Education Commons^™

2011: The President's Dinner For Faculty And Staff, Olivet Nazarene University

President's Dinner Programs

Good evening, everyone! The rhythms and cycles of the University calendar bring us renewal and new opportunities. We now look forward with a strong sense of assurance that “He who began a good work in us” will continue to guide and direct our work during the coming 2011–2012 year.

Let us remember and rejoice that our work is God’s work. We touch eternity every day as we work together to provide an “Education with a Christian Purpose” to a new generation.

Please take a moment during the dinner to review the program, which chronicles many of the fine accomplishments of …

Positivity And Positive Reinforcement In Organizational Culture At Nazarene Higher Education Institutions, Brian W. Parker

Ed.D. Dissertations

Given the importance of employee motivation, satisfaction, productivity, and retention, as well as the support for positivity in the review of the literature, this study examined the effects of positivity and positive reinforcement in organizational culture, through the lens of admissions professionals, at the eight Nazarene Higher Education Institutions (NHEI) within the United States. The study also examined the effects of the perceived positivity of leaders in organizational culture, in the same context. The findings revealed some signs of positivity among NHEI admissions professionals, but no evidence was revealed regarding the consistent use of positive reinforcement in these settings. The …

Investigation Of Comprehension Monitoring Skills Of First-Year Students Of College Reading Courses, Barbara Revor

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study investigates the comprehension monitoring skills of first-year readers at both a two-year institution and a four-year institution in the Midwest. The Metacognitive Awareness of Reading Strategies Inventory (MARSI) was used to assess skills. The MARSI, developed by Mokhtari and Reichard (2002), assesses reading strategies in the areas of problem-solving, support reading, and global reading. Simple t-tests were used to compare the items on the survey relating to understanding and comprehension monitoring. Results reveal no statistical difference between the students at the two institutions; however, the MARSI was able to show where instructors need to begin instruction to …

An Evaluation Of The Chicago Police Department's Recruit Curriculum In Emergency Response Week Relating To Terrorism Awareness And Response To Terrorism Incidents, Mark T. Sedevic

Ed.D. Dissertations

Police recruits need to be prepared the moment they graduate from the police academy for any type of situation, especially terrorism. This study examined whether the Emergency Response Week portion of the Chicago Police Department Recruit Academy curriculum was adequate and provided Chicago Police Department recruits with appropriate knowledge of terrorism awareness and the skills necessary to respond to a terrorism incident. The results indicated that the Chicago Police Department recruit curriculum in Emergency Response Week was perceived as above adequate by Chicago Police Department recruits. Additionally, the Chicago Police Department recruits perceived their knowledge concerning terrorism awareness and their …

How Well Does The Typical Accounting Bachelor's Degree Prepare Students For A Career In The Accounting Department Of The United States Government?, Michael J. Tuttle

Honors Program Projects

This study investigates the effectiveness of the typical Accounting Bachelor’s Degree in preparing graduates to enter the Accounting Department of the United States Government. My experiences as a student at Olivet Nazarene University and as an intern with the Department of Defense have revealed a gap in accounting curriculum. Governmental accounting is rarely required by universities, presenting unnecessary challenges to entry-level government accountants. A survey conducted by the Government Accountants Journal, in 2000, revealed that only 33% of universities require governmental accounting. (Campbell, 2000) Our further analysis indicates that these numbers have not improved. To investigate this issue, we conducted …

The Integration Of School Garden Programs Into Educational Curriculum, Annie Lowry

Honors Program Projects

School gardens have many benefits for students which include helping students make nutritious choices, encouraging students to be environmentally conscious, and providing experiential learning. School gardens have great potential to be an effective learning tool if incorporated into the classroom. The purpose of this project is to evaluate how gardening is being integrated into classroom curriculum in several schools in the state of Illinois and what factors have led to this integration. Educational professionals from seven different sites were interviewed to collect qualitative data about current integration of gardening into school curriculum. The results from the interviews confirm previous research …

Teaching Christian Readings Of Secular Young Adult Literature, Angela R. Lee

Honors Program Projects

The purpose of this project is to empower Christian young adults to engage with secular literature adolescent literature in a manner that encourages them to grow in their faith. The project has three main components: a case study article on Christian reading practices based on their reviews of The Shack, a literature review of Christian reading theory, and a five day instructional unit plan designed to teach high school freshmen Christians to engage appropriate with secular literature.

In the case study, over 400 Amazon.com reader reviews and comments on the Christian fiction novel The Shack were examined in order to …

Motivation To Pursue Higher Education, David W. Knutsen

Ed.D. Dissertations

Non-traditional college students now comprise an ever increasing portion of the overall number of college students but little is known about the factors that motivate one to pursue higher education. The purpose of this study was to explore the motivating factors, both extrinsic and intrinsic, that lead U.S. workers to pursue higher education. This research was conducted using 200 students of Robert Morris University and the data were collected using a survey instrument that measures the extent to which various factors influenced one’s motivation to pursue higher education. Analysis of the data revealed that overall the most important extrinsic factor …

An Investigation Of Random Drug Testing As A Preventative Measure To Inhibit Drug Use In College Students, Drew Ludtke

Ed.D. Dissertations

The problem of drug use exists at most life stages. In particular, the problem of drug use exists in school settings. In a collegiate setting, students are independent from guardians for the first time and subjected to random drug testing (RDT). The difficulty in testing in a collegiate setting is finding ways to test the effectiveness of RDT. This study examined the effectiveness of an RDT program at a small Midwest university. Reports of drug use and attitudes were recorded before a RDT program was initiated and two years after. The results showed the RDT program was ineffective at preventing …

An Axiological Analysis Of Shared Purpose And Academic Excellence, Robert Baranoski

Ed.D. Dissertations

In this dissertation, I inquired into the relationship of shared purpose and academic excellence. Beginning with an understanding and investigation into the axiology of shared purpose and academic performance, the research reviewed and synthesized scholarly literature for contextual facts. Following analyses, a quantitative explanatory method was undertaken to measure correlation of the variables. An examination of the findings supports a relationship between shared purpose and academic excellence. More importantly, it yields further investigation into purpose as a linchpin to performance in public education.

Writing Curriculum And The Adolescent: Addressing Skill Variance In The Classroom, Zakieh A. Mohammed

Ed.D. Dissertations

This study addressed a means of responding to the varying writing skill levels found in the standard high school classroom. A structured writing curriculum was examined through a state, national and marketed rubric, focusing upon a high-risk high school population in Chicago, IL. The research centered around cognitive learning theory, specifically, Vygotsky‘s zone of proximal development. Additionally, to account for the variance in skill level, a new measurement tool was created to quantify rigor in relation to increasingly difficult writing assessments. The longitudinal study determined that, with extended exposure, the proposed structured writing curriculum did enable students to meet state, …

Marketing Nazarene Higher Education: A Study Of Nazarene High School Senior College Choice, Timothy W. Eades

Ed.D. Dissertations

This was a quantitative study of college choice factors as related to Nazarene high school seniors. A purposeful sample comprised of 6,918 students was utilized leading to 343 valid survey respondents. Valid respondents were specifically high-school seniors, over the age of 18, which attended a Nazarene church and signified the intention of attending a college or university in the fall of 2010. Nine very important or extremely important college choice factors were derived from the findings of this study. Differentiations were established with students choosing to attend a Nazarene college or university and those that chose not to do so. …

Scholar Week, Gregg Chenoweth

Scholar Week Archives (2011-2015)

During Scholar Week we take inspiration from 18th century preacher-scholar |ohn Wesley. As “a denominational university in the Wesleyan tradition,” scholarship and piety are thoroughly compatible here. So, in Scholar Week we tune our ear to the gong and echo of Wesley. It is not just history, but his story, even to this day. In our own scholarship projects we join a great cloud of Christians not educated out of their faith, but fashioning an educated faith, where the love of the Lord by heart, soul, strength, and mind is our great and worthy cause.

Telos: The Destination For Nazarene Higher Education, Gregg A. Chenoweth, Barbara M. Ragan

Books and Manuscripts – Academic Affairs Office

A collection of essays that attempts to articulate the common “center pole” around which Nazarene higher educators stand and the theological and pedagogical commitments that draw them together. An end product of the Pole Project, the volume is a values document for Nazarene educational institutions and was produced and reviewed by 51 faculty at 16 institutions from six countries. The title, Telos, comes from the Greek term used in the New Testament to address the perfect end, or destination, for which Christians are designed. We achieve this when we are perfectly aimed by God. Each contribution in the collection discusses …

Aurora Volume 98, Sarah Zelhart (Editor)

Aurora-yearbook

College formerly located at Olivet, Illinois and known as Olivet University (1912-1923) Olivet College (1923-1939), Olivet Nazarene College (1940-1986), and Olivet Nazarene University (1986-Present).

Children In God's House: Teaching Cosmology At A Nazarene University, Stephen Case

Faculty Scholarship – Geology

This is one of a collection of essays that attempts to articulate the common “center pole” around which Nazarene higher educators stand and the theological and pedagogical commitments that draw them together. It is one of a series of values documents for Nazarene educational institutions and was produced and reviewed by 51 faculty at 16 institutions from six countries. The title of the collection, Telos, comes from the Greek term used in the New Testament to address the perfect end, or destination, for which Christians are designed. This essay sets out how understanding and engaging with contemporary theories regarding the …