Education Commons^™

Student And Instructor Experiences With Types Of Teaching And Learning In A Computer Course, Emily Carter Gray

Doctoral Dissertations

Research has shown that active classroom engagement increases the learning performance of students in higher education (Cross, 2000; Reese, 2013). This study sought to examine the experiences of students and instructor in a computer applications course in which the pedagogy was changed to encourage additional interaction among students and between students and the instructor. The goal of the study was to generate useful, practical knowledge (Reason & Bradbury, 2001) to help the instructor better understand her pedagogy with the intention of improving both her teaching practice and student learning outcomes, as well as to contribute to related literature in adult …

Family Experiences With Standardized Assessments Leading To Participation In The Opt Out Movement, Christy Lee Evans

Doctoral Dissertations

With the hope of giving voice to individuals who are usually left out of conversations regarding standardized assessments—the families who live with the effects of those tests on their children—this study was designed to answer the following research questions:

1) Who are some of the individuals who are participating in the opt out movement?

2) How are some individuals making the decision to participate in the opt out movement?

a) What knowledge do these individuals who are participating in the opt out movement have regarding the standardized assessments that their children are being given in public schools?

b) How have …

Neighborhood Characteristics Of Food Insecurity Impacting Mental Health In East Tennessee Communities, Rochelle Alyssa Butler

Doctoral Dissertations

This study contributes to a growing body of research in counseling, public health, and psychology that examines how features within neighborhoods affect mental health. The environment in which their clients live directly affects services that counselors provide. Mental health discussions often center at the individual level, but mental health significantly impacts communities a whole. Therefore, the presence of mental health problems in individuals will affect the wider community at varying societal levels. Geographic information Systems, (GIS) will be used to determine which features of built environment associated food insecurity impact mental health and where the correlations between mental health and …

Applying Andragogical Principles To Enhance Corporate Functioning, John A. Henschke Edd

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

No abstract provided.

Exploring The Ways New Faculty Form Beliefs About Teaching: A Basic Interpretive Study, Beth Ann White

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the formation of beliefs about teaching held by faculty in their first three years of teaching in higher education classrooms and their perceptions of the ways those views may or may not have changed as they gain experience. This study followed a basic, interpretive approach with a sample of new faculty who explored the formation and enactment of their beliefs about teaching in higher education. Based on a thematic analysis of the interview data, three themes were identified as influencers of belief formation: modeling, teaching experience, and formal instruction. Changes in belief …

"Our Village Approach": The Story Of How One African American Family Educates Their Children, Sherrie Lynn Fairchild-Keyes

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this ethnographic case study is to tell the story of how one African American family educates their children. At the center of this study are two sisters. Together, they are raising four children with the help of their father, siblings, and several extended and fictive kin. The family functions collectively; they call it their “village approach”. As a cultural studies project, their story represents a counter-narrative to many stories that support deficit thinking. Education is highly valued by members of this family. The children are expected to perform at high levels academically as well as give their …

Hope Scholarship Status Of Students In A Large Entry-Level Course In Teacher Education, Eleanore Claire Trant

Doctoral Dissertations

The current study examined the extent to which socioeconomic variables (SES), pre-college academic variables, pre-course collegiate variables, and in-course achievement variables predicted students' probability of receiving and/or retaining the Helping Outstanding Students Educationally (HOPE) scholarship. The study was conducted in the Ed Psych 210 course (N = 181). Much of the data came from the University’s Registrar’s Office. Bivariate Logistic Regression was used in all phases of the analysis. The predictive potential of each subset of variables was first done for variables in combination and then for variables separately.

Socioeconomic status (SES) measures and pre-college academic variable were used …

Academic Outcomes In Higher Education For Students Screened As Twice-Exceptional: Gifted With A Learning Disability In Math Or Reading, Elizabeth Ann Hays

Doctoral Dissertations

To investigate academic outcomes for twice-exceptional (2e) students who pursue higher education, a pool of 20,761 undergraduate students at the University of Tennessee were screened and 244 were selected as potentially 2e because they matched certain criteria traditionally used for the determination of giftedness and a specific learning disability (SLD) in math or reading. First-year retention rate and final college GPA were significantly lower for students screened as gifted with a SLD in math or reading than for students screened as gifted without a SLD (p< .05), but were not significantly different from other students in the general population. Students screened as 2e were more likely to be undecided in their choice of major than students screened as gifted (pp<.001).

Motivational Factors Impacting Youth Participation In West Tennessee 4-H, Crystal Paige Pipkin

Masters Theses

The 4-H Youth Development Program is an organization that is offered through the Cooperative Extension System. 4-H is mandated to provide youth with opportunities for experiential learning in the field of agriculture and home economics. The purpose of this study was to investigate factors that motivate high school youth participation in 4-H programs in West Tennessee. The central research question guiding this study was: What motivates high school youth to participate in the 4-H program after 8th grade? The findings of this study can be broken down into three themes (a) Why 4-H members continue participation into high school, (b) …

What They Say: Student Voices In Nursing Simulation, Andrea Mcmahan Damewood

Doctoral Dissertations

Simulation, the use of artificial systems to represent real systems, is a growing practice in the education and training of adults. In the health care field, simulation environments allow for mistakes and provide an environment where medical professionals can practice skills and procedures without harm to actual patients. In recent years, nursing schools around the world have created simulation environments and built simulation events into their curricula. As the use of simulation has increased, the research on simulation effectiveness, best practices and outcomes has grown.

The problem this study addresses is the lack of research describing the safety of the …

Staying Engaged After Retirement: History As A Focal Point, Roger Hiemstra Dr., Dr. Roger Hiemstra

IACE Hall of Fame Repository

The author uses his long interest in history to serve as a foundation for an active and fulfilling retirement after completing a career as a professor of adult education.

The Student Experience Of Other Students, Brian Kelleher Sohn

Doctoral Dissertations

The literature on higher education classroom climate and its relationship to teaching and learning is dominated by studies and theorizing regarding the role of the instructor. But when instructors use learner-centered approaches and diffuse the role and authority of the teacher, students gain a higher level of influence in the learning experience of their peers. In this phenomenological case study of a unique graduate seminar, I interpreted the thematic structure of the student experience of other students (SEOS). Data sources included field notes, audio recordings of class sessions, weekly student post-class reflections, and individual and focus group interviews with students. …

Successful Graduate Students’ Perceptions Of Characteristics Of Online Learning Environments, Jian Su

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine issues related to online graduate course effectiveness, and graduate student perceptions of characteristics of online learning environments and their effectiveness, and to explore the relationship between graduate student perceptions and student success in online courses. The research methodology employed was that of survey research, using the Graduate Student Online Learning Environment Survey instrument, targeted at graduate students enrolled in online courses at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville. A total of 238 graduate students participated in this study. Findings revealed that approximately 87.4% of graduate students reported positive online learning experiences. Participants …

College Student Engagement Patterns In Small Group Learning Activities Conducted In Courses Organized Using A Flipped Learning Instructional Pedagogy, John Creighton Cummins

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine student engagement patterns in smallgroup learning activities conducted in courses organized using a Flipped Learning Instructional Pedagogy (FLIP) at the University of Tennessee at Knoxville (UTK). A literature search on FLIP revealed no papers that examined student engagement at a fine-grained level. Classrooms were examined using an observational tool developed specifically for the examination of fine-grained student engagement. In order to observe overt engagement patterns of students during active learning in small groups, an observation tool was designed by combining an engagement framework with an in-class activity inventory.The Complex Level of Overt …

Living Alongside: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Impact Of Reflective Practice Training In Real Life, Patricia Randall Long

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this narrative inquiry (NI) was to explore, through personal narratives, the experience of the impact of Reflective Practice (RP) training (offered through an institute for collaborative communication housed within a large southeastern regional research one university) and subsequent practice on the day-to-day lives of two participants. While most published studies focus on RP impact during or immediately after training, this inquiry spanned seven months post training.

Field texts were generated from five open, non-structured interviews, journals, and field notes. The findings were framed within the NI commonplaces of temporality, sociality, and place, as well as seminal theories …

Self-Directed Learning: A Potential Predictor Of Technology Integration Confidence Among Preservice Teachers, Jeffrey L. Beard

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between self-directed learning (SDL) and the confidence to integrate technology into the classroom among preservice K-12 teachers enrolled at a large southeastern university. The intent was to determine the extent to which SDL is related to technology integration confidence and, further, to what extent SDL predicts technology integration confidence. In this study, the Personal Responsibility Orientation—Self-Directed Learning Scale (PRO-SDLS) (Stockdale, 2003; Stockdale & Brockett, 2010) was used to measure levels of learner self-direction. Additionally, the Technology Integration Confidence Scale (TICS) (Browne, 2009) was revised (TICS-R) and was used to measure …

The Discursive Construction Of Language Teaching And Learning In Multiuser Virtual Environments, Douglas W. Canfield

Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation seeks to broaden how researchers within computer-assisted language learning (CALL) make sense of and examine psychological and power constructs at play in language courses conducted in 3D multiuser virtual environments. 18 students and 2 teachers in 8 formal English as a Second Language (ESL) classes in the 3D multiuser virtual environment of Second Life participated in a discourse analysis study to explore the theoretical and analytic ways in which critical discursive psychology could function to explore how teaching and learning are performed as interactional events in a community of language teachers and learners in Second Life by investigating …

Academic Choices Matter For Collegiate Student-Athletes, Kendra Arielle Berry

Masters Theses

As college athletics has grown during the last two decades, the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), the governing institution of college athletics in the United States, has renewed its focus on academic reform and the academic performance of student-athletes (Petr & McArdle, 2012). Athletic administrators and academic support units have started to exert a greater amount of control over student-athletes’ academic lives. However, research with general samples of college students has suggested that having some degree of autonomy is important for academic performance. This raises questions about whether increased control (and reduced autonomy) is actually in the best interest of …

Front Matter

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

No abstract provided.

Jaepl, Vol. 21, Winter 2015-2016, Joonna Smitherman Trapp, Brad Peters

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Essays

Fond Farewells: Judy Halden-Sullivan and Helen Walker

SPECIAL SECTION: RHETORIC AND ETHICS

John M. Duffy - Reconsidering Virtue

Lois Agnew - Why Rhetoric and Ethics? Revisiting History/Revising Pedagogy

Paula Mathieu - Being There: Mindfulness as Ethical Classroom Practice

Scott Wagar - Composition as a Spiritual Discipline

Erec Smith - Buddhism’s Pedagogical Contribution to Mindfulness

Peter H. Khost - “Alas, Not Yours to Have”: Problems with Audience in High-Stakes Writing Tests and the Promise of Felt Sense

TEACHING AND LEARNING

Sheri Rysdam & Lisa Johnson-Shull - Introducing Feedforward: Renaming and Reframing Our Repertoire for Written Response

Mark Noe - Autoethnography …

Why Rhetoric And Ethics? Revisiting History/Revising Pedagogy, Lois Agnew

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Coupling rhetoric and ethics has helped create a coherent undergraduate writing major in one of the nation’s first free-standing composition programs.

Composition As A Spiritual Discipline, Scott Wagar

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Analyzing a widely-read history of composition yields clear elements associated with the contemporary definition of spirituality.

Buddhism’S Pedagogical Contribution To Mindfulness, Erec S. Smith

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Considering the rhetorical elements in the Buddhist text “The True Aspect of All Phenomena” opens the possibility of teaching students a more mindful approach to writing.

“Alas, Not Yours To Have”: Problems With Audience In High-Stakes Writing Tests And The Promise Of Felt Sense, Peter H. Khost

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Expanding the applications of “felt sense” can help students become more aware of audience—a corrective to the a-rhetorical effects of standardized testing and the Common Core Standards.

Introducing Feedforward: Renaming And Reframing Our Repertoire For Written Response, Sheri Rysdam, Lisa Johnson-Shull

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Categorizing instructor comments on student drafts leads writing center researchers to argue for the need to reframe our professional discussion on instructor response, based on the concept of “feedforward.”

“When Do I Cross The Street?” Roberta’S Guilty Reflection, Irene A. Lietz

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Following a student’s evolving attitudes on race issues through her undergraduate years, a researcher concludes that a critical pedagogy can have long-term effects on student and instructor alike.

Autoethnography And Assimilation: Composing Border Stories, Mark Noe

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Introducing autoethnography in composition classes brings together personal narratives, academic discourse, and awareness of audience in surprising ways among students in south Texas.

Toward A Poetics And Pedagogy Of Sound: Students As Production Engineers In The Literature Classroom, Karen Lee Osborne

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Pairing students to be recorders and production editors of poetry readings results in a collaborative assignment that embodies students’ experience of reading through media.

My Mom’S Letter, Robert M. Randolph

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

A longtime poet explains how a letter from his mother reminds him that regardless of our language skills and backgrounds, our writing can still bear witness to the values and ethics that guide our lives.

Book Reviews, Julie Nichols, Peter Fields, Walter L. Reid, Jeffrey H. Taylor, Warren Hatch

The Journal of the Assembly for Expanded Perspectives on Learning

Julie Nichols - Reading Ethically

Peter Fields - Gregory Marshall. Shaped by Stories: The Ethical Power of Narratives. Notre Dame, IN: U of Notre Dame P., 2009

Walter L. Reed - Gregory, Marshall. Teaching Excellence in Higher Education, ed. Melissa Valiska Gregory. NY: Palgrave Macmillan, 2013

Jeffrey H. Taylor - Musgrove, Laurence. Local Bird. Beaumont, TX: Lamar U Press, 2015

Warren Hatch - Lynch, Tom, Cheryll Glotfelty, Karla Armbruster. The Bioregional Imagination—Literature, Ecology, and Place. Athens, GA: U of GA Press, 2012