The Neoliberalization Of Higher Education: Paradoxing Students' Basic Needs At A Hispanic-Serving Institution, Megan A.K. Schraedley, J. Jacob Jenkins, Molly Irelan, Megan Umana

Communication and Media Faculty Publications

Millions of college students in the United States lack access to adequate food, housing, and other basic human needs. These insecurities have only been exacerbated in recent decades by the country's neoliberal approach to higher education, with disproportionately negative consequences for historically underserved populations (e.g., racial/ethnic minorities, low-income students, and first-generation college students). For each of these reasons, this study explores the organizational paradoxes faced by students attending a public, 4-year Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in southern California. Drawing upon 30 semi-structured interviews with undergraduates who self-identified as historically underserved, our three-stage conceptualization of data analysis revealed three specific paradoxes: (1) …

Sustaining Diversity In Higher Education: The Importance Of Investigating Success, Lisa C. Huebner

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

No abstract provided.

Creating Community: A Peer-Led, Adaptable Postdoc Program To Build Transferable Career Skills And Overcome Isolation, Megan Fork, Elsa C. Anderson, Adrian A. Castellanos, Ilya R. Fischhoff, A. Marissa Matsler, Chelsey L. Nieman, Isabella A. Oleksy, Michelle Y. Wong

Biology Faculty Publications

Postdoctoral positions provide critical opportunities for early-career ecologists to build transferable skills, knowledge, and networks that will prepare them for professional success. However, these positions often come with personal and professional challenges such as stress, isolation, and lack of agency. Here, we describe a peer-led postdoc program we created to maximize benefits and minimize challenges while preparing ourselves for a wide range of possible future careers using our training and expertise in ecology. We also give recommendations for other postdocs and early-career scientists in ecology and across science, technology, engineering, and mathematics fields seeking to build a similar program.

Fostering Health Disability Identity Development In College Students, Lauren Andrulewich

Counselor Education Student Work

The Presenter is a Graduate Assistant for Dr. Vickie Ann McCoy, and together they are exploring the literature pertaining to intersectional identity development in college students with disabilities, to be published later this year in a higher education textbook. This presentation will highlight the importance of viewing disability as an aspect of identity development. Paralleling discussions of race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexual orientation, these researchers believe it is essential to include disability when examining individual identity through an intersectional lens. Disability is unique in that it can occur at any point in a person’s life and the term encompasses …

Online Instructors' Use Of The Cognitive Theory Of Multimedia Learning Design Principles: A Mixed Methods Investigation, Thomas Pantazes

Literacy Student Work

The use of digital video in online education is increasing alongside the growth of online learning in higher education in the United States driven in part by the COVID-19 pandemic (Bétrancourt & Benetos, 2018; McCormack, 2020; Seaman, et al, 2018). The study of digital instructional video is still at an early stage (Chorianopoulos, 2018) and current research has examined students and not instructors (Kay, 2012; Pan, et al, 2012). There are no studies solely focused on higher education instructors’ perspectives of digital video use for instruction (Kay, 2012). The purpose of this explanatory sequential mixed methods study (QUAN à qual) …

The Evaluation Of A Soft Skills Curriculum In Athletic Training Education: A Mixed Methods Study, Emily Duckett

Literacy Student Work

Purpose: Athletic Training Education Competencies (2011) include exhibiting empathy and compassion as foundational behaviors of practice. Despite abundant evidence supporting the importance of compassionate patient care, there is currently evidence to suggest that healthcare is experiencing a compassion crisis (Patel et al., 2019). The purpose of this study was to investigate the ways in which pre-professional athletic training students’ transfer knowledge from a soft skills curriculum to clinical practice. Methods: This study utilized an explanatory sequential mixed method design with a preliminary quantitative input (Morgan, 2014). Phase 1 of the study includes participants (n=19) enrolled in a pre-professional AT course. …

Mentorship Matters: An Instrumental Case Study Of Mentorship In A Student Affairs Graduate Preparatory Program, John Linetty

Literacy Student Work

The purpose of this study is to understand graduate student’s experience with mentorship in their educational pursuits, as well as the implications of mentorship on the student’s personal and professional development within a graduate student affairs program in higher education. The research questions guiding this study are: (a) in what ways have graduate students in a master's program in student affairs experienced mentorship? And (b) how has mentorship impacted their (graduate students) personal and professional development? Utilizing instrumental case study methodology with a phenomenological data collection instrument, three graduate student participants met individually with the researcher for two 60-90 minute …

Examining The Experiences Of Community College Students, Melanie Snyder, Bayley Saffier, Abigail Mclane, Colleen Keeler, Zsa Zsa Alston

Social Work (Graduate) Student Work

Community colleges often have low graduation and retention rates but are more accessible to individuals from low- and moderate-income backgrounds due to affordable tuition. Receiving financial aid, such as the Pell Grant, has a positive influence on ability to achieve academic goals. The aim of this study was to investigate impeding and strengthening factors that impacted academic goal attainment in community college students eligible for the Pell Grant. Data was collected through face-to-face semi-structured interviews with current financially eligible Pell grant community college students (n=62). The research team conducted thematic analysis guided by empowerment and strength-based theories. Participants reported on …

Creating Community Connections On & Off Campus: Ramcorps, Shannon Gillespie, Nick Marcil, Mckenna Kovatch

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

No abstract provided.

Dogs, Stress, And Tests, Oh My! A Wellness Program For Students Taking A High Stakes Test, Kathryn (Tina) Alessandria

Sustainability Research & Practice Seminar Presentations

No abstract provided.

Inclusive Campus Recreation: Creating A Space Where All Belong, Emelia Bebee

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis examines discrepancies that marginalize students, faculty and staff from utilizing or working in campus recreation facilities. More specifically, Campus Recreation departments lack strategies that ensure inclusion for all abilities, identity backgrounds and genders. This critical action research thesis considers the experiences of stakeholders and will integrate research that has been supported by seasoned scholars. In this thesis, a three-day diversity and inclusion workshop is proposed supplemented by monthly programming for faculty and staff that focuses on inclusion techniques to incorporate into departmental planning. Solid leadership of this programmatic intervention would focus on collaboration and dedication to lifelong learning. …

Soar: A Holistic Approach To Supporting Survivors, Sabrina Glass

West Chester University Master’s Theses

In this thesis, I address the systemic issue of sexual violence and rape culture that affect students on college campuses at an alarming rate. By utilizing critical action research, I propose the creation of the Department of Survivor Outreach and Response (SOAR), a holistic and collaborative department that focuses on supporting and advocating for survivors of sexual violence while also conducting prevention and education initiatives. I emphasize the importance of Kimberlé Crenshaw’s concept of intersectionality (1993), encourage the use of the Social Change Model of Leadership (Astin & Astin, 1996), and empathy within leadership. SOAR is designed to ensure sexual …

Black Men Can: Change The Narrative Of Black Male Students, Levi Tucker Ii

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The master narrative about Black male students has impacted their experience in the education system from the early elementary level through undergraduate studies. This narrative was birthed out of the same racial attitudes that deemed the Black community inferior in every aspect of society. The idea that Black men are academically inferior is backed by research that focuses on Black men who are failing to graduate from college. This type of research and reporting perpetuates the idea that Black men can’t be successful at anything outside of athletics and entertainment and if they are not good at that they are …

Housing 365: A Response Rooted In Supporting Students During Academic Breaks, Abigail Mccourt

West Chester University Master’s Theses

In this thesis, I explore how higher education can improve their Residence and Housing Services for students experiencing housing insecurity. Incorporating a comprehensive housing plan, Housing 365 is a response rooted in supporting students through academic breaks when they can be most vulnerable. For students to be considered basic needs secure, their basic needs must be satisfied. My proposed intervention sets a standard to ensure all college students are considered housing secure. Meeting students’ basic needs requires an ecosystem where multiple systems work together to support students. This collaboration allows individuals to thrive across multiple domains including academic, economic and …

Online Instructors’ Use Of The Cognitive Theory Of Multimedia Learning Design Principles: A Mixed Methods Investigation, Thomas C. Pantazes

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The growing use of digital video for online learning among US higher education instructors accelerated as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic raising questions about instructors’ knowledge of video creation principles (Bétrancourt & Benetos, 2018; Chorianopoulos, 2018; Kay, 2012; McCormack, 2020; Seaman, et al, 2018). This explanatory sequential mixed methods research describes the extent to which higher education instructors who create digital instructional video for online learning applied 11 multimedia design principles of the Cognitive Theory of Multimedia Learning (CTML). The case study triangulated self-reported survey data from 55 online instructors, interview data from five instructors with the highest implementation …

Impact Of Online Education On Student Success Outcomes And Institutional Effectiveness: Study Of Florida State University System, Maria Graham

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Online education has been around for several decades, but only recently has there been a boom in it integration into the public higher education sector on a larger scale. It proved instrumental to student education continuity and progression toward graduation during the COVID-19 health crisis and campus closures. Technological advances produce higher quality online courses that keep students engaged and allow for greater flexibility and accessibility, evident by its dramatic enrollment increase that outpaced the total enrollment at postsecondary institutions. Nine public universities in the State University System of Florida are analyzed to determine if greater enrollment in undergraduate online …

Mentorship Matters: An Instrumental Case Study Of Mentorship In A Student Affairs Graduate Preparatory Program, John Adam Linetty

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

The field of student affairs is experiencing a difficult retention problem with 50-60% of entry level professionals leaving the field in their first five years (Tull, 2006). Research has focused on entry level professional experiences, as well as investigating the efficiency of curriculum standards to understand intentions to leave the field. Yet, graduate students are deciding to leave the field even before they graduate (Richard & Sherman, 1991; Silver & Jakeman, 2014), with little known of their actual educational experiences (Kuk et al., 2007). Moreover, an investigation of mentorship within the context of a graduate student’s educational journey can aid …

Restoring Self-Efficacy In Learning: A Critical Examination Of The Modern Test-Centric Educational Environment And Its Impact On The Psychology Of Underachieving Students, Scott Liacouras

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Throughout education in the U.S., students are many lessons. Most are designed to help them succeed on a slate of standardized tests that are claimed to measure and predict their ability and future success in the global market. This narrow view of the role of education in society creates an environment passing on many other messages to students. These messages, the hidden curriculum, has a significant impact on students beliefs in their ability to participate and thrive in learning, and so often it goes overlooked. This thesis will attempt to examine the effect of the hidden curriculum on one core …

Implementing Content Literacy And Disciplinary Literacy: A Mixed Methods Study Of Middle School Teachers' Pedagogical Dispositions, Madison Weary

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Researchers uphold that teachers' beliefs toward reading influence their planning and implementation, and that content area teachers are often reluctant to implement literacy strategies and skills within their instruction (Ness, 2009; Nourie & Lenski, 1998; Richardson et al., 1991). Much of this reluctance stems from teachers’ lack of familiarity with content area and disciplinary literacy or misconceptions surrounding instruction that supports literacy implementation (O’Byrne et al., 2020). However, within the field of literacy, there are tensions between the implementation of content area versus disciplinary literacy (Graham et al., 2017).

The purpose of this study was to examine middle school content …

Mindful Matters; The Efficacy Of An Eight-Week Mindfulness Intervention On Boarding School Teacher Burnout, Nicole Campbell

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Teacher burnout is a serious issue. Studies show that burnout decreases teacher instruction efficacy, increases absenteeism, interferes with student/teacher relationships, and causes attrition, which costs the system millions of dollars each year (Suh, 2015). While there is ample research on traditional teachers and burnout, boarding school teachers are a largely understudied population. These teachers educate students in residential school settings, housing students on evenings and weekends throughout the school year. Many boarding school teachers must work additional hours stretching into evenings and weekends and fulfill multiple roles beyond a classroom teacher. Therefore, most of these teachers work well beyond a …

New Cyber Charter Teachers’ Perceptions Of Their Induction Program In Preparing Them For Online Instruction: A Mixed Methods Study, Courtney Kofeldt

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Those who teach online are often concerned with preservice or in‐service teacher development, specifically the lack of specialized opportunities focusing on online instructional practices. Online educators have acknowledged that this focus is limited and that the induction years of beginning teachers are an important component of teacher development. This mixed-method sequential explanatory study focused on the induction years of cyber charter teachers. It examined their perceptions of their induction program with the intention of adding to the literature in this under-examined area (Creswell, 2013). Twenty new online teachers shared the perceptions of the induction program through Likert scale items on …

Code The Code: Surveillance Capitalism, Education, And The Critical Theory Of Technology, Robert Rust

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Abstract

This study is a theoretical examination of surveillance capitalism’s influence on educational technology. While the neoliberal era saw increased teacher accountability measures result in the encouraged expansion of for-profit educational technologies competing with traditional public education, surveillance capitalism’s educational technologies are distinctive. Theory has the power to reveal the existence of values embedded in the designs of these new technologies as well as the ways certain interests act through them. The researcher argues that Andrew Feenberg’s Critical Theory of Technology presents a framework for critique, intervention, and transformation of these technologies, but it must first be updated with David …

An Exploration Of Ethically Challenging Situations Experienced By School Psychologists And Related Outcomes Associated With Those Experiences-A Mixed Methods Study, Janice Pietrowicz

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

This mixed-methods study followed an exploratory sequential methodology to study pressures placed upon school psychologists to engage in unethical practices and the outcomes associated with those experiences. The participants, 27 school psychologists from Pennsylvania, completed a questionnaire focused on the pressure to engage in unethical practices and related outcomes. Ten of those participants were selected for an interview that focused on administrative pressure related to the Social Justice Theory. Findings show that pressure to engage in unethical practice continues to be a problem in the field of school psychology and that school psychologists experience repercussions as a result of advocating …

More Than Colleagues: Understanding International Higher Education Partnerships During Crisis, Christina M. Kinney

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Higher education is now globally connected. While a positive development, such connections make international partnerships susceptible to global and regional crises. This study focused on a consortium partnership called the Cooperation on Higher Education and Professional Development (CHEPD) program. This study examined how international colleagues in China and the United States co-manage partnership challenges using a network approach to social capital theory. Such an approach helps to understand how administrators navigate relational resources by describing the consortium’s network composition. This study used a mixed-methods approach with a social network analysis to supplement the qualitative relational data. The literature shows that …

A Mixed Methods Examination Of Elementary Teachers’ Conceptions Of Benchmark Reading Assessments, Marie N. Derby Ed. D.

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Abstract

This study examined the case of 22 mid-Atlantic K-5 public school teachers’ conceptions of the Fountas and Pinnell Benchmark Reading Assessment Systems 1-3. The Namaste School District delivers ELA curriculum through reader’s and writer’s workshop. Triangulated data showed that participants held varying conceptions of the F&P. Specifically, they shared similar conceptions regarding the importance of one-on-one time with students, the amount of time it takes to administer the assessment, and the subjectivity of the F&P results. Results of this study provided similar results to other studies of teachers’ conceptions of assessment and adds to the literature debate regarding …

The Perception Of International Students Toward Programs And Support Services Offered By Higher Education Institutions In The Mid-Atlantic Region Of The United States, Charity Alinda

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

Historically, the United States has been one of the most popular destinations for international students. However, the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the mobility of international students. As the effects of the pandemic recede, an increasing number of international students will seek to travel from their home countries to acquire an international education. The United States remains one of the premier destinations for international students. With travel restrictions easing, more American universities have increased efforts to recruit and enroll international students. One of the fundamental responsibilities for colleges and universities toward admitted international students is to keep the promises of providing international …

State Government’S Impact On Campus Services For Unaccompanied Homeless Students, Tori Nuccio

West Chester University Doctoral Projects

College campuses have been creating targeted support programs in the last decade to assist students coming from at-risk backgrounds including those who are homeless. Although research has begun to look at the impact these programs are having on the students they serve, little research has been done on how outside support has influenced the development and construct of these programs. My research addresses this gap in prior works via an exploratory study of how the existence of statewide supports, including the formation of networks, within three different cases impact colleges’ ability to build support programs. As part of a case …

Viewing The Whole Student: Creating Access By Incorporating A Holistic Review Method In Higher Education Admissions, Delaney Logan

West Chester University Master’s Theses

In this thesis, I will explore how higher education institutions can provide greater access to, and support for, students who do not meet traditional admissions requirements such as standardized test scores. This topic is important because traditional admissions requirements are inequitable for various groups of students, and they are also not accurate predictors of success in higher education for all students. My interest in this topic originates from my own personal experiences applying to and attending higher education, as well as my belief that higher education should be accessible to all who wish to pursue it. Therefore, barriers such as …

Severing Ties With Traditional Service-Learning In A Neoliberal Society: Implementing Transformational Service Through Moral Reasoning, Feminist Ethics Pedagogy, And Critical Consciousness, Abigail Demcher

West Chester University Master’s Theses

This thesis critiques traditional service-learning from a neoliberal perspective. More specifically, I address how whiteness and competitiveness insert themselves into traditional service-learning in colleges and universities revealing their connection to neoliberalism. This Critical Action Research thesis explores reaching Transformational Service through models and theories of moral reasoning, feminist ethics pedagogy, and critical consciousness. In this thesis I propose a Social Change and Awareness Pilot Program for fourth-year students, which will impel them to understand and target their passions of social justice and dispel toxic traditional-service-learning ideologies. Solid leadership of this program would involve long-term collaboration and effective communication with communities, …

Interrupting The Urgency Of The Undecided Student: An Intentional Advising Approach, Nicole Phillips

West Chester University Master’s Theses

The most significant decision in college a student can make is their choice of major. A popular opinion in order for students to persist and succeed in college is to declare as early as possible. However, research has found that many students entering higher education are not ready to make a commitment or unsure of their career aspirations. In this thesis, I will present a historical overview of the undecided student by addressing the characteristics such as self-efficacy and anxiety, provide a developmental aspect of indecision such as the lack of career identity, and introduce related theories such as the …