Higher Education Commons^™

Helping The Me Generation Decenter: Service Learning With Refugees, Louanne B. Hawkins, Leslie G. Kaplan

Journal of the National Collegiate Honors Council Online Archive

Recent research has empirically demonstrated that young adults today are different from prior generations in their decreased empathy, increased narcissism, and decreased civic engagement. The formative years of young adulthood are a critical period for the development of civic values and civil ideologies, a time when college-age adults need to acquire the experiences and skills to decenter and develop into civic-minded stewards of their communities. Engagement in service learning with individuals unlike themselves, i.e., outgroup members, is the approach we have taken at the University of North Florida to encourage this decentering through service learning engagement with refugees embedded in …

A Formalism For Plan – A Big Data Personal Learning Assistant For University Students, Timothy Arndt, Angela Guercio

Business Faculty Publications

Big Data-based methods of learning analytics are increasingly relied on by institutions of higher learning in order to increase student retention by identifying at risk students who are in need of an intervention to allow them to continue on in their educational endeavors. It is well known that e-Learning students are even more at risk of failing out of university than are traditional students, so Big Data learning analytics are even more appropriate in this context. In this paper, we present our approach to this problem. We wish to place control of a student’s learning process in his own hands, …

Growth No. 15 (2016) - Full Issue

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

The full issue of the fifteenth edition of Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development.

Relationships With God, Relationships With Others, And Health: Associations Among First-Year College Students, Sean Wang, Kathleen Eldridge, Hannah Parmelee

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

When students transition away from their homes and into higher education, they enter a social environment where they are free, if not encouraged, to question and explore their values and beliefs, including their beliefs of God. Practicing Christians often report having a relationship with God, a conception that implies a dynamic and social process at work. This longitudinal study had two goals: (a) examine collegians’ relationship with God in terms of their God image, His involvement in their lives, and the importance of their faith, at two time points in their first year of college; (b) examine how these God …

How University Department Heads Have Encountered And Overcome Adaptive Challenges In Student Persistence: An Application Of Critical Incident Technique, Kevin L. Flora

Theses and Dissertations--Education Sciences

In the United States, the average attrition rate from freshmen to sophomore year for a 4-year university is 21.7%. After freshmen year, the dropout rate raises to 41% before graduation (National Center for Educational Statistics, 2014). As an administrative appointment, the department head is in a unique position to work with the university and college-level executives to lead faculty in better student persistence efforts. However scholarly inquiry on the relation of student persistence and department heads is lacking. Gmelch (2004) says “academic leaders may be the least studied and most misunderstood management position in the world” (p. 74).

The purpose …

The Challenges Of Promoting Instructional Improvement: Teaching Behaviors And Teaching Cultures At Liberal Arts Institutions In The Associated Colleges Of The South, Kent Andersen, Barbara Lom, Betsy A. Sandlin

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

One goal of faculty development is to improve instructional practice (McKee, Johnson, Ritchie, and Tew, 2013; Ouellett 2010; Sorcinelli, Austin, Eddy, and Beach, 2006). This goal accords with the design of the Associated Colleges of the South Teaching and Learning Workshop, a faculty development workshop begun in 1992 for 16 residential, liberal arts institutions that comprise the ACS consortium. We surveyed ACS faculty members and observed that they are most likely to engage independently rather than collaboratively to improve their instructional practice, despite stated desires for collaborative opportunities for such work. We recommend that faculty development programs and institutions promote …

Receive, Reorganize, Return: Theatre As Creative Scholarship, Sara Armstrong, Theresa Braunschneider

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article focuses on the use of theatre as a mode of creative scholarship, from the research involved in sketch creation to the presentation of that research to academic audiences. We particularly focus on a specific sketch developed by the CRLT Players—one that explores the consequences of subtle discrimination faced by women scientists in research laboratory settings— to illustrate the ways in which theatre can engage audiences with research results. The article explains how participation in such performances promotes a more active exploration of scholarship than simply reading or hearing a presentation. Interactive theatre directs and focuses an audience’s attention …

Designing An Evaluation Of Instructional Consultation In A Higher Education Context, Karen Elizabeth Brinkley Etzkorn, David Schumann, Beth White, Tiffany Smith

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Individual instructor consultation is a common service provided by centers focused on educational development in higher education. The importance of this service has been reflected in its history, increasing demand, and strong anecdotal evidence to its effectiveness. However, the extant literature reveals that comprehensive assessment of consultation effectiveness has proved challenging. Thus, the purpose of this paper is to (a) provide an overview of consultation and summarize the relevant work evaluating this service, and (b) propose a comprehensive process for evaluating consultation services that was piloted at one large research intense university. The goal is to provide a systematic method …

Connect, Change, And Conserve: Building A Virtual Center For Teaching Excellence, Anne M. Schoening, Sarah Oliver

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

In an era of limited fiscal and human resources, educational developers are seeking innovative ways to connect with their constituents. Developing a “virtual” center for teaching and learning (CTL) is one approach to consolidating development resources and reaching busy full time and adjunct faculty. This article will describe the process used to create and sustain a Virtual Center for Teaching Excellence (vCTE) at a diverse, mid sized university campus. This process required connection between departmental faculty developers and stakeholders, change of the campus mindset, and conservation of resources through shared efforts. Challenges faced and recommendations to overcome those challenges will …

Institutionalizing Faculty Mentoring Within A Community Of Practice Model, Emily R. Smith, Patricia E. Calderwood, Stephanie Burrell Storms, Paula Gill Lopez, Ryan P. Colwell

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

In higher education, faculty work is typically enacted—and rewarded—on an individual basis. Efforts to promote collaboration run counter to the individual and competitive reward systems that characterize higher education. Mentoring initiatives that promote faculty collaboration and support also defy the structural and cultural norms of higher education. Collaborative mentoring initiatives, however, support all faculty to be lifelong learners. We analyze a reciprocal model of mentoring—a community of practice for mentoring—that integrates collaborative mentoring into faculty’s daily work. Additionally, we examine the dilemmas, benefits, and costs of institutionalizing a community of practice model for mentoring in higher education. Our analyses indicate …

Good, Fast, Cheap: How Centers Of Teaching And Learning Can Capitalize In Today’S Resource Constrained Context, Michael H. Truong, Stephanie Juillerat, Deborah H. C. Gin

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This article provides leaders and educational developers of Centers for Teaching and Learning (CTL) with innovative and practical strategies on how to increase their centers’ capacity and impact by focusing on quality, efficiency, and cost. This “good, fast, cheap” model represents a promising way that CTL can continue to grow, scale, and innovate in the midst of limited resources. By leveraging existing campus resources, external vendor products, and low cost technologies, CTL are able to remain effective and impactful, without compromising quality or requiring abundant resources. This article will include real use case examples from a CTL at a mid …

Don’T Box Me In: Rubrics For Ártists And Designers, Natasha Haugnes, Jennifer L. Russell

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Two faculty developers at a professional art and design university were met with uneasy faculty attitudes toward grading when they opened their CTL 13 years ago. Conversations revealed that the faculty artists and designers suspected that grading would somehow shatter the fragile muse of creativity, which is so central to the processes of producing art and design. The developers’ quest for transparent, consistent grading, and assessment practices resulted in an approach to rubric creation that taps into artists’ reverence for the critique. This narrative account reveals how the approach allowed an interactive introduction of rubrics as teaching tools, ensured their …

Subjectivities In The Sandbox: Discovering Biases Through Visual Memo Writing, Bethany Lisi

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Having insider status at an organization under study can present a researcher with benefits and challenges. Insider researchers may have access to honest dialogue with study participants but may also be vulnerable to uncomfortable conversations and organizational conflicts. Insider researchers also have to contend with their own biases they bring to a study. By using the reflexive practice of memo writing, insider researchers can be mindful of their own subjectivities during data collection and analysis. The purpose of this article is to share one approach to memo writing that incorporates visuals into the analysis and reflection. Through my use of …

The Relationship Among The Timing Of College Start, Remedial Education Participation, And Postsecondary Persistence, Craig Lamb

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Approximately one-third of all college entrants enroll in at least one remedial education course during their college career. At the same time, large numbers of college entrants begin their postsecondary career after some formal departure between high school completion and college start. Previous research suggests that remedial education participants and delayed-start students persist in college at lower rates than their non-remedial participants and immediate-start counterparts. With such large numbers of students delaying their college start and participating in remedial education courses during their college career, it is important to fully understand the persistence implications when these three variables are examined …

University Of Nebraska- Lincoln: Fact 2015-2016

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Administration: Papers, Publications, and Presentations

Table of Contents

Front Cover.................................................................. 1

Introduction.......................................................................... 2

Table of Contents ....................................................... 3

General Information

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Core Values (LEADERS) ................................... 6

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Mission ............................................................. 7

The Missions of the University of Nebraska-Lincoln ........................................... 7

Teaching......................................................................................................... 8

Research................................................................................................... 8

Service....................................................................................................... 9

Institutional and Professional Accreditations .................................................... 10

University of Nebraska-Lincoln Administrative Organization Chart .................. 14

Student Credit Hours (SCH)

Total SCH: Fall Semester Since 1979 ................................................................ 15

Total SCH: Spring Semester Since 1993 .......................................................... 16

SCH by College and Course Level, Fall and Spring Semester, 5 Year Trend ..... 17

SCH by College and Course Level, Fall …

A Cord Of Three Strands Is Not Quickly Broken: Strengths Of A Team, David M. Johnstone

Growth: The Journal of the Association for Christians in Student Development

The idea of “strengths” is a shift for the western world in how it looks at talents, skills, and weaknesses. The strengths paradigm is an assessment that universities are using to assist students in identifying their talents and strengths. Many have written about strengths and the individual; few have written about or researched the impact of the paradigm on team development. Discussing how disparate strengths can work in relationship to one another is important. Moreover, understanding that improper use of strengths can lead to the “shadow” side of strengths creating dissonance and conflict in a team is also important. This …

A Debriefing Technique In High-Fidelity Patient Simulation And Competent Decision-Making Abilities Among Nursing Students, Trena Seago

Theses and Dissertations--Curriculum and Instruction

Nursing faculty are utilizing high-fidelity patient simulation (HPS) with debriefing to help engage nursing students in making competent clinical decisions. This quasi-experimental study examined the use of HPS with debriefing and students’ ability to make nursing care decisions using standardized exams. The experimental group received debriefing after HPS and the control group did not receive debriefing after HPS. The pre- and post-test assessed participants’ ability to make clinical care decisions. The analysis of the pre-test and post-test HESI scores showed that there was no significant difference between the two groups.

Proposal Of A New Method To Classify Higher Education Institutions Instead Of Rankings, Kate D. Elam

Undergraduate Distinction Papers

Purpose – The objective of this paper is to propose a new method for classifying higher education institutions that differs from traditional rankings. The proposed model segments colleges and universities based on like attributes and describes the groups according to their differentiating features.

Research Method – Data from several rankings publications was collected and simplified for analysis. Several observations (i.e. schools) were eliminated because they did not fit the sampling frame and/or did not include a sufficient amount of information. Duplicate variables (i.e. attributes) were also eliminated. First, exploratory factor analysis was applied to reduce the number of variables being …

A Method To My Quietness: A Grounded Theory Study Of Living And Leading With Introversion, Leatrice Oram

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

Leadership scholar-practitioners must create a more sustainable, diverse, and equitable future, fostering emergence and development of resilient, competent leaders, including those who may have been previously overlooked.Leadership studies, particularly those situated in early trait and behavior paradigms, have long privileged extraverted leaders as ideal.The scholarly conversation is limited on introverted leaders; moreover, most of that literature depicts introversion as either a pathological construct associated with shyness and social anxiety, or includes introversion only by omission, as a state of deficit-of-extraversion.This study instead began with positive inquiry, framing introversion as a positive individual difference, and explored the lived experiences of introverted …