Education Commons^™

Lived Experiences Of Medical Laboratory Science Clinical Instructors As Adult Learners, Linda Jean Mccown

Dissertations

Physicians and patients trust the medical laboratory science (MLS) professionals performing laboratory tests, assuming that they are competent. The education of these professionals includes time spent in clinical rotations; weeks that students spend alongside their clinical instructors who are practicing professionals. When they first have students to teach, these clinical instructors have little or no experience or training in how to conduct clinical instruction. This research examined how medical laboratory science clinical instructors learn to conduct clinical instruction. In order to describe the phenomenon of clinical instructors learning to conduct clinical instruction, a mixed methods approach was used. In the …

Effects Of Implementing A Formative Assessment Initiative, Thomas A. Stewart

Dissertations

This dissertation supports the work of Black and Wiliam (1998), who demonstrated that when teachers effectively utilize formative assessment strategies, student learning increases significantly. However, the researchers also found a “poverty of practice” among teachers, in that few fully understood how to effectively implement formative assessment in the classroom. This qualitative case study examined a series of voluntary workshops offered at one public middle school designed to address this poverty of practice. Data were gathered via semi-structured interviews. The researcher used constant comparative analysis to discover patterns in the data for the following four research questions: (1) What role did …

Change Is Learning: Metacognition To Resolve Concerns During The Third Year Of The Implementation Of A Technological Innovation, Nola Allen-Raffail

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

"We are living in a time of change. Rather than viewing change as a painful course of action, let's develop an understanding of how it works, how to facilitate the process, and how to learn from our experiences" (Hall & Hord, 2011, p. 18).

This study used a snapshot of a private Kindergarten-12^th grade school during the third year of the implementation of a technological innovation (RenWeb) to investigate teacher concerns during the process of change and gain insights into individuals' use of metacognition to resolve those concerns. Two primary research instruments were used, the Stages of Concern Questionnaire …

Student Perception Of Content Master And Engagement In Using An E-Authoring Tool, Lin Carver, Carol Todd

Higher Learning Research Communications

Examination of student comments and end of course surveys from previous courses revealed two content design themes: request for additional graphics and visuals to support content and improved quality and opportunities to master content. Researchers wanted to investigate if incorporating SoftChalk, an e-authoring tool, would effectively address these expressed design concerns. As such, the purpose of the study was to explore the students’ perceptions of the effectiveness of the newly implemented e-authoring tool. A mixed-method survey design, which included Likert scales and qualitative responses, was utilized. All students enrolled in five sections of the three online graduate education courses (N=81) …

The Human Computer Interaction Issues Associated With The Creation Of Personalized Role Playing Simulations, Eileen O'Donnell, Catherine Mulwa, Mary Sharp, Vincent Wade

Conference Papers

The human computer interaction issues associated with the creation of personalized role playing simulations are discussed in this paper. This paper is aimed at those who are interested in building authoring applications which enable educators to build role playing simulated e-learning resources to use with their students. One of the main issues which have come to our attention is that many learning designers and educators do not understand what exactly it is we are trying to achieve by creating personalized role playing simulations. Also, how to gauge the pedagogic merits which can be achieved by using these e-learning resources. Potential …

The Impact Of A Reflective Thinking Intervention On Nursing Students In A Child And Family Nursing Course, Vicky Holle Becherer

Dissertations

With the ever-changing healthcare systems, nursing students need to think at a high level by applying their knowledge from theory to the clinical setting by prioritizing, delegating, and problem solving to provide safe, competent, quality nursing care. Using action research, nursing students participated in R.A.V.E. (Reflective Thinking Allows Variety for Excellence) Reviews to see how they used their past experiences, knowledge, and beliefs to arrive at the appropriate answers and/or solutions to exam questions and real life situations. A purposive sample of 65 nursing students in a Child and Family Nursing course from the Spring 2010 and Fall 2010 semesters …

The Characteristics Of Learning In Social Movements: A Pilot Study Of An Environmental Organization, Jihyun Kim

Adult Education Research Conference

This qualitative study addresses the distinctive characteristics of learning in social movements in terms of learning content, motivation, format, and outcomes. Based on the researcher’s constructivist stance on knowledge, social movement activists in a currently active local environmental organization, the Protect Elica Island (pseudonym, PEI), were interviewed. The study showed that PEI activists learned skills and knowledge about the movement, as well as suggestions for more successful organization activities. Participants reported learning about the nature of social movement participation from reflection, and the significance of their social movement activities in more passionate, self- directed, self-controlled, and self-rewarding ways than in …

A Transformative Learning Perspective On Workplace Safety, R. Bruce Dodge

Adult Education Research Conference

Workplace injuries and illness are a problem of epidemic proportion yet safe workplaces can be created. Using the lens of transformative learning this case study, informed by ethnography, examined the experience of a long term seniors’ living facility which had dramatically reduced injury rates and costs. The study sought to understand the apparent perspective transformation of senior leaders and how that change impacted the organization. Disorienting dilemmas, discourse and critical reflection were seen as contributing to a new frame of reference which guided the actions of leaders.

Structural Model Of Simulation – Social Constructionist Perspective, Bo Chang

Adult Education Research Conference

The purpose of this study is to establish a viable structural model of simulation in learning from the social constructionist perspective. The study is based on one of my empirical studies about knowledge construction in learning community and also the researches on simulation from the interdisciplinary fields. The findings indicate that simulation is a process of designing and practicing a model generated from the representational structure of the real world and modifying the model according to the specific contexts. Simulation is useful for gaining analogous knowledge, knowledge that has similar or relevant structures between the simulatee and simulator.

Expanding The Conversation On Adult Learning Theories: Theorizing African American Women’S Learning And Development In Predominantly White Organizations, Marilyn Y. Byrd, Dominique T. Chlup

Adult Education Research Conference

This study is a qualitative, interpretative examination of nine African American women’s (AAW’s) experiences while working in a leadership position at a predominantly White organization and the learning experiences that emerged from these encounters. Black feminist theory (BFT) is used as a sociocultural framework to explain how the participants learned from these experiences. Three main learning themes emerged: learning from influential sources, learning through divine guidance, and learning through affirmation of self. We posit that sociocultural theories derived from AAW’s ways of knowing is necessary to move the field of adult education toward more inclusive ways of theorizing learning.

Factors Influencing International Students' Academic And Sociocultural Transition In An Increasingly Globalized Society, Chung-Hsien Hsu

Dissertations

This study is a mixed-method study. It consists of a quantitative study and a qualitative study. The quantitative study focused on international adult learners’ experiences of adaptation to American academic and social cultures. The qualitative study then investigated their experiences of cultural transition.

Based on the definition of globalized influences (Finger, 2005) and existing studies discussing the effects on globalized educational environments (Merriam & Young), factors related to globalized influences were selected and used to examine the extent to which these factors have affected international students’ adaptation to learning and life in the American university. Additionally, the other two variables, …

Adult Learning Styles And Technology-Driven Learning For Online Students, Emad Rahim, Aikyna Finch

Academic Leadership: The Online Journal

The growing crisis in the U.S. has caused many traditional colleges and universities to consider new ways to ensure economic competitiveness and continued financial growth without increasing the size and overhead of their campus.. Universities like Upper Iowa, University Bates College in Maine, and Ball State University in Indiana have begun to offer three-year undergraduate degrees and provide online courses to save students both time and money (Pope, 2009). Several colleges in Colorado are considering the option of moving from a traditional undergraduate classroom format to adding online courses as a means to raise revenue and increase student enrollment. Because …

Student, Practitioner, Or Both?:Separation And Integration Of Identities In Professional Social Care Education, Fiona Mcsweeney

Articles

This paper presents and discusses some of the findings from a qualitative study of identities in work-related learners. The theoretical framework of structural symbolic interactionism is outlined and the two identities of interest, that of student and practitioner discussed. The aim of professional education is viewed as enabling the practitioner to deal with ambiguity and change through critical examination of work practices and location of these within theoretical frameworks. It is argued that for knowledge and behaviour to transfer to the work setting the student and worker identities need to be integrated rather than kept separate. Factors identified as influencing …