An Inquiry Into Higher Education’S Controversial ‘Countermovement’: Contemplative Pedagogy, Roberta Mary Pughe

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Academic interest in “mindfulness” has grown exponentially since the 1980s. Along with the dissemination of mindfulness came an appropriation of contemplative sacred texts and the somatic psychologies along with a misperception of its concepts and practices as inherently religious. Contemplative pedagogy, which addresses the application of contemplative studies to the classroom and its community, is therefore equally likely to be misunderstood. Despite recent studies claiming the benefits of contemplative pedagogy on students’ mental health, test results, and personal and interpersonal relationships, contemplative pedagogy is still widely underutilized; this suggests such a misunderstanding of the field and could explain the lack …

Grit As A Predictor Of Retention For First-Year Latino Students At A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Jodi Bailey

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

ABSTRACT

In 2016, Hispanic students comprised 19 percent of all college students in the US, an increase of 11 percent over the last twenty years, representing the fastest-growing demographic in higher education. Latino students are half as likely as white students to gain a bachelor’s degree, a gap that has been continuously widening since the 2000s. There has become an increased need for schools to create student success pathways for Latino students on college campuses.

This study’s purpose was to contribute to the existing literature on Latino college students' first-year retention by researching the relationship between grit and first-year retention …

Faculty Role In Student Career Development: A Qualitative Study, Marianne Jacullo Brosnan

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

As chief architects of curriculum, faculty are largely responsible for student learning outcomes. Given the cost of higher education and the amount of debt students incur, higher education stakeholders want to know if higher education is worth the investment.

Student career preparedness is an important goal of higher education. While research has been dedicated to college student development, career decision-making, and student-faculty interaction from a student perspective, little is known about the faculty perspective and their role in student career preparedness in a specific articulated way.

In this study, the phenomenological perspective provided a framework for data collection and analysis. …

Multiculturalism And Diversity Issues In Applied Behavior Analysis, Brian M. Conners

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The topic of training in diversity and multiculturalism in the field of applied behavior analysis (ABA) has only been discussed within recent years. Minimal research has examined this topic particularly within the scope of training at the graduate level in higher education. Therefore, this paper focuses on examining full time ABA faculty perceptions of multiculturalism and diversity training within their own graduate programs. Furthermore, this paper also presents a call to action related to diversity issues in the field of ABA in terms of graduate students and graduate preparation training and curriculum.

Theory And Practice In Doctoral Dissertation Research, 2007-2017: A Content Analysis By Degree Type, William Friel

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In response to the overwhelming presence of professional practice doctoral degrees in the early 2000s, universities offering Doctor of Education (EdD) and/or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in higher education studies began to question the purpose and value of each degree. These universities asked: What is the value of academic research if it does not aim to improve the condition of what is being studied? This led to a theory-practice debate among departments offering the EdD and the PhD from the perspective of the goal of the dissertation research: Truth or improvement. To address this tension, the Carnegie Project on …

Institutional Mentorship For Bridge Program Students: Fostering Meaningful Engagement, Elizabeth Hoehn Mcdermott

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This study explored the relationships between at-risk, bridge program students and institutional mentors. The purpose of this dissertation was to learn more about the ways that bridge program students’ relationships with institutional mentors may (or may not) influence students’ development of academic confidence and campus engagement. Bridge programs are designed to foster student mentoring relationships with both faculty members who teach within the programs, as well the administrators and staff members (usually student affairs professionals) who run the program. Thus far, the research on bridge programs has been overly focused on predictive student attributes and quantitative outcomes (e.g. GPA or …

Contemplative Practices In Higher Education: Examining Faculty Perspectives, Daria Pizzuto

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Anxiety, depression, and feeling overwhelmed are consistently reported among college students. Contemplative pedagogy is a teaching approach that incorporates yoga, meditation, and other spiritual and physical activities into an academic curriculum. It is an emerging prescription in the field of higher education to alleviate some of the emotional struggles students face, providing an alternative solution to more clinical interactions. Contemplative faculty are higher education professors who regularly implement contemplative approaches in their teaching as a response to students’ needs. Through an analysis of faculty narratives, this study explores the experiences of contemplative educators in 4-year universities in the United States. …

Beyond Socioeconomic Status: The Impact Of Principal Leadership In Urban And High Poverty Turnaround Schools, Mojisola Adejumo

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The quest to transform failing urban and high-poverty schools in America has been a slippery uphill battle since the banner of war was raised against the many schools serving impoverished children. As battle rages, a few are schools leading their students, teachers, parents, and community to victory by turning their once-failing schools into institutions of academic excellence. However, the shouts of victory and strategic planning that led to their success have been overlooked or relegated to mere happenstance. As these successful schools claim unchartered territories of success, a quick glance at the battlefield reveals the reality that the battle is …

Work And Life Integration: Faculty Balance In The Academy, Holly Ehrens

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Faculty work life integration has evolved as an important area of research in the academic workplace. The evolution in thinking about faculty work life integration has progressively shifted focus from the problems of women and parents to research that considers both men and women, married and single, with or without children as participants in the quest to integrate both personal and professional lives.

Though many studies still include the challenges faced by parents and this study is no exception, a more recent focus includes the influence of work group norms and social dynamics in shaping the experiences of faculty in …

Exploration Of The Relationships Between And Among Role Strain, Faculty Stress, And Organizational Support For Clinical Nurse Faculty Faced With A Decision To Assign A Failing Grade, Jeannie Couper

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Despite a stressful process, Clinical Nurse Faculty (CNF) are ultimately responsible for assigning a grade indicating that a student successfully met clinical course outcomes and standards of safe practice required to progress (Amicucci, 2012). The purpose of this descriptive correlational study was to explore the relationships between perceived role strain (PRS), perceived faculty stress (PFS), and perceived organizational support (POS) for CNF who faced the decision to assign a failing grade to a student in a clinical practicum. A national sample of 390 predominantly full-time, female, experienced CNF teaching in undergraduate and graduate nursing programs completed the online survey consisting …

The Impact Of Resource Allocation On Graduation Rates, Robert L. Miller

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Higher Education is currently facing challenges from a variety of forces; a stagnant economy, shifting student demographics, increased accountability and need for the demonstration of value. Colleges and universities are being forced to function more efficiently and at the same time improve student outcomes. One major outcome that has come under increased scrutiny is student graduation rate. With revenue at many institutions expected to remain flat or in some cases decline over the next several years institutions must find a way to strategically allocate their funds so as to positively impacts student outcomes, in this instance graduation rate. While studies …

Features Of Optimally Motivating College Classrooms: Perspectives Of Preservice Teachers, Donna S. Bogart

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

The primary objective of this mixed methods study was to explore the parameters of college students' perspectives on classroom learning environments. Specifically, the investigation sought to identify and describe the relevant features of the college classroom context that undergraduate students distinguished as promoting and supporting academic motivation at one four-year postsecondary institution. Secondarily, the study sought to examine the extent to which there was an association between the achievement goals students endorsed and their perspectives concerning the motivating features of the classroom learning environment. The nonprobability purposeful sample of undergraduate students consisted of 122 preservice teachers who were attending a …