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Doctoral Dissertations

2016

The University of San Francisco

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Full-Text Articles in Education

Arabic Teachers' Perception Of An Integrated Approach For Teaching Arabic As A Foreign Language In Colleges And Universities In The United States, Abeer Al-Mohsen Jan 2016

Arabic Teachers' Perception Of An Integrated Approach For Teaching Arabic As A Foreign Language In Colleges And Universities In The United States, Abeer Al-Mohsen

Doctoral Dissertations

This study examines the perception of Arabic teachers on whether an integrated approach is critical for students’ communicative competence in Arabic. Additionally, the study attempts to uncover what might be potential barriers to the integrated-approach program-wide implementation in the field of Teaching Arabic as a Foreign Language in higher education institutes in the United States. Although many studies investigated students’ perception of learning Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) only, few studies focused on teachers’ perceptions of the issue and understanding of what communicative Arabic instruction should entail.

Using a mixed-method study, the researcher conducted the study in two sequential phases: a …


Girls And Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics) In Catholic Schools: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Interest, Confidence, And Perceptions Of Stem, Rachel Lynn-Pleis Mckenna Jan 2016

Girls And Stem (Science, Technology, Engineering, And Mathematics) In Catholic Schools: A Mixed Methods Exploration Of Interest, Confidence, And Perceptions Of Stem, Rachel Lynn-Pleis Mckenna

Doctoral Dissertations

Over the past decade, there has been a considerable push in emphasizing STEM—an acronym standing for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math—as an integral aspect of educational curriculums. Even though research suggests that females tend to outperform males in standardized testing in STEM areas, they remain underrepresented in STEM careers and in the achievement of STEM degrees. In preparing this dissertation, therefore, the researcher investigated this issue by looking specifically at 4th- through 8th-grade girls in Catholic schools in the Diocese of San Jose, CA, which covers the Greater Silicon Valley region, one of the world's epicenters for technological innovations. In …


The Effectiveness Of Graphic Organizers To Support Executive Function For Ninth Grade Struggling Readers, Elaine Ruth Barry Jan 2016

The Effectiveness Of Graphic Organizers To Support Executive Function For Ninth Grade Struggling Readers, Elaine Ruth Barry

Doctoral Dissertations

Struggling readers, or students who read below grade level but have strong phonological awareness, may benefit from using instructional tools like graphic organizers (GOs) while reading. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between reading comprehension and teacher-generated graphic organizers (GOs) as they support executive function for struggling readers. The use of GOs to support reading comprehension was grounded in cognitive load theory as it combines with the construction-integration model of reading to highlight the importance and potential weakness of executive function. Although researchers have identified component parts of reading comprehension and different instructional tools for supporting …


Implementation And Strategies To Address Sensory Regulation Of Students With And Without Disabilities In Two Kindergarten Classrooms, Yvette Rosil Mere-Cook Jan 2016

Implementation And Strategies To Address Sensory Regulation Of Students With And Without Disabilities In Two Kindergarten Classrooms, Yvette Rosil Mere-Cook

Doctoral Dissertations

Results from previous research studies suggest that inclusive settings benefit all learners. However, general education teachers often do not have built in supports within the classroom to meet the needs of students with disabilities. Implementing a sensory diet curriculum (SDC) is one instructional practice that addresses needs of students with disabilities, such as autism spectrum disorder, and could be applied widely for students without disabilities. Sensory regulation is defined as the body’s physiological process of adapting arousal or alertness levels to cope with sensory events and situational demands that occur throughout the day. The purpose of this study was to …


The Life Experiences Of Ten Female Refugees From Iraq And Iran: An Oral History Research Study, Nicole Ludwig Jan 2016

The Life Experiences Of Ten Female Refugees From Iraq And Iran: An Oral History Research Study, Nicole Ludwig

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study about the experiences of 10 religiously persecuted female refugees from Iran (Baha’i) and Iraq (Chaldean) was conducted in both Northern (Bay Area) and Southern (San Diego County) California. The study focused on three periods in their lives: previous experiences in the refugee’s home country prior to resettlement; adaptation to a third country during the resettlement process, especially in regard to experiences with resettlement agencies; and finally, resettlement as refugees in the United States. An oral history methodology was used to conduct the in-depth interviews with the participants.

Key findings in the research study included identifying various pull …


Understanding The Relationship Between Teacher And Organizational Intercultural Competency In International Schools: A Mixed Methods Study, Sally Emily Hirsch Jan 2016

Understanding The Relationship Between Teacher And Organizational Intercultural Competency In International Schools: A Mixed Methods Study, Sally Emily Hirsch

Doctoral Dissertations

The number of international schools and their student populations are increasing around the world. These schools are culturally diverse educational spaces, providing opportunities for cultural understanding but also cultural conflicts. Teachers working in international schools need to be able to provide culturally relevant and responsive curriculum as well as be able to communicate effectively and appropriately with students, other teachers, administrators and parents. Research shows that students do best academically when taught by teachers who are interculturally competent yet there is a gap in current research on how this skill is developed in international teachers, and identified by school leaders. …


Exploring The Emergence Of Global Citizen Identity In Youth, Deborah Ann Farrington Padilla Jan 2016

Exploring The Emergence Of Global Citizen Identity In Youth, Deborah Ann Farrington Padilla

Doctoral Dissertations

Globalization along with expanding education for global citizenship has increased experiential learning possibilities for high school youth. Educators presume that student exchange will offer authentic and transformative opportunities for high school students to experience personal growth while immersed in a different culture abroad; however, little empirical research has been done on adolescent students to explore and validate these assumptions. By examining the intersection of reciprocal international exchange, adolescence, and social class privilege, this study explored the developmental impact of exchange on privileged U.S. high school students.

One overarching question guided this qualitative study: “To what extent does participation in short-term …


Effect Of Mindfulness Training On Interpretation Exam Performance In Graduate Students In Interpreting, Julie E. Johnson Jan 2016

Effect Of Mindfulness Training On Interpretation Exam Performance In Graduate Students In Interpreting, Julie E. Johnson

Doctoral Dissertations

Many graduate interpreting students struggle because the real-time, interactive nature of interpreting dictates that they be able to regulate their attention across different parallel cognitive activities and manage the inherent stress and unpredictability of the task. Within the framework of Cognitive Load Theory, this mixed-methods study explored the effect of short-term mindfulness training on consecutive interpreting exam performance using a quasi-experimental repeated-measures design. It also examined the relationships among mindfulness, stress, aspects of attention, and interpreting exam performance. The sample included 67 students (age M = 26.9 years; 82% female) across seven language programs (Chinese, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Russian, …


“Leadership Means Moving A Community Forward”: Asian American Community College Students And Critical Leadership Praxis, Melissa Ann Loredo Canlas Jan 2016

“Leadership Means Moving A Community Forward”: Asian American Community College Students And Critical Leadership Praxis, Melissa Ann Loredo Canlas

Doctoral Dissertations

Asian Americans are underrepresented in both formal leadership positions and leadership research (Foldy & Ospina, 2009) and rarely are Asian Americans viewed as leaders, activists, or agents of social change. Leadership development programs, particularly those focused on social and racial justice, are largely absent from the curriculums and educational experiences of Asian Americans (Omatsu, 2006), and few leadership development programs focus specifically on the needs of Asian Americans (Chung, 2014; Liang, Lee, & Ting, 2002), particularly at the community college level.

This study addressed the need for critical leadership development for Asian American community college students, focusing specifically on leadership …


The Adjustment Of First Year African American Women To Predominately White Institutions: Implications For Best Practices, Maisha Beasley Jan 2016

The Adjustment Of First Year African American Women To Predominately White Institutions: Implications For Best Practices, Maisha Beasley

Doctoral Dissertations

Currently, both scholarly literature and educational practice are lacking depth and scope about the lived experience of African American (AA) female students, and, as a result, they lack effectiveness for this population of students. In particular, they do not address the varying ways AA female students adjust to the university during their first year, the most critical year for student retention and persistence in the college experience (Pike & Kuh, 2005), nor do they recognize how intersectionalities of identities in AA women are salient to successes and challenges at PWIs. This study addresses this gap in the research by not …


Nuancing Human Rights Discourse And Practice: Perspectives From Myanmar, Amy Marie Argenal Jan 2016

Nuancing Human Rights Discourse And Practice: Perspectives From Myanmar, Amy Marie Argenal

Doctoral Dissertations

Through a participatory action research project with human rights activists in Myanmar, this study builds on discourse around inherent power imbalances in international human rights work by highlighting voices often left out of the human rights discourse. Using postcolonial and third world feminist frameworks, this research offers analysis of ten research participants’ narratives on their relationship with human rights discourse and a discussion of their practice. By looking at questions of how community activists from Myanmar engaged in a human rights discourse, the study offers nuanced understandings and critical analysis of how and why certain activists will embrace or reject …


A Moving Imagination In Spaces Of Distress: Teacher And Student Agency In A Science Classroom, Annie Sunshine Adamian Jan 2016

A Moving Imagination In Spaces Of Distress: Teacher And Student Agency In A Science Classroom, Annie Sunshine Adamian

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the ways in which our classroom community (students and teacher) engaged with humanizing pedagogy in a seventh grade science classroom, toward the full development (e.g. personal, social, emotional, academic) of our classroom community, and the dismantling of inequitable practices and unjust policies that we recognized in our science classroom, school and/or community while utilizing the process of teacher and student participatory action research (tsPAR) (Adamian, 2015) and Critical Race Praxis for Educational Research (CRP-Ed) (Jayakumar & Adamian, 2015).

This study examined the complexities of mutually engaging across differing positionalities while intentionally working in spaces of distress …


An Investigation Of Multimedia Instruction, The Modality Principle, And Reading Comprehension In Fourth-Grade Classrooms, Laura Angela Sandoval Jan 2016

An Investigation Of Multimedia Instruction, The Modality Principle, And Reading Comprehension In Fourth-Grade Classrooms, Laura Angela Sandoval

Doctoral Dissertations

Elementary-school teachers are faced with the responsibility of finding the most effective ways to educate their students using multimedia approaches. The use of instruction with visuals and audio has resulted in positive learning outcomes on retention and transfer tasks for junior-high and high-school students. This approach that results in the modality principle has been tested less frequently in elementary-aged students.

The purpose of this study was to examine two different multimedia instructional approaches to investigate which condition offers beneficial learning outcomes through recall and transfer assessments during a lesson on different types of energy in fourth-grade classrooms using a Powerpoint® …


Plugging Into Movement Work: White Racial Justice Action In The Era Of Colorblind Racism, Garrett Naiman Jan 2016

Plugging Into Movement Work: White Racial Justice Action In The Era Of Colorblind Racism, Garrett Naiman

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative study explored the practices and consciousness of eight white identified participants, born 1970 or later, who are actively engaged in racial justice action. Although the field of critical whiteness studies has expanded markedly over the past couple of decades, little has been written specifically about white racial justice activists (and activism). This may be serving as a disconnect for white people who are trying to find their way in racial justice movement work.

Participants were involved in one or more of the following: community organizing, education, religious work and cultural arts. Research data was primarily generated/collected through qualitative …


The Effect Of More And Less Relevant Details And Teacher Voice On Student Retention And Problem-Solving Transfer In Teacher-Created Multimedia, Colette Roche Jan 2016

The Effect Of More And Less Relevant Details And Teacher Voice On Student Retention And Problem-Solving Transfer In Teacher-Created Multimedia, Colette Roche

Doctoral Dissertations

Many teachers create multimedia resources for their students, but most are uncertain as to what factors to consider regarding the design of multimedia instructional materials. Prior research identified instructional design principles for multimedia including the coherence principle and voice principle.

The purpose of this study was to test the coherence principle in a realistic setting using a heterogeneous group of ninth grade students in a humanities course to determine the effect of seductive details on retention and problem-solving transfer. To extend understanding of the voice principle, this study examined the effect of the teacher’s voice on student learning as measured …


Training In Summarizing Notes: Effects Of Teaching Students A Self-Regulation Study Strategy In Science Learning, Michelle Mendoza Nebres Jan 2016

Training In Summarizing Notes: Effects Of Teaching Students A Self-Regulation Study Strategy In Science Learning, Michelle Mendoza Nebres

Doctoral Dissertations

The last two decades of national data assessments reveal that there has been a sharp decline in nationwide standardized test scores. International assessment data show that in 2012 a very low amount of American students were performing at proficiency or above in science literacy. Research in science literacy education suggests that students benefit most when they are self-regulated (SR) learners. Unfortunately, SR poses a challenge for many students because students lack these skills. The effects of having learned few SR strategies at an early age may lead to long term learning difficulties—preventing students from achieving academic success in college and …


Voices Of Female, Rural Superintendents As They Implement California's Local Control Funding Formula Policy, Claudia Coughran Jan 2016

Voices Of Female, Rural Superintendents As They Implement California's Local Control Funding Formula Policy, Claudia Coughran

Doctoral Dissertations

Improving American schools, and as a result, the educational leaders who guide and oversee American schools, has an historic background; yet research to accomplish the improvement is rooted in urban schools and male educational leaders, particularly the superintendent of schools. National and state leaders have used education policy as a means to improve student achievement for decades. California played a pivotal roll in the national trend for numerous years; most recently with the Local Control Funding Formula (LCFF) policy passed in 2013. The purpose of this study was to listen to the voices of female, rural superintendents as they implemented …


Implicit Theories And Perceptions Of Academic Changes Among Teachers In Lasallian Secondary Schools In The San Francisco New Orleans District, Heidi M. Harrison Jan 2016

Implicit Theories And Perceptions Of Academic Changes Among Teachers In Lasallian Secondary Schools In The San Francisco New Orleans District, Heidi M. Harrison

Doctoral Dissertations

A central issue in education is whether teachers are preparing students to succeed and serve a rapidly changing world. In Catholic Lasallian schools, teachers are called to accomplish the Church’s ministry of education and therefore to continually renew and adapt their practices to prepare students for their contemporary society and to live out Christian values in service to others.

This study focused on the fundamental beliefs and perceptions of teachers who implement academic changes in Lasallian schools. It utilized the psychological framework of implicit theories (Dweck, 2000) as its theoretical rationale. The purpose of the study was to investigate the …


The Perceived Influence Of Lasallian Mission Formation Programs On Participants From The District Of San Francisco New Orleans, Gary Cannon Jan 2016

The Perceived Influence Of Lasallian Mission Formation Programs On Participants From The District Of San Francisco New Orleans, Gary Cannon

Doctoral Dissertations

The Perceived Influence of Lasallian Mission Formation Programs on Participants from the District of San Francisco New Orleans

The mission of Catholic education involves the faith formation and the integral human development of individuals (Second Vatican Council, 1965a). The Catholic Church recognizes that the realization of this two-fold mission, religious and academic, is primarily dependent upon school faculty and staff. The De La Salle Christian Brothers have made mission formation of faculty and staff one of their principal aims. Within the United States, they provide a variety of Regional and District formation programs to assist their faculty and staff advance …


Effects Of The Green Life Nature Education Program For 4th Grade Students Who Attend Bay Area Title One Schools: A Mixed-Methods Study, Jessica Blundell Jan 2016

Effects Of The Green Life Nature Education Program For 4th Grade Students Who Attend Bay Area Title One Schools: A Mixed-Methods Study, Jessica Blundell

Doctoral Dissertations

This explanatory sequential design mixed-methods evaluation measures the effects of the GLNE program on (a) students’ personal and social skills (b) students’ stewardship of the environment (c) students’ knowledge and understanding of science concepts. Quantitative survey data and qualitative data from a phenomenologically-based study are analyzed and compared in order to understand the impact of attending Green Life Nature Education (GLNE) program, the only Bay Area Residential Outdoor School that serves urban youth with no-cost programing.

The quantitative data from student surveys implies that in general, attending GLNE has a neutral impact on students. While there were several negative impacts …


Resilience And Resistance: How First Generation College Students Leverage Community Cultural Wealth And Social Capital To Successfully Transfer From A Community College To A Selective Four-Year Institution, Christina Teller Jan 2016

Resilience And Resistance: How First Generation College Students Leverage Community Cultural Wealth And Social Capital To Successfully Transfer From A Community College To A Selective Four-Year Institution, Christina Teller

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to gain a better understanding of how first generation college students leverage both traditional forms of social capital and community cultural wealth in the process of transferring from a California community college to a selective four-year institution, using a Critical Race Theory (CRT) paradigm, and a framework including Stanton-Salazar’s (1997) network analytic theory and Yosso’s (2005) community cultural wealth. The current study adds to the literature by critically analyzing the post-secondary education experiences of first generation community college transfer students, focusing on the students’ strengths and gaining a better understanding of what institutional and …


Exploration Of Soka Education Principles On Global Citizenship: A Qualitative Study Of U.S. K-3 Soka Educators, Mahi Takazawa Jan 2016

Exploration Of Soka Education Principles On Global Citizenship: A Qualitative Study Of U.S. K-3 Soka Educators, Mahi Takazawa

Doctoral Dissertations

The globalized world continues to be wracked by environmental, economic, sociopolitical, and spiritual crises (Earth Council, 2002; Laszlo, 2009). Education for global citizenship holds the key to resolving these problems (Andrzejewski & Alessio, 1999; Ikeda, 2005). Unfortunately, U.S. K-12 education for global citizenship is predominantly driven by hegemonic neoliberal interests with the sole aim of producing human capital for global economic competition instead of developing socially responsible global citizens (Andrzejewski & Alessio, 1999; Giroux, 2012). Fostering a mindset for global citizenship urgently requires an alternative form of education that is ethical in its orientation (Noddings, 2005). One such model is …


San Francisco Bay Area School Districts Contracted With California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) And The Impact Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Of 2010, Michael David Blanco Jan 2016

San Francisco Bay Area School Districts Contracted With California Public Employees' Retirement System (Calpers) And The Impact Of The Patient Protection And Affordable Care Act Of 2010, Michael David Blanco

Doctoral Dissertations

San Francisco Bay Area school districts contracted with California Public Employees’ Retirement system (CalPERS) and the impact of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010

This qualitative study examined the impact of high cost CalPERS medical plans on the participant’s school district in regards to the 2020 Cadillac Tax, the types of administrative action the participants have taken to comply with the mandated reporting to the IRS, and the types of administrative measures the participants have taken to comply with the offer of coverage to employees working a minimum of 30 hours per week. The theoretical framework used …


The Experience Of Principals At Catholic Schools Implementing A Pranayama Practice For Stress Coping, Scott Roos Jan 2016

The Experience Of Principals At Catholic Schools Implementing A Pranayama Practice For Stress Coping, Scott Roos

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored and documented the experiences of Catholic School principals in Northern California who implemented a one-month pranayama (yoga breathing) practice to help reduce their stress. The participants, four men and three women, were primary and secondary school principals at Catholic schools, including both diocesan and independent Catholic schools. This study utilized an embedded mixed methods design in which both qualitative and quantitative data were collected concurrently. Participants were asked to practice Ujjayi pranayama for eight minutes a session four times per day. Participants took the Administrator Stress Index and Perceived Stress Scale at the start of the intervention …


Effects Of Training On Intent, Ease, Self-Efficacy, Frequency, And Usefulness In Multimedia-Based Feedback For University-Level Instructors Using Canvas® Lms, Christopher Kent O'Leary Jan 2016

Effects Of Training On Intent, Ease, Self-Efficacy, Frequency, And Usefulness In Multimedia-Based Feedback For University-Level Instructors Using Canvas® Lms, Christopher Kent O'Leary

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate how training and professional development effected university-level instructors’ perceived usefulness, perceived ease of use, behavioral intent to use, perception of self-efficacy, and frequency of use of audio-, video-, and speech-to-text-recognition-based technologies associated with the feedback and assessment process in college-level teaching. Except for usefulness, each dependent variable was divided into two based on whether the item was multimedia or not: (a) use of technology with multimedia and (b) use of technology without multimedia. The convenience sample included 52 university-level instructors who had enrolled in either the Canvas® Essentials (a basics course) or …


Building Communicative Competence: An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of An Intensive Japanese-Language Program, Yukiko Konishi Jan 2016

Building Communicative Competence: An Evaluation Of The Effectiveness Of An Intensive Japanese-Language Program, Yukiko Konishi

Doctoral Dissertations

Even though language-program evaluations provide educators with various types of information on teaching practices and the programs in which they work, insufficient literature discusses issues related to language-program evaluation. This mixed-methods study examined the effectiveness of a Japanese-language program offered at a government-sponsored Institute located in northern California on language-program evaluation and developing communicative competence at postsecondary schools.

Data comprised two sets of surveys, six individual interviews, and one group interview. Survey respondents were 35 former students of the institute and 12 Japanese instructors who are currently teaching Japanese or have taught Japanese at the Institute. Of the 35 students, …


Counter-Narratives Of Palestinian-American Youth: Resistance, Resilience And Transnational Identity, Kelly Delaney Jan 2016

Counter-Narratives Of Palestinian-American Youth: Resistance, Resilience And Transnational Identity, Kelly Delaney

Doctoral Dissertations

This qualitative research study explores how students in Northern California public schools are navigating the space between being Palestinian and being American while preserving and reconstructing Palestinian cultural ties and traditions. It also examines the ways in which schools and educators can better support students in this process of negotiation and development of a positive transnational identity. Through the collection of counter-narratives, this research works to disrupt the Islamophobic dominant narrative that pervades the educational system and other institutions as well as the wider society in the United States.

The findings of this research include the identification of Islamophobia as …