

This study investigated how adverse childhood experiences (ACEs), current college student hassles, and perceived social support relate to college student resilience. This study also explored how ACEs, current college student hassles, perceived social support, and resilience relate to college student mental health. A sample of 507 students from a public university in Washington State completed an online study which consisted of surveys operationalizing each variable. The results showed that current college student hassles and perceived social support significantly predicted resilience. Current college student hassles, resilience, and perceived social support also significantly predicted mental health. The study revealed that ACEs had …

Website Accessibility Compliance At Research Institutions, Jonathan D. Mcgough

All Master's Theses

Three websites from 34 research institutions were evaluated on six measures of website accessibility. All but one institution had at least one website fail the accessibility assessment, and the single institution that performed well had recently been investigated by the Department of Justice regarding the accessibility of its website. This study concludes that while disability service offices do perform better than institutional homepages and admissions websites on measures of accessibility, many websites are plagued by perennial accessibility concerns such as images that lack alternate descriptions and content inaccessible to individuals using keyboard navigation or screen reader software.

2015 Central Washington University Commencement, Central Washington University

Commencement Programs

A commencement program from graduation ceremonies at Central Washington University.

Wage Distribution Impacts Of Higher Education Faculty Unionization, Charles S. Wassell Jr., David W. Hedrick, Steven E. Henson, John M. Krieg

Economics Faculty Scholarship

The literature on the effects of unions on the distribution of wages at the macroeconomic and inter-industry levels has given little attention to the effects at the firm level. At the same time, research on collective bargaining impacts in higher education has focused on the overall wage level rather than on the distribution of salaries. Using panel data on individual faculty members, we find faculty unionization to be associated with a significant flattening of the wage distribution across academic disciplines. This has implications for why faculty might choose to unionize, even in the absence of an overall wage premium.

A Comparative Study Of Competency-Based Courses Demonstrating A Potential Measure Of Course Quality And Student Success, Jackie Krause, Laura Portolese, Christopher Schedler

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Education and Professional Studies

While competency-based education is growing, standardized tools for evaluating the unique characteristics of course design in this domain are still under development. This preliminary research study evaluated the effectiveness of a rubric developed for assessing course design of competency-based courses in an undergraduate Information Technology and Administrative Management program. The rubric, which consisted of twenty-six individual measures, was used to evaluate twelve new courses. Additionally, the final assessment scores of nine students who completed nine courses in the program were evaluated to determine if a correlation exists between student success and specific indicators of quality in the course design. The …

2014 Central Washington University Commencement, Central Washington University

Commencement Programs

A commencement program from graduation ceremonies at Central Washington University.

Using A Spreadsheet To Solve The SchröDinger Equations For The Energies Of The Ground Electronic State And The Two Lowest Excited States Of H2, Yingbin Ge, Robert C. Rittenhouse, Jacob C. Buchanan, Benjamin Livingston

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

We have designed an exercise suitable for a lab or project in an undergraduate physical chemistry course that creates a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to calculate the energy of the S₀ ground electronic state and the S₁ and T₁ excited states of H₂. The spreadsheet calculations circumvent the construction and diagonalization of the Fock matrix and thus can be accomplished by any undergraduate chemistry student with basic calculus skills. The wave functions of the S₀, S₁, and T₁ states of H₂ are constructed from the symmetry-adapted bonding and antibonding molecular …

Effective Learning Strategies For College Students With Asperger's Syndrome, Jamie Susanne Gilbert

All Master's Theses

More and more students with Asperger’s Syndrome (AS) are being accepted into college without having the proper foundation in place to successfully graduate with a Bachelor’s degree. Students with AS need support systems in place to properly prepare them to face the challenges of college. The purpose of this study is to discuss the current research in regards to effective learning strategies that lead to academic success for college students with AS and to further discuss how to implement the learning strategies in higher education institutions. A single-subject study, using both qualitative and quantitative analysis, was performed. It involved one …

Academic Self-Efficacy, Coping, And Academic Performance In College, Mehjabeen Khan

Student Published Works

This study serves as a pilot study for a possible future study including the same variables. The purpose of the pilot study was to find a relationship in the college academic setting between academic self-efficacy, stress coping skills, and academic performance. Sixty-six undergraduate students, 17 male and 49 female, from a university in northwestern United States participated in the study. Stress was measured using the COPE Inventory (Carver, Scheier, & Weintraub, 1989). Self-efficacy was measured using the Academic Self-Efficacy Scale (Chemers, Hu, & Garcia, 2001). Academic performance was measured using the participants’ college GPA. Academic Self-Efficacy and the Planning subscale …

2013 Central Washington University Commencement, Central Washington University

Commencement Programs

A commencement program from graduation ceremonies at Central Washington University.

Building An Online Data Management Plan Tool, Michele Reilly, Anita R. Dryden

Library Scholarship

Following the 2011 announcement by the National Science Foundation (NSF) that it would begin requiring Data Management Plans with every funding application, the University of Houston Libraries explored ways to support our campus researchers in meeting this requirement. A small team of librarians built an online tool using a Drupal module. The tool includes informational content, an interactive questionnaire, and an extensive FAQ to meet diverse researcher needs. This easily accessible and locally maintained tool allows us to provide a high level of personalized service to our researchers.

Ethics In The Accounting Curriculum, James H. Thompson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

The number of corporate debacles in recent history has been a great concern to the financial community. From Enron to Bear Stearns, the events have highlighted that greed, incompetence, and deception exist systemically. After these and other similar events, the importance of professional ethics intensified. Has the concern for improved ethical behavior compelled academic institutions to provide greater emphasis on ethics in accounting degree programs?

Several findings emerged in this study. First, ethics is more commonly part of the course description than it is to be part of the course title. Second, there is greater emphasis on ethics in undergraduate …

Gender, Masculinity, Femininity And Help Seeking In College, Heath Marrs, Ellen A. Sigler, Robyn D. Brammer

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of the Sciences

The current academic performance struggles of college men is gaining increasing research attention (Sax, 2008a, 2008b), but few studies have explored the possible impact of gender-related attributes such as masculinity and femininity on academic help-seeking behaviors and academic performance. In this study of 567 college undergraduates, students who classified themselves as androgynous on the Bem Sex-Role Inventory were more likely to engage in academic help-seeking behaviors than those classified as male sex-typed, female sex-typed, and undifferentiated. No significant differences were found for academic performance. These results highlight the importance of exploring the potential influence of gender-related constructs on academic behavior …

Accounting Capstone Course Design: Using The Internet To Modernize A Graduate Accounting Capstone Course, Diane S. Bloom, Clemense Ehoff Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This second paper describes how the Internet was used to modernize a graduate accounting capstone course to enhance student interest and learning, and is an extension of an earlier paper that examined a similar approach with an undergraduate accounting capstone course. Course content was developed from contemporary issues and cases obtained from the Internet. Benefits, drawbacks, and feedback from students who completed the updated course are presented as a basis for future study. The concepts and techniques presented in this analysis can easily be applied to capstone courses in other disciplines.

A Survey Of Accounting Faculty Perceptions Regarding Tenure And Post-Tenure Review, James H. Thompson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

Attaining tenure is a goal of every faculty member. Indeed, at the beginning of every faculty member’s career, there is concern regarding the process of earning tenure. Many factors enter into the tenure decision, but most universities place weight on three primary factors: teaching effectiveness, research activity, and demonstration of service to the university and beyond. The relative importance of these three factors varies, but most universities expect “satisfactory” performance in all three areas. One of the historical reasons for faculty tenure is to protect academic freedom. Once tenure was attained, a faculty member’s academic freedom was considered safe. Recent …

A Primer On Profit Maximization, Robert Carbaugh, Tyler Prante

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

Although textbooks in intermediate microeconomics and managerial economics discuss the first-order condition for profit maximization (marginal revenue equals marginal cost) for pure competition and monopoly, they tend to ignore the second-order condition (marginal cost cuts marginal revenue from below). Mathematical economics textbooks also tend to provide only tangential treatment of the necessary and sufficient conditions for profit maximization. This paper fills the void in the textbook literature by combining mathematical and graphical analysis to more fully explain the profit maximizing hypothesis under a variety of market structures and cost conditions. It is intended to be a useful primer for all …

A Comparative Empirical Analysis Of Characteristics Associated With Accounting Internships, James H. Thompson

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

Internships are a popular element used to enhance accounting education. Although previous studies have considered internships, many have addressed enhancement of subsequent academic and professional performance. The purpose of this paper is broader and examines several characteristics of accounting internships: the frequency of participation, eligibility requirements, process for securing internships, level of participation, availability and amount of academic credit, area of assignments, nature of post-internship requirements, and benefits to students. Two random samples, one in 1998 and one in 2003, of 100 accounting programs were analyzed in the study. For each program selected, the survey was mailed to accounting program …

Central Washington University Commencement 2011, Central Washington University

Commencement Programs

A commencement program from graduation ceremonies at Central Washington University.

Incorporating Accreditation Into Strategic Planning In Academic Libraries: A Look At Nine Libraries In Washington State, Daniel Canncasciato

Library Scholarship

Accreditation for universities and colleges is a milestone achievement. Failing an accreditation review can have a dire impact on an institution. A successful accreditation process should be a major goal of all involved at the institution, as it brings with it a validation of that institution. The academic library is included in accreditation reviews, so library personnel should plan to succeed in the process. The purpose of this article is to investigate whether such planning is evident or explicit in the mission and planning documents of nine academic libraries in Washington State.

Recruiting Students Into The Earth Sciences Through Undergraduate Research, Anne E. Egger, Simon L. Klemperer

Geological Sciences Faculty Scholarship

This article discusses the challenges of recruiting undergraduate students into STEM disciplines and describes strategies which have been used to stimulate undergraduate interest in Earth sciences research at Stanford University.

2010 Central Washington University Commencement, Central Washington University

Commencement Programs

A commencement program from graduation ceremonies at Central Washington University.

Educational Operations Four Days A Week, Charles O. Pringle, William Bender

Engineering Technologies, Safety, and Construction Faculty Scholarship

Four day work weeks have been employed by industry, state agencies, and recently by higher education. The generally perceived benefit of the four day work week is reduced energy costs. These costs savings include more efficient building operations and less energy consumption driving to a facility. The generally perceived negative impact of four day operations, particularly of state agencies, is a decreased level of service.

How much energy would be saved and could the level of service be maintained in a higher educational environment by switching from five to four day weeks? This study occurs at a regional university within …

Instructional Coaching: Improving Student Achievement And Building Teacher Efficacy, Rebecca J. Tonseth

All Graduate Projects

The purpose of this project was to justify the author's job as an instructional coach. The author was motivated by her own need to discover what an instructional coach was and how an instructional coach positively affects teacher instruction and student achievement. This project includes ideas and tools that beginning instructional coaches can use with teachers in an elementary school setting. A review of the literature was included on the effects of coaching on teacher efficacy and the effects teachers and coaches have on student achievement. This project examined the roles of the instructional coach and it provides a guide …

Notes On Accounting Capstone Course Design: Contemporary Issues Versus Case Analysis Enhances Student Interest And Learning, Clemense Ehoff Jr.

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This paper presents how the Internet can be used to bring contemporary issues into the accounting capstone course to enhance student interest and learning. While existing cases have been reviewed and structured, they focus on issues that may not be at the forefront of the items currently under examination and/or debate by the accounting profession. Based on course development and delivery experience at a major Eastern University, the benefits and drawbacks of using the Internet to select contemporary accounting issues are presented and compared to existing research findings as a basis for future study. While the focus of this paper …

Undergraduate Preparation And Dissertation Methodologies Of Accounting Phds Over The Past 40 Years, Marvin L. Bouillon, Sue Ravenscroft

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

There is a shortage of accounting faculty and this shortage is predicted to worsen in the future. The number of new PhDs in accounting has declined from approximately 200 per year in the late 1980' s and early 1990' s to just over I 00 per year in recent years. Currently, we expect approximately 400 to 500 new accounting faculty positions to open up annually over the next to five to ten years. We believe that there has been a narrowing of the number of PhD candidates coming from fields other than accounting and other business related fields. If this …

A Manual For Improving The Working Relationship Of Teachers Through The Implementation Of A Peer Coaching Model, Mitchell Bennett Richards

All Graduate Projects

The challenges that teachers face today with educational standards are daunting. Many teaching practices have evolved over the last several years due to the constraints of standardized testing. These constraints require students and teachers to be held accountable for their performance. Teachers are now required to do more than simply educate students based on their beliefs of best practices. Teacher professional development is paramount to provide teachers with the tools needed to face the challenges in education today. This project presents a peer coaching model to foster teacher development, reviews the related research in the field of peer coaching, and …

Engaging Students In An Accounting Class, Karen Martinis, James A. Bailey

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

Many different styles exist for teaching accounting. Throughout the years, the authors applied different teaching methodologies in their accounting courses. They found that engaging students in the classroom setting helps the students to stay on task and makes the classroom experience more meaningful. This paper describes processes the authors used to enable students to actively participate in the learning process during class time.

Distance Learning In Accounting Courses From The Student's Perspective (1999-2006), James P. Beaghan

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

Universities throughout the nation are faced wiih the reality of an increase in demand from place-bound, adult working students who live and work in locations that may be hundreds of miles from traditional college campuses, and require a less centralized mode of course instruction. At the same time technological advances are now available that provide universities with a wide range of instructional modes of instruction that include interactive television (ITV) with real time audio and visual at a number of decentralized classroom sites, live and remote. Distance learning/distance education (DE) technologies currently allow an instructor to deliver university course instruction …

2006 Central Washington University Commencement, Central Washington University

Commencement Programs

A commencement program from graduation ceremonies at Central Washington University.

Assessing The Extent Of It Integration Across The Business Curriculum, Ronald Tidd

All Faculty Scholarship for the College of Business

This paper describes a methodology for assessing the extent to which computer technologies have been integrated across the business/management curriculum so as to enhance learning process and outcomes. The assessment was motivated by the need to: Inform interested individuals such as current and potential students, prospective employers, administrative/budget personnel, and accrediting bodies about the extent to which these technologies are being taught and used; and Increase the learning efficiency of the integration effort by ensuring that computer-based learning tasks are properly sequenced across the curriculum, so that students develop the necessary computing skills and ·knowledge in a timely manner. Data …