Education Commons^™

End User Resource Valuation In Community College Libraries: A Q Methodology Study, Theodore John Lucy

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the valuation process of community college library end-users as they decide which information resources to use when conducting research. This study was designed as an exploratory study using Q methodology and focused on five specific information resources that community college library end-users routinely use in their research process: the Internet, the reference librarian, books, newspapers, and subscription databases. Little is known about the valuation hierarchy that end-users overlay on these resources when deciding which ones to use to address a specific research need.

Sixty-four community college library end-users from four main campuses …

Student Learning Goals In Florida Public Universities: The Perceptions Of Student Affairs Professionals, Lindsay Bryant

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Student affairs administrators support student learning through interaction outside the classroom. Student affairs administrators have started to guide their work under student learning goals. In order for the student affairs professionals to work under student learning goals, it is imperative to have an understanding of which learning goals student affairs administrators perceive to be the highest priority to teach students.

This study is a descriptive study that examined student affairs professionals perceptions of specific learning goals for undergraduate education and specifically examined academic and student development learning goals. Data were gathered using the Student Learning Goals Inventory (SLGI), an …

Exploring Mentoring Experiences In College Student Affairs : A Q Methodology Study, Matthew Woodward Clifford

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of new professionals in college student affairs as protégés in mentoring relationships. This study was designed as an exploratory study into the types of mentoring relationships that exist among college student affairs professionals, using Q methodology. The profession of college student affairs can use mentoring relationships to help recruit, train, develop, and retain high-quality individuals. Although mentoring relationships are frequently used to develop college student affairs professions, little is known about these relationships.

Fifty-five new professionals in college student affairs from 29 different states sorted 39 statements describing mentoring relationships …

The Teach For Florida Project: A Case Study Of Alternative Route Certification Policy, Robert Todd Parrish

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the policy implementation of the Teach for Florida Project, which was conducted as a grant program in 2003. The project was designed to help alleviate a critical shortage of teachers brought about in part by the passage in the fall of 2002 of Florida Constitutional Amendment 9, a referendum setting specific limits on the number of students who could be taught by one teacher. The project was created and run on a tight timeline, allowing only 6 months from initiation of the request for proposals to placement of new alternatively prepared teachers in their classrooms. Despite the …

National Board For Professional Teaching Standards Certification: Does It Impact Student Learning?, Patricia E. Falaney

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study measured student gains in learning using the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test pre and post-test mean scale scores in reading comprehension and math problem solving. The project involved classes of students in fourth and fifth grade in six north Florida counties. Thirty class sets of students were taught by a National Board Certified teacher, and a comparable set of thirty class sets of students of the same grade level and at the same school were taught by a teacher who was not National Board Certified. The analysis indicated if National Board Certified teachers produced a higher mean gain …

Assessing The Impact Of A Visual Arts Family-Focused Pre-Kindergarten Intervention, Gigi M. David

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of a visual arts, family-focused school readiness intervention on the parental efficacy and level of family involvement of low-income families. A second, primary focus of the study was to test the potential of academically focused experiences in the visual arts to increase the basic concept development of young children. To increase accessibility, the intervention was conducted in a neighborhood library.

The research design for this descriptive study included qualitative and quantitative components. Data collection consisted of a non-randomized one group pre-test/posttest design from students on a standardized instrument and from primary caregivers using self-report questionnaires. …

Learning The Abc's: Family Involvement In Kindergarten Literacy, Rebecca Lynn England

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The present study investigated home literacy environments established through reading with children, engaging in literacy activities, and having literacy materials provided, along with families' participation in literacy-related school events. One hundred one kindergarten children and their families from five classrooms in two inner-city urban elementary schools were invited to participate in the "Learning the ABCs" project. A total of 68 families gave consent. Participation in the project included receiving 15 weeks of Home Literacy Bags. The 68 participating children were randomly assigned into two intervention groups using cluster sampling of the five classes. Group One received weekly bags with four …

The Impact Of School Reform Design, English Speakers Of Other Languages (Esol) Instruction And Socioeconomic Status On Esol Students' Reading Achievement, Cristina P. Valentino

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine how school reform design, English speakers of other languages (ESOL) instruction, and socioeconomic status (SES) impact the academic achievement of ESOL students in Grade 2. Gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory were used to measure one aspect of academic achievement, namely, general reading ability.

The primary research question was: To what extent can gains in lexile scores on the Scholastic Reading Inventory be explained by the independent variable set of school reform design (America's Choice/Direct Instruction), ESOL instruction (ESOL instruction/no ESOL instruction), and SES (free and reduced lunch/no free …

On Becoming Women: Adolescent Female Muslim Refugees Negotiating Their Identities In The United States, Kathleen Bell Mckenzie

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The United States is becoming more diverse; numerous immigrants and refugees enter every year. Among the newer groups are those practicing the Muslim religion.

This qualitative research focused on the identity formation process of six adolescent female Muslim refugees from Afghanistan. Based on Erikson's paradigm of psycho-social development and Marcia's modifications to that theory, I used semi-structured interviews to understand how the participants negotiated their identities in the context of their families, the public school, and the community.

This cohort appeared to exist within a circumscribed Afghan community, retaining significant parts of their culture, traditions, and roles. The exception to …

Access To Higher Education In Florida And South Africa: A Comparative Policy Analysis, Marty Z. Khan

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examines issues of access to higher education in Florida and South Africa. On November 9, 1999, the Governor of the State of Florida issued Executive Order 99-281 to establish the One Florida Initiative (OFI), which barred the use of race as a factor in university admissions. In South Africa, the government in February 2001 issued its National Plan for Higher Education (SANPHE). This plan outlined a framework to redress past inequities in the higher education system perpetuated by the former government's apartheid ideology. Senior university leaders in Florida and South Africa were required to implement their respective policy. …

Transformational Leadership And Moral Discourse In The Workplace And Civil Society, John W. Frank

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was grounded in the theory and practice of transformational leadership, where leaders function as moral agents of change as they facilitate values talk (moral discourse) among their constituents. The study took its cue from Rost's call for a new paradigm for leadership ethics that calls for methods of group moral decision making to assess organizational and social ends. The inquiry sought to better understand how leaders engage others in moral conversation and how such processes influence organizational culture and democratic civil society.

The methodology was qualitative and phenomenological as it was centered on leaders' perceptions of their experiences …

Faculty Perceptions Of Shared Decision Making And The Principal's Leadership Behaviors In Duval County Secondary Schools, Donald Wayne Leech

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Members of the school community should work collaboratively in the educating of students. Teachers and principals must understand that their traditional roles have changed and improved organizational teamwork will be fostered by all members of the learning community assuming decision making roles. Toward this end, the purpose of this correlational study was to explore the relationship between teachers' perceptions of the leadership behaviors of Duval County secondary school principals and their perceptions of the level of shared decision making practiced in their schools. This study provides insight into principal behaviors which nurture participation.

Leadership behavior was operationalized by the responses …

Student, Parent And Teacher Perceptions Of Emergent Literacy, Bronwyn Mclemore

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study was conducted to illuminate the different perceptions of students, parents, and teachers in one urban classroom pertaining to learning to read and write. The study explored the similarities, differences, and relationships among these perceptions.

One kindergarten classroom was selected in an urban school that was currently implementing literacy initiatives. Eighteen students, six parents and three teachers were interviewed to provide insight into their views of emergent literacy.

Five themes were identified as reoccurring topics and are discussed in the findings: activities that count as reading and writing, motivation for learning to read, how children acquire literacy skills, …

Nurse Practitioner Professional Autonomy: Relationship Between Structural Autonomy And Attitudinal Autonomy, Dolores C. Jones

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify and describe the possible components of structural autonomy that influence Nurse Practitioners' (NPs) perceptions of independence in practice. The components identified were NP state regulatory practices, educational background, and managed care environment. The study explored the relationship between NP structural autonomy as it relates to the above components and attitudinal autonomy as it relates to perceptions of independence in practice. A conceptual framework derived from a review of the literature demonstrated the possible relationships.

The investigator employed a mail survey to collect data from certified NPs in six eastern and mid-eastern states. …

Courting Serendipity: Constructivist Theory And Classroom Practice, Marilyn Duckworth Jensen

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is a cross-case study and analysis of four teachers in a school involved in two reform initiatives which promote constructivist approaches to teaching and learning. The study describes the teachers' understandings of the learning theory and their interpretations of it in their classroom practice. The study found that three of the four teachers were practicing in ways consistent with constructivism while one was not because her need for control took precedence. The study found that although teachers are very aware of their students as individuals with different ways of learning and constructing an understanding, they are not much …

A Comparative Study Of The Motivations And Academic Self-Concept Of Midlife Male Graduate Students With Those Of Midlife Female, Early Adulthood Male, And Early Adulthood Female Graduate Students, Scott Brewer Clift

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to compare midlife male graduate students with midlife female, early adulthood male, and early adulthood female graduate students in terms of their motivations for returning to higher education and their academic self-concept as returning students. Data were gathered, using Boshiers's Education Participation Scale (1995) and Drummond's Academic Self-Concept Scale (1984), from graduate students at a comprehensive, urban, southeastern, public university of approximately 10,000 students. The 426 graduate student participants were enrolled in three colleges (Business, Education, and Health) at the university.

Multivariate analysis of variance (MAN"OVA), univariate analysis of variance, and multiple comparison tests results indicate …

An Examination Of The Relationship Between First Grade Teachers' Theoretical Orientations Toward Reading Instruction And Their Classroom Instructional Practices, John Anthony Luciano

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the relationship between first grade teachers' theoretical orientations toward reading and their classroom instructional practices. The study, which was conducted in Duval County Florida, used the Theoretical Orientation to Reading Profile (DeFord, 1985) and the Luciano Reading Instruction Practices Survey to gather self-reported data from the 102 study participants.

The sample teachers reported the frequency with which they used 25 specific instructional practices to assist students in learning to read. Ten percent of the sample teachers were observed by the researcher for thirty minutes and their instructional practices were documented on a checklist which corresponded to the …

Use Of The Nurse Entrance Test And Other Factors As Predictors Of Academic Success Of Nursing Students, Linda Rhea Hunter

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Attrition from schools of nursing continues to affect almost one third of students enrolled. Attrition is costly financially and personally to the student, to the educational institution, the health care consumer and the profession.

The purpose of this study was to identify variables measurable at time of admission which might alone or together be predictive of successful persistence until graduation from a nursing program. The variables included cognitive and noncognitive characteristics measured by the Nurse Entrance Test (NET) as well as demographic and other academic achievement measurements.

A convenience sample of associate degree nursing students admitted into two successive classes …