Education Commons^™

A Qualitative Descriptive Study Exploring The Perceptions Of New Teacher Induction Supports, Tonya Dixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem of novice teachers leaving the profession in the first few years of their career represented a global issue and an increased attrition rate. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the perceptions of novice U.S. teachers and effective systemic supports provided to new teachers through the lens of social capital. For this study, the intangible components of social capital emerged through the development and fostering of mentoring relationships in an induction program. The methodology used was a qualitative descriptive study using a survey, interviews, and thematic analysis of the survey and interview data collected. The …

Exploring The Impact Of Social Networking Sites On Adult Education, Bhumika Suresh Upadhyay

Major Papers

Social Networking Sites (SNS) are rapidly taking over people’s personal as well as professional lives, globally. It has not only changed the way masses communicate and express but is also transforming the way learning is looked at. Though considered as inherently personal spaces, these sites are now proving to be professional spaces to learn; used by millions of consumers and validated by field experts and mentors. Although there is some amount of research done on the effects social network platforms have on school education, the way it is moulding adult education is yet to be fully investigated. Adult education is …

Supporting The Pedagogical Development Of Graduate Teaching Assistants: A Self-Directed Approach, Katie Cwiakala

Culminating Experience Projects

Despite increases in formal pedagogical training opportunities for graduate teaching assistants across institutions in recent decades, students participate in instructional roles with different levels of participation, experience, and autonomy in teaching. This project examines the existing professional development available to graduate teaching assistants, their self-reported needs, and provides a pedagogical development planning tool for graduate teaching assistants. The Pedagogical Development Plan for Graduate Teaching Assistants incorporates suggestions from reviewed literature, as well as andragogy theory (Knowles, 1980) and self-efficacy theory (Bandura, 1982). The framework consists of a self-guided planning document tool and catalog of pedagogical development opportunities available to graduate …

Professional Development In Indigenous Education: By Teachers, For Teachers, Devin Green

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

Many school boards have been developing Indigenous frameworks and funding Indigenous programming as a response to the 94 “Calls to Action” published by the Truth and Reconciliation Commission of Canada (2015). The actions of these school boards are a form of reconciliation. Within the Southern Alberta School Board (SASB, a pseudonym), there are strong policies in place that support Indigenous students; these policies ensure the students never have to experience the unfair treatment that past generations did through the residential school system. Teachers in this school board are also supported through professional development programs to improve their practice. However, these …

An Exploration Of Black Women Faculty Members' Faculty Development And Career Advancement Experiences Within A Pwi, Monica N. Guient

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

At a large, research-intensive, predominantly White university, in this qualitative case study, Black women faculty members’ experiences with and perceptions of institutionally sponsored faculty development activities in relation to career advancement was explored. The career advancement of faculty members from underrepresented and minoritized populations—particularly Black women—is ultimately impacted by the racialized and gendered disparities among tenure-track and tenured professors in research, service, and teaching. Unique to this study is the exploration of how Black women faculty members experience the human resource development practice of faculty development while also gathering information from the institutional leaders who oversee and guide institutionally sponsored …

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 …

The Phenomenon Of Academic Advisor Training At Minnesota State Colleges And Universities: A Quantitative Descriptive Research Study, Sara Leigh

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Academic advisors can have a positive impact on the progress of an increasingly diverse student population in higher education, but there is no required professional certification or educational background for academic advisors. The lack of required certification puts the onus for academic advisor training and professional development on the campuses where advisors work. By surveying the professional academic advisors in the Minnesota State higher education system to assess available training and professional development, this quantitative study sought to identify and describe the phenomenon of advisor training within the Minnesota State higher education system. Survey data shows a majority of advisors …

Faculty And Staff Perceptions Of Their Roles In Preparing Students For College And Career Readiness: A Qualitative Exploration Of High Schools, Community Colleges, And Universities, Monica Ruiz

Theses & Dissertations

In 2020, nearly half of Texas’s 385,000 public high school graduates were unprepared for college-level reading or math. Limited research reveals K-12 faculty perceive limited roles and responsibilities in the college process, relying heavily on guidance counselors and college admissions counselors for preparing students for college and careers. The purpose of this study was to help fill this gap by answering the central research question: How do high school and college-level faculty and staff prepare high school students for college and careers? I chose a qualitative, interpretive design to explore educators’ individual and shared social meanings and interpretations. I used …

Re-Invigorating Mid-Career Faculty At A Canadian Mid-Sized College: Strategies For Professional Development And Mentorship, Melanie J. Hamilton

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

Mid-career faculty (MCF) currently comprise a predominant number of faculty at higher education institutions. Mid-career faculty applies to those individuals who have been teaching within post-secondary education for more than five years but are still more than five years from retirement. As faculty move into this middle phase of their career, there tends to be fewer opportunities for professional development, reduced opportunities for advancement or leadership, and a lack of mentorship. These decreased opportunities lead to a decrease in MCF job satisfaction. At Riverside College (a pseudonym) a significant percentage of the faculty leaving the college in the last few …

The Making Of College Student Leaders: Implementing Reflective Practices For Self-Awareness Of Personality Traits And Leadership Styles, Valerie Gurrola

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

As a higher education professional, I seek to develop the next generation of leaders. The purpose of this research study was to explore how student leaders’ self-awareness, in terms of leadership styles, changed through engaging in self-reflection. The research questions were: (1) What do students know about their personality and leadership style after having taken the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI)? and (2) Can engaging in self-reflection impact their leadership? Addressing these questions through research and implementing new practices would expand students’ skillsets. This is important because not many student leaders have access to tools and instruments that can help them …

Autism Spectrum Disorder: Community College Faculty Awareness, Practices, And Professional Development, Kristyn Sacrestano

Theses and Dissertations

Students with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are increasingly selecting to participate in postsecondary education. These individuals often face a number of challenges and barriers to success resulting in poor persistence and completion rates. For institutions of higher education, it is imperative that appropriate supports be put in place and faculty are prepared to support learners with ASD to allow for positive student experiences and successful completion. The purpose of this study was to examine disability awareness and faculty preparedness for working with students with ASD in order to move towards creating welcoming campuses which appropriately support and retain learners with …

Promoting Professional Development Through Appreciative Inquiry: Aiding The Transition Of College Student Employees As Emerging Professionals, Juleane Johnson

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this action research study aimed to identify how to better promote and support the transition as emerging professionals and elevate the professional development capacity of Sixth College Residence Life at the University of California, San Diego. The primary research question guiding these endeavors is: What role do I/our office play in the transition of student employees to emerging professionals? The secondary question is: How can I/our office collaborate to elevate professional development practices and capacity? Research participants took part through virtual interviews, virtual focus groups, and the completion of an online survey. The significance of my efforts …

Leadership And Professional Development Amongst Student Interns, Amanda Brown

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Research shows that students who participate in an on-campus internship during their time as an undergraduate can have positive impacts on their leadership and professional development (Matteo & You, 2020). The positive impact of partaking in an on-campus internship has prompted higher education professionals to investigate the specific benefits that are provided through these internship programs as well as the structure of such programs. This study sought to improve my understanding of being a mentor and how I can create space and opportunity for my student interns to work towards leadership and professional development and how those skillsets can be …

From Sisterhood To The Senate: The Sorority Experience And Preparing Women For Political Leadership, Kelli L. Susemihl

Honors Thesis

Since the founding of the first Greek organizations in colonial America, fraternities and sororities have aimed to provide communities of support and empowerment for their members. Research on outcomes of sorority participation has shown increased social skills, confidence in leadership, and professional networking and connections. Existing literature surrounding women’s underrepresentation in U.S. politics shows that to bridge the political gender gap, more women need to be encouraged to run for office and have prior political socialization and experience. To compare skills acquired from the sorority experience and preparation for political careers, this study conducts a survey of 274 current and …

Creating A Culture Of Assessment To Elevate Students’ Voices, Amber Knight

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate how the University of San Diego’s department of Student Activities and Involvement (SAI) could strengthen its assessment practices and execute consistent data-driven decision making. The following question guided my research: How can I promote a culture of assessment so that SAI’s programs and advising are directly informed by a more thorough data collection process that elevates students’ voices? Building on the work of assessment scholars, this study serves as a model for assessing student affairs assessment. By critically evaluating SAI’s existing assessment culture, administering assessments to understand departmental needs, and offering training …

An Evaluation Of The Impact Of Professional Development On Accessibility To Online Courses By Students With Special Needs At A Regional Four-Year Public Institution Of Higher Education In West Texas, Dallas Anne Swafford

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Evaluation research, including qualitative and quantitative data, was used in this study to determine the impact of professional development on online courses’ accessibility by students with disabilities. The study focused on online courses and course content. Data collection took place in phases and included self-paced, online professional development and one-on-one support sessions, a pre- and postsurvey, and a focus group interview. The study took place at a regional 4-year public institution of higher education in West Texas. Change theory emerged as the primary theoretical lens guiding the research as the study unfolded.

Improved Regional Education Delivery: Reach For The North Program, Elizabeth Anne Sommerfeld

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

This Organizational Improvement Plan (OIP) has outlined the change plan for a problem of practice for consideration of the education mandate at MY-U’s multiple regional campuses. The overall goal of this plan is to have increased the availability of academically rigorous courses for our regional students. An assessment of the readiness of several stakeholders allowed for a student-centred focus within the political, collegial and organized anarchy paradigms in which the university organization exists. A strategy is discussed to address issues in the administration and university culture while breaking down silos for the multiple campuses. A new organizational framework is offered …

Faculty Advisors' Development Of Academic Advising Knowledge And Competencies, Elizabeth M. Twiton

Culminating Projects in Higher Education Administration

Academic advising is widely touted as essential to retention and student success. Faculty members have advising responsibilities at a majority of colleges and universities. Faculty members typically receive little or no preparation for advising through their graduate education, and advising training for newly hired faculty members is often limited. This interpretive qualitative study explored the experiences of faculty members in developing academic advising knowledge and competencies using the National Academic Advising Association (NACADA) Academic Advising Core Competencies Model (NACADA, 2017a) as a conceptual framework. Using a semi-structured interview format, I interviewed eight faculty advisors at a mid-sized, public, four-year university. …

Doctoral-Level Students Experience Adopting Gatekeeping Roles And Responsibilities Within Counselor Education, Evan Smarinsky

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In counselor education and supervision, the term gatekeeping is used to describe the ongoing process of monitoring, evaluating, and remediating a student through their professional identity as a counselor. Gatekeeping is an ethical responsibility of counselor educators and supervisors, both faculty and doctoral-level students who supervise master’s-level students and is often identified as being one of their most difficult responsibilities. Doctoral-level supervisors play an important role in gatekeeping, although they are not involved in formal gatekeeping decisions and have not typically been the focus of research. Researchers have suggested there is a need to develop a better understanding of how …

Exploring The Professional Learning Experiences Of Adjunct Faculty In An Educational Leadership Preparation Program, Karen M. Swann

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The aim of this study was to explore the lived experiences of adjunct faculty to understand their roles and means for professional collaboration. The study examined how adjuncts engage and collaborate, professionally and informally, and what vehicles influence their growth. Finally, the study addressed how educational leadership preparation programs might be enhanced for relevant, continuous learning in order to improve instructional practices and the experiences of aspiring school leaders.

Using a phenomenological methodology, 27 adjuncts were interviewed from a university-based educational leadership preparation program in the southeast region of the United States. These in-depth interviews were transcribed and analyzed, using …

Autism Spectrum Disorder Students: A Survey Of Rural Community College Educators, Pamela Love Hanks

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The number of students diagnosed with autism in public schools is increasing and this special population is now enrolling in colleges and universities. At the K-12 level, numerous supports are provided consistent with federal law; equivalent supports are not required in the postsecondary classroom. Student success often depends on the relationships built in the academic setting. From an instructional perspective, faculty members may have little or no training, limiting their understanding and support of this growing population of students, complicating relationship building. There is a dearth of literature available on the effective training of community college faculty who work with …

The Pursuit Of Procedural Justice And Police Legitimacy: A Case Study Of Community Police Officers’ Perceptions Of The Perceived Benefits Of Higher Education, Tara M. Kane

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This is a case study of suburban community police officers and their perception of benefits of higher education as it relates to outcomes of procedural justice and legitimacy. Acknowledging controversial, high-profile incidents which have caused the police profession to be generalized in a negative manner, this study sought to examine community-policing initiatives as an effective strategy for promoting positive community-police relationships. Community police officers were queried about academic and professional preparation they perceived as necessary for the demands of the 21st century community police officer.

Previous literature on community policing and procedurally just policing has primarily focused on the perceptions …

Photographs In My Mind, Through Darkness And In Light: An Auto-Criticism Of A University Teacher, Melanie Renee Witt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an auto-criticism, a new qualitative inquiry founded in educational criticism and arts-based research, which describes and analyzes my lived experience as a female university teacher. The purpose of this study is to describe, interpret, evaluate and thematize my experiences with professional stress, pregnancy loss, and self-care. Secondly, it illuminates auto-criticism as a methodology with potential contributions to qualitative research and higher education.

Personal documents, internal artifacts, and external artifacts generated during a challenging period of my life as a university teacher are used as data. Language and photography combine to story my lived experiences and findings.

This …

The Understanding And Involvement In Shared Governance By Faculty Who Have Transitioned To Higher Education From Industry, Trisha Ann Waldman

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The purpose of this single case study was to explore how faculty who transitioned to higher education from industry understand shared governance, how their understanding of shared governance was formed, and how these faculty perceive their involvement in shared governance.

The study was conducted at a small private college located in the Midwest, with a sample size of 14 full-time faculty members who transitioned to higher education from industry. The conceptual framework for this study was based upon the theory of transformative learning (Mezirow, 1991). Data were collected through interviews, demographic surveys, and a review of institutional qualitative data. The …

The Impact Of Professional Development Grounded In Social Learning On Community College Faculty Efficacy, Shanika Shantell Strickland-Davis

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Community college faculty have experienced a shift in focus from access to access and student success. Given this shift in responsibility for student learning, community college faculty should be sufficiently prepared to teach a diverse student body and subsequently uphold beliefs regarding their ability to bring about desired outcomes of student engagement and learning. Given preparedness is a measure of self-efficacy, professional development for community college faculty is a critical investment in the support and development of teacher efficacy and faculty skill.

Social learning theory specifically speaks to a means of increasing self-efficacy. As a professional development practice, social learning …

A Model For Propagating Educational Innovations In Higher Stem Education: A Grounded Theory Study Of Successfully Propagated Innovations, Raina Khatri

Dissertations

A critical problem in undergraduate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) education is the slow uptake of innovative teaching strategies and materials. Developments from the STEM education research community can be shown to improve learning and retention outcomes, but the majority of new teaching strategies go unused by instructors. This problem is increasingly acknowledged by funding agencies such as the National Science Foundation, which now calls for “transferability and propagation” to be addressed throughout a project’s lifetime in the request for proposals. However, few publications synthesize what is known about propagating innovations into usable, actionable recommendations for developers in the …

Putting Experience To Work: Leveraging Student Attributes And Abilities In The Development Of An Adult Learner Professional Readiness Experience Program, Erin E. Cook

Education Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of the project was to provide an opportunity for adult learners at Gardner-Webb University to collectively engage in professional development within their program of study. Specifically, the program was designed to harness an adult learner’s prior knowledge, skills, and life experiences as an enhancement to his or her future professional work.

At the beginning of the project, no established professional development program was available for adult learners. The development of the Adult Learner Professional Readiness Experience Program (AL-PREP) allowed the aforementioned purpose to align with Gardner-Webb curriculum.

Goals, objectives, and data collection methods were established in order to …

The Effects Of Different Teaching Methods On Student Attitude And Achievement In Calculus Recitations, Jocelyn Noelle Rios

Mathematics & Statistics ETDs

Many universities offer recitation sections in their calculus sequences; however, little research has been conducted on TA best practices in the recitations.This study first aimed to observe the different teaching methods that TAs employed in their recitations and then measure their efficacy in improving student course attitudes and achievement, focusing on student-centered and concept-based instruction. In addition, this study aimed to assess the quality of professional development offered to recitation leaders. Using a quantitative-dominant mixed methods design, 12 TAs were observed throughout the semester and TAs and calculus students were surveyed. This study found that student-centered instruction was positively correlated …

Learning To Teach Online: An Investigation Of The Impacts Of Faculty Development Training On Teaching Effectiveness And Attitudes Toward Online Instruction, Karen Elizabeth Brinkley

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between one approach to training for online faculty and the ways in which the program influenced the participants’ teaching effectiveness and attitudes toward online instruction. Two research questions guided this study: (1) how did participating in an intensive course redesign intervention influence instructors’ teaching effectiveness in the online environment? and (2) how did participating in the training influence instructors’ beliefs or attitudes about online teaching? The theoretical framework guiding this study was the Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) model, developed by Mishra and Koehler (2005). Using a concurrent, mixed-methods design, …

Thematic Analysis Of Influencers On Continuing Professional Learning Of Tenure Track Engineering Faculty As Assistant Professors At An Ru/Vh Institution, James Edwin Cawthorne

Open Access Dissertations

“Although the need for lifelong learning of professionals is stressed through university education, the patent differences between learning as a student, within a controlled framework focusing on accessible outcomes, and learning as a professional have not been clarified” (Webster-Wright, 2009, p. 708). Assistant professors are entry level professionals in academia who been prepared through their extensive education process to be lifelong learners and yet it is unknown how these assistant professors are engaging, or being engaged by others, in continuing their professional learning (CPL) for short-term and long-term success in academia as a career. This study aimed to understand who …