Education Commons^™

Preferred Mentoring Characteristics And Doctoral Students’ Research Self-Efficacy, Ashley Johnston

Dissertations

Mentoring relationships, even though essential to all aspects of one’s life, are an important part of the educational experience. Levinson (1978) found that it was the most important relationship one could have and vital to those in the early adulthood stage of development. Furthermore, graduate students seek to become better researchers; therefore, research skill development is essential to the graduate school experience. The ability to develop these skills can aid in the ability to identify oneself as a researcher. Using Levinson’s adult development theory and Markus and Nurius’ possible selves theory as the theoretical framework, the goal of this study …

Mentoring, Job Satisfaction, Job Dissatisfaction, And Organizational Commitment Among Graduate Nurses, Abisola Adeyomibo Santos

Theses & Dissertations

Shortage of bedside nurses has been researched for a long time. Many researchers have referred to different shortage percentages, but the American Nurse Association stated that the shortage of bedside nurses would increase in the range of 29% to 36% by 2020. It is also reported that a large number of newly graduated, newly hired nurses leave within one year as compared to newly hired experienced nurses. The purpose of this correlational study was to evaluate the influence of mentoring, mediating job satisfaction, job dissatisfaction, and, therefore, organizational commitment, on nurses who completed the nurse residency program between January 2010 …

Perceptions Of Mattering In The Doctoral Student And Advisor Relationship, Holly Anne Schneider

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

The advising relationship has been acknowledged as one of the most important factors in doctoral student persistence and attrition. Less researched are psychosocial factors that contribute to doctoral student persistence and completion. Preliminary research including measures of psychosocial factors on doctoral student success found faculty-student relationships and collegial support contributed significantly to doctoral completion more so than individual factors including motivation, career goals, procrastination, financial security, and external demands such as family.

The current study draws on the psychosocial construct of mattering (Rosenberg &

McCullough, 1981) to examine doctoral students’ perceptions of mattering to their advisors and the influence on …

The Impact Of A Mentoring/Financial Incentive Program On At-Risk High School Students, Sean Timothy Galvin

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods study describes some outcomes of "Champions of Wayne," a privately funded mentoring/incentive program at an impoverished high school near Detroit. Over 500 students enroll in the program annually. The program involves providing high school students who choose to participate both adult mentoring and a $200 incentive to improve one's grades each semester. The quantitative component of this study analyzes GPA data, while a multiple case study of six participants explores mentoring relationships and experiences. In a comparison of the GPA of participants versus non-participants, program participants significantly improve their grades when compared to those student who do …

The Effects Of Highly Engaged Field Experiences And Multi-Faceted Mentoring Stategies On Ameliorating Pre-Service Teacher Concerns., Twyla Diane Harris

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mathematics and science teachers leave education more than teachers in other fields (Alliance for Excellent Education, 2008). Job-related stress and burn-out can attribute to early attrition in veteran teachers and pre-service teachers (PSTs) (e.g. Fives, Hamman, & Olivarez, 2007; Gold, 1985). A strategy for addressing attrition is to reduce self-preservation concerns in pre-service education programs. This study used a mixed-methods quasi-experimental research design to examine two STEM teacher education programs, with the long-term goal of improving STEM teacher retention. The first, “SkyTeach”, incorporated instructional experiences and an assortment of mentoring models prior to student teaching. The second program utilized primarily …

Mentoring: Experiences Of Physical Education Teachers With In-Content And Out-Of-Content Mentors, Molly Bosché Sharer

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study investigates teachers' experiences with mentoring programs. An interpretive paradigm was used. Four hour-long interviews were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed to examine mentoring experiences. Participants included one in-content mentoring pair (an early career physical education (PE) teacher and a veteran PE teacher) and one out-of-content pair (an early career PE teacher and a veteran kindergarten teacher). Guiding the research were the questions: What are the experiences of physical educators with mentors inside their content area? What are the experiences of physical educators with mentors outside their content area?

Findings showed that mentoring is an important support to provide …

Self-Efficacy And Instructional Leadership: Does Mentoring Make A Difference?, Julie Diane Helber

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The responsibility of principals has shifted significantly over the past few decades. During 1960s and 1970s school leaders were expected to be organizers and managers of schools and to serve as buffers to the organization to protect a weak technical core. Standards-based reform, beginning in the 1980s, was in direct conflict with this mindset. Instead of protecting a weak technical core, school leaders had to focus on instruction guided by standards and demonstrate alignment to such standards. Today, there is an increased attention on academic achievement and accountability in schools (Leithwood, Jantzi, & Steinbach, 1999). Principals are being held responsible …

Five School District Mentor Models For Secondary Mathematics And Science Teachers In A Job Embedded University Teacher Preparation Program, Lisa Karcinski

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Mentoring was a component of the Resident Teacher Professional Preparation Program (RTP3), a Race to the Top (RTTT) program funded project. RTTT funded efforts reward states that have demonstrated success in raising student achievement and have the best plans to accelerate learning in the future (U.S. Department of Education, 2014). Five Florida school districts implemented different variations of the RTP3 mentor model and due to the unique needs of each school district, context differences in effectiveness may have emerged. The purpose of the study was to determine the differences among the five mentor models, the extent to which these differences …

Why Beginning Teachers Persist In The Profession And The Impact Of Induction And Mentoring, Laurie Catenese, Lee Harper

M.S.Ed. in Educational Leadership Research Projects

With 46% of new teachers leaving the profession within the first five years, many states have mandated induction programs. This study sought to understand what beginning teachers in rural Maine perceive as the greatest factors impacting their persistence in education, and the perceived impact of induction and mentoring on their persistence. A mixed-methods approach yielded findings that indicated the greatest perceived factors are: working with students, collaborating with peers, and administrative support. Induction and mentoring perceptions were both positive and negative. Recommendations are directed at school leaders who must support teachers by providing time for collaboration and networking, and implementing …

A Study Of High School Students' Perceptions Of Mentoring Students With Disabilities, Ashley N. Davis

Education Dissertations and Projects

This dissertation was designed as a phenomenological qualitative study grounded in Contact Theory to investigate Early College high school students’ perceptions of a multi-year mentoring program. The Early College students were paired with elementary students with varying special needs in a self-contained classroom throughout 3 years in various settings, including community-based therapeutic horseback riding and a school-based sensory program. The study attempted to garner how the mentoring experience affected the Early College high school students personally, as well as their attitudes, feelings, and beliefs in relationship to their tolerance toward people with disabilities as reported by the participants through individual …

Exploring The Experiences And Relationships Of First-Year Teachers And Mentors, Melanie Jane Strey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Educators have a moral imperative and job-embedded expectation to effectively teach all students, which requires a commitment to continued personal growth. The purpose of this instrumental project study was to explore the lived experiences of first-year teachers and their mentors who teach in a culturally-diverse school district. The conceptual framework was based on supporting adult learning methods through the theories of critical thinking, constructivist perspective, the theory of mentoring, and culturally-instructional teaching. The guiding research questions addressed the perceptions of 5 first-year teachers and 5 mentors regarding individual and shared learning as a result of mentor-mentee relationship. A constant comparison …

Perceptions Of Recipients Of A Florida High School Dropout Prevention Program’S Scholarship About The Influence Of Mentoring And Student Advocacy On Success And Persistence In Higher Education, Tracy Lyn Johnston

Theses and Dissertations

This applied dissertation was designed to help a specific Florida high school dropout prevention program better understand the factors that influence the postsecondary persistence rates of their scholarship recipients. The program administrators want to explore the scholarship recipients’ perceptions regarding the role of mentoring and student advocacy in his/her academic success or college persistence. To understand the scholarship recipients experience better, a mixed methods study was conducted with current program scholarship recipients to gain insight into the individual student’s perception of factors including mentoring and student advocacy that influenced student success and completion in college.

Information gained from the student …

Induction Of The Novice Teacher In Urban Schools, Janice Marie Ridley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

New teachers entering the urban pre-K-12 school setting require an induction program to perform their teaching duties. Despite modifications to improve an existing induction program, novice teachers in a Midwestern urban school district were underperforming in the classroom, leaving administrators to address new teacher turnover and a disrupted learning process for students. Drawing from Knowles's adult learning theory and state guidelines to fulfill federal legislation mandates for proper induction, this qualitative case study was designed to explore beginning teachers' perceptions of the modifications in the district's induction program. A sample of 8 novice teachers was recruited to participate in open-ended, …

Beginning Teachers' Experiences And Use Of Time, Laura Marie Ahles

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

New teachers in a southeast Texas school district are having difficulty using their time effectively for instruction while balancing a multitude of tasks. New work responsibilities for teachers are contributing to teacher burnout and early attrition. The purpose of this study was to examine new teachers and administrators perceptions of novice teacher practices and their daily use of time. Apple s theory of intensification was used as the conceptual framework for this study. A case study design was employed to answer research questions regarding how procedures and policies affect teachers time, teacher perceptions about prior experiences with managing multiple responsibilities, …

Predicting Success In First-Year Associate Degree Nursing Students, Laura J. Hope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An associate degree of nursing program in the southeastern region of the United States has had significant increases in student attrition over the past few years. Admission requirements did not include an entrance exam, such as the Test of Essential Academic Skills (TEAS), which may be useful in decreasing the deficiencies associated with poor student progression. Guided by the Knowles' theory of adult learning and Bandura's social learning theory, the purpose of this correlation study was to explore the relationship between the TEAS scores and the cumulative grade point average (GPA) of first-year students to determine if success at the …

Strategies Healthcare Leaders Use For Leadership Development, Julie Hunt

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Education and training of potential leaders are essential, and chief executive officers (CEOs) need to identify effective leadership development (LD) programs that foster successful leaders within the healthcare industry. The purpose of this multiple, exploratory case study was to explore LD strategies used by CEOs in hospitals in Central Florida, United States. The overarching research question investigated what executable LD strategies healthcare leaders needed to ensure sustainable growth and successful leaders. The human capital theory and the concepts of emotional intelligence and spiritual leadership guided this study. A purposive sample of 8 CEOs participated in semistructured face-to-face interviews to elicit …

Expectations And Experiences Of Undergraduate Students Who Participated In An Alumni Mentoring Program, Kristin Conner

Doctoral Dissertations

Expectations and Experiences of Undergraduate Students Who Participated in an Alumni Mentoring Program

Research on mentoring with undergraduate university students has been a topic of increasing interest, although most of the focus has been on faculty to student mentoring (Ehrich, Hansford, & Tennet, 2004; Lunsford, 2011; Putsche, Storrs, Lewis, & Haylett, 2010; Underhill, 2005). Other types of mentoring with undergraduate university students, such as mentoring relationships with alumni have been investigated very little, causing a gap in the available knowledge on this topic. The purpose of this research was to understand the expectations and experiences of undergraduate university students being …

Exploring The Benefits Of Embedded And Sustained Field Placements For Pre-Service Teachers And Students Through Research Of The F.A.C.E Collaboration, Marie Corrigan

Williams Honors College, Honors Research Projects

No abstract provided.

Learning To See, Seeing To Learn: The Learning Journey Of Three Pre-Service Teachers In A Video Club Setting, Catherine Moore

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

This study sought to develop a deeper understanding of the phenomenon of professional growth in pre-service teachers during their final practicum. The research was situated in a primary school and involved three pre-service teachers with widely differing backgrounds who brought differing experiences to the practicum. The study identified personal and contextual variables that affected the pre-service teachers’ professional growth and explored how professional discourse within a learning community of peers, informed by multiple perspectives on teaching practice that were facilitated by video, influenced professional growth.

This qualitative research project used a broad phenomenological approach in that the methods used were …

Leaving Home: Investigating Transitioning Challenges Faced By Boarding Students And Their Families, Kate Margaret Hadwen

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Transitioning to boarding school during the middle years of childhood impacts upon the social, emotional and academic wellbeing of young people (Bramston & Patrick, 2007; Connell & Wellborn, 1991; Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991; Earls & Carlson, 2001). Students who live at school as boarders, may experience greater transitional changes in all three components of wellbeing due to the extent of change experienced during this transition. While research addressing transitioning to school has indicated the importance of connectedness to school, bonding, friendships and a sense of autonomy (Eccles et al., 1993), there is limited research addressing the transitioning experiences …