Education Commons^™

A Grounded Theory Study Exploring The Technology Decisions Mothers Make For Their Preschool Age Children In The Home Environment, Carolyn Jeanne-Marie Wicks

Faculty Dissertations

The purpose of this systematic grounded theory study was to explore the technology decision process mothers use when making technology decisions for their preschool age (3-5 years) children in the home environment. I used snowball and maximum variation sampling procedures to purposefully select 18 mothers of preschool age children living in urban, suburban, and rural areas located in and around a college town in central Virginia. Data gathered from questionnaires, participant interviews, and focus groups were analyzed and findings revealed mothers’ technology decisions are a multi-dimensional process whereby they situationally reflect to form technology preferences which promote intentionality and individuality …

An Analysis Of Students' Perception Of Biblical Community Within The Environment Of Digital Media: A Mixed Methods Study, Matthew Alan Vander Wiele

Faculty Dissertations

This study is an examination of teen perception regarding their understanding of biblical community within the environment of digital media. The study also examines the principles, essentials, or characteristics of biblical community regardless of environment.

The researcher surveyed a sample of teens that attend classical, open enrollment, and closed enrollment Christian schools of various denominations as well as no denomination. A survey presenting a list of the essential principles of biblical community, regardless of environment, including questions for each objective was sent to the sample. The respondents were asked to participate in a quantitative Lickert-scale survey. An expert panel was …

A Mixed-Methods Study Of The Variables That Influence Florida Southern Baptists' Affirmation Of The Inerrancy Of The Bible, David A. Mcgee

Faculty Dissertations

The culmination of the resurgence within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) was finalized by adopting the Baptist Faith and Message 2000 (BFM 2000). The SBC had discovered in the 1970s and 1980s that belief in the inerrancy of the Bible was not being affirmed by their leadership, particularly within their six seminaries. After a twenty plus year battle, the SBC attempted to affirm in more precise language the inerrancy of the Bible through the BFM 2000. However, this raises the question, how has this firm commitment to the inerrancy of the Bible, as affirmed by the leadership, translated to the …

Best Practices For Online Theological Ministry Preparation: A Delphi Method Study, John Cartwright

Faculty Dissertations

This doctoral thesis intended to provide a clear vision of best practices in the area of online theological ministry training at the graduate level by consulting experts in the field. The research question that needed to be answered was, “What are the best practices for ministry preparation in online theological education?”

Despite tremendous growth in online learning even among theological institutions, casual observations suggest that the decision to offer online programs may not always have been rooted in deep pedagogical or theological reflection. In other words, in the quest to utilize online education as a viable option for degree preparation, …

The Effect Of Cacrep Accreditation On Credentialing Exam Scores, Richard Justin Silvey

Faculty Dissertations

The age of accountability, evolving from outcome- and standards-based practices, is prevalent in the education, healthcare, and counseling fields. In regards to standards, counselor education is framed by the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) for best practices in terms of content knowledge; however the assessment of competence of that knowledge is not easily defined. Furthermore, school counselors are held to the standards of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) to practice within a certain scope of competence; however, the determination of that level is also not easily or clearly defined. This research sought to investigate …

Entering The Virtual Teacher’S Lounge: The Efficacy Of Community In Computer-Mediated Communication Based Environments For Professional Educators, Randall S. Dunn

Faculty Dissertations

This study seeks to illuminate an understanding of naturally forming online communities of professional educators in the context of off-line communities. Essentially, an online discussion forum for educators is evaluated for the purpose of determining whether the forum provides a “space” conducive for the development of a community of professional educators as benchmarked against an understanding of offline community formation and existence. The foundational works of Ferdinand Tonnies, James Coleman, and Ray Oldenburg are used to develop 13 characteristics of community - as understood in the context of informal social communities as opposed to the types related to more formal …

Cognitive Retention Of Generation Y Students Through The Use Of Games And Simulations, Melanie A. Hicks

Faculty Dissertations

A new generation of students has begun to proliferate colleges and universities. Unlike previous generations, Generation Y students have been exposed to a variety of technological advancements, have different behaviors towards learning, and have been raised in a different environment. These differences may be causing conflict with traditional pedagogy in educational institutions, thereby creating, while it may be unintentional, an inability for Generation Y students to learn under the standard educational method of lecture presented to previous generations. The literature supports the position that additional teaching methods are needed in order to effectively educate Generation Y students (Prensky, 2001; Brozik …

Trends In Didactic Children's Literature From The Twentieth Century To The Present As Influenced By Secular Educational Philosophy, Carolyn Wicks

Faculty Dissertations

The purpose of this analysis was to identify trends in didactic children’s literature from the twentieth century to the present as influenced by secular educational philosophy. Using popularity and content research, ten books were sought from each decade beginning in the twentieth century and concluding with the beginning of the twenty-first century. These books were studied to determine what popular books didactically infer about society, culture, religion, gender, family, ecology, and controversial issues such as divorce, prejudice, violence, and physical intimacy. Using trend analysis of a homogeneous sampling of realistic American fiction, written in prose, for elementary readers in kindergarten …

Trends In The Portrayal Of The Puritans Found In American History Textbooks From The 1870s Through The 1990s As Influenced By Secular Educational Philosophy, James A. Wicks

Faculty Dissertations

There has been a movement to exclude a Biblical worldview from high school American history textbooks exchanging it for a secular worldview through the use of historical revisionism. Available literature failed to adequately address the impact of revisionism within the pages of American history textbooks specifically concerning the portrayal of the American Puritans. Therefore, an analysis of American history textbooks beginning in the 1870s through the 1990s was necessary to demonstrate the existence of historical revisionism regarding the treatment of the American Puritans and whether a trend existed to revise their place in American history textbooks over the past two …

School Violence: Evaluation Of An Elementary School Peer Mediation Program, Rita Cantrell Schellenberg

Faculty Dissertations

Studies and statistical reports have revealed school violence as an issue of ongoing concern. Research has identified the media, early parent child interactions, and peer interactions as primary socializing agents in the development of aggression. Middle childhood, the elementary school years, has been identified as a key period of concern for the development of aggression and engaging in acts of violence. Studies have identified school-based peer mediation and conflict resolution programs, particularly those that incorporate cognitive behavioral approaches grounded in social learning theory, as tools for combating school violence. Peer mediation programs teach positive peer interactions and social skills to …

Six Parents Describe Ideal Adult Lives For Their Children With Significant Cognitive Disabilities, Barbara A. White

Faculty Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to investigate parents' perceptions of ideal adult lives for their children with significant cognitive challenges. Additionally, this researcher investigated what role disability played in participants' concepts of ideal adult lives for their children with disabilities. For the purpose of this dissertation, significant cognitive challenge was defined as a person having an IQ below 50 and an expected need of 24 hour a day care during adulthood. Six participants were chosen. Each participant received a copy of the interview protocol before the interviews. Each parent participated in two face-to-face interviews and one follow up telephone …

Relationship Between Select Variables And Teacher Rentention, Connie Sue Greiner

Faculty Dissertations

The major purpose of this study, conducted during the spring and summer semesters of 2003, was to determine the relationship between the following variables and teacher retention: Professional Development Examination for the Certification of Educators in Texas (PD ExCET) scores, Texas Academic Skills Program (TASP) reading scores, age at time of passing the PD ExCET, ethnicity, completion of a field-based teacher education program or emergency permit teacher education program, gender, and undergraduate grade point average.

The quantitative study identified students from a single Texas senior-level university who passed the PD ExCET between September 1, 1996 and August 30, 2000. Five …

Theoretical Counseling Orientations Of Pastors In The Church Of God Reformation Movement, Steven Brooks

Faculty Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze theoretical counseling orientations of pastors in the Church of God Reformation Movement with general offices in Anderson, Indiana. A survey instrument, the Counseling Attitudes and Beliefs Inventory, was created, submitted to a pilot study, and sent to 650 pastors randomly selected from the 1996 Church of God Yearbook. The survey instrument, utilizing a Likert scale, gauged the pastors' agreement or disagreement with statements pertaining to three broad categories of theoretical counseling orientations. They are (1) psychodynamic, (2) experiential and relationship-oriented approaches, and (3) cognitive and other behavioral approaches. The obtained theoretical counseling …

The Comparison Of The Effects Of Three Prereading Advance Organizers On The Literal Comprehension Of Fifth-Grade Social Studies Materials, Constance L. Pearson

Faculty Dissertations

The goal of this investigation was to determine if one of three prereading advance organizers: a verbal, a graphic, or a problematic situation organizer affected the comprehension of given fifth-grade social studies reading selections. The study attempted to answer the following research questions. 1. Are the post-reading comprehension test scores following a lesson using anyone of the given prereading approaches significantly different from the lesson introduced by the control organizer? 2. Are the post-reading comprehension test scores following a lesson using anyone of the given prereading approaches significantly differently from the other two? In order to answer these questions, subjects …