Education Commons^™

Using Social Network Analysis To Assess Professional Network Development Among AgeSw Pre-Dissertation Fellowship Program Participants, Rebecca L. Mauldin, Jennifer C. Greenfield, Nancy Kusmal, Noelle L. Fields, Staphanie P. Wladkowski, Allison Gibson

Social Work Faculty Publications

Professional networks are important for the success of doctoral students and early career faculty members, yet there is little research about what types of experiences help emerging scholars develop these networks. Social network analysis may be an ideal method for studying the effectiveness of training programs in nurturing network development among emerging scholars. We describe one application of this method, which was used to examine the professional networks formed through participation in the Association of Gerontological Education in Social Work (AGESW)’s Pre-Dissertation Fellowship Program (PDFP). Alumni (n = 12) from the first three cohorts of the program (2010–2012) reported …

The History Of Latino Students At The University Of Kentucky, 1865-2019, Daniela Gamez Salgado

Oswald Research and Creativity Competition

The purpose of this research project, prompted by the Office for Institutional Diversity, was to comprehensively collect the first draft of the history of Latino students at the University of Kentucky from 1865 through 2019. Digital and physical archival research, participant observation, and interviews were conducted in the process of understanding and analyzing the evolution of this historically underserved community. The extensive implications of this collection will serve as a formalized foundation that will further indicate the changing needs of the Latino community on campus. This collection of history also legitimizes the experiences of students of Latin American descent at …

A Partial Simulation Study Of Phantom Effects In Multilevel Analysis Of School Effects: The Case Of School Socioeconomic Composition, Hao Zhou

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Socioeconomic status (SES) affects students’ academic achievement at different levels of an educational system. However, misspecified Hierarchical Linear Model (HLM) may bias school SES estimation. In this study, a partial simulation study was conducted to examine how misspecified HLM model bias school and student SES estimation.

The result of this study can be summarized by four important points. First, based on partial simulation procedure, phantom effects of school SES and student SES are real. Second, characteristics of phantom effects are generalized. The stronger the correlation between prior science achievement measure and present science achievement measure, the greater the decrease in …

Navigating The Career Pipeline: Experiences Of Female Community College Presidents, Andrea Allen Deal

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Despite holding a majority of lower and middle management positions in public two-year institutions, women still hold only one-third of current community college presidencies. This study explored the gendered phenomenon of navigating the career pipeline in higher education to reach the office of community college president. The purpose of the study was to examine the educational backgrounds and career paths of recently-appointed female community college presidents, as well as the barriers and sources of support they encountered while navigating the career pipeline.

A phenomenological approach was utilized for this qualitative study. Data was primarily collected using semi-structured interviews. Additional sources …

Complexity Leadership: The Role Of Teaching And Learning Center Leaders In Online Learning At Small, Private Colleges, Tyler D. Watts

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

As online learning continues to grow and became an integral component of many higher education institutions (Allen & Seaman, 2017), the role of leadership in guiding those online learning initiatives differs from institution to institution. At small, private colleges and universities, where online learning is seeing greater enrollment and growth (Clinefelter & Magda, 2013), teaching and learning centers (TLC) often have involvement in guiding and shaping online learning initiatives. This study investigated the role of TLC leaders in leading online learning initiatives. The value of this study is an examination of leadership during a period of transformation and change that …

Live Ambience And Homestead Away From Home: Social Media Use And Dependency By Visiting Chinese Students In The United States, Zixue Tai, Jue Lu, Fengbin Hu

Journalism and Media Faculty Publications

This study investigates social media dependency relations among Chinese college students during their three-month study abroad sojourn in the United States. Data were collected using a multimethod approach of ethnography, field observation, and in-depth interviews. Inspired by the lens of media system dependency (MSD) theory, the analysis focuses on the diverse goals and motivations that drive student behavior in social media engagement, as well as various contextual factors leading students to adapt and transition to the U.S. social networking sites (SNS), and the subsequent outcomes. The findings indicate that task-driven and assignment-centered goals dominate social media use, and that multidimensional …

Exploring The Factors Teachers Consider In Determining Students’ Grades, Thomas R. Guskey, Laura J. Link

Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to investigate the specific factors teachers consider when assigning students’ report card grades. Data were gathered from 943 K-12 teachers from five school districts in a southeastern state in the United States who completed the Teachers’ Grading Practices Survey. Analyses focused on how teachers weigh different factors in determining report card grades, and if these factors and weights differ among teachers who teach at different grade levels and have different amounts of classroom experience. Results revealed statistically significant differences among teachers at different grade levels but no differences associated with teachers’ years of …

The Stakeholder Gap Lens: Teacher And Parental Perceptions Of The Achievement Gap In Kentucky's Public Schools, Heather Renee Brown Chapman

Theses and Dissertations--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

The research around the achievement gap is extensive. However, regardless that the term “achievement gap” is so widely used in academia today, there is often confusion surrounding what the achievement gap is. This study seeks to answer three research questions: (1) To what extent does an achievement gap exist among different subgroups of students in Kentucky’s K-12 public schools? (2) How do the perceptions of parents and teachers interact with decision-making? (3) How do the ideas of parents and teachers regarding closing the achievement gap compare?

This research examines perceptions of the existence of an achievement gap in Kentucky’s public …

A Quasi-Experimental Study Of Middle Level Student Engineering Understanding Pre-And Post-Treatment, Emily Driessen

Theses and Dissertations--Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education

This qualitative quasi-experimental study analyzed middle-level students’ understanding of engineering before and after instruction. Students from four teachers were examined. Before and after instruction, all students completed the Draw an Engineer Test (DAET) and the Views of Nature of Engineering (VNOE) survey. Additionally, sixteen students (eight girls and eight boys) from each group (Treatment and Comparison) were interviewed before and after instruction. Findings revealed that after instruction (1) many students viewed engineers as makers/builders/workers (just as they did pre-instruction), however, the percentage of students who listed engineers as inventors, designers, and creators increased; (2) fewer students from both groups noted …

Measuring Police Officer Self-Efficacy For Working With Individuals With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Abigail M. A. Love

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) is currently one of the most researched of all childhood developmental disorders and is receiving attention in many domains including popular media, social sciences, education, and medicine. The purpose of this dissertation was to design and provide initial psychometric evidence for a scale that measures police officer self-efficacy for working with individuals with ASD. Psychometric properties of a scale designed to measure knowledge of ASD were also explored. Data from 620 police officers actively serving in the United States were collected in two separate phases. A 13-item scale was created to measure police officer self-efficacy for …

Tanglewood Trail Walking And Voucher Program, Kelci Marie Mchugh

Theses and Dissertations--Nutrition and Food Systems

Rural Appalachian populations have greater rates of obesity and chronic diseases attributed to lesser consumption of fruits and vegetables (F/V) and physical inactivity. Barriers to F/V consumption and physical activity include poor access and affordability. To help overcome these barriers, a community-initiated walking and farmers market F/V voucher program was implemented.

Participants were encouraged to walk (1.2 miles roundtrip) to the local farmers market to redeem a $10 voucher which could only be spent on F/V. The 16-week program (June – Sept) included 121 participants. Data was analyzed by creating two groups, low-engagers and high-engagers that differed significantly in the …

An Oral History Exploration Of Change At The University Of Kentucky Following The Virginia Tech Shooting, Marianne R. L. Young

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Following the mass shooting at Virginia Tech on April 16, 2007, institutions of higher education appeared to restructure themselves and change the way that they worked with students who may pose a risk to self or others. They formed committees, sometimes known as Communities of Concern, to help review these concerns and respond appropriately. The purpose of this study was to examine how the Community of Concern Committee at the University of Kentucky was developed following the incident at Virginia Tech. Particular attention was focused on the change and learning that took place. Using the frames of single-loop and double-loop …

Exploring The Impact Of Work-Based Learning Opportunities From The Student Perspective: The Development Of Career Pathways, Workforce Expectations, And The Transmission Of Cultural Capital, Robert Boone

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

Understanding the practical implications of work-based learning opportunities (WBLOs) is complex. Although WBLOs are not new learning environments, understanding and clearly defining them is increasingly necessary. In Kentucky, WBLOs are part of the political discourse in post-secondary education. The Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE) and local/regional economic and workforce development agencies have incorporated strengthening and growing WBLOs into their strategic plans.

By interviewing students that have completed WBLOs at three colleges in the Kentucky Community and Technical College System (KCTCS), this study intended to explore student perspectives of WBLOs by asking the following research questions: 1) What role do WBLOs …

Learning To Write In An Academic Genre: Adult English Learners’ Use Of Sociocultural Resources, Lyudmyla Ivanyuk

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

In this multiple case study, I examined what types of sociocultural resources adult English learners brought with them from their previous contexts and what new resources they drew upon in the U.S. while learning to write in the essay genre. The study also identified how the participants chose to use previous and new sociocultural resources as mediated by the essay genre in the U.S. The following research foci shaped this study: (1) What types of sociocultural resources do adult English learners use while learning to write in the essay genre prior to and after their arrival in the U.S.? (2) …

From Mean To Quantiles: Rethinking Individual Differences In Mathematics Achievement And Mathematics Self-Efficacy, Jing Yuan

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

The significance of this dissertation research is twofold with both methodological advancement and empirical update. In this dissertation research, quantile regression (QR) was introduced to social sciences researchers as a response to the weaknesses of the traditional mean-based regression often referred to as multiple regression. General advantages of QR includes being more flexible for modeling data with heterogeneous conditional distributions, more robust to outliers, and having richer characterization and description of the data. Results of QR allow researchers to not only describe a general trend of changes in the effects of the independent variables across a continuous distribution of the …

Believing In Achieving: Examining African American Women’S Doctoral Attainment, Reshanta Camea Hazelbaker

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

This research explored the intersectionality of race, class, and gender within the sources of self-efficacy (Bandura, 1997) underlying the socialization messages influencing African American women’s doctoral attainment beliefs. Twenty African American female/woman doctoral achievers completed an online survey, consisting of open-ended and multiple-choice response items, designed to identify and explore the sources of self-efficacy influencing African American women’s doctoral attainment beliefs. Eleven participants participated in focus interviews to expand upon and clarify initial survey responses.

Thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006) and tenets of critical race theory (Ladson-Billings & Tate, 1995; McCoy & Rodricks, 2015) were used to analyze the …

Students Identities And Teacher Expectations: A Factorial Experiment At The Intersection Of Race, Gender, And Ability, Amy E. Fisher

Theses and Dissertations--Educational, School, and Counseling Psychology

Behavioral and academic outcomes differ for students by race, ability, and gender within the K-12 public education system. Moreover, striking gaps exist at the intersection of race, ability, and gender, despite the similarity in severity and frequency of behavior between groups. Few studies, however, have examined the educational mechanisms that contribute to these gaps. Despite this, the scientific literature? shows that when educators have high expectations, students are more likely to be successful academically and behaviorally. Therefore, this study examines the inverse of this relationship by recognizing that biases likely influence behavior and academic student outcomes through expectancy bias for …

Deaffa: An Exploration Of Agricultural Education In Schools For The Deaf And Hard Of Hearing, Sarah Danielle Warren

Theses and Dissertations--Community & Leadership Development

The Kentucky School for the Deaf agriculture program and FFA chapter is the second Deaf FFA chapter in the nation and has proven itself to be unique, successful, and worthy of investigation. This exploratory, collective/intrinsic Case Study examines the historical evidence of agriculture on the school’s campus, collects observations and interviews regarding agricultural education at the school, and provides insight to advise other educational institutions and organizations on the nature of agricultural education in a school for deaf and hard of hearing students.

Social Workers’ And Teachers’ Feelings Of Self-Efficacy In Dealing With School Bullying, Sharon Lynn Simmons

Theses and Dissertations--Social Work

Bullying continues to be a serious problem in schools. School social workers and teachers face challenges daily to deal with bullying. This author examined school social workers’ and teachers’ perceptions about their feelings of efficacy to deal with bullying and what may account for those feelings in a population of 71 teachers and 26 social workers employed in Kentucky schools. Research was gathered using a self-report, electronic survey consisting of subscales of the Teachers’ Attitudes about Bullying Questionnaire (Beran, 2005), the School Bullying Questionnaire (Nicolaides, Toda & Smith, 2002), the Toronto Empathy Questionnaire (Spreng, McKinnon, Mar & Levine, 2009) and …

The Effect Of An Educational Video On Device-Related Concerns In A Single-Center Left Ventricular Assist Device Population, Devan Costelle

DNP Projects

PURPOSE:The purpose of this study is to evaluate the prevalence of various concerns among left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients and evaluate the effect of an educational video intervention on reducing those concerns in a single-center adult LVAD population.

METHODS:A 15-point LVAD Concerns Scale was created to evaluate the prevalence of specific device-related concerns. An educational video was created to address the concerns presented in the LVAD Concerns Scale. Data collection took place from November 2018 to February 2019. A cross-sectional, pre- post-test implementation study design was used to both identify various device-related concerns that exist among LVAD patients and …

The Effect Of An Emotional Intelligence Training Program On Use Of A Transformational Leadership Style Among Nurse Managers, Audrey Frias

DNP Projects

Background: Leaders with high levels of emotional intelligence have been associated with transformational leadership styles, which have been found to directly impact leader effectiveness. Emotional intelligence training has been deemed the most effective method for improving nurse manager emotional intelligence and transformational leadership by providing participants with the tools they need to be successful.

Conceptual Framework: Transformational leadership was used as the conceptual framework for this study and is defined as ‘‘a leadership process that is systematic, consisting of purposeful and organized search for changes, systematic analysis, and the capacity to move resources from areas of lesser to greater productivity …

Examining Attitudes, Perceptions, And Observations Of Tobacco Use And Compliance At A Small Private Liberal Arts College In Kentucky With A Designated Area Tobacco Policy, Michael Dalessio

Theses and Dissertations--Kinesiology and Health Promotion

A multitude of higher education institutions have adopted comprehensive smoke- and tobacco-free policies to minimize tobacco use, increase quit attempts, and reduce exposure to secondhand smoke on campus. However, the majority of campuses across the U.S. still have non-comprehensive policies and/or designated tobacco use areas. Given the limited research in this area, the purpose of this dissertation was to assess the attitudes, perceptions, tobacco use behaviors, and actual observational compliance of students, faculty, and staff on a college campus that possesses a designated area tobacco policy.

This two-phased cross-sectional study included both direct observations and online survey data collection. For …

Training Teachers In Inclusive Preschool Classrooms To Monitor Child Progress And Make Data-Based Decisions Through Direct Behavioral Observation, Collin Niles Shepley

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Progress monitoring and data analysis are essential skills needed by classroom teachers within the implementation of multi-tiered systems of support for making data-based decisions about student progress and instruction. Within the early childhood MTSS research, consideration of teacher-collected progress monitoring data followed by data-based decision-making is rare. To provide teachers with a robust progress monitoring strategy, I trained preschool teachers of inclusive classrooms to use direct behavioral observations to collect data and inform their instruction.

The project experimentally evaluated teachers’ generalization of acquired behaviors within the context of a single-case research design. The project’s independent variable, teacher training, consisted of …

Training Pre-Service General Educators To Collect Accurate Antecedent-Behavior-Consequence Data, Mark Devdas Samudre

Theses and Dissertations--Early Childhood, Special Education, and Counselor Education

Functional behavior assessment is a process that should involve all individuals that work closely with a student who is engaging in problematic behavior that impacts their own or others’ learning. General educators are typically involved in this process through indirect or descriptive assessments, such as collecting antecedent-behavior-consequence data (ABC). However, there are many factors that can impact a general educator’s ability to collect accurate ABC data. Inaccurate data can misinform appropriate responses and interventions for challenging behaviors made by a student’s decision-making team, such as an Individual Education Program (IEP) team. Therefore, it is critical that researchers empirically evaluate training …

Analyzing Public Relations As A Strategic Management Function At Sec Universities, Whitney Harder

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

A changing higher education landscape – rising costs, competition and skepticism – coupled with a changing media and communications landscape – a 24/7 news cycle with fewer local journalists, new technology and the expectation of instant and constant communication – have pushed universities to try to become more effective and efficient in telling their institutional stories to multiple stakeholder groups. Institutional leaders are concerned about how higher education and their institutions present public value and communicate their impact on both the students they graduate and their communities. But how are they using public relations and communications to deliver solutions for …

An Analysis Of Kentucky School Activity Fund Requirements For Internal Controls And Segregation Of Duties Compared With National Standards And Requirements In Surrounding States, Marla J. Carnes

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

Across the United States, K-12 school systems receive and disburse a significant amount of funds at the school level. These funds are classified as school activity funds and may be broken into two distinct categories: 1) student activity funds and 2) district activity funds. Student activity funds are generally derived from fundraising activities of students to support a particular student group or organization such as the Y-Club, senior class, or student council. District activity funds are generated in the normal course of school business and may include funds such as locker fees, parking permit fees, school picture sales, or vending …

Tuition Revenue Distribution Models In Higher Education: An Exploration Of Alternative Tuition Funding Methods At The University Of Kentucky, Megan A. Bowles

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

State appropriations for higher education have been volatile during the past decade. While some states have seen improvements in state appropriations since the last recession, other states have seen continued declines. For public colleges and universities facing these consistent decreases in appropriations they have had to develop alternative methods for revenue generation. One of the most common changes to a university’s revenue model is by increasing their tuition and fee rates. Public colleges and universities can increase their own tuition and fees, within the boundaries of state oversight boards like the Council on Postsecondary Education (CPE). This is a big …

Martin School Alumni Survey, Carl Sims

MPA/MPP/MPFM Capstone Projects

The Martin School of Public Policy and Administration is subject to reaccreditation from the Network of Schools of Public Policy, Affairs, and Administration (NASPAA) every seven years. To initiate the reaccreditation process, the Martin School must conduct a programmatic self-study that analyzes the program’s mission, governance, faculty, students, competencies, resources, and communication. The self-study is beneficial not only for the purpose of reaccreditation but also can better inform the school’s strategic planning process

To assist in providing the self-study relevant data, the Martin School can solicit information from its alumni. Alumni data can be used to establish how well the …

Assessing The Model Fit Of Multidimensional Item Response Theory Models With Polytomous Responses Using Limited-Information Statistics, Caihong Rosina Li

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

Under item response theory, three types of limited information goodness-of-fit test statistics – M₂, M_ord, and C₂ – have been proposed to assess model-data fit when data are sparse. However, the evaluation of the performance of these GOF statistics under multidimensional item response theory (MIRT) models with polytomous data is limited. The current study showed that M₂ and C₂ were well-calibrated under true model conditions and were powerful under misspecified model conditions. M_ord were not well-calibrated when the number of response categories was more than three. RMSEA₂ and RMSEA_C2 are …

A Leadership Perspective On Family Engagement: Qualitative Content Analysis Of Secondary Data, Stephanie Anderson

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

The purpose of the study was to explore the leadership actions and activities that contributed to the implementation of a schoolwide family engagement initiative in a school. A qualitative content analysis of secondary data design was used to investigate the intentional actions and activities of a school leadership team during the implementation of a family engagement initiative within an elementary school. The Coherence Framework (Fullan & Quinn, 2016) provided a lens for which to investigate schoolwide change across drivers and sub-drivers.

The findings of this study describe intentional leadership actions and activities when communicating with families, conducting formal assessments, and …