Education Commons^™

The Role And Contribution Of Rural North Carolina Community Colleges In Social Capital Development, Tanya J. Mcghee

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Community colleges are important settings for the development of social capital as well as institutions of higher learning. The democratic mission, geographic dispersion, and close relationship with multiple stakeholders throughout their service regions allow community colleges to be well-suited to act as liaisons and social architects facilitating social capital creation. This is particularly true in rural areas, where community colleges are often among the largest employers and are major cultural and civic engagement centers. In an era of persistent budget reductions and fiscal tension, there is a need to better understand the multitude of ways rural community colleges support communities …

Best Practices For Non-Profit Organizations Using Human-Animal Interaction As An Intervention With At-Risk Youth, Jai Oni Sly

Theses and Dissertations

Non-profit organizations and community programs work with at-risk youth to teach social-emotional skills like empathy, self-confidence, and self-efficacy. This research aimed to examine best practices for community programs that use human-animal interaction as an intervention for at-risk youth. Specifically, the phenomenological study aimed to review the successful strategies that community programs when working with the at-risk youth population. The challenges faced and how these type of community programs measure their success were also important purposes of these research. Participants shared successful strategies, how success is measured as well as challenges and recommendations for other community programs that work with the …

A Mixed Method Study Of Community Development In Online Learning Envirnonments, Rachel Olshine

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the effect of synchronous and asynchronous communication methods on a sense of community development in online learning environments. The researcher surveyed 734 online students at a small private school in East Texas, examining the variables of synchronous and asynchronous communication methods to evaluate the sense of community experienced in online learning environments.

The study used a convergent mixed method using the Classroom Community Scale along with supplemental open-ended questions. A factorial analysis was conducted, resulting in two factors: supportive relationships and a sense of reliance. The responses expressed the use of discussion boards, emails, and self-recorded videos …

Training For Evidence-Based Youth Physical Activity Leader Practices, A. Jake Larose

Capstone Experience

Purpose: From a social ecological viewpoint, the way in which individuals interact with their surrounding environment, has a direct effect on their actions. One approach to modify behavior change is to strive to change the environment, thus driving behavior change. Participating in physical activity (PA) is a behavior to be targeted, due to its numerous health benefits. A population to consider targeting for increasing PA is children, as creating PA habits in childhood has been shown to track into adulthood . Change at a population level should begin by focusing efforts on the environments in which children are spending their …

Collective Impact Approach For Program Design And Implementation: Cleveland Reentry Initiative, Katie Munger

Education Dissertations and Projects

Most communities face complex social issues and develop programs to fill these gaps. Using the collective impact approach, a group of community partners formed a collaborative to design and implement a program addressing the needs of individuals returning from incarceration to Cleveland County. This consultancy project outlines the process of developing an evidence-based reentry program using the collective impact approach.

Development Of Supportive Learning Communities In Multicultural And Multilingual Classrooms, Katherine G. Filion

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Schools are experiencing an increase in diversity – such factors include culture, religion, primary language, race, socioeconomic level, ethnicity, family composition, gender, and previous experience, as well as ability level – of which challenges educators to reanalyze their pedagogical approach to the development of learning communities. A community-based approach to learning is founded in the belief that learning involves the whole person, fostering emotional and intellectual growth due to the development of trusting relationships. This requires teachers to provide a safe, secure and respectful environment with positive and consistent relationships among adults, children, and their peers; where there is collective …

Physically Strong, Mentally Awake, And Morally Straight: Boy Scouts Of America As A Viable Prevention For Substance Use, David Thomas Rolfe

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore character-based recreation programs as a potential factor in youth drug use. Specifically, the study sought to find evidence that the Boys Scouts of America (BSA) might help prepare youth to avoid drug use or delay drug use to later in life. Using Positive Youth Development and Community Capital Theory as frameworks, the study explored character-based youth recreation as a holistic tool for engaging and nurturing youth. Positive Youth Development suggests that youth are best raised in a comprehensive and healthy environment. Community Capital Theory suggests that each community contains valuable resources that …

Institutions Of Higher Education And Cultural Heritage Tourism: A Case Study Of The Crooked Road, Virginia's Heritage Music Trail, Terence Michael Gilley

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The southwest region of Virginia has an unstable economy, which cycles through periods of growth and decline. The strategic plans for southwest Virginia propose cultural heritage tourism as a sustainable industry for economic development of this rural region. Institutions of higher education provide education and training for a qualified workforce and community service. This qualitative, single case study on The Crooked Road, Virginia’s Heritage Music Trail examines the roles of institutions of higher education with regard to cultural heritage tourism for sustainable community and economic development in rural areas. The data sources for this study are the administrators of …

The Role Of Extension In Community Resource And Economic Development As Perceived By Administrators And Directors Of The Cooperative Extension Service, Seth Charles Urbanowitz

Masters Theses

Clearly understanding and specifying Extension’s role in community resource and economic development (CRED) programming will allow Extension to more effectively serve the communities in which it operates and communicate a clear purpose to stakeholders. All levels of management might not know how CRED efforts are defined at the national/regional or state level, how much human and financial support is allocated, or what upper level administrators think might be some external/internal constraints. A valid image of national and regional organizational capacities in community resource and economic development will allow for clearer understanding and communication of this programmatic area to potential partners …

Faculty And Student Perceptions Of Students' Sense Of Community In Online Courses, William C. Fiege

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The Classroom Community Scale (Rovai, 2002b) was used to examine faculty and student perceptions of students' sense of community at two points during an academic semester. The study also examined the relationship between student sense of community scores and their final course grades. A non-experimental research design was used by the researcher to analyze pre-survey to post-survey score means of students' sense of community as perceived by students and faculty. Two hundred sixty-nine (269) students and 48 faculty members representing 56 online arts and science courses at a community college in Virginia completed the pre-survey and post-survey surveys.

Students' perceptions …

Community Expectations Of College Attendance And Completion, Michael Wade Derden

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Communities relay expectations of behavior that influence residents' decision making processes. The study's purpose was to define and identify Social, cultural, and human capital variables relevant to understanding community expectations of postsecondary attainment. The study sought an operational model of community expectancy that would allow policymakers and higher education leaders to recognize the community-level factors affecting student outcomes and then to make appropriate policy adjustments to encourage better outcomes.

Ground Zero Project Development In Burma : Appropriating The Future Through History, Identity, And Imagination In Assessment, Alyssa A. Bahr

Doctoral Dissertations

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Critical Hermeneutic Inquiry In Kagaa, Kenya : Refiguring Village Health Education Through Community Inquiry, Peninah N. Kaniu

Doctoral Dissertations

unavailable

Different Lattitudes, Different Attitudes: Educator Narratives Of A Professional Development In Honduras, Polly Stewart Holder

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Author's abstract:The curriculum studies field is marked by two significant concerns-the desire for a complex conversation about connection and diversity and the drive to address structural inequities. Drawing from the rich theoretical field of post positivist realism and in the intellectually rigorous tradition of curriculum studies, this inquiry traces the socioemotional and pedagogical development of five educators before and after a brief professional development experience abroad as they explored what a pedagogy of hope (Freire, 2004; Hooks, 2003) might look like. These five participants traveled to Honduras during the summer of 2009 with Heifer Project International (HPI), a non-profit, non …

Community Development Through Industry And Education Partnerships: An Integrated Evaluability Assessment Of A Cooperative Training Alliance Between Industry And An Urban Community College, Richard E. Witte

Theses and Dissertations in Urban Services - Urban Education

Conceptualizing community college/industry training linkages as unified programs with established evaluable outcomes will allow practical assessment of their value as a community development tool.

The purpose of this study was to conduct an evaluability assessment of the training linkage between Tidewater Community College and Norfolk Naval Shipyard. This alliance was formed to provide professional academic instruction as an element of the shipyard apprentice program. The study established the documented program expectations and the program expectations of state and local community development policy makers, community college leaders and shipyard management. The study evaluated all identified expectations for compatibility across partnership interests, …