Educational Leadership Commons^™

An Autoethnograpy Of A Baby Boomer In Higher Education: Challenges And Catalysts For Change, Deborra Finlan

Theses & Dissertations

Higher education as a baby boomer brings mental, physical, and economic adjustments, concerns, and insecurities. Additionally, life delivers unexpected challenges and barriers which can cause hardships requiring various types of motivation. Fortunately, there are also catalysts which can contribute toward successes. Literature from four major elements were the focus in this study: motivation, adult learning, challenges, barriers, and catalysts. Theorists and theories included Vroom’s expectancy theory of motivation with the added factor of cost, and Ryan and Deci’s theory on self-determination; Mezirow’s transformative learning and Knowles’s self-directed learning; Cross’s theory on educational barriers—situational, dispositional, and institutional; and Cobb’s social support …

A Phenomenology Of Teachers’ Experiences With School Leaders On Workplace Motivation, Samantha Berger Hill

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This transcendental qualitative phenomenological study examined how 10 teachers experienced workplace motivation from school leaders at one kindergarten – eighth-grade school in northern Virginia. The theory guiding this study was Herzberg’s motivation-hygiene theory, as it explains the relationship between the extrinsic and intrinsic factors that influence workplace motivation. The motivation-hygiene theory provided the theoretical framework for this study to answer the central research question and sub-questions: (a) How do teachers who interact with school leaders experience workplace motivation; (b) What experiences, if any, with school leaders have promoted workplace motivation; (c) What experiences, if any, with school leaders have decreased …

Overcoming Gifted Student Underachievement Through Teacher Best Practices, Samantha Simmons Webre

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The goal of this study is to collect the best practices being utilized by gifted teachers affecting change amongst their gifted underachieving students. Data collected will explore trends deemed significant among the successful best practices being utilized by academically gifted certified teachers.

The researcher will administer surveys, conduct interviews, and classroom observations to collect data from a sample of participants who are currently employed as academically gifted certified teachers. This study will focus on these academically gifted certified teacher’s definitions and recognition of underachievement, identified causes for underachievement, best practices employed to re-engage underachieving students, as well as perceptions of …

Former College Athletes And Their Persistence In Medical School: A Phenomenological Study, Michael J. Woodson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological study was to understand the experiences of former college-athletes who persist in medical school. The theories that guided this study were the achievement goal theory by Nicholls and the self-determination theory by Deci and Ryan, as each theory relates to the motivation to succeed in academics, as well as athletic participation. Eleven participants were purposefully selected to address the question: How do former college student-athletes describe their experiences in relation to the attributes and characteristics that allowed them to persist in medical school? The sub-research questions investigated certain experiences that may have helped them …

A Phenomenological Study Of Leadership, Motivation, And Communication In The Construction Industry, Olayinka Basorun

Graduate Dissertations and Theses

The construction industry in the United States of America pays a high litigation cost due to late project delivery or substandard projects. Despite the training construction organizations expose their project teams to, research has shown greater emphasis on skill training than leadership training. This phenomenological study sought to understand the dynamics of the relationship between project leaders and construction site workers in Central Virginia. Understanding the perceptions of project managers, superintendents, and construction site workers about leadership, leadership development and training, motivation, and communication gave insights into these dynamics. The research study allowed the researcher to understand the work experiences …

Incorporating Growth Mindsets To Attain Athletic And Academic Success., Michael E. Rutledge Ii

Journal of Research Initiatives

Higher education and intercollegiate athletics promote discovery processes that uncover boundaries of potentials in human development. The research associated with the academic progress of student athletes coincides with the general student population literature in the fact that student athletes also utilize effective study skills and achieve higher GPAs when implementing growth mindset (Joshi et al., 2022). The purpose of this study is to investigate the experiences of student athletes prior to college, through athletic careers, and through graduate school. Qualitative, ethnographic case study research methods rationalized the purpose of this study to advance theory, answer the research questions best, and …

Aligning Development With Adjunct Faculty Motivations, Liz Cummins, Angela Atwell

Publications

Presentation from the International Consortium for Educational Development Conference, Aarhus, Denmark.

Actions Of The Principal: Influences On Teacher Self-Efficacy And Motivation, Amanda Maslen Conner

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Classroom teachers are a significant influence on student achievement. Numerous studies indicate that teacher motivation and self-efficacy influence their effectiveness in the classroom. Furthermore, studies indicate that the leadership behaviors of the principal can influence the school culture and have a direct impact on teacher motivation and self-efficacy. This study sought to determine if a relationship exists between certain behaviors of administrators and a teacher's self-efficacy and motivation. The study used a correlational design using The Teacher Motivation & Job Satisfaction Survey (TMJSS), The Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale (TSES), and the Leadership Practices Inventory (LPI). There were 72 high …

Motivations Of Division I Student-Athletes To Participate In Strength And Conditioning Programs., Liza Reader

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand the motivations of Division I collegiate athletes to participate in strength and conditioning programs as a part of their sports performance program. Specifically, this study examined what the motivations were and whether there were any differences between the athlete subpopulations of age group, gender, sport played, sport type, and injury status. In contrast to existing sport participation motivation research, this study focused on the participation of strength and conditioning as a part of sport participation, an area barren of motivational understanding and literature. This study utilized Self-Determination Theory (SDT) and Achievement Goal …

Collegiate Football Players Perception Of The Covid-19 Virtual College Experience, Cole L. Laliberty

Leadership Education Capstones

The world was faced with chaos as the COVID-19 virus surged impacting the lives of everyone around the world. Quickly, nations and states began to lockdown as people were required to stay inside and socially distance from one another. The pandemic changed the lives of collegiate football players’ drastically. It left collegiate football players stranded away from teammates, coaches, families, and resources. The research design was a mixed method design consisting of both qualitative and quantitative data. The data obtained from this research focused on major themes of how collegiate football players perceived the pandemics virtual college experience, the challenges …

A Quantitative Study To Examine The Relationship Between School Administrators’ Path-Goal Approach And Teachers’ Perceived Working Conditions, Tierra Stark

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between school administrators' path-goal approach to leadership and their teachers' perceptions of working conditions. Findings from this research may help school administrators and leadership preparation programs to understand better the application of theories related to motivation, leveraging power, and goal attainment. The conceptual framework behind this study was the inherent inclinations of school administrators in approaching leadership decisions from four pathways; directive, supportive, participative, and/or achievement-oriented.

For use in statistical analysis through the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS), data were collected via a questionnaire to currently practicing …

"A Virtual Community Literacy Partnership: A Place-Based Reading And Writing Initiative Between College Of Education Students And Urban Middle School Students", Anne Katz Ph.D., Justin Hanson

Literacy Practice and Research

How can I reflect on my practice as a literacy teacher? “I want to be the type of teacher who inspires great writing from my students, and makes them yearn for more knowledge.”

As a reading professor, I am inspired by the words Justin wrote in the pre-project survey at the beginning of the semester. In the midst of a pandemic, how could I create a learning experience to facilitate a literacy collaboration with local middle school students? I planned the community literacy partnership in the context of a College of Education grant written the previous year. This format anticipated …

Formal Teacher Evaluation And Self-Determination Theory: The Role Of The Principal, Christine Trendel

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation explores how early research in self-efficacy, teacher stress, and teacher job satisfaction directly relate to self-determination theory. Specifically, the role of the elementary school principal can directly impact teacher motivation when meeting teacher basic psychological needs outlined in self-determination theory; connectedness, competence and autonomy. Furthermore, principals can build teacher connectedness, competence and autonomy with interactions and feedback both inside and outside of the formal teacher evaluation process. When principals interact with teachers frequently, visit classrooms weekly, and provide specific and timely feedback, teachers experience higher levels of motivation through increased feelings of connectedness, competency, and autonomy.