Education Commons^™

Examining The Relationship Between Selected Grade 3-12 Teachers’ Perceived Assessment Literacy And Their Classroom Assessment Practices, Mark E. Hudson

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The study examined the self-reported understandings of selected 3rd to 12th grade teachers had of assessment and the assessment practices they reported implementing in their classrooms along with evidence extracted from written lesson plans. The literature on classroom assessment supports the idea that teachers who create meaningful assessments, offer corrective action, and give students multiple opportunities to demonstrate success can improve their instruction and increase student learning (Guskey, 2003). McMillan, Myran, and Workman (2002) argued that teachers’ understanding of assessment matters are inadequate; although there is common use of standardized math and reading tests, there is limited knowledge of how …

Using Pre-Calculus And Calculus Student Work To Examine Student Problem Solving Abilities In Online And Face-To-Face Mathematics Courses, Sarah Catherine Ferguson

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

This study compares the outcomes of student learning between two pairs of courses. Each pair of courses consists of an online section and a face-to-face section. One pair of courses focuses on pre-calculus content while the second pair focuses on calculus content. Both pairs of courses are taught by the same instructor using the same course appropriate materials. Participants for this study include 9 online and 14 face-to-face pre-calculus students and 14 online and 23 face-to-face calculus students from an urban community college in the southeastern portion of the U.S. Written responses from the subjects to a collection of problems …

An Eye Tracking Study To Investigate The Influence Of Language And Text Direction On Multimedia, Arwa Adulwahab Mashat

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated how native language orientation influences spatial bias, first visual fixation on screen, first visual fixation on pictures, learning outcomes, and mental effort of learners. Previous studies supported the effect of native language writing or reading direction on spatial bias, examining written text and images created by the participants (Barrett et al., 2002; Boroditsky, 2001; Chatterjee, Southwood & Basiko, 1999; Spalek & Hammad, 2005). However, no study investigated writing direction in multimedia presentations using eye tracking. This study addresses this gap.

A total of 84 participants completed the study forming four groups. The first group (NativeLeft_InstrEng) consisted of …

Digital Literacy Adoption With Academic Technology: Namely Digital Information Literacy To Enhance Student Learning Outcomes, Nancy Adam-Turner

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This study explores Arts & Science faculty and librarians’ attitude of learning theory and perceptions of digital literacy (DL) and how digital information literacy (DIL) might improve and enhance student learning outcomes. Digital literacy (DL), information literacy (IL), and digital information literacy (DIL) consists of interaction with academic technology (AT) programs and tools. The objectives are: the rise of IL within the parameters of DL and discuss the birth of DIL, examine the modes of adoption and explore the levels of inclusion for faculty and librarians’ concepts of DL with DIL instruction with AT, define the IL phenomenon, and how …

An Examination Of African American Male Students’ Perceptions Of Academic Success And Their Experiences At The Community College, Shashuna Jenean Gray

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The focus of this research is the perceptions of academic success held by African American male students attending a community college. Community colleges often serve as the gateway for unprepared, at-risk students. However, this group of students frequently fails to persist and matriculate even after six years of attendance. Understanding the perceptions of academic success within two defined groups of students, pre-enrollment and probationary, would allow community college leaders to efficiently allocate resources to ensure high levels of engagement within the college classroom.

The Correlation Between The National Survey Of Student Engagement Indicators And First Year Student Achievement, Satisfaction, And Retention, Larry Peck

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if the National Survey of Student Engagement indicators (NSSE), High-Impact Practices, demographic variables and non-involvement factors can significantly predict student achievement, satisfaction, and retention. The sample included data from 493 freshmen from a large public university in the Southeastern United States who participated in the National Survey of Student Engagement in 2015 and 2016. This study seeks to benefit instructional designers, educators, and educational institutions to maximize their resources and efforts to achieve maximum achievement, retention, and satisfaction.

The study concluded that achievement is highly correlated with higher-order learning, learning strategies, effective …

The Relationship Between Trauma Exposure And College Student Adjustment: Factors Of Resilience As A Mediator, Amber Leih Jolley

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Adjustment to college is an important developmental task for students entering institutions of higher education. More than half of students who enter college report exposure to a potentially traumatic event (PTE), with many students reporting multiple event exposure (Banyard & Cantor, 2004). Many students adjust well to college despite experiencing PTEs, suggesting that certain factors may mitigate the effects of exposure. This study utilized archival data to explore the relationship between the type of PTE, accumulation of PTEs, underlying factors of resilience, and adjustment to college in a national sample of treatment-seeking college students. The data were analyzed using hierarchical …

Cross-Racial Trust Factors: Exploring The Experiences Of Blacks Who Have Had White Mentors In The Counseling Profession, Eric Montrece Brown

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The primary researcher conducted a phenomenological study on cross-racial trust factors between Black doctoral students (n = 10) and their White mentors within the counseling profession. Three participants identified having a White professor as a mentor; two participants identified having White supervisors as mentors; five of the participants reported having both faculty members and supervisors as White mentors. Through semi-structured interviews, the primary researcher sought to ascertain what factors engendered cross-racial trust between Black doctoral students and White mentors within the counseling profession. The research team identified four superordinate themes related to cross-racial trust: contributors to trust, reasons for mistrust, …

Varying Feedback Strategy And Scheduling In Simulator Training: Effects On Learner Perceptions, Initial Learning, And Transfer, Sonya Bland-Williams

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This experimental study investigated the effects of visual feedback on initial learning, perceived self-efficacy, workload, near transfer, far transfer, and perceived realism during a simulator-based training task. Prior studies indicate that providing feedback is critical for schema development (Salmoni, Schmidt, & Walter 1984; Sterman, 1994). However, its influence has been shown to dissipate and is not directly proportionate to the frequency at which it is given (Wulf, Shea, & Matschiner, 1998). A total of 54 participants completed the study forming six treatment groups. The independent treatment, visual feedback, was manipulated as scheduling (absolute—every practice trial or relative—every third trial) and …

Assessing Learning Strategies With An Educational Video, David James Harrison

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Even though educational films and videos have been in used for a century, there remains insufficient research into efficacious learning strategies that can be used alongside them. This study sought to investigate active learning strategies as a method to improve learning from video. This true experimental study, supported and informed by qualitative data, examined three active learning strategies utilized within video-based instruction: Guided Notetaking, Personal Notetaking, and Guided Summaries. Outcome measures included three dimensions of learning (factual, conceptual, and procedural) on an immediate posttest, perceptions of extrinsic cognitive load, likelihood that participants would use the strategies again, how often participants …

Learning While Leading: A Multiple Case Study Of Principals' Ways Of Knowing, Marsha Caudill Cale

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Excellent school leadership is undeniably linked to improved student achievement. Due to the impact administrators have on school and student success, it is critical that current and aspiring principals receive high-quality training and support. Superior principal preparation programs and ongoing training opportunities are fundamental to fulfilling the need and improving student outcomes nationwide. A phenomenological case study approach was used to explore the factors contributing to the success of public school principals and examine from the practitioners’ perspective how they learned their craft. Adult learning theory is situated within the context of social constructivism, and used to critically examine the …

Facilitating Higher Levels Of Thinking And Deeper Cognitive Processing Of Course Texts Using Reciprocal Teaching Strategies In Asynchronous Discussion Forums, Jenifer R. Marquis

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Reciprocal teaching is an interactive instructional procedure that improves students’ text comprehension skills through instruction that utilizes scaffolds of four comprehension-fostering and comprehension-monitoring strategies: predicting, questioning, clarifying, and summarizing (Palincsar & Brown, 1984, 1986; Palincsar, Brown, & Martin, 1987). Reciprocal teaching involves student-led instruction, modeling, practice, and feedback in metacognitive self-monitoring and evaluating strategies (Brown, Campione, & Day, 1981). The purpose of this study was to determine the potential of reciprocal teaching to facilitate deeper cognitive processing and higher levels of thinking related to course texts in an online, asynchronous community college course. The strategies and peer teaching were incorporated …

Leadership Competency Perceptions Of Rural Community College Presidents In The Coastal Southeast Region, Keith A. Harkins

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

In a 2012 study, the American Association of Community Colleges noted over three quarters of community college presidents surveyed planned to retire in the next ten years. The rural community colleges in the Coastal Southeast Region face additional and unique challenges beyond the growing leadership shortage. Rural community colleges in the Coastal Southeast Region are often the focus of both educational and cultural development within the community. The rural community college president must lead the effort to advance the mission of the college and ensure the college leads the community in a positive direction. This study explored the perceptions of …

Working Together: Examining The Effects Of Parental And Community Involvement In Schools On School Delinquency, Erica Nicole Bower

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

How do we confront the problem of school delinquency? This study examined the impact of parental and community involvement in schools on school delinquency by employing a cross-sectional secondary data analysis of the 2008 School Survey on Crime and Safety. Bivariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that parental involvement in schools is significantly associated with and predictive of decreased school delinquency, while community involvement in schools is significantly associated with and predictive of increased school delinquency. Findings suggest that based on school administrator perceptions, stimulating parent involvement in schools and cultivating certain types of community involvement in schools may reduce delinquency …

Being Retained: Perspective Of The Online First-Year Composition Student, Catrina Marie Mitchum

English Theses & Dissertations

Keeping students in college classrooms can be a struggle, but keeping them in an online classroom is an even more difficult feat. While the field of retention research has expanded its focus beyond traditional four-year students to include a variety of non-traditional student situations, including online, it has yet to focus efforts on online first-year composition at the community college. The first-year of college has been shown to be the most critical in student retention at the institutional level, which puts first-year composition in a potentially influential position. The fact that fewer students are retained in online courses than face-to-face …

The Effect Of Device When Using Smartphones And Computers To Answer Multiple-Choice And Open-Response Questions In Distance Education, Thomas Royce Wilson

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

Traditionally in higher education, online courses have been designed for computer users. However, the advent of mobile learning (m-learning) and the proliferation of smartphones have created two challenges for online students and instructional designers. First, instruction designed for a larger computer screen often loses its effectiveness when displayed on a smaller smartphone screen. Second, requiring students to write remains a hallmark of higher education, but miniature keyboards might restrict how thoroughly smartphone users respond to open- response test questions. The present study addressed both challenges by featuring m-learning’s greatest strength (multimedia) and by investigating its greatest weakness (text input).

The …

A Delphi Study Of Aviation Maintenance Experts' Recommendations For A Model School Curriculum, Fred D. Dyen

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

The program described in this paper is the essential first step in reviving and reinitiating the delivery of aviation maintenance technology instruction. The demand for aviation maintenance technicians (AMTs) is rapidly increasing and there is a need to provide as many as 679,000 AMTs over the next 20 years (Boeing, 2016). Given the high cost of certification, new aviation maintenance schools are unlikely to be certificated in the near future, and ramping up the existing schools to meet the anticipated demand is unlikely without incorporating attractive cost-effective measures such as competency-based and distance education.

The purpose of this study is …

Exploring Culturally Relevant Leadership Practices: A Qualitative Case Study Of One Eastern Virginia High School, Donna Weingand

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

There is a need for equity in our schools—especially with respect to the impact of equity on student achievement—and it is important for educational leaders to not only identify issues of teachers’ cultural and ethnic biases in the classroom, but for educational leaders to feel comfortable tackling these issues in an effort to move toward a more socially just educational climate and culture. The purpose of this study was to not only identify how and to what extent culturally relevant instruction and leadership practices manifest in one Southeastern Virginia School, but also the ways that school leaders foster a culturally …

An Exploratory Factor Analysis Examining Experiences And Perceptions Of Campus Safety For International Students, Sonia H. Ramrakhiani

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Although international students make up a significant percentage of the college population and contribute to higher education institutions in multiple ways, a lack of attention is paid to their safety needs. This dissertation examined the experiences and perceptions of campus safety among international college/university students in the United States. The researcher sampled participants from different institutions around the country, who self-identified as international students. A researcher-developed 53-item Likert scale questionnaire, International Students’ Safety Questionnaire (ISSQ), was administered to the sample. Findings from the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) provided evidence for the four-factor solution for the 26-item ISSQ accounting for 48.65% …

Enhancing Early Interventionists' Abilities To Support Caregiver Learning Through Multi-Component, Technology-Mediated Inservice Professional Development, Dana C. Childress

Communication Disorders & Special Education Theses & Dissertations

In order to have qualified service providers from a variety of disciplines (e.g., early childhood special education, physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech-language pathology) who are well-prepared to provide effective early intervention (EI), high quality professional development is needed that is easily accessed by service providers and enhances their abilities to implement specific, evidence-based intervention practices with children and families. Because of the family-centered nature of EI, service providers must be knowledgeable about how to support caregiver learning during EI visits, using practices that are grounded in adult learning theory. The case study research project described in this dissertation addresses those …

Immersive Telepresence And Student Perceptions Of Instructor Credibility And Immediacy, Miguel Ramlatchan

Distance Learning Faculty & Staff Publications

Immersive telepresence systems offer a new standard of high definition video, high resolution audio, life size displays, camera and microphone arrays that together create a new level of seamless video conferencing experiences. The result is a communication and learning environment that virtually recreates the immediacy of face-to-face group conversations. However, few quantitative research studies have been conducted to test the return on investment compared to the impact on students. This presentation presents the early findings of an experimental study that investigated the learning effectiveness and student perceptions of instructor credibility and immediacy. These results were compared to other online multimedia …

The Public Fallout Of The Humanities Crisis: Critiquing The Public Turn In Rhetoric And Composition Studies, Mary Beth Pennington, Tonya Ritola, Belinda Walzer

English Faculty Publications

[First paragraph]

RECENTLY, KENTUCKY GOVERNOR Matt Bevin stated unequivocally that college students majoring in electrical engineering were more deserving of state funding than those majoring in French literature (Cohen). In a primary debate for the election of 2016, Republican presidential candidate Senator Marco Rubio cautioned philosophy majors that they would be better off learning how to weld (Rappeport), and within the last two years, the Obama administration proposed that we begin ranking US colleges and universities on earnings after graduation—a proposal that rankled colleges and universities and sent humanities scholars into an even deeper tailspin (Shear).

Between Smoke And Crystal: Accomplishing In(Ter)Dependent Writing Programs, Louise Wetherbee Phelps

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

Asking Questions In The Classroom: An Exploration Of Tools And Techniques Used In The Library Instruction Classroom, Sara Maurice Whitver, Leo S. Lo

Libraries Faculty & Staff Publications

This study explores the tools and techniques used within the library instruction classroom to facilitate a conversation about teaching practices. Researchers focused on the questioning methods employed by librarians, specifically the number of questions asked by librarians and students. This study was comprised of classroom observations of a team of librarians working towards standardized learning outcomes; members of the team had the freedom to independently develop lesson plans and choose teaching approaches for each class. Observations measured the frequency of questions asked of and answered by librarians and students in library instruction sessions via oral discussion, worksheets, and polling. Researchers …

Missed School Days: A Correlational Study Between Children With Asthma And Presence Of School Nurses, Shea Brodeur, Caitlyn O’Connor, Rebekah Synowietz, Carrie Carson, Olubukola Goboze, Cierra Patterson

OUR Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal

Currently, there is a lack of research on the relationship between full-time nurse presence in schools and absenteeism among school-aged children with asthma. The purpose of this paper is to determine the correlation between the amount of time school-aged children are absent and the amount of time a school nurse is absent. A nonexperimental quantitative descriptive correlational study will be conducted with 14 randomly selected participating schools in the Chesapeake public school district. Each school will receive a questionnaire inquiring about the number of asthmatic children enrolled in the school, number of absences of said children, weekly hours the school …

Listening To The Divine Song Within The Greater Song Of Life, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

[First section]

Why I Teach Listening to the Divine Song

This autoethnography narrates how I came to teach listening to the divine song as part of an undergraduate listening course called Listening to the SONG of Life.¹ Before I describe two personal stories that explain why I teach listening to the divine, a brief introduction to my interpretation of the autoethnographic method is in order.

Autoethnography, as used in this story, is grounded in the assumptions that language is a primary medium by which we are conscious, understand the world, and communicate our learnings to others in stories,^{2 …}

Stand At Ease, Then Forward, March!, Janice E. Hawkins

Nursing Faculty Publications

(First paragraph) I enlisted in the U.S. Army in 1985. After reporting for basic training, I learned to execute military formation maneuvering commands. Military formations help organize ceremonial parades, gain tactical advantage, and create discipline. It occurs to me that the same elements that contribute to effective functioning of a military unit- ceremony, tactical planning, and discipline- also contribute to achieving one's goals after completing graduate school.

Longitudinal Academic Performance Analysis Using A Two-Step Clustering Methodology, Volkan Cakir, Adrian Gheorghe

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

The present study aims to examine the academic profiles of industrial engineering undergraduate students among a sample group of military college engineering students (N=276) in order to determine the factors impacting academic performance; to compare student groups that were identified by course scores, and to analyse performance changes over four academic years. The study started with data collection, database creation and preparation for clustering study. A two-step clustering methodology was used for grouping courses based on academic performance and context similarities. The clustering methodology results are validated by discriminant analysis. Student movements among clusters over the four years are identified …

Toys Redesigned: The Intersection Of Industrial Technology And Service-Learning Principles, Jill Stefaniak, Petros Katsioloudis, Basim Matrood

STEMPS Faculty Publications

To provide students with a situated learning experience that encouraged them to develop creative design solutions, the authors created a service-learning activity that required industrial technology students to apply design principles and procedures to design and develop toys to be given to pediatric patients at a local children's hospital. The following are excerpts from student reflections addressing the technological skills used and key takeaways from the project: * "I was able to use my mechanical skills in this project by knowing how to operate the drill press and by cutting all the pieces that were needed and assembling them." * …

Implementing Peer-Review Activities For Engineering Writing Assignments, Stacie I. Ringleb, Orlando M. Ayala, Jennifer Kidd

Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Faculty Publications

Professional engineers spend a considerable portion of their day writing, yet disciplinary writing skills are not addressed in many engineering courses. This study investigates peer review as a mean to enhance student writing in engineering courses. Students completed formative peer reviews using an online peer review system for a group project in a fluid mechanics course (with online and face-to-face sections) and for an individual writing assignment in a senior capstone class in mechanical engineering. A university-wide rubric for disciplinary writing was used to assess student writing performance on interim and final assignments completed over the course of a semester. …