Education Commons^™

Encountering Place, Pedagogy, And Culture: Study Abroad And Experiential Learning In Morocco And Indonesia, Jennifer M. Pipitone

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Efforts to globalize higher education have resulted in study abroad climbing to an all-time high in the United States. Amidst this growth, emergent bodies of literature have uncovered problematic trends in study abroad that reproduce hierarchies of power and colonialism, perpetuate views of an exotic cultural “other,” and privilege tourism over education. In my dissertation, I respond to these problems by exploring ways of teaching and learning in study abroad that embrace the pedagogical power of place to foster awareness of the self in relation to other, cultivate relationality, and deconstruct the exotic. Rather than focusing on the individual as …

Open Source Micro Diplomas: New Credentials For New Learning, Jack F. Powers

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

The standard model for college in America—a four-year bachelor’s degree that teaches critical thinking, analytic reasoning, and written communication skills—is unaffordable and unattainable for most Americans. Only about a third of citizens aged 25 and over have achieved a baccalaureate degree or better. Two-thirds are left behind in precarious jobs that pay substantially less and that are losing ground. Everyone from politicians to parents repeats the mantra of “college for all”, but the reality is more like “college for the socio-economically gifted.”

At the same time, the modern world of work is evolving into a more complex, technical, and computerized …

University Education For The Creation Of The Black Middle Class: Kigali, Rwanda, Chrystina L. Russell

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Drawing on theories documenting the advantages and disadvantages of the growing Black middle class, this dissertation examines how higher education functions in creating a middle class citizenry in developing countries. The underlying premise of this dissertation is understanding how technology and education operate in tandem to simultaneously alleviate and perpetuate economic as well as social inequalities. Therefore, this project will contribute to research on the growing Black middle class in the developing world, and will offer insight into a “blueprint” of how technology and education operate in tandem.

This dissertation is a case study—employing mixed methods (quantitative and qualitative) approaches—examination …