Education Commons^™

Assessing The Relationship Between Mandatory Faculty Development For Online Career College Instructors And Transformative Learning, Tremayne Simpson

Dissertations

Online teaching and learning has become a primary focal point for higher education administrators. Institutions have focused their strategic plans to maximize opportunities to grow their campuses, through distance education. A consistent issue that has surfaced with distance education initiatives is teacher preparation for online education. The issue is further compounded in proprietary institutions that may have limited resources and guidance for structuring effective faculty development programs. It is beneficial for faculty program developers to implement adult learning concepts into their courses to improve the overall training transfer for instructors. Transformative learning is an adult learning theory that focuses on …

Life Factors Affecting U.S. Army Junior-Enlisted Soldiers In Reaching Their Educational Goals, Irina Rader

Dissertations

This study focused on drawing a picture of the dynamics and educational experiences of U.S. Army junior-enlisted soldiers in the rank of specialist in the RA. Those soldiers are eligible to participate in the U.S. Army’s VolEd Program available worldwide. According to Gleiman and Zacharakis (2016):

The military relies on continuing professional education as a key component to the success of its organization. With decreasing budgets and increasing importance for a force that operates efficiently and thinks critically, the cognitive tension among training, education, and learning come center stage. (p. 81)

The researcher formed the research questions (RQs) sought to …

Effect Of Integrating Adult Learning Concepts And Curriculum Structure Into Customer Service Training For Specialty Pharmacy Employees, Caroline Mccallister

Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore the effect of integrating adult learning into a structured curriculum specifically designed to address the learning needs of patient services coordinators (PSCs). The research was conducted for two primary reasons: (a) to determine the effect, if any, of presenting new hire training created using adult learning principles and sound curriculum design had on satisfaction levels with that training, and (b) to determine the effect, if any, of presenting new hire training created using adult learning principles and sound curriculum design had on the length of time needed for a new hire to …

Developing A Partnership In Teacher Preparation Program Between Colleges, Universities And School Districts: A Policy Advocacy Document, Leah Gauthier

Dissertations

Teachers are leaving the profession at an alarming rate. Many are unprepared for the rigors of the job, and others become overwhelmed with new initiatives. This problem is due in part to school districts in Illinois not currently being a part of the teacher preparation accreditation process for colleges and universities. This policy advocates for creating that partnership. The findings indicate that doing so will build expertise for the new teachers and help them stay in the classrooms. This, in turn, will help improve student achievement.

Lived Experiences Of Medical Laboratory Science Clinical Instructors As Adult Learners, Linda Jean Mccown

Dissertations

Physicians and patients trust the medical laboratory science (MLS) professionals performing laboratory tests, assuming that they are competent. The education of these professionals includes time spent in clinical rotations; weeks that students spend alongside their clinical instructors who are practicing professionals. When they first have students to teach, these clinical instructors have little or no experience or training in how to conduct clinical instruction. This research examined how medical laboratory science clinical instructors learn to conduct clinical instruction. In order to describe the phenomenon of clinical instructors learning to conduct clinical instruction, a mixed methods approach was used. In the …

Effects Of Implementing A Formative Assessment Initiative, Thomas A. Stewart

Dissertations

This dissertation supports the work of Black and Wiliam (1998), who demonstrated that when teachers effectively utilize formative assessment strategies, student learning increases significantly. However, the researchers also found a “poverty of practice” among teachers, in that few fully understood how to effectively implement formative assessment in the classroom. This qualitative case study examined a series of voluntary workshops offered at one public middle school designed to address this poverty of practice. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews. The researcher used constant comparative analysis to discover patterns in the data for the following four research questions: (1) What role did …

The Impact Of A Reflective Thinking Intervention On Nursing Students In A Child And Family Nursing Course, Vicky Holle Becherer

Dissertations

With the ever-changing healthcare systems, nursing students need to think at a high level by applying their knowledge from theory to the clinical setting by prioritizing, delegating, and problem solving to provide safe, competent, quality nursing care. Using action research, nursing students participated in R.A.V.E. (Reflective Thinking Allows Variety for Excellence) Reviews to see how they used their past experiences, knowledge, and beliefs to arrive at the appropriate answers and/or solutions to exam questions and real life situations. A purposive sample of 65 nursing students in a Child and Family Nursing course from the Spring 2010 and Fall 2010 semesters …

Factors Influencing International Students' Academic And Sociocultural Transition In An Increasingly Globalized Society, Chung-Hsien Hsu

Dissertations

This study is a mixed-method study. It consists of a quantitative study and a qualitative study. The quantitative study focused on international adult learners’ experiences of adaptation to American academic and social cultures. The qualitative study then investigated their experiences of cultural transition.

Based on the definition of globalized influences (Finger, 2005) and existing studies discussing the effects on globalized educational environments (Merriam & Young), factors related to globalized influences were selected and used to examine the extent to which these factors have affected international students’ adaptation to learning and life in the American university. Additionally, the other two variables, …