Education Commons^™

Successful Graduate Students’ Perceptions Of Characteristics Of Online Learning Environments, Jian Su

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine issues related to online graduate course effectiveness, and graduate student perceptions of characteristics of online learning environments and their effectiveness, and to explore the relationship between graduate student perceptions and student success in online courses. The research methodology employed was that of survey research, using the Graduate Student Online Learning Environment Survey instrument, targeted at graduate students enrolled in online courses at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. A total of 238 graduate students participated in this study. Findings revealed that approximately 87.4% of graduate students reported positive online learning experiences. Participants …

Out Of School Time Science Programs: Examining A Program’S Impacts On The Science Identities Of Middle School Female Participants, Elizabeth Ripley Mactavish

Doctoral Dissertations

Science education reform efforts emphasize teaching science for all Americans, and identify scientific literacy as the principle goal of science education (American Association for the Advancement of Science [AAAS], 1993; National Research Council [NRC], 1996). Despite the goal of scientific literacy, some students, especially females and minorities, consider science irrelevant to their personal interests or career goals. Additionally, research pinpoints middle school as a period when female students begin to lose interest in science (Farenga, 1999; Hill et al., 2010).

Decades of research have documented the gender achievement gap, yet little research has been focused on the science identity gap …

The Use Of Outdoor Teaching Resources By Multidisciplinary University Faculty And Instructors At The University Of Tennessee: A Model For Establishing And Maintaining The Campus Landscape As A Significant And Dynamic Outdoor Classroom, Laboratory, And Therapy Center, Andrew J. Pulte

Doctoral Dissertations

Research has shown that plants and the landscapes around us impact our lives. Plants have been shown to reduce anxiety and blood pressure, and to have mentally restorative and psychological benefits. These benefits can include but are not limited to improving our ability to cope with stress and improving our ability to focus and concentrate. During the formative years of higher education, the physical grounds of our campuses have the potential to provide these restorative benefits. Understanding how these landscapes are maintained can provide useful information for their improvement. In regards to campus grounds maintenance, select peer institutions of the …

College Student Engagement Patterns In Small Group Learning Activities Conducted In Courses Organized Using A Flipped Learning Instructional Pedagogy, John Creighton Cummins

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine student engagement patterns in smallgroup learning activities conducted in courses organized using a Flipped Learning Instructional Pedagogy (FLIP) at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK). A literature search on FLIP revealed no papers that examined student engagement at a fine-grained level. Classrooms were examined using an observational tool developed specifically for the examination of fine-grained student engagement. In order to observe overt engagement patterns of students during active learning in small groups, an observation tool was designed by combining an engagement framework with an in-class activity inventory.The Complex Level of Overt …

Evaluating Context-Aware Applications Accessed Through Wearable Devices As Assistive Technology For Students With Disabilities, Rachel Elizabeth Wright

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of these two single subject design studies was to evaluate the use of the wearable and context-aware technologies for college students with intellectual disability and autism as tools to increase independence and vocational skills. There is a compelling need for the development of tools and strategies that will facilitate independence, self-sufficiency, and address poor outcomes in adulthood for students with disabilities. Technology is considered to be a great equalizer for people with disabilities. The proliferation of new technologies allows access to real-time, contextually-based information as a means to compensate for limitations in cognitive functioning and decrease the complexity …

The Impacts Of Curriculum Reform For An Introductory Undergraduate Biology Course Sequence, Anna Jo Juanita Auerbach

Doctoral Dissertations

For decades, educators and policy makers have called for reform in undergraduate biology education to produce a workforce capable of navigating the challenges of society today (NSB, 1986). The American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) outlined recommendations to enact these changes in the Vision and Change in Undergraduate Biology Education final report (AAAS, 2011). These recommendations included restructuring curricula to focus on core biological concepts and competencies, implemented via student-centered practices, with a campus-wide commitment to change, and involving the entire biology community in the reform. The University of Tennessee, Division of Biology, implemented curriculum changes to their …

Herstory: Dr. Ruth Simmons’ Journey To The Presidency, Patricia Yvette Jones

Doctoral Dissertations

This study’s goal is to give voice to the experiences of one individual: Dr. Ruth Simmons, the first woman president of Brown University and the first African American president of an Ivy League institution. Simmons’ HerStory is a narrative of her becoming rather than being. It is a story of her moving forward. In this study Simmons is permitted to take back her narrative by telling HerStory, in her own words and along with sharing her ethos. HerStory provides insight into and a deep understanding of how Simmons became the president and what shaped her development spanning from her childhood …

Stress, Coping, And Well Being Of African American College Women: A Grounded Theory Study, Christine R. Hannon

Doctoral Dissertations

African American women are a rapidly growing population on college campuses. Though enrollment trends suggest an increase in African American women’s pursuit of educational attainment, they face unique challenges and obstacles (National Center for Education Statistics, 2011). Researchers have noted that stressful life events have detrimental effects on the emotional, physical, and mental well-being of college students (Greer & Brown, 2011; Reynolds, Sneva, & Beehler, 2010; Hall et al., 2006; Larson, 2006; Andrews & Wilding, 2004; Nonis et al., 1998; Shapiro et al., 1998; Cohen & Herbert, 1996; Van Eck et al., 1996). Research focused on the unique challenges of …

Living Alongside: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Impact Of Reflective Practice Training In Real Life, Patricia Randall Long

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this narrative inquiry (NI) was to explore, through personal narratives, the experience of the impact of Reflective Practice (RP) training (offered through an institute for collaborative communication housed within a large southeastern regional research one university) and subsequent practice on the day-to-day lives of two participants. While most published studies focus on RP impact during or immediately after training, this inquiry spanned seven months post training.

Field texts were generated from five open, non-structured interviews, journals, and field notes. The findings were framed within the NI commonplaces of temporality, sociality, and place, as well as seminal theories …

Self-Directed Learning: A Potential Predictor Of Technology Integration Confidence Among Preservice Teachers, Jeffrey L. Beard

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-directed learning (SDL) and the confidence to integrate technology into the classroom among preservice K-12 teachers enrolled at a large southeastern university. The intent was to determine the extent to which SDL is related to technology integration confidence and, further, to what extent SDL predicts technology integration confidence. In this study, the Personal Responsibility Orientation—Self-Directed Learning Scale (PRO-SDLS) (Stockdale, 2003; Stockdale & Brockett, 2010) was used to measure levels of learner self-direction. Additionally, the Technology Integration Confidence Scale (TICS) (Browne, 2009) was revised (TICS-R) and was used to measure …

Teacher Attitudes Toward Work: A Mixed Methods Case Study Of Collaborative Work Group Influences, Jennifer Leigh Beavers

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this mixed method, multisite case study was to explore how teachers’ attitudes toward their work were influenced by their experiences within collaborative work groups. The critical elements and structural conditions of effective collaborative work groups described by Little in 1981 was used as a conceptual framework. The sample consisted of three principals, one school counselor, and twenty-seven teachers across three high schools in the same southeastern state. Participants were interviewed and their collaborative work groups observed during which time artifacts were also collected.

Findings indicated teachers’ attitudes toward their work were influenced by eight variables: the support …

The Discursive Construction Of Language Teaching And Learning In Multiuser Virtual Environments, Douglas W. Canfield

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to broaden how researchers within computer-assisted language learning (CALL) make sense of and examine psychological and power constructs at play in language courses conducted in 3D multiuser virtual environments. 18 students and 2 teachers in 8 formal English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in the 3D multiuser virtual environment of Second Life participated in a discourse analysis study to explore the theoretical and analytic ways in which critical discursive psychology could function to explore how teaching and learning are performed as interactional events in a community of language teachers and learners in Second Life by investigating …

Remediating Secondary Alternative School Students’ Academic Outcomes Using The Writing And Sharing Connections Process, Laura Karen Kildare

Doctoral Dissertations

Given steady increase in numbers of students enrolled in alternative schools (U.S. Department of Education, 2003, 2008), a lack of emphasis on academic gains, as opposed to behavior control (Fuchs, Fuchs, & Stecker, 2010), and the well-documented school-to-prison pipeline for students considered school behavior problems (Wald & Losen, 2003), there is a need to establish viable, engaging instructional approaches with youth in alternative school settings. This study was designed to investigate effects on secondary alternative students’ attitudes toward writing and their ability to express complex ideas in writing, as a function of implementation of Writing and Sharing Connections (W&SC) (Wooten, …

Fifth Graders' Reading Choices, Janelle Dugger Bouknight

Doctoral Dissertations

This study sought to determine whether students were capable of selecting appropriately leveled text for independent reading and whether students read those books once they were selected. A sample size of 155 students from a metropolitan area of the southeastern United States was studied. During the first interview, the researcher collected data concerning how the student selected the book. The student was then allowed to take the book home. A follow-up interview consisted of having the student read a pre-selected portion of the text and was followed by three comprehension questions. Researcher compared the readability level as determined by Lexile …

Administrative Support In An East Tennessee Rural School District During The Change To Common Core State Standards, Victoria Lyn Henley

Doctoral Dissertations

Common Core State Standards (CCSS), an initiative for standardizing learning in a more in-depth, analytical way, have been adopted by 45 states, Washington, D.C., and four United States Territories. When implementing such changes, rural schools face their own unique challenges, where principals and administrators play an important role in the successful culture of change. The purpose of this study was to examine how the principals and district-level administrators in Mountain View School District, an East Tennessee rural school district, supported teachers during the transition to CCSS. In this qualitative study, three principals, two assistant principals, and three district-level administrators were …

Can Curriculum-Based Measures And Teacher Ranking Predict End-Of-Year Achievement For Students Who Are Gifted Or High-Achieving?, Bruce Alan Ewing

Doctoral Dissertations

The lack of cohesion and oversight in federal and state laws that outline identifying and serving gifted/high ability students have been cited by researchers and practitioners as a hindrance in the development of programming designed to serve these populations (National Association for Gifted Children, 2014). Controversy over definitions of giftedness and the role of schools in identifying and serving gifted students indicate that policy and practice in gifted education are highly inconsistent. In partial response, researchers in gifted education have begun to call for the extension of the response-to-intervention (RTI) model to identify and serve gifted students, leading to questions …