Education Commons^™

A Story Of Change: Adult Learners’ Experiences Of Questioning Their Beliefs And Assumptions In A Graduate Course In Reflective Practice, Megumu Doi Burress

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the experience of students in a graduate course on the topic of Reflective Practice (RP). A phenomenological method was utilized to frame interviews with eight students discussing challenges to their beliefs and assumptions that arose during the course.

Based on a thematic analysis of the interview data, three major figural themes and one ground theme emerged. The three figural themes indicated that participants experienced changes in their beliefs and assumptions about student-to-student and student-to-teacher relationships and about similarities and differences among their own and others’ belief systems, in addition to their own …

Perceptions Of Political, Academic, And Corporate Leaders: Higher Education Accountability In Georgia, Leslie Gene Fout

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine Georgia political, academic, and corporate leaders’ perceptions of higher education accountability. A case study design was used to gain in-depth information. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 23 participants.

The findings of the study included the following:

1. Nearly every participant believed the mission and purpose higher education involved providing students with the skills and abilities needed to obtain gainful employment, and thereby make a positive impact on the economic development of the state of Georgia.
2. Approximately half of the participants believed higher education should cultivate an engaged citizenry.
3. No consensus was …

I Know I Can Learn: The Experiences Of Ncaa Division I – Fbs Student-Athletes With Learning Disabilities And/Or Adhd In Higher Education, Sarah Elizabeth Stokowski

Doctoral Dissertations

With the evolvement of the NCAA’s initial and continuing eligibility practices throughout the past two decades, interest in studying the experience of student-athletes has increased (Gayles, 2009). Student-athletes have long been stereotyped as “dumb jocks” (Harrison et al., 2009; Sack & Staurowsky, 1988). Campus groups such as faculty members and students suspect that student-athletes lack intelligence (King & Springwood, 2001; Sailes, 1998), and put forth far less motivation in the classroom than they do on the playing field (Baucom & Lantz, 2001; Burke, 1993; Watt & Moore, 2001).

Student-athletes, especially those with learning disabilities can potentially face harsh scrutiny due …

Conversations With A Phenomenologist: A Phenomenologically Oriented Case Study Of Instructional Planning, Karen Anne Franklin

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the instructional planning practices of one university professor as he prepared to teach weekly classes for a seminar in existential phenomenology. I applied the phenomenological pedagogy of van Manen and the phenomenological philosophy of Merleau-Ponty, Husserl, Heidegger, and Gadamer in order to understand the process this professor undertook as he planned instruction for his graduate course. The study is a phenomenologically oriented, illustrative, and descriptive case study of this professor’s planning practices over the course of one semester in the context in which those practices occurred.

Findings from this study demonstrate that Dr. Pollio’s instructional planning is …

Nobel Women: Readers' Theater For Global Education, Dorothy Elizabeth Blanks

Doctoral Dissertations

Global interdependence has huge implications for the field of education. As economic, technological, cultural, transportation, and environmental concerns become not only local but international, students today must gain awareness outside of their immediate city, county, state, and country if they are to be successful citizens of the earth. The global education movement has developed in response to this need. Teacher training is a major pre-requisite for global education to be implemented meaningfully in the schools. Once teachers know and value the precepts of global education, they must be provided with effective pedagogy, activities, and topics for instruction.

This study sought …

An Investigation Of Faculty Development Center Staff Evaluators Perceptions Of Processes, Theory, And Models Used In Evaluating Faculty Development, Thelma Mae Woodard

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to explore evaluator perceptions of the processes they engage in when evaluating faculty development programs; their use of program theory; and the evaluation models they use to design faculty development program evaluations. Due primarily to the fact that most faculty development centers were established during the last twenty years, (Wright, 2011), previous research has shown a lack of widespread knowledge of program evaluation, and its application to faculty development interventions. Studies indicate a gap in the literature exploring program evaluation in faculty development centers from the evaluator’s standpoint. This study was interested in the …