Education Commons^™

Motivations, Impact And Outcomes Affiliated With Short-Term Study Abroad Programs For Business Students, Laura Katherine Skipper

Chancellor’s Honors Program Projects

No abstract provided.

Academic Field Influence On Acquisition Of Global Awareness In Undergraduate Study Abroad Students, Tim Schmalz

Dissertations

Very little comprehensive research has been done thus far examining the effects of academic discipline on study abroad outcomes. This study investigated potential differences between global awareness scores across different academic disciplines for students that participated in study abroad during their undergraduate academic programs. Five hundred and eight-five current and past university students took a short survey modified from a Chieffo & Griffiths 2004 study. Overall global awareness scores, as well as scores for four sub-characteristics: intercultural awareness, personal growth & development, awareness of global interdependence, and functional knowledge of world geography & languages – were compared across student majors …

Leadership Approaches Federal Government Civilian Employees Perceive Most Effective For Enhancing Employee Morale And Productivity, Darryl E. Powe Sr

Dissertations

Purpose: The purpose of this descriptive qualitative study was to identify and describe the leadership approaches (transformational, transactional, and laissez-faire) federal government employees perceive as most and least effective to enhance employee morale and productivity.

Methodology: Fifteen U.S. Army civilian employees from 5 paygrades were selected based on specific criteria and organized using the stratified random sampling method. The full-range leadership model provided the theoretical framework for the study and was used to design interview questions that focused on the aforementioned leadership approaches. Data were collected and coded from interviews and artifacts, and aided the identification of key themes and …

Teaching Perspectives Of Faculty Members At Arab Universities: Andragogy And Islamic Humanism, Layla Goushey

Dissertations

Cultural differences exist between Western perspectives on humanistic teaching methods and methods developed during the past 100 years in the Arab region based on English and French colonialist systems. Political structures and economic challenges in the region uphold the rigid societal and security structures that limit faculty governance and academic freedom, which impacts teaching and learning perspectives. This study utilized basic qualitative design methods based in constructivist grounded theory. Questionnaires, surveys, and email interviews that invited open-ended, explanatory, and descriptive answers were central to this work. Taking an observer’s approach to this study, I analyzed survey responses of Arab university …

Cultural Simulations: A New Approach To Study Abroad Pedagogy, Stephanie L. Bundy

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Stephanie L. Bundy on April 3, 2020.

Overcoming Communicative And Cultural Barriers: A Study Of The Perceptions And Interactions Between American And International Students, Hope V. Twitchell

Selected Honors Theses

Globalization is a central aspect to the developing American society, both vocationally and culturally. Increased international representation on college campuses is one example of the prevalence of globalization in an everyday context. As the rate of international students present on American university campuses increases, more research has been focusing on the experiences of international students. The present study focused on adding to the literature surrounding American students’ perceptions and interactions with international students when communicative and cultural barriers arise. The thesis statement proposed that American students attending an American university who had previous international travel experience would be more adept …

Avoiding Cultural Calamities: Exploring The Influence Of Culture In Intercultural Plcs At An International School, Eric K. Johnson

All Theses And Dissertations

This qualitative instrumental case study explored the influence of national culture within the context of professional learning communities (PLCs) at an international school. This study utilized Hofstede’s cultural dimensions theory as the theoretical framework and drew from DuFour and Eaker’s characteristics of effective PLCs. This instrumental case study focused on one international school located in the European Union. The purpose was to engage international teachers who take part in weekly PLC meetings through a demographic questionnaire, one-on-one interviews and direct observation, in order to develop a better understanding of the influence of culture within those meetings. The study addressed two …

Policy Transfer Across Borders: An Actor Network Analysis Of Standards For Principals And Vice-Principals In China, Wei Wei

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Adopting a critical approach to policy analysis, this qualitative comparative case study uses Actor Network Theory (ANT) to explore the transfer of the global discourse on leadership standards to China, the adaptations of the discourse as observed in the Professional Standards for Compulsory Schools Principals (PSfP) (MoE of the PRC, 2013), and the enactment of the PSfP in schools. While most studies researching the PSfP are limited to related background in China, this dissertation situates the policy in the global convergence of leadership standards, and highlights the nature of policy transfer, which is multi-directional and political. Focusing on the notion …

Internationalization Of Curriculum In Higher Education: An Action Research Study On A Global Engineering Track, Michael S. Keibler

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Michael S. Keibler Crandall on March 25, 2020.

Are Some Horizons Broader Than Others? Study Abroad, Inequality, And The Influence On Careers And Education., Suzan Kommers

Doctoral Dissertations

Study abroad is one of the main ways in which higher education institutions provide students with the opportunity to gain international experiences. While study abroad is mostly discussed in terms of the beneficial effects on students’ learning and development, the results in this dissertation indicate that study abroad works for some but disadvantages other students. Based on nationally representative U.S. data, I examined 1) disparities in students’ opportunities to study abroad as well as the effect of study abroad on the socioeconomic outcomes 2) early career income and 3) graduate school enrollment. The combined studies in this dissertation provided insight …

India’S Right To Education Act: Parents’ Perceptions On Involvement In Private Schools And School Responsiveness, Namarpreet K. Rodrigo

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

India enacted the Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) (Government of India, 2009) for elementary education, reserving 25% of seats in private schools for socially and economically disadvantaged groups starting from grade 1 or pre-primary depending on the school setting. However, some studies show it may not be implemented and there is exclusion among students (Kaushal, 2012; Mehendale, Mukhopadhyay, & Namala, 2015; Noronha & Srivastava, 2013; Srivastava & Noronha, 2016). Furthermore, there is little research on how parents’ involvement in the school milieu plays a role in their children’s education, and whether private schools …

Improving International Teacher Retention In São Paulo International Schools: What Can Leaders Do?, Christiaan Rombaut

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

The exponential growth of international schools worldwide has created a high demand for native English-speaking teachers around the world. São Paulo international schools are not exempt from this increase in demand for these expatriate teachers. As international schools typically offer short-term contracts of two years to expatriate teachers that are often not renewed, international teacher retention becomes a significant factor in improving teaching and learning in international schools. High teacher turnover is even more a concern in South American international schools, where teachers tend to stay at their schools for less time than in international schools in other regions and …

A Meta-Synthesis Of The American And The European Standards For The Accreditation Of Counseling Training Programs, Natalia Zapolsky

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore how the European Standards for the accreditation of counseling training programs compare to CACREP standards and to each other. The differences and commonalities between standards have been defined through a meta-synthesis of integrated findings from a large body of inter-related qualitative studies and reinterpretation of the synthesized data.

This qualitative meta-synthesis research was intended to contribute to the process of counseling globalization by exploring the unique cultural features and aspects of the European and the U.S. accrediting systems for counseling training programs. This research revealed 1) the commonly recognized areas that …

Asians Applying For Postsecondary Success: Students, Schools, And Socioeconomic Status, Avery M.D. Davis

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Higher education recruitment rates are rapidly declining as schools are stymied by dynamic demographic shifts and a competitive ecosystem. Despite the constant realities of this challenge for tertiary institutions, the complexities of the interplay for demographics, student motivation, parental influences, and school environments during the postsecondary education application process is often overlooked. This thesis analyses how these four domains impact Asian American students within the Education Longitudinal Study (ELS) in terms of the number of postsecondary schools to which they apply? This study examines a sample (N = 662) of the ELS by employing multivariate regression analysis on the number …

Facing Detroit: Assumption College As A Cross-Border Institution 1870-1948, Matthew R. Charbonneau Mr.

Major Papers

“Facing Detroit: Assumption College as a Cross-Border Institution 1870-1948” argues that Assumption College in Windsor, Ontario was more connected with Detroit and the US Midwest than it was with southern Ontario until the 1930s. It does this by considering Assumption College’s student population, alumni activities, and contemporary perceptions of the school. Emphasis is placed on exploring how the primary sources created by those who lived at Assumption College reveal that it was more connected with Detroit and the US Midwest than it was with Windsor or southern Ontario. The work of Michael Power and George McMahon, the two greatest contributors …

Students’ Perceived Cultural Intelligence Outcomes Based On Their Participation In Undergraduate Courses That Embed Short-Term International Travel: A Case Study, Margaret Arrison Nolan

Graduate Theses & Dissertations

Cultural intelligence (CQ) refers to an individual’s capability to successfully adapt to new or unfamiliar cultural settings (Earley & Ang, 2003). The purpose of this study was to gain a holistic and comprehensive understanding of the phenomenon of CQ within the context of higher education pedagogy. This study explored undergraduate students’ perceived outcomes of CQ based on their participation in full semester courses that embedded short-term international travel (SIT). The researcher conducted a qualitative, phenomenological case study that explored, in depth, the nuances of students’ shared lived experiences in SIT, and how these experiences intersected with students’ perceived CQ outcomes …

Tradition Et Nouveauté: Une Étude Du Baccalauréat Et De La Réforme Blanquer, Fiona Carey

Honors Projects

The baccalauréat exam has played a significant role in the lives of French high schoolers for more than two centuries. Not only does the exam determine a student’s eligibility for university, it is a long-standing national tradition and an important aspect of French identity. The baccalauréat consists of a core curriculum and a choice of specialties, all of which prepare students for the exams that they will take in their last two years of high school. In 2018, Minister of Education Jean-Michel Blanquer announced a reform to the baccalauréat that would drastically alter the content and structure of the exam. …

A Comparative Study Of Leadership Styles In International Special And General Education Schools In The United Arab Emirates, Kaitlin M. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

This study attempted to identify leadership styles of school leaders in international special and general education schools in the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, this study sought to explore the influence of various demographic factors on perceived leadership styles. The Multifactor Leadership Questionnaire (Avolio & Bass, 2004) was given to teachers across eight schools for the purpose of obtaining their perceived rating for leadership behaviors of school leaders at equivalent levels. Descriptive statistics were examined to identify prevalent leadership styles and trends in the demographics of survey respondents. Hierarchical linear models were conducted to determine the statistical significance of leadership style …

Kanji Acquisition Techniques For L1 And L2 Japanese Studies, Amber Richardson

Undergraduate Honors Theses

Kanji are ideograms, a morphographic system borrowed from the Chinese language and used in Japanese writing. 2,136 kanji are used in the average Japanese newspaper, required for academic certification and for expat job placement. A qualitative study was conducted to observe the optimum methods to learn and acquire kanji. Japanese native speakers who were educated by the Japanese school system grades 1 through 12 are classified as L1 or first language speakers. American students, L2 or second language speakers, must have been educated in the American education system grades 1-12. L1 speakers were students attending Central Washington University (CWU) study …

An Investigation Of Elementary School Teachers’ Culturally Relevant Teaching Practices In Two Cultures: A Comparative Study In China And The United States, Alicia R. Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

Effective teaching is one of the most important factors in student achievement. Throughout the world, there are high expectations for teacher and student performance. Teachers and students need to navigate the demographic and cultural shifts occurring around the world. Teachers’ cultural awareness and knowledge base of culturally relevant teaching practices is critical to their effectiveness. Based on the need to better understand the cultural responsiveness of teachers, this comparative study investigated elementary school teachers’ culturally relevant teaching practices in China and the U.S. through the use of video-cued ethnography. The following findings were revealed from the study: (a) differences in …

The Higher Education Experiences Of International Students: Rethinking Orientation With A Participatory Action Research (Par) Perspective, Matheeha Majeeth

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The U.S.A. has the world’s largest international student population (Institute of International Education, 2019). While there is some research on the stressors and the impact those stressors have on the educational experiences of international students, there is very little research on the common practices around orientation and its efficiency. The traditional format of new student orientation, an event that happens for a day or two upon the arrival of the new international students, fails to address the needs of those students as well as it could. Rather, orientation should be presented as a gradual, progressive process that both the university …

The Transitional Experiences Of International Students Studying In The United States, Philip Fennell

Masters Theses

This study sought to explore the real-life experiences of two international students and the impact on their transition to a United States college. A narrative qualitative approach was used to incorporate the stories of international students as shared by their own words. Their stories were used to identify similarities and differences including resources they utilized and their interactions with others. International students all share different cultural backgrounds and characteristics. Nonetheless, they will each have their own unique experiences, as well as have different ways of reacting and responding to those experiences. We must put in the effort of listening to …