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Full-Text Articles in Education

The Social-Psychological Development Of Dual-Enrollment Students, Paulie Robinson-Stevens Aug 2023

The Social-Psychological Development Of Dual-Enrollment Students, Paulie Robinson-Stevens

Culminating Experience Projects

Dual enrollment is a college acceleration program that allows high school students to take college classes while still in high school. This program as it exists today prepares students for the academic rigors of college, but it does not adequately develop the social or psychological skills they need to succeed in a college environment. Dual enrollment programs also do not include information about transfer credits, financial aid, or support services, all of which are necessary for students to transition from high school to a higher education institution. This project proposes a nine-week seminar to complement the academic preparation dual enrollment …


Mental Health Education In Higher Education, Chelsea J. Farley Aug 2023

Mental Health Education In Higher Education, Chelsea J. Farley

Culminating Experience Projects

This project dives into the current mental health status of college students and what institutions are doing to address students steady and continuous decline of mental health. Mental Health 101: A Comprehensive Guide for Faculty incorporates suggestions from literature and theory to provide resources to faculty members when educating students. Mental Health 101 was created with the social-ecological model in mind (Bronfenbrenner, 1979) by connecting the individual student to their environment, or in this case, the college classroom. The guide consists of information about mental health such as risk factors and warning signs, coping strategies, activities, and assignments faculty members …


Facilitating Sense Of Belonging For Collectivist International Students: Intervention Strategy Utilizing Peer Support, Taylor Marie Wieringa Apr 2023

Facilitating Sense Of Belonging For Collectivist International Students: Intervention Strategy Utilizing Peer Support, Taylor Marie Wieringa

Culminating Experience Projects

International student populations have persisted in higher education with limited support. Research regarding international student experiences from collectivist home countries have found that mentorship programs could be helpful in assisting with transition and overcoming culture shock, yet few current intervention strategies go beyond international student orientation. This project explores relevant literature regarding barriers unique to students from collectivist home countries as they adjust to the individualist culture of American colleges and universities. With these barriers in mind, this project also explores peer mentorship as an intervention strategy to engage international collectivist students and assist in feeling that they belong on …


Analysis Of Disability Support Resources At Grand Valley State, Calle Faerber Apr 2023

Analysis Of Disability Support Resources At Grand Valley State, Calle Faerber

Honors Projects

In order to receive support and accommodations in postsecondary education, students must self-report their disability to the institution they attend. Due to this policy, there are many barriers that students may face in their pursuit of these services. Barriers include fear of negative perceptions of disabilities by faculty or peers, negative perceptions of accommodations, and lengthy documentation requirements. This study aimed to determine the potential barriers for students at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) and what the university is doing to address these barriers. In this study, a total of 28 undergraduate students at GVSU were surveyed and one staff …


Elements Of Early Warning Systems: Identifying Students Who Need Support Early Enough To Change Their Trajectory Towards Graduation, Samantha Mayse Dec 2022

Elements Of Early Warning Systems: Identifying Students Who Need Support Early Enough To Change Their Trajectory Towards Graduation, Samantha Mayse

Culminating Experience Projects

Student success initiatives have been a focus at many institutions of higher education to help with retention rates but identifying the students who need the student success resources most can be challenging. Scholarships increase access to higher education but do not necessarily contribute to student success. Thus, this research project sought to analyze early alert systems used by mid-sized universities in the U.S. Midwest to help similar institutions in developing their own early alert system. Using mixed methods, this study included a qualitative analysis of institution’s policies and procedures for early warning systems and a quantitative analysis of GVSU institutional …


Resiliency In The Shadows Of The Ivory Tower: Examining The Strategies Utilized By Undocumented Students To Succeed In Higher Education, Estefany Paniagua-Pardo M.Ed May 2022

Resiliency In The Shadows Of The Ivory Tower: Examining The Strategies Utilized By Undocumented Students To Succeed In Higher Education, Estefany Paniagua-Pardo M.Ed

Masters Theses

Undocumented students experience uniquely distinctive barriers in their pursuit of postsecondary education. The purpose of this study was to explore the ways in which undocumented students make meaning of their lived experiences by examining the various dimensions of their educational journey outside of the broader legal and political context. The study specifically highlighted undocumented student stories to investigate the strategies used by individuals to survive, persevere, and navigate institutions of higher education. Rooted in Yosso’s (2005) Community Cultural Wealth Model, this qualitative study used semi-structured interview methodology to unveil the ways in which undocumented students utilize numerous and intersecting forms …


Invisible, Yet Criminal: Best Practices For Supporting Student Sex Workers Throughout Higher Education, Anthony Alan Ruegsegger Apr 2022

Invisible, Yet Criminal: Best Practices For Supporting Student Sex Workers Throughout Higher Education, Anthony Alan Ruegsegger

Culminating Experience Projects

While it is not new information that college students may engage in sex work throughout their academic careers, it still remains a somewhat taboo topic throughout academia and higher education in the United States. Student sex workers face institutional and societal barriers typically associated with minoritized identities, and post-secondary institutions rarely have resources in place to support these students. This project aims to help bridge this gap by utilizing the polymorphous paradigm and an anti-savior lens to create a list of best practices for higher education faculty, staff, and administrators to better support students that are engaging in sex work. …


Struggling: The Struggles Of Queer And Trans* Students In Higher Edcuation, Giavonna Ward Apr 2022

Struggling: The Struggles Of Queer And Trans* Students In Higher Edcuation, Giavonna Ward

Culminating Experience Projects

Queer and trans* students tend to struggle during their time at higher education institutions. They face struggles in various areas of their academic experience including their mental health struggles, in their social and academic integration, and in their experiences with housing and residence life. All these areas could lead to the lack of retention for queer and trans* students in higher education. This project aims to mitigate these struggles through the creation of an intentionally built living-learning community. The community, entitled Thrive, is designed specifically to acknowledge, and help diminish the struggles that queer and trans* students face according to …


English-For-Teaching In Higher Education: Discourse Functions And Language Exemplars, Eun-Young Julia Kim Nov 2021

English-For-Teaching In Higher Education: Discourse Functions And Language Exemplars, Eun-Young Julia Kim

MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL

Increasingly more colleges and universities in non-English speaking countries are requiring instructors to teach in English. Although existing research addresses various issues related to using English as a medium of instruction in higher education, few studies have specifically addressed how to provide language scaffolding to college instructors who are asked to teach their subjects in English for the first time. The study builds on Freeman et al.’s (2015) discourse functions for English-for-teaching and presents a refined functional framework to suit college-level classes. It provides authentic language samples to help instructors prepare to teach in English based on the analysis of …


A Look Into Transition Programs For First Year Students With Disabilities In Higher Education: How To Create A Transition Program To Support Student Success, Gillian R. Lazzarini Apr 2021

A Look Into Transition Programs For First Year Students With Disabilities In Higher Education: How To Create A Transition Program To Support Student Success, Gillian R. Lazzarini

Culminating Experience Projects

Students with disabilities face a myriad of challenges to persistence and success in higher education (Weis et al., 2016). This is largely caused by the fact that there are different laws and policies that govern secondary education and higher education, which can result in an adverse impact on transition services for students with disabilities. Therefore, this project analyzes the transition from secondary education to higher education for students with disabilities and looks at transition programs as a tool to support student success. Students with disabilities often have issues building community, navigating support services and accommodations, as well as practicing self-advocacy …


Examining How White College Women Make Meaning Of Their Identities And Experiences After Studying Abroad In A Non-European Country, Damaris Renee Crocker De Ruiter Jun 2020

Examining How White College Women Make Meaning Of Their Identities And Experiences After Studying Abroad In A Non-European Country, Damaris Renee Crocker De Ruiter

Masters Theses

One of the many ways higher education institutions attempt to provide students with an opportunity to examine conflicting identities is through study abroad experiences. The purpose of this study was to explore how White college women make meaning of their privileged and oppressed identities after returning from studying abroad in a non-European country. It focused specifically on issues related to their gender identity, racial identity, and their nationality. This qualitative study was rooted in grounded theory (Charmaz, 2014). The theoretical frameworks guiding this study were the Model of Multiple Dimensions of Identity (MMDI) (Jones & McEwen, 2000; Abes, Jones, & …


Access To Higher Education Through Community-Based Organizations, Irma Y. Ramirez Apr 2018

Access To Higher Education Through Community-Based Organizations, Irma Y. Ramirez

Masters Theses

Although low-income students of color share similar desires as their White, affluent counterparts to attend college, studies indicate that they are at a disadvantage in accumulating the dominant social capital needed to access higher education. Research has yet to explore the accumulation of social capital through community-based organizations to help students access higher education. The purpose of this exploratory qualitative study was to identify the strategies community-based organizations use to help low-income students of color access higher education, using a social capital framework. Nine participants from three different types of community-based organizations participated in this study, including staff, students, and …


The Quest For Respect: Esl Faculty And Programs In U.S. Higher Education, Ildiko Porter-Szucs Oct 2017

The Quest For Respect: Esl Faculty And Programs In U.S. Higher Education, Ildiko Porter-Szucs

MITESOL Journal: An Online Publication of MITESOL

Relying on data from two nationwide surveys, this study examines the status of ESL programs in primarily U.S. higher educational settings as perceived by professionals in such programs. The focus is on the perceived lack of recognition and on measures taken against it. Survey respondents make suggestions for increasing the field’s visibility and respect on campus through interdepartmental outreach, policy and curricular initiatives, marketing, publishing/presenting, and academic as well as non-academic initiatives involving students.


The Final Battle: Constructs Of Hegemonic Masculinity And Hypermasculinity In Fraternity Membership, Alex Zernechel, April L. Perry Jul 2017

The Final Battle: Constructs Of Hegemonic Masculinity And Hypermasculinity In Fraternity Membership, Alex Zernechel, April L. Perry

College Student Affairs Leadership

This article explores the correlation between membership in a fraternal organization and masculinity identity development. Masculinity is embedded into the very foundation of the American fraternity culture. Fraternal organizations have served as a haven for young men that support the development of hegemonic masculinity and hypermasculinity, while preventing those same students from being exposed to opposing personality traits and challenges to their own idea of masculinity. In this paper, we present literature on hypermasulinity, fraternities, and a synthesis of the two. Based on the information presented, we make a call to action to educators and university administrators to help young …


Where Did They Go: Retention Rates For Students Of Color At Predominantly White Institutions, Kevin S. Mcclain, April Perry Jul 2017

Where Did They Go: Retention Rates For Students Of Color At Predominantly White Institutions, Kevin S. Mcclain, April Perry

College Student Affairs Leadership

The United States higher education system is comprised of students from various racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. Despite appearing diverse on the surface, many predominantly White institutions (PWIs) encounter impediments in retaining and graduating students of color. Over the past few decades, universities have made tremendous strides to correct past transgressions, which contributed to high dropout and transfer rates amongst students of color. Despite college’s efforts to be inclusive, discriminatory acts still occur on college campuses. Research has shown that campus racial climate contributes to the retention of students of color within the college. This literature review will delve into …


Online Graduate Educational Technology Program: An Illuminative Evaluation, Andrew Topper, Sean Lancaster Oct 2016

Online Graduate Educational Technology Program: An Illuminative Evaluation, Andrew Topper, Sean Lancaster

Funded Articles

With continued growth in online courses and programs in higher education a pressing need exists to evaluate their perceived quality and effectiveness. Evaluation criteria – course evaluations, student surveys and retention data – from previous online program evaluations were used in this study. An illuminative evaluation using descriptive and scientific analysis was undertaken for a graduate degree program in educational technology. Course and program-level data were analyzed to compare quality for two programs – an existing hybrid and new online. Analysis of student enrollments, course evaluations, survey results, retention, and time to completion reveal similar experiences reported from students in …


African American Women In Higher Education: Issues And Support Strategies, Cynthia C. Bartman Nov 2015

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.


Nerds: A Reclamation Of An Identity, Angiola L. Gabriel Apr 2015

Nerds: A Reclamation Of An Identity, Angiola L. Gabriel

Masters Theses

The term nerd has seen an alteration in usage since it was first used in the 1950s. Originally, nerd carried a negative connotation and people labeled as such were given or had traits such as being overly studious, socially inept, or physically unattractive. However, the term nerd has seen a change in usage since the 1980s; now, the term nerd is seen as a more positive identifier that denotes passion, as well as individuality and intellectualism. There a number of different studies that address nerd identities and cultures in the K-12 educational setting and a broader societal contexts. Yet, there …


Paradoxes Of Online Teaching, David E. Bair, Mary A. Bair Jan 2011

Paradoxes Of Online Teaching, David E. Bair, Mary A. Bair

Peer Reviewed Articles

While much attention is paid to students’ experiences in online courses, there is sparse information regarding the experiences of faculty who teach online. Two university instructors address this gap in the literature and present an analysis of their experiences teaching graduate and undergraduate teacher-education classes at a university in the Midwestern United States. In this collaborative self-study, the authors analyze data consisting of their reflections and discussions, anonymous student surveys, anonymous course evaluations, and online observations by other faculty. They argue that online instruction poses several paradoxes. These paradoxical experiences illuminate the need for additional research about faculty experiences with …