Education Commons^™

Fostering An Inclusive Learning Environment Through Course Development: A Program Evaluation, Rachel K. Rogers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This evaluation was chosen to address the desire of students to see themselves and their lived experiences in their coursework at University College, the location of this study. The purpose was to complete a utilization-focused evaluation that assessed first, the formal and informal practices involved in the course development process within an academic department at University College, University of Denver, and second to determine the extent to which the course development process contributes to an inclusive learning environment. Data were collected using qualitative methods including semi-structured interviews of key stakeholders in the course development process, observations of weekly course development …

How Doctoral Students In A Formal Leadership Program Conceptualize Followership: A Mixed-Methods Study, Katy J. Johnson

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this exploratory mixed-methods study was to determine how doctoral students in a formal leadership program conceptualize followership. The methods used to conduct this analysis included distributing a Qualtrics (released in August 2022) survey and conducting one-on-one interviews with a sample of degree-seeking doctoral students within a formal leadership program. The researcher collected quantitative and qualitative data addressing students’ followership style, leadership attitudes and beliefs, and perceptions of followership. These data were analyzed concurrently using a triangulation design. A total of 67 students completed the survey, and seven students were interviewed. The findings revealed that the participants employ …

The Virtual Classroom: What Can Be Learned From The Covid-19 Lockdown, James L. Nations

Senior Theses

This paper seeks to examine the teaching practices utilized during the initial COVID-19 lockdown in higher education. This forced switch to the virtual classroom forced many professors to make innovative changes to adapt to this change in teaching modality. These changes can now be examined and evaluated for potential future application. By reviewing the current literature, performing an analysis of grades from Fall 2017 through Summer 2022, and interviewing select professors at the University of South Carolina, this paper seeks to illuminate some of the potential issues that arise when adapting in-person curriculums to the virtual classroom as well as …

Global Engagement Model For Land-Grant Universities, A Grounded Theory., Lorena Ivonne Ballester

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports

The purpose of this study is to examine how land-grant universities engage with the public in the era of globalization; to explain the institutionalization of engagement processes accounting for the global context; and, to integrate this analysis into a Global Engagement Model for Land-Grant Universities (GEM) implementing a grounded theory research methodology.

GEM’s foundation is both theoretical and empirical. Applying the intensity sampling method, the universities selected for the empirical base were: The University of California, Davis, Michigan State University, and The Pennsylvania State University. Rather than an exact representation of individual universities’ engagement models, the model is the researcher’s …

Impact Of Covid-19 On Education In Rwanda: The Case Of Kepler Kigali, Ernestine Niyobuhungiro

Regis University Student Publications (comprehensive collection)

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted many areas of life throughout the world, including the education sector. The pandemic brought on many changes that impacted both students and the instructors. To better understand the impact of COVID-19 on education in Rwanda, the research was made at Kepler Kigali; an education program that offers higher learning education. To collect the data, surveys and interviews were conducted with students and staffs. Forty-seven students and 18 staff members responded to the survey. The results indicated that 67% of the students found it hard to stay motivated and 77% of staff confirmed that …

Eservice-Learning During Covid-19: How Community-Engaged Learning Courses At The University Of San Francisco Responded To The Pandemic, Erin I. Hassett

Master's Projects and Capstones

During the COVID-19 pandemic, universities and colleges had to quickly transition their courses from in-person to online. This switch to online learning heavily impacted community-engaged learning (CEL) courses because it meant that internships with community partners had to become remote as well as the coursework. The University of San Francisco (USF) requires their undergraduate students to take at least one CEL course during their four years there as a way to connect them to the school’s Jesuit Catholic values, so pivoting these courses to a remote setting and keeping them available to students throughout the pandemic was imperative. This paper …

Refugee Higher Education And Participatory Action Research Methods: Lessons Learned From The Field, Hadas Yanay

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Refugee access to higher education is devastatingly low. Recognizing the complex barriers facing refugee learners, global educational initiatives are innovating flexible learning models which promote blended online and in-person learning modalities. This article describes the implementation of a five month, online-based internship pilot offered to 21 refugee participants in qualitative and quantitative research methods, through a participatory action research (PAR) framework in five different countries -- Malawi, Kenya, South Africa, Rwanda, and Lebanon. The internship is part of the Global Education Movement (GEM), which brings refugees accredited online college degree and career development opportunities. Through direct engagement, observation of the …

The Four Transactional Distances Of The Apocalypse: A Critical Realist Case Study Of Higher Education During Covid-19, Lee Ann Dickerson

Doctorate in Education

The purpose of this comparative, longitudinal case study was to explore the distance operations system implemented in U.S. colleges and universities during the COVID-19 pandemic. Embedded in a larger two-year study of distance education in the U.S. before and after the health crisis, this study combined a grounded theory methodology with a critical realist approach to identify the components of the distance operations system and illuminate the generative mechanisms that promote or inhibit effective distance education. Primary data for this study consisted of interviews of faculty, staff, and administration of four higher education institutions at two collection points: first during …

Pedagogic Recontextualization In Health Science Education During A Global Pandemic: Faculty Perspectives On Instructional Adaptations, Kara R. De La Fosse

Education Doctorate Dissertations

This qualitative study explored Health Science faculty navigating learning during a global pandemic. Data collection sources for the study comprised individual interviews, individual online questionnaires, and a focus group. The study produced four emergent themes from data analysis of individual interviews, online questionnaires, and the focus group: Faculty Flexibility with Responding to Virtual Instructional Delivery, Shift from Didactic to Conceptual Contextual Learning, Shift in Assessment of Skills and Competency, and Faculty Creativity in Changing the State of Practice Through Course Design. Conclusions from the study established changing pedagogy from a teacher-focused to student-focused approach and employing creativity were paramount with …

The Value Of Interactive Multimodal Online Higher Education Classrooms: Examining The Impact Of Interactive Multimedia-Based Instructional Design (Imbid), Andrea Munro

Dissertations

Purpose: Despite their affordability and convenience, online courses have higher student failure and dropout rates than ground based-courses. The purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative single-case study was to determine if there is a difference between interactive, multimedia-based online instruction and traditional text-based online instruction as it relates to the level of student performance, engagement, and satisfaction in higher education.

Methodology: This quantitative research design used inferential statistics to analyze the research questions. The researcher selected 13 text-based courses that were redesigned to become interactive, multimedia-based courses. Archival student performance, engagement, and satisfaction data was abstracted from both the text-based and …

Improving The Rigor Of Online Education: Exploring Characteristics Of Faculty And Syllabi Within An Online Program Assessment Process, Brad J. Hamel

All NMU Master's Theses

As online course enrollments grow, overall perception of rigor still lags compared to that of traditional face-to-face education. The purpose of this research was to tie faculty and syllabi characteristics to the rigor of online courses. This study explored the relationship between faculty and syllabi characteristics and performance on an online entry-level course design quality assurance assessment (pass, pass with concern, or fail). A decision tree analysis was used to predict the relationship of the independent (faculty and syllabi characteristics) and the dependent (entry-level course design assessment) variables. Findings suggest that faculty rank and writing intensive are key characteristics predictive …

A Mixed-Methods Study: Self-Efficacy And Barriers To Participation In Workplace Wellness Programs, Massiel Perez-Calhoon

Dissertations

America needs a healthy workforce to sustain the country. The scourge of obesity continues to plague Americans despite government initiatives such as the Affordable Care Act and wellness programs in the workplace to combat this epidemic. However, despite initiatives to make America healthy, barriers continued to impede the nation’s health. Lack of awareness and sensitivity to what motivates individual participants versus group participants built formidable barriers to accessing all workplace employees equitably. The purpose of this study was twofold. First, the intent of this study was to explore the relationship between self-efficacy and the impact on participation and engagement when …

Blended Learning For Faculty Professional Development Incorporating Knowledge Management Principles, Julie E. Hewitt

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Adjunct faculty comprise a large percentage of part-time faculty for many colleges and universities today. Adjunct faculty are hired because they are experts in their content areas; however, this does not guarantee that they are skilled in effective classroom management. These instructors can become bewildered and frustrated because they lack the knowledge and skills that are needed to run an effective classroom.

While educational organizations have adopted blended learning environments as an effective delivery method for their students, this method has not gained much traction as a way to deliver instruction to their own employees. Thus, there are opportunities to …

A Big Idea: The Rollout Of Open Suny, Karen E. Case

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Leveraging technology may be a viable solution in the higher education industry as enrollments decline and institutions have a hard time meeting their projected budgets. One innovative approach to mitigating this problem was approved in March of 2013 by the Board of Trustees of the State University of New York (SUNY). It is called Open SUNY. Open SUNY consists of nine components: the creation and expansion of online programs to meet workforce development needs, the development of online credit-bearing experiential learning experiences, support for training of faculty who opt to use emerging technologies, support for student access to online courses, …

Sit’S Low-Residency Master Of Arts In Tesol Program: Principles And Practices In Online Teaching And Learning, Jaime Durham

MA TESOL Collection

Coursework in the revisioned Low-Residency Master of Arts in Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages program at SIT Graduate Institute takes place primarily online. In this paper, the author examines the first two years of the program (which launched in 2013) from her experience as the program coordinator to illustrate how the MAT program’s foundational educational principles influence the program in the e-learning environment. The author uses the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework to give an overview analysis of the design and implementation of the online courses, to measure levels of social and cognitive presence among students, and to …

Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis Of Accessibility Awareness Among Faculty In Online Learning Environments, Rachael Sessler Trinkowsky

CCE Theses and Dissertations

Although all organizations and institutions should consider accessibility when developing online content, inaccessibility is a recurring issue in recent literature pertaining to online learning environments (OLEs) and faculty accessibility awareness. The goal was to describe how online faculty gain knowledge regarding accessibility, to explore the lived experiences of online faculty who have worked with students who have disabilities, and to gain a better understanding of how faculty experience the process of accessibility implementation. The following research questions guided this study: How do faculty in OLEs experience encounters regarding accessibility for students who have print related disabilities? How do faculty in …

Generational Differences In Transfer Student Capital Among Community College Students, Michael J. Rosenberg

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

“Transfer student capital” refers to the learned ability of a student to successfully navigate the process of transferring from a community college to a four-year school. Transfer student capital is accumulated by gathering information about potential destination schools and programs, gaining an understanding of requisite academic skills, campus engagement, and weighing personal concerns surrounding eventual transfer. The more transfer student capital an individual accumulates, the more likely they are to be academically successful and persist to graduation.

This quantitative study examines whether a student’s age cohort may affect the transfer process from community college to a four-year school. The study …

From The Postal Medium To Electronic Media: A Historical Overview Of The Development Of Distance Learning In Higher Education With A Focus On Correspondence Study And Electronic Delivery Methods, Robson Marinho

Master's Theses

Purpose of the Study

The purpose of this study was to overview the development of distance learning in higher education both in the United States and around the world, stressing the relationship between correspondence study and electronic delivery methods as a basis for understanding and fostering different distance-learning methodologies.

Significance of the Study

The significance of this study resides in the fact that the current technological revolution is challenging all traditional forms of higher education and pointing to distance learning as the great phenomenon of today’s educational world. If distance education has played a secondary role in higher education so …