Education Commons^™

Comparing Mississippi's Public University Graduation Rates For Community College Completers And Non-Completers, Andrew Clark Dale

Dissertations

This study is based on the notion that in Mississippi, a large number of Mississippi community college academic students transfer to 4-year universities in-state, as is the case in Alabama (Sacksteder LaClair, 2010). Mississippi community colleges have had a hard time tracking students who leave the institution without graduating. This study sought to document the most accurate numbers in community college completers and discover how many of Mississippi’s community college students are successful at the university level. Data were collected on former community college students at five of the state’s eight public four-year universities. The study revealed that 82% of …

A Study Of The Teaching Beliefs Of The Modern Post Secondary Science Instructor And Implications They May Hold For The Future Of Science Education, Michael Charles Howard

Dissertations

It was the purpose of this study to examine the teaching beliefs of community college science instructors and discover whether their teaching beliefs were student oriented or instructor oriented. In addition, this study sought to examine demographic factors and find their relation, if any, to these teaching beliefs, as well as explore topics that may be useful in the future to helping community colleges science instructors’ curricula and beliefs come together and work in unison. To do this, the study built on the foundation laid by Sampson et al., in their creation of the Beliefs about Reformed Science Teaching and …

Exploring Perceived Norms And Protective Strategies: Self-Consciousness And Gender As Moderators, Jeremy James Noble

Dissertations

College alcohol abuse has been a staple in the college environment over the past 30 years (Johnston, O’Malley, Bachman, & Schulenberg, 2011) resulting in numerous negative consequences (Hingson, Edwards, Heeren, & Rosenbloom, 2009). Protective behavioral strategies (PBS) reduce the negative consequences typically associated with alcohol use (Martens et al., 2004). A positive relationship exists between perceived norms of PBS use and PBS use (Benton, Downey, Glider, & Benton, 2008), and an individual’s level of self-consciousness moderates the relationship between perceived norms and alcohol use (LaBrie, Hummer, & Neighbors, 2008). The relationship between perceived norms and PBS use under the conditions …

Online Versus Face-To-Face Biology: A Comparison Of Student Transactional Distance, Approach To Learning, And Knowledge Outcomes, Mary Erin Riggins

Dissertations

Community colleges are among many other institutions increasing course offerings online, but there is still some concern about the quality of online learning. Educator concerns, a lack of empirical evidence on biology courses offered online, and the need for an equal opportunity for education support the need for clarification of the quality of distance education in biology, especially in the community college setting. Student attitudes, approaches to learning, and performance should all be studied in order to formulate a better evaluation of the quality and effectiveness of online courses (Svirko & Mellanby, 2008).

The purpose of this study was to …

Examining Student Perceptions: Ethics And Misconduct In Today's Police Department, William Andrew Davis

Master's Theses

Police ethics and decision making are issues of concern to both academic scholars and police leaders. While previous studies have focused on perceptions of police officers, little research has focused on the perceptions of young people about police ethical decision-making. This study aims to capture such perceptions from a cohort of college students majoring in criminal justice. Students from an undergraduate criminal justice program (n=263) were surveyed to determine their attitudes toward various ethical components of police work, including the prevalence of misconduct and the impact of a college education on ethical decision-making. Moreover, the effect of successful completion of …

Conceptualizing Doctoral Student Mentoring, Flint L. Brent

Dissertations

In this study, there was a convenience sample of 145 doctoral students from 35 states and the District of Columbia. The demographic breakdown of the participants was 101 females and 44 males, with an age range of 22 through 68 years of age, and there were 98 Caucasian and 23 African American participants. The modal doctoral student was 36 years old, heterosexual, Caucasian, and female in the dissertation phase of pursuing a PhD. In this study, the modal doctoral student defined an ideal mentor as someone who functions as a role model, and demonstrated integrity, provided guidance, and developed a …

Reflective Practice In A Coach Education Practicum, Clayton Roth Kuklick

Dissertations

Researchers have explored how practicing sport coaches learn through reflection (Gilbert & Trudel, 2001); however, there is a paucity of research that explains how and why higher education coach preparation students learn through reflection. The purpose of the current study was to understand how and why 21 coaching students enrolled in a practicum course at a southeastern United States institution engage in reflective practice. This research was conducted using a one group pretest posttest mix methods research design and draws upon Schön’s (1983, 1987) work on reflective practice, which underpinned a set of online structured reflective journaling prompts used as …

Csi Effect And Forensic Science/Criminal Justice Degree Programs, Megan Dutton Mccay

Dissertations

This research sought to determine the relationship between obtaining a criminal justice or forensic science degree and the CSI Effect followed by whether the students were satisfied with their major selection. Additionally, this research sought to determine if there were discrepancies between students’ expectations before entering the forensic science or criminal justice degree program and students’ attitudes while enrolled in the forensic science or criminal justice degree program. One hundred and ninety-six participants responded to a 33-item survey instrument over a three week time period. It was determined there was a television influence on students’ major selection in the forensic …

Bridging The Gap: Understanding, Anticipating, And Responding To The Needs Of Student Veterans In A Bachelor Of Science In Nursing Program, Larry Michael Stowers

Doctoral Projects

The passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act Amendment Act (ADAAA) of 2008 and the Post-9/11 Veterans Assistance Act of 2008 have afforded veterans the opportunity to pursue post-secondary education. Since October 2001, over 2 million American men and women in uniform have deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OIF). While thousands of returning combat veterans take advantage of recent legislation that helps pay for their education, they face new challenges in the classroom. This nation’s veterans represent a group of diverse individuals who bring different experiences, thus different perspectives than traditional college-aged students. …

Persuasion In Higher Education: Recruitment Of High Ability Students, Ann Marie Chilcutt

Honors Theses

Recruiting high ability students to institutions of higher education varies from university to university and is one of the most important variables for the continuing of successful colleges. This study focused on the variables that were most important to the current cohort of high ability freshmen at the University of Southern Mississippi. The aim of this study was to identify attitudinal and normative communicative components that are most effective for recruiting high ability students to the University of Southern Mississippi. By surveying this cohort of students, and using the Theory of Reasoned Action as a tool in creating questions for …

Mental Visualization Of Three-Dimensional Space: New Tools And Challenges In Building Design Education, Breshawn C. Mcneal

Honors Theses

As a future building design professional, a student’s ability to mentally “picture” second and third dimensional concepts is important. Learning the fundamentals of mental visualization is tantamount to laying the foundation for a building. Sketching, one of the skills required to bring a building concept to life, helps the student rapidly record their first brilliant thought. Though modern CAD software has the capability to auto-develop a three-dimensional structure, the user constructs a two-dimensional floor plan first, so the program output is based on the user’s initial input. Therefore, the quality of the three-dimensional design is linked to the student’s ability …

Being Nontraditional And Learning Online: Assessing The Psychosocial Learning Environments, Self-Efficacy, And Affective Outcomes Among College Student Groups, Roslyn La'toya Ashford

Dissertations

The study compared traditional and nontraditional students’ attitudes about the psychosocial learning environment and their influence on self-efficacy, enjoyment of online learning, and student satisfaction by using Moos’ (1979) Model of Environmental and Personal Variables and the three dimensions of social climate as its theoretical framework. Traditional and nontraditional students were selected based on known differences between their personal characteristics/traits. A total of 151 undergraduate students taking online classes at a university in the southeastern United States participated in the online quantitative pretest/posttest. The findings revealed that nontraditional students preferred less student interaction and collaboration and more asynchronicity than traditional …

A Policy Framed Analysis Of The Valley Of Death In U.S. University Technology Transfer, William Ker Ferguson

Dissertations

At least as far back as the enactment of the Bayh-Dole Act of 1980 there has been an ongoing desire on the part of politicians, policy-makers and the public in the U.S., to obtain greater economic returns on the federal investment in publicly funded university research. Today among policy-makers there is an apparent belief that a capital shortage in the mid-stages of technological development is the rate-limiting factor, preventing the maximum flow of university inventive knowledge from entering the marketplace. The consequence is a Valley of Death demise for the vast majority of university inventions. In order to mitigate the …

The Scholarship Of Teaching At Community Colleges, Patrice Arleanor Williams

Dissertations

This dissertation addresses engagement in the scholarship of teaching (SoT) at the community college level. A basic overview of the origin of the concept, a discussion of some of the key publications in the body of literature on the topic, and the details and results of a study on the topic—including suggestions for further research—are provided here.

The study involved full-time community college faculty members, representing institutions throughout the United States. Thirty-nine participants completed a 53-item questionnaire developed by the researcher. The goal of the study was to determine if a relationship existed between engagement in SoT and teaching satisfaction …

A Beacon Of Light: Tougaloo During The Presidency Of Dr. Adam Daniel Beittel (1960-1964), John Gregory Speed

Dissertations

This study examines leadership efforts that supported the civil rights movements that came from administrators and professors, students and staff at Tougaloo College between 1960 and 1964. A review of literature reveals that little has been written about the college‘s role in the Civil Rights Movement during this time. Thus, one goal of this study is to fill a gap in the historical record.

A second purpose of this study is to examine the challenges of progressive leadership at a historically Black college in Mississippi during the Civil Rights Movement when a White president was at the helm.

When Dr. …

Self-Determination Theory As A Pedagogical Foundation For Collegiate Physical Activity Courses, Scot Edward Long

Dissertations

Inactivity, obesity and associated medical, social and economic problems are pervasive in contemporary society. Modern science is aware of the preventative role physical activity offers in deterrence of these problems and the benefits physical education offers. Traditionally, physical education has focused primarily on physiological variables; however, physical activity begins with a behavioral change. Motivation is the necessary factor to initiate physical activity and self-determination theory (SDT) can be used to explain learner motivation in the world of collegiate physical education. Institutionalized schooling is typically performed in a controlling nature, which creates a poor environment for learning and motivation. The purpose …

Race, Gender, And Faculty Advancement At American Colleges And Universities, James Sharell Bridgeforth

Dissertations

Women and people of color are underrepresented in the American professoriate; although the presence of female faculty and professors of color is beneficial to the academy on various levels, these groups often face many barriers and challenges throughout the promotion and tenure process. This study was designed to examine whether race, gender, or a combination of race and gender made a statistically significant difference in reported opportunities for mentorship, faculty socialization, and scholarship in regard to faculty advancement in the academy. Data were collected from 650 tenured and tenure-track faculty through an online questionnaire. The data analysis revealed that women …

Growth And Decline Of "Second Life" As An Educational Platform, Christine Libby Mark

Dissertations

Second Life, a 3D online immersive virtual environment, emerged in 2003 and was predicted to become the predominant online course delivery platform by 2013. Educational institutions initially rushed to create a presence in the Second Life; however, after 2009 those same institutions were disappointed by their experiences and deserted the virtual world. This study sought to uncover the reasons for the rapid decline of such a highly lauded educational platform. Using a mixed methods research design, utilizing a qualitative phenomenology with in-depth personal interviews of higher education administrators followed by a detailed quantitative survey instrument, the researcher was able to …