Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Selected Barriers On Students Completing Community College In Michigan, Terri Lynn Burt

Dissertations

Research studies have been conducted to investigate barriers that inhibit the ability of adult students to obtain a postsecondary education (Powell, 1989; Shields, 1990). These studies suggest that there are three distinct categories that could be used to describe this phenomenon: (1) situational, (2) dispositional, and (3) institutional. The overall purpose of this study was to determine what barriers, if any, are experienced by nontraditional African-American students in selected Midwest community colleges in comparison to White adult students according to selected demographic variables (e.g., age, sex, marital status, number of children, employment, status, income, and race). More specifically, this study …

The Relationship Between Organizational Culture And The Practice Of Program Evaluation In Human Service Organizations, Lorraine Marais

Dissertations

There are many obstacles for human service organizations in evaluating programs. Some of these barriers are the difficulty in defining human behavior and the change that needs to be evaluated, human service programs that take a long time to show results, agency capacity to do evaluation, and cost (Young, Hollister, Hodgkinson, & Associates, 1993). Another subtle yet powerful influence on the practice of evaluation in nonprofit organizations may be organizational culture (Schein, 1990). If an organization is going to employ self-evaluation, an organizational culture may be needed that will support such efforts. This study was designed to assess the relationship …

The Role Of Ethnicity Among International Students In Adjustment To Acculturative Stress, Mohd Tajudin Hj Ninggal

Dissertations

This study examined whether there were differences in six acculturative stress themes among three Malaysian ethnic groups who were enrolled at Western Michigan University during the Fall, 1997 semester. The study also investigated whether the following demographic attributes: (a) gender, (b) academic major, (c) financial sponsorship, (d) family socioeconomic status, (e) type of residential setting, and (f) scores on the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) affected Malaysian students in relation to the six acculturative stress themes: (1) Perceived Discrimination, (2) Homesickness, (3) Perceived Hate, (4) Fear, (5) Culture Shock, and (6) Guilt.

A total of 138 respondents …

Theoretical Orientations To Reading And Reading Instructional Practices Of Selected Home-Education Parents In Southwest Michigan, Pollyanna Prosper Barnes

Dissertations

Problem. This research study sought to determine
(1) home educators' beliefs about reading,
(2) their reading instructional practices, and
(3) the consistency between parents' beliefs and practice.

Method. This study used multiple sources of data. Demographic information was collected from 78 active home educators in southwest Michigan. DeFord's (1985) Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (TORP) determined parents' theoretical orientation to reading. Nine parents were interviewed and observed teaching reading. The Moss (1980) Classroom Analysis of Teachers' Theoretical Orientation (CATTOR) was used to record parents' instructional practices in reading. Documents utilized during instruction were analyzed and placed in one or more …