Education Commons^™

Implementing A One-To-One Technology Initiative In Higher Education, Daryl Fridley, Diana Rogers-Adkinson

Administrative Issues Journal

This paper describes the process of conceptualizing and implementing a one-to-one technology initiative at a regional comprehensive university. Organized around the principle that sustainable change requires attention to clear, justifiable goals, attention to key decisions, the development of stakeholder investment, adequate training, building appropriate infrastructure, and a concern for sustainability, the authors provide specific examples detailing how the change initiative in which they participated addressed each of those areas.

Helping Students Maximize Their Degrees As Competitive Tools: The Value Of Experiential Learning, Cassandra Spencer, April Perry

The William & Mary Educational Review

It is a common misconception among students that following graduation there will be an abundance of job opportunities, and by simply earning a degree, they will be competitive in the job market. Through a review of relevant literature, this article examines college graduate employment statistics and the skills employers desire most in new hires. Using this literature as a contextual lens, the benefits of experiential learning as a way for college students to maximize their degree is discussed. The research shows that these types of learning opportunities are essential in helping students grow, learn, realize their potential, explore different career …

African American Women In Higher Education: Issues And Support Strategies, Cynthia C. Bartman

College Student Affairs Leadership

In recent years, the college graduation rates of African American women, a historically marginalized group, have increased. However, their graduation rates continue to lag behind those of White women, among other racial/ethnic groups. This paper reviews the related literature and identifies four major issues impacting the college graduation rates of African American women. Additionally, intervention strategies are suggested.

Not Your Average Speech Of Self-Introduction: The "Talking Resume" Alternative, Lauren Mackenzie

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

The “talking résumé” activity is designed as a creative and useful alternative to the standard speech of self-introduction exercise in the university public speaking classroom. Using Visual Communicator software, this assignment guides students through the process of preparing, orally delivering, and critiquing résumés for themselves and their classmates. This brief article is geared toward public speaking instructors looking for innovative ways to begin the semester and provides suggestions for how to assign, conduct, and evaluate the “talking résumé” activity.

Tomkat!: Linking Theory And Practice In Communication Studies Course Through The Introduction And Application Of Social Exchange Theory, Rita L. Rahoi-Gilchrest

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

This article describes an activity suitable for either high-school or university-level communication courses. Combining outside online research, small group discussion, and class interaction, this exercise uses Social Exchange Theory, applied to examples of celebrity relationships generated by students and discussed in groups, to illustrate the process by which individuals decide whether or not to initiate and sustain interpersonal relationships. Although students should be reminded that the reasons relationships do or do not survive are difficult enough to understand when we are involved in them, let alone when we view them from an outside perspective, the activity proves intriguing and involving …

Making Historians Of Theatre History Students: The First Three Steps, David Wintersteen

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Without the guidance of a clear hypothesis, student research projects founder. This paper outlines a process by which students undergo the essential first stages that lead to successful research projects in Theatre History. The paper outlines three stages: “Quest for Fire,” in which the student identifies a subject area that interests them; “Fence Me In,” in which the student defines the research area and established distinct parameters; and “The Dreaded Hypothesis,” in which the student articulates a clear, unique and functional hypothesis. By implementing these initial three stages, teachers can create the conditions under which students motivate themselves to complete …

Dusting Off The Trophies: Filling The Gaps In The Forensics Collective Memory, Brian T. Taylor

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

With any organization or group, certain areas, events, and individuals eventually become forgotten and left out of the collective memory. Forensics, at the institutional level, is no exception. This essay explores the concept of collective memory, with particular attention to how some areas are left out. It examines how and why certain areas of forensics history are lost, and the impact that has on the forensics community. Finally, it offers some suggestions for forensics educations on how to keep desired stories from being left out of the collective memory. Advice includes recording the stories in written or audio/visual format, bringing …

Developing A Senior Capstone And Portfolio Course, Nanette Johnson-Curiskis, Daniel Cronn-Mills, Warren Sandmann

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

Our purpose in this essay is to explain how the Speech Communication Department at Minnesota State University, Mankato developed a senior capstone and portfolio course. We describe how this course helped the department improve its curriculum and teaching, and helped its students enhance their learning of the discipline.

Recognizing College Students Of Today: Generational Shifts Prompt Pedagogical Shifts, Kristen Cvancara, Kristen P. Treinen

Communication and Theater Association of Minnesota Journal

As educators strive to continually improve the learning potential of the students in our classrooms, it is wise to evaluate traits of the students that may influence the effectiveness of the pedagogical methods employed. To this end, this essay introduces the reader to descriptions of today’s college students that identify this cohort as unique in learning style as well as life experience from all previous generations. An assessment method was used to investigate the degree to which current students identify with these generational stereotypes. The method and results of the assessment are discussed, and suggestions for adopting new pedagogical strategies …

The Federal Pell Grant Program And Reauthorization Of The Higher Education Act, Sandy Baum

Journal of Student Financial Aid

The Federal Pell Grant program has made education possible for many Americans. It has also helped establish the norm of public responsibility for widespread access to higher education. This essay reviews the growth of the Pell Grant program over time and its current characteristics. It then details some innovations with the potential to increase the program’s effectiveness in increasing student success, in addition to access to postsecondary education. Both the eligibility formula and the application process should be simpler and students should not have to reapply every year. Students should receive timely information and coaching services to help them select …

Holistic Learning-Centeredness: De-Centering The University For Social Justice, David S. Goldstein

Race and Pedagogy Journal: Teaching and Learning for Justice

Many colleges and universities have begun to shift their orientation from teaching-centered (privileging the teacher and the content) to student-centered (designing courses and curricula based on students’ perspectives, needs, and desires). Higher education needs to take the next step by acknowledging that the campus as only one locus of student learning out of many. Students learn from all aspects of their lives, and higher education institutions should—by implementing ePortfolios and other tools for integration and reflection—focus on helping students connect and reflect upon what they learn not only in the curriculum and co-curriculum, but also in their families, workplaces, …

What Can Jesus Teach Us About Student Engagement?, Glenn James, Elda Martinez, Sherry Herbers

Journal of Catholic Education

This article examines Jesus’s teaching methods as described in the four Gospels, highlighting the ways in which He led listeners to participate actively in their learning. We identify similarities between many of Jesus’s techniques and current practices in the field of student engagement, with a focus on applications for instructors in higher education. Several of His approaches, most notably storytelling and the use of analogies, point to recommendations for improving teaching practice by increasing student engagement in the learning process.

Qu'est-ce que Jésus peut nous apprendre sur l'engagement des élèves?

Cet article examine la manière dont les méthodes d'enseignement de …

Exceeding The Limits: Teaching And Assessing Information Literacy Within Blackboard, Jon Ritterbush

Kansas Library Association College and University Libraries Section Proceedings

Many librarians can relate to the pedagogical limitations of one-shot classes and the challenges of reaching large numbers of first-year students. The Library Research Tutorial at the University of Nebraska-Kearney was designed to go beyond time and space constraints to orient new undergraduate students to library resources and research methods using self-paced modules within a Blackboard course. Since Fall 2011, over 2,400 students have been enrolled in the Tutorial at the request of their course instructors, who in turn receive students’ Tutorial quiz scores for use as graded credit. This paper describes the Tutorial’s contents, enrollment and grading processes, instructor …

Challenges Facing Female Leaders Of Color In U.S. Higher Education, Fredah Mainah, Vernita Perkins

International Journal of African Development

Despite a myriad of challenges including the slow pace of rising to the top and the low compositional diversity in most university leadership, women of color are becoming increasingly visible in higher education leadership. This paper investigates the phenomena of the growing numbers of women of color in top positions, with the aim of debunking the myth of the invisibility of black women in leadership positions in higher education. The findings indicate that although women in the U.S. earn the majority of postsecondary degrees and 26.4% of college presidents are women, with 4.5% of them being women of color, women …

Perceptions Of Preservice Teachers’ E-Portfolios For Hiring Decisions, Molly Zhou, Marilyn M. Helms

Georgia Educational Researcher

Preservice teachers often build E-portfolios of their work prior to graduation, but their use beyond the college classroom is not clear. To identify if E-portfolios are used during the teacher hiring process, 170 administrators from 84 (K-12) schools in eight North Georgia districts were surveyed regarding their use of E-portfolio materials. Based on the mixed methods used, E-portfolios were not strongly favored for use in decision-making. To increase their usefulness, preservice teachers should actively provide access to artifacts valued by potential employers including certification documents, classroom management plans, evidence of work with Individualized Educational Plan (IEP) students, ability to work …

Legal And Ethical Considerations For Social Media Hiring Practices In The Workplace, Andrew S. Hazelton, Ashley Terhorst

The Hilltop Review

Social media has certainly evolved and continues to do so with each new day. Social media in its infancy was not as widespread in the personal lives of people, let alone in the workplace. In the following years since its inception, social media has captured a significant amount of time of individuals in every aspect of their lives. However, with this advancement also comes possible conflict in how companies and departments within a university or college setting conduct background checks. Social media makes public profiles an easy click away and many potential job seekers may not see the problems that …

Becoming A Social Justice Educator: Emerging From The Pits Of Whiteness Into The Light Of Love. A Response To "Respect The Differences? Challenging The Common Guidelines In Social Justice Education, Kay F. Fujiyoshi

Democracy and Education

This paper addresses the limitations of social justice in institutional spaces and in rhetoric. I write in the form of a quest narrative to describe the lessons I learned from a brief sojourn in a temporary position in an urban teacher education program with a social justice focus and at a nonprofit organization with other social justice workers. My quest entails a retelling of encounters with Whiteness, the challenges of engaging social justice as a process that pushes beyond conversation, and the lessons I took away from my own sense-making of the contradictions in social justice work.

Journey Into Shame: Implications For Justice Pedagogies, Roger C. Bergman

Engaging Pedagogies in Catholic Higher Education (EPiCHE)

Being formed for justice can be a painful experience. Sometimes that pain takes the form of shame and contributes to the formation and exercise of conscience. But shame in other forms can be opposed to human flourishing and social justice. Psychologist James Fowler provides a spectrum of two forms of healthy shame and four forms of unhealthy shame, to which the author adds four other varieties, strategic shame and spiritual shame, at one end of the spectrum, and murderous shame and genocidal shame, at the other. Various experiences of shame are dramatically illustrated in Black Like Me, John Howard …

The Historical Role Of Women In Higher Education, Patsy Parker

Administrative Issues Journal

Historically, females, as compared to males, have represented a lower percentage of college professors and administrators in the United States. The tendency for males to outnumber females in the professoriate and college administration has existed since United States higher education institutions formed in the early 1800s and still persists today. Fluctuations in women’s participation rate have been influenced by the economy’s history and society’s expectations of females. Observation of the employment trends for females offers an interesting look at the evolving role of women in the United States workforce, in general, and in the university setting, in particular.

Consumerism And Higher Education: Pressures And Faculty Conformity, Amanda Armstrong, Madeline Smith, Jaymi Thomas, Amanda Johnson

The William & Mary Educational Review

This article examines, through the lens of social influence theory, the impact of consumerism on faculty behavior. Rathus (2005) defines social influence as “the ways in which people alter the thoughts, feelings, and emotions of others” (p. 607). Demands such as student-teacher evaluations and high graduation rates can lead professors to lower their standards in order to conform to the expectations of students as consumers of higher education. Further, the institutions which employ faculty members also contribute to such conformity through the perpetuation of this business-oriented mindset. The authors explore consumerism in higher education through the following three elements of …

Advanced Placement Portfolio, Daniel Barney, Mark Graham

Journal of Undergraduate Research

The academic objectives of this research project reached further than the initial objectives. We believe it was a very successful project in terms of meeting our academic objectives. The study affected our curricula here at the university as we investigated our thesis questions for this project. We (Dr. Barney and Dr. Graham) primarily teach undergraduates who are interested in teaching art at the K-­‐12 levels and so there is a strong focus on what is important to know and teach at the K-­‐12 levels. AP Art Studio programs are directed at 11th and 12th graders while foundations programs are usually …

Tenure: A Communal Privilege For Service, Not An Individual Privilege For Research, Steven Kessler

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

Tenure is commonly understood as a privilege earned by individuals in higher education guaranteeing a lifetime appointment barring gross negligence. To individuals outside of higher education, the tenure process is less clear. Contemporary tenure is earned today largely for research and teaching with the heaviest emphasis on research. The third leg of tenure, service, is often neglected or discouraged in the rewards structure. While this information is widely known in higher education, the irony of this system is not. This paper aims to explore higher education’s historical roots as a medieval corporation in explaining the origins of tenure. Tenure originally …

Academic Collective Bargaining: Patterns And Trends, Curtis R. Sproul, Neil Bucklew, Jeffery D. Houghton

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

Educational services, particularly higher education, has slowly and methodically become one of the most heavily unionized segments, with much greater representation than traditional labor segments. Despite these changes, the increase in academic collective bargaining has not been well documented. Consequently, the purpose of the current paper is to examine recent trends in academic collective bargaining and to compare these trends with the current unionization and collective bargaining situation in other major industries in the United States. We begin with a comparative analysis of unionization in the United States by industry. The summary data we present indicate that the educational services …

From Ivory To Babel To A New Foundation, Richard Boris

Journal of Collective Bargaining in the Academy

During my 12 years at the NationalCenter for Collective Bargaining in Higher Education and the Professions, I observed with increasing frustration the inability of administration and faculty leaders—union and governance—to fully grasp, analyze, and find pathways out of public higher education’s current existential crisis.

My many years of observing leaders of public higher education lead me to the inescapable conclusion that together the leaders share a culture that shorts strategic planning, thinking, and boldness and instead favors ad-hoc, incremental acceptance of the ever-changing, slimmed-down state of affairs. The rarified bubbles of presidential cabinets and union boards symbiotically promote policies that, …

Stress: The Insidious Leveler Of Good, Unsuspecting, Online Instructors Of Higher Education, Gina S. Smith, Henry M. Brashen, Maria A. Minor, Peter J. Anthony

Journal of Sustainable Social Change

This study was undertaken to determine the effects of stress on faculty in higher education teaching online classes. Few studies have been conducted to examine the impact of stress on faculty in online higher education. An anonymous survey of faculty was conducted at an online institution of higher learning to determine how prevalent stress was in their jobs, how stress impacted performance and morale, and what the symptoms were. The findings showed 67.6% of the 100 participants who completed the survey identified either a very high or high level of stress. The biggest stressors included time constraints, technical issues, and …

The Relationship Of High School Size, Gender And First-Year Retention Rates At South Dakota State University, Scott Deslauriers

The Journal of Undergraduate Research

This study examines selected demographic characteristics of six South Dakota State University 2008 – 2013 cohorts of first-time, full-time freshmen who graduated from South Dakota public high schools. The purpose of our study is to explore the relationship between high school size, gender and student retention at South Dakota State University.

Information that was both gathered and analyzed about these students includes their high school size and gender. Our examination of this data uses descriptive statistics to identify characteristics of students who were retained after their first year at SDSU. This study identifies two findings of interest: first, students graduating …

Guest Perspective: Lumina Foundation, Jamie P. Merisotis

Journal of College Access

No abstract provided.