Education Commons^™

Educational Attainment: American Indians/Alaska Natives Phenomenological Study Of A Northeast Nebraska Indian Reservation, Stacy Brasch

Dissertations and Theses

This phenomenological study explored the perspectives of American Indian/Alaska Native students who had all graduated from the same Northeast-Nebraska public school located on a federally recognized Indian reservation and completed at least a four-year degree. To that end, the central research question addressed by this dissertation is, “Why were these individuals successful in their educational attainment pursuits when so many of their contemporaries were not?” The two sub-research questions were (1) What supports do American Indian/Alaska Native graduates perceive as having helped to ensure their resilience and successful educational attainment? And (2) What challenges do American Indian/Alaska Native students identify …

Political Ideology As Determinative Of Higher Education Funding: Exploring The Distinctions Between Community College And University Funding Under Differing Political Regimes, Paul Brown

Dissertations and Theses

Adequacy of funding for public institutions of higher education in the United States is significantly important to an array of stakeholders, including, state legislative bodies, decision-makers in the arena of higher education, and notably, consumers of higher education. State allocation of resources for higher education demonstrates variability, complicating accurate programmatic planning and budgeting. To assist higher education officials in the task of budget forecasting and resource adequacy, this study will help fill the void in understanding the connections between the political composition of the states’ legislative bodies and funding levels for differing types of higher education institutions. While significant prior …

Stories Of Midwest Higher Education Public Safety Administrators, The Clery Act, And Keeping Campuses Safe, Bryant Jackson

Dissertations and Theses

The purpose of this narrative inquiry qualitative analysis study is to examine the lived experiences of Midwest higher education public safety administrators regarding the Clery Act. Since 1990 when the Clery Act became law, higher education public safety administrators have been required to implement this law at their institutions. While research on the Clery Act has been limited, it is critical to examine the lived experiences of those tasked with its implementation and compliance. Three themes were identified when examining the lived experiences of the Midwest public safety administrators experiences with the Clery Act. The first theme explored overall impressions …

Promoting Well-Being Among Intercollegiate Student-Athletes: A Gratitude Intervention Using Positive Psychology, Laura Kruger

Dissertations and Theses

Intercollegiate student-athletes face rising stress and pressures which challenge their well-being and mental health, and sometimes with alarming concerns. Over the years, supportive services and resources specifically available to student-athletes have not evolved at the same pace as student-athlete needs. Also, barriers and stigmas hinder student-athletes from readily accessing supportive mental health services. The high stress of student-athletes can contribute to the development of negative mental health symptoms and impairs positive well-being. Evidence supports how outreach initiatives help student-athletes. Positive psychology, including gratitude as a positive psychological state, has shown benefits to well-being. This experimental study design researched if the …

Establishing A Sense Of Community While Meeting The Needs Of Online Adjunct Instructors, Melissa Weber

Dissertations and Theses

As online adjunct instructors continue to fill an instructional role and meet the needs of online learners, university leaders need to look for ways for professional development to increase online adjunct instructors’ sense of community and meet their diverse needs. The critical problem of this study recognized that online adjunct instructors have different needs than those of on campus faculty; these needs are not being met by traditional means currently used in university settings. Therefore, the overall goal of this qualitative phenomenological study sought to explore how university leaders could establish a sense of community while meeting the professional development …

Academic Advisors’ Perceptions, Knowledge, And Attitudes Toward Working With Students Experiencing Substance Use Concerns, Amy Orr

Dissertations and Theses

Academic advisors have played an essential role within higher education institutions. Not only did academic advisors assist students in selecting courses/scheduling, but advisors could also help address students' substance use concerns. These concerns could be a factor preventing students from graduating. Students with substance use concerns who did not receive adequate services were barred from reaching their full potential in life and academics, receiving lower grades, and suffering from higher dropout rates than other students. Thus, it was vital for advisors to have the skills to help students with substance use concerns or refer them for additional services. Intrusive advising …

An Examination Of Pell Grant Recipient Graduation Rates And Institutional Expenditures At Public Baccalaureate Institutions, Lamont Alphonso Sellers

Dissertations and Theses

The present study examines the differences between public baccalaureate institutional expenditures and Pell Grant recipient graduation rates at high and low Pell Grant recipient graduating institutions. IPEDS data were analyzed, including instructional, academic support, student services, institutional support, and Pell Grant recipient 6-year graduation rates from the 2018 academic reporting year. Results from a Mann-Whitney U test compare 99 institutions divided into a high graduation rate group (N_high=40) and a low graduation group (N_low=59). The analysis showed there are mean rank differences between the groups that are statistically significant. These results support the need for further study to make sense …

Disconnected, Frustrated And Withdrawn: Institutional Policy Implications For Equity In Student And Faculty Community, Jessica Marie Welsh

Dissertations and Theses

DFW rates at intuitions of higher education for students from underrepresented populations trended higher than majority students. A single explanatory case study provides insight to the factors impacting DFW rates in first-year gateway courses at a four-year, public, comprehensive institution. The study employed the use of focus groups of students, non-tenure-track faculty, and tenure-track faculty. In addition, institutional data was collected and used to triangulate to the data collected from focus groups. The inductive results showed multiple institutional barriers causing DFW rates among first-generation, Pell Grant, and/or students of color. Using Turner and Angulo’s (2018) theoretical framework of high-risk decision-making …

Academic Freedom And Theological Commitments In Ats Accredited Institutions, Leon Miles

Dissertations and Theses

Academic freedom is an important principle in higher education. This is no less true for religious higher education than public higher education. There exists, however, a tension between academic freedom and theological commitments in religious higher education. This dissertation presents findings from a comparative case study between a church body sponsored seminary and an independent seminary. The purpose of this comparative case study was to investigate the policy development and implementation of academic freedom and theological commitments for institutions of religious higher education at two religious graduate schools accredited by ATS in North America. There is an inherent dynamic tension …

Leaving College Without A Degree: The Student Experience At An Urban Broad Access Institution, Andrea Marie Garrity

Dissertations and Theses

This thesis seeks to understand how students who leave college without a degree, or non-completers, experience broad access institutions in an effort to shift our thinking from the student characteristics that predict college dropout to how broad access institutions can better serve students and improve graduation rates. To answer this question, I conducted interviews with former students who had recently attended a broad access institution and left without a degree. Results show that participants expressed internalized views of the traditional college student archetype, which was reinforced through their college experience. Further, participants encountered significant bureaucratic challenges and barriers, and expressed …

The Process Of Establishing A Blooming Chemistry Tool For Use In Undergraduate Chemistry Education And Research, Emryse Geye

Dissertations and Theses

While it is still common in college chemistry to assess student learning and skill with summative assessments, the CER community does not currently have a simple tool to determine and communicate whether an assessment is actually aligned with the outcomes of interest. In particular, as so-called evidence-based teaching practices and active learning strategies gain a foothold in college chemistry classrooms, the ability to communicate whether those (often labor-, cost-, and time-intensive) interventions are not only aligned with course outcomes, but also provide measurable benefit to students becomes more imperative. While college chemistry has made some strides in the area of …

Silos In Higher Education Institutions: Shifting From Organizational Phenomena To A Practical Framework For Equitable Decision-Making, Mandi Sue Mizuta

Dissertations and Theses

As higher education has evolved, administrative and support functions have become more stratified and specialized, creating institutions with complex and compartmentalized organizational structures known as silos. These silos have a detrimental impact on institutions, employees, and ultimately the student stakeholders that they serve. Silos within higher education administration support services are readily acknowledged anecdotally; however, robust research to describe this phenomenon and actionable resources to address it are lacking. This multi-paper dissertation explores the theoretical implications and practical applications for using collaborative, intentional approaches to address what is argued to be at its core is a matter of equity. The …

Perspectives Of Students With Intellectual And/Or Developmental Disability In College Inclusion Programs On Their Preparation For Working In Competitive Integrated Employment, Eva R. Blixseth

Dissertations and Theses

Individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities have a history of being isolated, marginalized, and excluded from employment that is competitive and integrated. Policy makers, disability advocates, and self-advocates have made efforts to center inclusive education and employment opportunities for individuals with intellectual disability. Employment is a valuable outcome for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities exiting college inclusion programs (Lee & Colleagues, 2022). However, from 2017 through 2021, not all students with intellectual and/or intellectual disability exiting college inclusion programs were employed. This is concerning as O'Brien et al. (2019) pointed out students' primary goal for completing college inclusion programs …

Higher Education Futures: The Transformative Potential Of Using Critical Foresights Practices & Arts Based Research In Our Brittle, Anxious, Non-Linear, And Incomprehensible (Bani) World, Sheila Christine Mullooly

Dissertations and Theses

Our institutional approaches to problems in the changing global landscape of internationalized higher education are being challenged, and many scholars call for new approaches for understanding and addressing the complex problems we face (e.g., la paperson). The COVID-19 pandemic has sped up the need to make changes in how we approach our evolving problems and possibilities for human-centric transformation. This multi-paper dissertation is a call to action and proposes the use of new approaches to research and educational practice--specifically, critical futures studies and arts-based research. Design justice principles and participatory action approaches frame and motivate these possibilities. First, "A Public …

Amplifying Arab American Heritage Language Students' Voices: A Multiple Case Study On Translanguaging Practices And Identity Negotiation In University Arabic Classrooms, Lina Gomaa

Dissertations and Theses

Little research has been conducted on Arab American students at universities and specifically, in the heritage language studies field. The experiences of Arab American heritage language (AAHL) students are significantly less examined than those of other heritage language students. Arabic language curricula and instructional practices in universities tend to privilege the teaching of Modern Standard Arabic over dialects, which marginalizes heritage learners' prior knowledge of the Arabic culture and its language, specifically Arabic dialects used in their home communities. These phenomena can create a non-affirming learning experience for these students. As such, in this study, I addressed these questions:

• To …

Cultural Capital And Community Cultural Wealth: A Study Of Latinx First Generation College Students, Affiong Eyo-Idahor

Dissertations and Theses

When compared to Blacks, Asians, and Whites, Latinxs have lower rates of educational attainment at every level from secondary education to advanced postsecondary degrees (Ryan and Bauman 2016). This study focuses on Latinx first generation college students and uses Yosso's Community Cultural Wealth (CCW) theory to illuminate the ways this population navigates college through employing the strengths from their home community. The Latinx population is the largest ethnic or racial minority group in the United States (U.S. Census Bureau 2017. By 2060, they are expected to account for nearly 29% of the US population (U.S. Census Bureau 2017). While the …

Investigating The Role Of Phonological Awareness In The Training Of Phonetic Transcription With Slp Students, Jennifer Kay Binkley

Dissertations and Theses

A dissertation study was developed and completed to further explore the relationship between phonological awareness (PA) and phonetic transcription skills in undergraduate speech-language pathology students. A review of the literature provides gaps in knowledge which the proposal seeks to address. Based upon this literature review, the researcher compared PA skills of undergraduate students of various majors, to determine if there was a change in PA by taking a traditional phonetics course, and to explore phonetic transcription outcomes as the result of direct PA intervention with undergraduate SLP students. Quantitative analysis was used to answer three research questions, which were organized …

Encouraging Persistence Among Native American Nursing Students By Fostering Cultural Identity Development At A Predominantly White University, Valeriah Rose Big Eagle

Dissertations and Theses

There has been a calling to promote diversity in the healthcare workforce to alleviate the health problems that currently exist among the Native American population. Minorities are disproportionately represented in the nursing workforce (Beard, 2014), especially Native Americans. Increasing the number of Native American nurses in the healthcare workforce has been found to significantly reduce these health disparities (Eddie, 2018; Eschiti, 2004; Gebbie et al., 2003), supporting the need for more Native American nursing students to graduate from college. There has been little research regarding the implications of cultural identity experienced by Native American nursing college students in higher education …

Reducing Transphobic Attitudes: A Cross-National Investigation Of College Students In Japan And The United States, Kazusa Seko

Dissertations and Theses

Transgender people routinely experience discrimination and mistreatment. Although transphobic attitudes vary from country to country, a more in-depth understanding of these attitudes is needed. Using a semi-structured online survey, this study investigates college students' attitudes toward transgender people in Japan and the United States, a cross-national comparison that aims to deepen our understanding of how transphobic attitudes are shaped and what opportunities exist to reduce transphobia amongst college students. Results show that Japanese students express more transphobic attitudes than U.S. students do; and that U.S. students had more experience with gender-based educational content and were more likely to know someone …

Creativity In Science, Engineering, And The Arts: A Study Of Undergraduate Students' Perceptions, Dildora F. Beaulieu

Dissertations and Theses

Creativity is widely recognized as being invaluable for human development and a crucial 21^st century talent. Preparing students for an uncertain and complex world requires that higher education promote students' imagination, originality, curiosity, and flexibility and build their capacity to take risks to try new approaches to problem-posing and problem-solving. However, little is known about how undergraduates enrolled in different disciplines view creativity. This quantitative study at a university in the northwestern United States assessed how undergraduate students in different academic disciplines responded to an instrument on creativity measurement developed by Dlouhy (2012). The study asked: How do undergraduates …

Experiences Of Undergraduates And Graduate Teaching Assistants In Biology Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences, Emma Crystal Goodwin

Dissertations and Theses

Evidence of positive student outcomes from course-based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs) has sparked implementation of CUREs in introductory biology laboratory courses, as one approach to boosting student engagement in research. In a CURE, students collaborate with other students and instructors on a research project, where they conduct novel scientific research that has relevance to a local or scientific community. However, previous research rarely considers that graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) often teach introductory labs. The classroom role of GTAs expands in a CURE--they no longer need to simply teach a lab class, but also to serve as research mentors. GTAs, who …

An Exploratory Study Of Adjunct Faculty Professional Growth Experiences, Bethany Ann Potts

Dissertations and Theses

Part-time non-tenure track faculty, also referred to as adjunct faculty, are the fastest growing instructional group in higher education, but they are provided minimal professional support from their employing institution(s). This lack of support is a problem because working conditions shape instructors' investment and efficacy of performance in their professional practice. Well established in the literature are inquiries into adjunct faculty working conditions that prioritize analysis of the organization over the lived experiences of the faculty. However, the lived experiences of adjunct faculty offer a unique and important lens from which to interrogate the impact of institutional policies and practices …

Women's Work: A Feminist Standpoint Theory Study Of Scholarship, Voice, And Resistance In The Academic Generation Of Knowledge, Linnea Angelica Spitzer

Dissertations and Theses

More women than ever are earning doctoral degrees and are taking research or teaching positions at universities. However, the number of tenured women in full professorships have not yet achieved parity with the number of men in similar positions. Of the many reasons proposed for the disproportionate representation of women in the higher ranks of academia, one of the most commonly cited is the lower rates of publication by women in scholarly journals, an important criterion for promotion and tenure. However, women faculty are not unproductive. As scholars, they produce research and publish their findings in mainstream academic journals. In …

Diffusion Of Innovation: Investigations Of Technology Advances On A University Campus, Melissa Shaquid Pirie

Dissertations and Theses

This multi paper format dissertation contains three separate but related papers. The three papers focus on the Diffusion of Innovation (Moore, 2014) through investigations of technological advances on a university campus. Each of the three papers highlights the work of faculty and staff who received internal university grant funding aimed at increasing innovation in technology use. The first paper covers a program built to address academic integrity issues through the regular and highly structured use of small group video conferencing as a requirement for all courses. The second paper recounts the process of creating an ePortfolio culture on campus through …

Trailblazing Transformation: Pioneering Transformative Peacebuilding In Academic Labor Conflicts, Sam Frazier Hediger

Dissertations and Theses

Unionized contingent faculty in the United States face an increasingly difficult economic landscape in their labor-management conflicts with university administrations. These unions, comprised of graduate student employees and adjunct instructors, won significant victories for their members but have failed to shift the broader patterns of casualization, unsustainable compensation, and job precarity, stemming from the systemic debasement of higher education institutions and the American labor movement, both of which pose significant challenges to conventional conflict resolution strategies. To find a path forward, this thesis explores the nature and possibility of transforming of the academic labor conflict, using a transformative peacebuilding approach …

Short- And Long-Term Impacts Of A Deliberative Pedagogy In Introductory Biology And Chemistry Courses, Liz Rain-Griffith

Dissertations and Theses

There have been multiple national calls for curricular reform in college-level science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM), including a need to instill democratic skills in students. Democratic skill building can be embedded in STEM classrooms through intentional "deliberative pedagogies" which include skills in: communication, collaboration, and application. We developed and implemented a deliberative pedagogy, Deliberative Democracy (DD), across introductory majors and non-majors biology courses and a majors chemistry course. In two separate studies, I took a longitudinal, qualitative research approach to understand introductory biology and chemistry students' experiences and perceptions of DD. For the first study, I tracked a cohort …

Determinants Of Student Information Technology Adoption, Hans P. Vanderschaaf

Dissertations and Theses

Innovating service delivery in higher education is central to supporting institutional and societal goals of increasing the numbers of college graduates and for transforming higher education institutions to center on the needs of today's students. Within this context, technology plays a critical role. This research seeks to contribute to institutional, academic and educational technology sector efforts to dramatically enhance service quality, in support of improving undergraduate student outcomes (student success), by identifying the determinants of student information technology adoption and removing barriers to accessing higher education.

Using a mixed-methods and empirical approach based on the Unified Theory of Acceptance and …

Collaboration And Evaluation In Urban Sustainability And Resilience Transformations: The Keys To A Just Transition?, Liliana Elizabeth Caughman

Dissertations and Theses

Climate has changed and will continue changing; city populations are swelling as urbanization continues to accelerate; extreme environmental events like heat waves and floods are becoming more severe and more common; and the climate justice movement is rapidly gaining momentum. It in this context that municipal governments find themselves urgently seeking solutions to transition cities from extractive, vulnerable, and unjust to sustainable, resilient, and equitable. The task is complex and will require systemic transformations across interconnected social, environmental, and economic infrastructures. Emerging theories regarding how to govern such massive changes suggest Transition Management strategies and the values of a just …

An Inquiry Into Developing College Student Socially-Responsible Leadership: Ethics Of Justice And Care In The Midst Of Conflict And Controversy, Jill Frances Childress

Dissertations and Theses

Colleges not only educate students in academic discipline knowledge, but also help them develop skills to meaningfully lead and participate in our complex democracy as socially responsible citizens. All campuses have formal and informal opportunities to engage students in roles that challenge and develop students' socially responsible leadership skills including commitment, common purpose, and collaboration. However, individual and organizational elements such as differences in perspectives and hostile climates can quell leadership and educational participation, inhibit critical student development skills, and result in disempowerment, especially for those students from underserved communities. Given this, a critical question is how can colleges foster …

Faculty Use Of Collaborative Online International Learning (Coil) For Internationalization At Home, Sally Strand Mudiamu

Dissertations and Theses

Universities are not preparing all of their students for 21st century global work and citizenship. Internationalization of the Curriculum is critical to this preparation and equity in higher education. Over the past decades, universities have relied on outbound and inbound student mobility to internationalize their institutions, the curriculum, the faculty, and student learning. However, 90% of U.S. students neither study nor intern abroad. Of the 10% who do go abroad, very few are underrepresented, Pell-eligible, or post-traditional students. Universities need to shift their focus from student mobility to Internationalization at Home so that all students may have an internationalized education …