Higher Education Commons^™

Immersive Learning Environments For Computer Science Education, Dillon Buchanan

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This master's thesis explores the effectiveness of an educational intervention using an interactive notebook to support and supplement instruction in a foundational-level programming course. A quantitative, quasi-experimental group comparison method was employed, where students were placed into either a control or a treatment group. Data was collected from assignment and final grades, as well as self-reported time spent using the notebook. Independent t-tests and correlation were used for data analysis. Results were inconclusive but did indicate that the intervention had a possible effect. Further studies may explore better efficacy, implementation, and satisfaction of interactive notebooks across a larger population and …

Community College Faculty’S Perceptions Of Culturally Responsive Teaching, Sarah Tolbert-Hurysz

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study sought to understand community college faculty’s perceptions of and experiences with culturally responsive teaching. Participants were full- and part-time faculty currently employed at community colleges in the Southeastern United States and purposefully selected to provide information-rich data. Data collected from the semi-structured, in-depth interviews with the participants were coded and thematically analyzed. Emerging themes included faculty’s inclusion of varied categories of cultural diversity when describing students; limited knowledge related to culturally responsive teaching; perception that culturally responsive teaching is centered on connecting and building relationships with students; belief in the value of providing students exposure to different …

Influence Of Student Characteristics, Class Size, And Instructor Characteristics In Online Student Success, Melody K. Edmonds

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this non-experimental quantitative case study was to compare the academic success of community college students over three academic years (2016-17 through 2018-19) before the onset of COVID-19 based on final grades and the influence of student factors, class size, and faculty characteristics using archival data from selected online and on-ground classes at a Middle Tennessee community college. Student factors reviewed include gender, full-time or part-time status, and age (traditional or non-traditional status). Instructor characteristics reviewed included full-time or part-time (adjunct) teaching status and tenure or non-tenure status of faculty. Institutional data for this study consisted of 44,568 …

Emotional Intelligence And Decision-Making In Higher Education Administrators In Post-Secondary Institutions In Eastern Tennessee, Rachel Ellis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand the impact of emotional intelligence on decision-making in higher education administrators. A qualitative research design was used for this study. Data was collected in three phases from the following sources; survey, case study submissions, and open-ended face-to-face interviews. The research data, about emotional intelligence and decision-making, were collected form ten higher education administrators. Constant comparative method was an important part of the data collection process for this study. Range of participant leadership experience was 3-8+ years and participant roles were either, Department Chair, Program Director, Dean, Provost, and President. The findings …

The Alignment Of The Budget Allocation Process To The Strategic Plan At A Liberal Arts University: A Case Study, Mccartney Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to determine how a university aligns the budget allocation process to the strategic plan process. This case study was conducted at a four-year, liberal arts university in the southeastern part of the United States. The qualitative data was collected through personal individual interviews from a purposeful sample of administrators at the university who were knowledgeable about the budget allocation process and the strategic plan. Data were also collected through a document review from items publically accessible online and information received from the interviews.

By analyzing data derived from the interviews and document review, …

Policing Postsecondary Education: University Police Legitimacy And Fear Of Crime On Campus, Christina N. Barker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Assessing the perceptions that students have of the university police officers charged with ensuring student safety is important to maintaining the overall safety of the campus. The current study sought to assess the relationship between student perceptions of university police and the fear of crime felt by students while on campus. Data collection was conducted through a survey methodology using a convenient sample of students in which a self-report survey was sent to the university email addresses of all students enrolled in a southeastern university (n=260). Through the employment of a scale developed to assess the perceptions of university police …

Learning Styles Of Physical Therapy And Physical Therapist Assistant Students In Accredited Physical Therapy Programs, Margaret A. Lowdermilk

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the learning styles of Doctor of Physical Therapy (DPT) students and associate degree Physical Therapist Assistant (PTA) students and identify any association between their learning styles and examine the association between gender and age by learning style.

Participants included 337 DPT and PTA students attending CAPTE accredited institutions with doctoral DPT or associate PTA programs in Tennessee and southwest Virginia. The Felder (1996) and Soloman Index of Learning Styles (ILS) was used to determine learning style preferences within 4 learning style dimensions (active-reflective, sensing-intuitive, visual-verbal, and sequential-global).

Demographics included program of study, …

Facilitating Conceptual Learning In Quantitative Chemistry, Sarah R. Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Traditional chemistry laboratory courses have a manual consisting of “step-by-step” experiments; instructions are given to complete experiments, requiring minimal information/concepts processing to be successful. This experience leaves students unprepared for the real-world, where critical thinking skills are needed to conduct research. This study focused on building analytical techniques, conceptual knowledge, and critical thinking skills used to solve research problems. A new quantitative chemistry laboratory manual was developed to transition students from traditional to inquiry-based experiments, requiring analytical method development. Data showed students having less difficulty using the new manual (0.8281 average difficulty) on method development exam questions and experiments, compared …

Nurse Educators' Transition To Flipped Classroom: An Interpretive Description Study, Jean S. Bernard

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

To meet learning needs of current undergraduate nursing students, and respond to mandates for bettered prepared graduates, nurse educators must restructure curricula and teaching strategies. One strategy garnering increased attention is the flipped classroom model (FCM). This form of instruction requires students to have access to and be accountable for lecture material on their own time, and then use face-to-face classroom time for interactive learning that can include discussion, case study analysis, or application of pre-class lecture content. Although the FCM has gained popularity, few researchers have fully studied this strategy or considered experiences of faculty who implement the model. …

Do Stress Levels Differ Between First Semester Nursing Student Early In The Semester Vs. The End Of The Semester?, Alissy Heisey

Undergraduate Honors Theses

This study intends to determine how stress levels change over time in nursing students in the Baccalaureate program at East Tennessee State University. The instrument utilized for this survey was the Perceived Stress Scale by Mind Garden, Inc. This survey was passed at the beginning of the semester and at the end of the semester. There was no-significant difference found between the two time spots, leading us to conclude that the level of stress perceived by nursing students is a steady factor during their school semester.

Broadband Access For Students At East Tennessee State University, Thomas Scott Sawyer

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the availability of Internet access for students attending East Tennessee State University during the fall semester 2013. It has been unknown to what degree broadband access is available in the East Tennessee State University service area that includes counties in East Tennessee, Southwest Virginia, and Western North Carolina.

The research was conducted during the fall semester 2013 including the months of August, September, and October of 2011. Data were gathered by surveying currently enrolled students of the university. Seven hundred eighty-four students responded to the survey. The survey instrument covered areas of …

Statistical Power Analysis Of Dissertations Completed By Students Majoring In Educational Leadership At Tennessee Universities, Heping Deng

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to estimate the level of statistical power demonstrated in recent dissertations in the field of educational leadership. Power tables provided in Cohen's (1988) Statistical Power Analysis for the Behavioral Sciences were used to determine the power of the statistical tests conducted in dissertations selected from five universities in Tennessee. The meta-analytic approach was used to summarize and synthesize the findings. The population of this study consisted of all dissertations successfully defended by doctoral students majoring in educational leadership/administration at East Tennessee State University, the University of Tennessee at Knoxville, Tennessee State University, the University …

Rural Nonfarm Scott County, Tennessee Women And Their Pathways To Baccalaureate Degrees, Jo A. Lobertini

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand why women from Scott County, Tennessee, left home to attain the baccalaureate degree and returned home to live and/or work. More specifically, understanding (1) the educational aspirations, motivations, and discouragements prior to attending college; (2) the educational persistence, motivations, and discouragements while attending college; (3) and the reasons for returning to Scott County after attaining the baccalaureate degree. The population of this study included all females over the age of 25 who had a bachelor's degree, attended grades 1–12 in Scott County, Tennessee, and returned there to live. The primary form …

Service Quality In Higher Education: Expectations Versus Experiences Of Doctoral Students At State-Supported Universities In Tennessee, James H. Lampley

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine if a gap analysis model (SERVQUAL) of service quality measurement could be appropriately applied to higher education. The researcher asked doctoral students from six doctoral-granting, state-supported universities in Tennessee to complete a service quality survey, comparing their experiences with their expectations, thereby giving a measure of gaps in educational service quality at their institution. The research design included five research questions, with five null hypotheses testing the relationship between students' expectations and experiences, between overall satisfaction and service gaps, and between overall satisfaction and certain demographic variables (age, gender, ethnicity, type of …

An Analysis Of Teacher And Student Leadership And Gender Differentiation Within Academic Divisions At Three Virginia And Tennessee Liberal Arts Colleges, Mary L. Cole

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study investigated a range of leadership behaviors by teachers (teacher characteristics) and students (student characteristics) inside their higher education classrooms and various aspects of those environments (classroom characteristics). The behaviors and environmental aspects examined are those determined by research findings to foster and enhance participant growth and development. Cluster sampling was used for this study of 25 classes representing 5 divisions of the curriculum at 3 institutions. The instruments were administered to 277 students and 25 teachers during the spring of 1999. The null hypotheses for main effects of teacher, student, and classroom characteristics were tested on the …

Perceptions Of The Appropriateness Of The 1998 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award Education Criteria For Assessing Virginia Community Colleges, Dixon B. Joyce

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this study were: (a) To determine whether full-time teaching faculty and full-time administrators perceive the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award (MBNQA) 1998 Education Criteria for Performance Excellence (ECPE) to be appropriate for assessing Virginia community colleges, and (b) To determine if differences in perceptions exist regarding demographic variables among full-time teaching faculty and among full-time administrators in the use of these criteria to assess Virginia community colleges. Data were collected from a random sample of 129 full-time teaching faculty and 57 full-time administrators using the seven categories and 18 items of the 1998 ECPE. Demographic factors included …

Implementing Total Quality Management In Business And Academe: A Case Study, Nancy O. Bartell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Total quality management (TQM) is a philosophy and process that has been successfully implemented in many business firms. Other organizations, including institutions of higher education, have become increasingly interested in adopting it. It is likely that facilitators need to be cognizant of organizational differences and adjust facilitation methods and strategies accordingly. This dissertation is an exploratory study designed to examine the role of the TQM facilitator in diverse settings. Specifically, the study is an in-depth two-case research study of TQM implementation in an international manufacturing firm and a regional institution of higher education. The primary foci of this dissertation are …

Assessing Students' Gains From The College Experience At East Tennessee State University, Ramona A. Williams

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine what activities from the ETSU experience influence students' opinions about their growth and development. This study also examined the influence of sex, age, and classification in college. Three research questions and five hypotheses were examined. The Third Edition of the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ) was the instrument used in this study. The CSEQ was administered to 50 undergraduate classes at East Tennessee State University during the Spring Semester 1994. There were 19 independent variables and five dependent variables in this study. The 19 independent variables included students' scores on the 14 …

The Relationship Between Student And Faculty Learning Style Congruency And Perceptions Of The Classroom Environment In Colleges Of Teacher Education, Patrick N. Kariuki

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to determine the extent of congruence between teachers' and undergraduate education majors' learning styles in selected colleges of the Tennessee Association of Colleges for Teacher Education, and to determine if the style congruence was related to student perceptions of the classroom learning environment. A related purpose was to identify needed changes in classroom environments based on the characteristics of the actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by students, characteristics of the actual classroom environment as perceived by their teachers, and characteristics of actual and ideal classroom environments as perceived by men and women …

Instructional Planning And Teaching: Perceptions Of Practice And Department Expectations Of Principal Preparation Program Faculties, David L. Deweese

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study of principal preparation programs composing the Danforth Foundation Program for the Preparation of School Principals (DPPSP) was conducted to identify and compare the perceptions of program faculty and program coordinators of their respective instructional planning and teaching practices, and their like perceptions of department expectations of faculty regarding these same roles. Variables were constructed using a pilot survey with selected faculty who were members of the Southern Region Council for Education Administration. There were three major findings. Faculty and program coordinators ranked their perceptions of their own practice highly. Faculty and program coordinators ranked their perceptions of their …

Young Women Who Marry Early And Attend The Community College: Factors Which Influence The Completion Of Associate Degrees, Donald K. Bartholomay

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate, through in-depth interviews, those factors which served to motivate early marriage women in the attainment of associate degrees and to identify characteristics of early marriage women who were successful in completing associate degrees. The details obtained from these interviews were interpreted and their meanings used to generate propositions and implications about the completion of associate degrees by this group of students. In-depth interviews were conducted with 28 early marriage women (informants) who either completed associate degrees or were within 12 semester hours of completing an associate degree. In addition, 15 in-depth interviews …

Planned Change In Higher Education: A Case Study Of The Nassp Alliance For Developing School Leaders, Penny L. Smith

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem was that much effort was being put into an alliance for preparing school leaders with little evidence concerning how effective such groups were in promoting positive change. The purpose of this study was to provide a historical background for the National Alliance for Developing School Leaders that included the rationale for the endeavor, the identification of key actors and their roles, and perceived changes resulting from Alliance affiliation. The information gleaned from the study was intended to answer the formulated research questions. Data were collected using semi-structured interviews and through examination of relevant documents. Data were coded and …

A Regression Model Of The Interactions Between Higher Education And High-Tech Industries In East Tennessee And Southwest Virginia, William H. Blanton

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study examined the interactions--(1) research grants and contracts, (2) faculty consultation, (3) employee training, (4) student internships and co-ops, (5) universities sharing firm facilities, and (6) firms sharing university facilities--between higher education and high-tech industries in East Tennessee and Southwest Virginia using multiple regression modeling. The purpose of the study was the development of a vision of what the future could be and the strategies to successfully overcome the threats and enrich the opportunities that exist between higher education and high-tech industries. Data were collected from the engineering and engineering technology faculty at Tennessee Technological University, East Tennessee State …

Readiness And Achievement Motivation: An Investigation Of The Validity Of The Readiness Scales In Hersey And Blanchard's Situational Leadership, Xiaoping Wang

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the study was to investigate the construct validity of the two instruments measuring readiness in Situational Leadership: the Readiness Scales--Manager Rating Form and Staff Member Rating Form--developed by Hambleton, Blanchard, and Hersey (1977). The study examined the relationships between readiness and achievement motivation, and between readiness and faculty education and work experience. The study also explored the concurrent validity of the two instruments measuring McClelland's (1961) achievement motivation: The Achievement Orientation Scale and The NachNaff Scale. The respondents were 66 department chairs and 156 faculty from 12 comprehensive institutions in the South. Data on faculty readiness were …

Innovation In Student Affairs: The Influence Of Individual And Organizational Factors On Programmatic And Technological Change, Sally S. Thomas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this paper was to explore the influence individual and organizational factors exerted on technological innovations, programmatic innovations and combined technological and programmatic innovations. Student affairs divisions in Comprehensive I colleges and universities constituted the administrative unit examined. The two types of program innovations examined were substance abuse prevention/education programs and retention/academic support programs. The technological innovations examined were financial aid computerized award calculation and computerized career counseling. The individual factors examined were professionalism, gender and age of the chief student affairs officer. The organizational factors were vertical, horizontal and combined vertical and horizontal complexity, centralization and size. …