Education Commons^™

What Are We Teaching Abroad? Faculty Goals For Short-Term Study Abroad Courses, Elizabeth Niehaus, Ashley Wegener

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Based on survey data from over 400 faculty members who taught short-term study abroad courses, the purpose of this study was to identify the types of goals that faculty members have in teaching short-term study abroad courses and the relationship between faculty background characteristics (i.e., race, gender, discipline, and prior experience) and their teaching goals. By further understanding the goals that these faculty members have for their study abroad programs, we are better able to assess how these programs may or may not be meeting overall internationalization goals and then to use this information to assist faculty members and higher …

Faculty Engagement In Cultural Mentoring As Instructors Of Short-Term Study Abroad Courses, Elizabeth Niehaus, Jillian Reading, Matthew J. Nelson, Ashley Wegener, Ann Arthur

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

The purpose of this study was to explore what cultural mentoring looks like in practice in shortterm study abroad courses, how frequently instructors engage in cultural mentoring, and what demographic and background variables might predict the extent to which faculty members engage in cultural mentoring. Using data from a survey of 473 faculty members from 72 U.S. colleges and universities who had recently taught short-term study abroad courses, we identified four types of cultural mentoring behaviours: Expectation Setting, Explaining the Host Culture, Exploring Self in Culture, and Facilitating Connections. We also identified key predictors of the frequency with which participants …

Education Institutions Creation Of Partnerships, Iwasan D. Kejawa Ed.D

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

This issue is embracing the creation of partnerships with establishments worldwide for the provisions of life embodiments to graduates. At moment, there may be lack of friendship or partnership with establishments to create incentives for newly graduates of so many colleges and universities (Hirsh & Weber, 1999). Partnership with external companies will surely bring enormous grants to the colleges and universities and it will also encourage friendly establishments to provide incentives and perks to colleges, universities and alumni. It may be concluded that the advantages of creating rapport with external congruences is the comraderies and also compromises that will be …

Youth Voice In A Rural Cradle-To-Career Network, Sarah J. Zuckerman, Jennifer Mcatee

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Outmigration, economic restructuring, and other challenges require rural communities to adapt. Area-based initiatives, such as cradle-to-career networks, have been seen as a means for increasing community resiliency through the simultaneous creation of social capital and civic and economic redevelopment. Community resiliency is often seen as a single-generation issue; however, developing youth’s voices provides simultaneous positive youth development and community civic development that can support community resiliency. This qualitative case study examines how youth voice opportunities were used in a rural cradle-to-career network to build towards future research on the role of youth voice in area-based initiatives and community resiliency.

“They Don’T Care About You”: First-Year Chinese International Students’ Experiences With Neo-Racism And Othering On A U.S. Campus, Christina W. Yao

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

This qualitative research study illuminates the experiences affecting first-year Chinese international students in the United States and gives insights as to how these students perceive interpersonal relationships at college. Participants shared reports of neo-racism and othering as negatively affecting their feelings of connection to other members of their collegiate community. Findings and implications from this study indicate a need for better support for first-year Chinese international students in college.

Realizing The Potential Of International Education In Leadership Learning, Elizabeth K. Niehaus

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

This chapter explores how study abroad and the presence of international students contributes to students’ leadership development, key challenges preventing that potential from being realized, and offers suggestions for improving access to and implementing leadership-focused study abroad and international student programs.

International student mobility offers great potential to provide the cross-cultural engagement opportunities necessary to develop the skills and dispositions to effectively engage in international leadership. However, when it comes to student mobility in and out of the United States (i.e., study abroad and international students), this potential is often unrealized due to issues of access and implementation. This chapter …

Institutional Researcher Reflexivity: How Ir Professionals Can Utilize Researcher Reflexivity In Qualitative Studies Of Community College Students, Elvira Abrica

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

In this paper, I argue that researcher reflexivity, a common qualitative practice, is a specific tool that institutional research professionals endeavoring to conduct qualitative research studies involving Students of Color can use to unpack issues of power and privilege that exist between the researcher and the researched. This may be particularly useful among institutional researchers working within community colleges that serve a disproportionate number of racially minoritized populations and other vulnerable student groups. I offer a reflexive account of various experiences related to race, gender, and social class that I encountered in a qualitative research study of Black and Latino …

International Students In Their Own Country: Motivation Of Vietnamese Graduate Students To Attend A Collaborative Transnational University, Christina W. Yao, Crystal E. Garcia

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Higher education institutions in Vietnam have embraced opportunities to collaborate internationally to address specific educational needs that have emerged as a result of an accelerated economic and political society. The shift to a global market-driven economy has resulted in the need to produce better prepared graduates, advance in technology, and a shift in teaching and learning practices. In this study, we examine the motivations of 22 Vietnamese graduate students to attend Vietnamese-German University (VGU). The site is of particular importance because VGU is a true collaboration between two different governments, resulting in a collaborative transnational university. The findings from this …

Best Laid Plans: How Community College Student Success Courses Work, Deryl K. Hatch, Naomi Mardock-Uman, Crystal E. Garcia, Mary Johnson

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Objective: Beyond understanding whether first-year student success interventions in community colleges are effective—for which there is mixed evidence in the literature—this study’s purpose was to uncover how they work to realize observed outcomes, including at times unanticipated undesirable outcomes.

Method: This qualitative multiple case study used cultural historical activity theory (CHAT) to unpack interactions and tensions among programmatic-level features and individual-level experiences and actions. We conducted classroom observation, document analysis, and interviews with instructors and students in four student success courses across diverse contexts.

Results: Regardless of particular designs and course emphases, we found in all cases a blurring of …

Reflexivity In International Contexts: Implications For U.S. Doctoral Students International Research Preparation, Christina W. Yao, Louise Michelle Vital

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Aim/Purpose Learning to conduct research, including considerations for concepts such as reflexivity, is a key component of doctoral student preparation in higher educa-tion. Yet limited attention is given to doctoral student training for conducting international research, particularly in understanding researcher reflexivity within international contexts.

Background Incorporating reflexive practices in one’s scholarship is of particular importance because international research often includes U.S.-based researchers working with cultural groups and contexts that are very different from them. Thus, we examined the following: how do novice U.S. trained researchers understand the role of their reflexivity in qualitative international research?

Methodology We utilized qualitative inquiry …

How To Measure Student Success? Toward Consideration Of Student Resilience As A Metric Of Success In Institutional Accountability Frameworks, Elvira Abrica

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Rates of student success—four-year transfer, degree, and certificate completion— are frequently discussed. Less frequent, however, are opportunities to reflect on how these outcomes are measured. In this paper, I reflect on how rates of success—specifically for men of color—are calculated based on two California institutional accountability frameworks. First, I compared measures of success for men of color using the methodologies outlined by each framework. Secondly, I explored enrollment data of men of color who did not transfer or complete a degree or certificate after six years, those who would not be counted by either framework. Findings indicate that some students …

Perspectives From Graduate Students On Effective Teaching Methods: A Case Study From A Vietnamese Transnational University, Christina W. Yao, Courtney Collins

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Vietnam is emerging as an accelerated economic and political society with an increased global presence; thus, increased attention has been given to producing qualified college graduates who can contribute to the growing global economy. Yet challenges exist due to lack of educational infrastructure and ineffective teaching practices. As a result, the Vietnamese government embraces international collaborations in higher education as a way to address educational needs; however, although research exists on policy implications and government priorities, very little is known about how students perceive the teaching methods provided at these collaborative transnational universities. The purpose of this qualitative case study …

The Road To Researcher: The Development Of Research Self-Efficacy In Higher Education Scholars, Elizabeth Niehaus, Crystal Garcia, Jillian N. Reading

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Aim/Purpose: Understanding how students develop a sense of efficacy as researchers can pro-vide faculty members in higher education doctoral programs insight into how to be more effective teachers and mentors, necessitating discipline-specific research on how graduate programs are and can be fostering students’ research self-efficacy (RSE). Thus, the purpose of this study was to explore how doctoral pro-grams and early research experiences contribute to the development of RSE in higher education scholars.

Background: Participants identified elements of the formal and “hidden” curriculumt pro-moted and inhibited RSE development.

Methodology: We employed multiple case study analysis of 17 individual early career scholars …

Absorptive Capacity In Rural Schools: Bending Not Breaking During Disruptive Innovation Implementation, Sarah J. Zuckerman, Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Kathryn S. Schiller, Francesca T. Durand

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Rural schools have repeatedly been subjected to standardizing state and federal education policies that seek to minimize variance in instructional systems and increase the number of college- and career-ready graduates. The Race to the Top policy agenda combined standards-based and accountability-based reforms to meet these objectives and once again subjected rural schools to innovations from outside experts. This qualitative study uses four instrumental cases of rural schools to understand: 1) leadership strategies, and 2) mechanisms and processes of alignment, which allowed schools to maintain high levels of student performance in the face of disruptive policy innovations. The fi ndings of …

Drivers For Change: A Study Of Distributed Leadership And Performance Adaptation During Policy Innovation Implementation, Sarah J. Zuckerman, Kristen Campbell Wilcox, Francesca T. Durand, Hal A. Lawson, Kathryn S. Schiller

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Scaling up innovation in the instructional core remains a vexing proposition. Such disruptive innovations require teachers to engage in performance adaptation. Schools vary in their capacity to support changes in teachers’ day-today work. By comparing distributed instructional leadership practices of “odds-beating” schools with those at “typically performing schools,” this study identified four qualities of distributed instructional leadership that drive teacher performance adaptation: collective goal setting, instructional feedback, collective guided learning, and trusting relationships. These findings reiterate the need for policy to go beyond standards and accountability mandates to focus on the right drivers of change: capacity building, and opportunities for …