Education Commons^™

The Relationship Between Participation In A Student Success Course And The Retention Rate And Academic Success Of First-Year Freshmen At A Historically Black University, Madeline Martinez

Dissertations

Problem

Amongst the highest at-risk student populations are minority students (students of color), first-generation college students, students from low-socioeconomic status, students experiencing financial challenges, and those who enter college academically underprepared. Furthermore, studies have found a significant gap in the educational achievement of African Americans in comparison to other peer groups. Closing this achievement gap requires educators to take a closer look at the complex concept of student retention and understand the variables and factors associated with students’ successful outcomes from both an individual and institutional perspective. An in-depth examination of the effectiveness of strategies specifically designed for the retention …

An Examination Of The Predictors Of Vocational Calling In First-Generation College Students, Rodney Palmer

Dissertations

Problem

Several studies have examined the prediction of calling in college students, but no known study has focused primarily on the development of vocational calling among the vulnerable population of first-generation college students who have a higher drop-out rate than their peers. Examining the composition of vocational calling in first-generation college students, will assist faculty and student development personnel in better understanding the factors that predict a sense of calling for these students, which will improve their overall performance. This study will examine to what extent a sense of vocational calling is predicted by student mentoring, social support, faith/spirituality, civic …

The Predictability Of Types Of Mentoring Relationships On The Perceived Performance Behaviors Of College Undergraduate Students, Jeffery Lindsey

Dissertations (2016-Present)

The purpose of this study was to examine the predictability of types of mentoring relationships on the perceived academic success, retention status, graduation status, and progression status of undergraduate students in the United States. Specifically, this study focused on the predictable relationship between types of mentoring relationships such as peer mentorship, faculty mentorship, e-mentorship, and group mentorship on the perceived academic success, retention status, graduation status, and persistence status of undergraduate students. For this study I utilized a correlational design. A survey was used to collect quantitative data from undergraduate students. A purposive sample of the population was necessary for …

An Exploration Of Resilience: Evaluating Resilience Scores Among Honors Undergraduates Involved In Leadership Programs, Amy Van Buren

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Resilience is vital to college and university student success. Furthermore, resilience is necessary for successful leadership. Student leadership programs must consider resilience building as part of successful program development. By considering resilience as a factor in student leadership success and future leadership success, programs may encourage the development of leaders who are highly equipped to lead and continue to lead in the long term. Because of the need to promote resilience building through leadership program development, the researcher sought to explore the potential relationship between participation in leadership activities and student resilience scores.

The purpose of this quantitative research was …

Centering The Margins: Elevating The Voices Of Women Of Color To Critically Examine College Student Leadership, Natasha T. Turman

Dissertations

The leadership viewpoints of Women of Color (WOC), in general, and WOC collegians specifically, are not widely available or recognized. This exclusion and oversight is a disservice to all. The inadequate inclusion of WOC's perspective in leadership literature is due to the assumptions of race and gender neutrality in leadership studies. Viewing leadership as a set of universal constructs, garnered from a select few and generalized to a great many, is not adequate to understanding the leadership experiences of WOC within dominant-culture environments. To address these deficits, critical leadership scholars have proposed that leadership be (re)conceptualized from a multicultural perspective, …

Examining Undergraduate Faculty's Competence And Confidence In Addressing Distressed And Disruptive College Students, Nicholas Efren Negrete

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Mental health issues serve as a leading barrier to academic success for college students. As mental health issues among college students continue to escalate, there is an increased likelihood in the manifestation of demonstrable distress and disruption among college students within the classroom. However, there is dearth of research surrounding faculty's confidence and competence related to college students' mental health experiences, namely experiences with students in distress or those whom are disruptive. This qualitative research study will focus on examining faculty's confidence and competence in responding to distressed and disruptive college students through an interpretevist lens. Using Noddings's (1999) Ethic …

Sex And Gender Identity: A New Perspective For College Student Development, Steven Ray Wise

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

One of the goals of college student development professionals is to help undergraduate students develop a meaningful sense of personal identity. Early in the history of the profession, practitioners borrowed freely from related fields such as sociology and psychology to guide their practice, but beginning around the 1960s, scholars began in earnest to develop their own unique body of literature. In this work I examine the development of that scholarly work as it relates to identity development—specifically the evolution of understanding around the issues of sex and gender identity development.

Beginning with William Perry, whose work has impacted so many …

Transition To College: Nonacademic Factors That Influence Persistence For Underprepared Community College Students, Ann M. Paulson

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Community colleges provide access to higher education for a broad range of students. The majority require ‘remedial’ coursework in reading, writing and, especially, math. Most students who begin with this remedial coursework do not go on to earn a certificate or degree. Low levels of college graduation have high direct cost, adversely affect the U.S. economy and contribute to socioeconomic inequity.

The literature review shows that both academic and nonacademic factors influence both completion of remedial coursework and completion of first year in college. It introduces research on a variety of strategies for increasing completion and persistence for underprepared students. …

Prescription Stimulant Use By Graduate Students, Matthew Donald Varga

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to measure graduate student prescription stimulant use by assessing the extent of use, reasons for use, and poly-substance use. Graduate students (n = 1,015) enrolled at a large Southeastern university completed the Student Life Survey. The data were analyzed using a variety of analytical techniques including descriptive statistics, frequencies, and a stepwise logistic regression in order to answer the research questions guiding this study:

1. What is the extent of prescription stimulant abuse among graduate students on college campuses?
2. What are the reasons for graduate students’ illicit use of prescription stimulants?
3. Are graduate students …

Guiding Future Practices: A Review Of Parent And Family Services, Caleb Bridges, Sara Heiman, Nicholas Hyer, Carrie Radke, Allison Wright, April Heiselt

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Working with college students often includes working with their parents and families. Higher education institutions across the US have addressed this cultural shift with the creation of parent and family services. As research illustrates continued relationships between students and their parents, student affairs practitioners will need to address this need. This article is a call for student affairs professionals to be creative and proactive when focusing on the future needs of parents and families of college students. Innovations for parent and family services, including the use of technology and the need for collaboration between on-campus departments, are shared.

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 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 …

Understanding The Influence Of Strengths On The College Experience: A Qualitative Case Study Of Undergraduate Business Students, Jennifer A. Mostek

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The purpose of this qualitative, interview-based study was to identify the way that students and advisors utilized knowledge about students’ strengths in college. Strengths were defined by StrengthsQuest, a product of The Gallup Organization. Five college students and three academic advisors from the business college at a large, public research university, representing various cultural backgrounds, family statuses and ages participated in the study. Student and advisor participants explored the influence of strengths on self awareness, confidence, relationships, academic matters, as well as future plans. Advisor participants also discussed the need for additional courses or integration of strengths-based education in existing …

The Reading, Study, And Discussion Of "Great Texts" Of Literature, Philosophy, And Politics As A Complement To Contemporary Leadership Education Literature., Frank Shushok Jr., Scott H. Moore

Frank Shushok Jr.

Reading Greats will not provide a new and better definition of leadership, but it will equip us with some of the “best that has been thought and said,” and this has always been the true province of great leaders.

The Use Of Feuerstein’S Instrumental Enrichment With Underprepared College Students: A Pilot Study, Michael Kieta

Masters Theses & Specialist Projects

This pilot study investigated the usage of Feuerstein’s (1980) Instrumental Enrichment with underprepared college students. Open admissions policies in colleges and universities have resulted in the enrollment of many students who are underprepared to meet the academic task demands. Courses have been developed by the colleges and universities to remediate the academic deficits of underprepared students. Remedial courses using traditional educational methods have been largely ineffective. Cognitive process instruction (CPI) is an area of educational research that recently began to receive increased attention in the field of remedial education. The goal of CPI has been to develop the cognitive/thought processes …