Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Motivating Factors And Barriers To The Online Faculty Professional Development, Kathryn L. Miller

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Kathryn L. Miller on April 16, 2015.

Faculty Perceptions Of The Purpose And Value Of General Education: A Comparison Between The Liberal Arts And Health Professions, Shireen Rahman

All Theses And Dissertations

This study examined the perceptions of the purpose and value of the general education curriculum in those undergraduate faculty members who teach in the liberal arts and the health professions at the University of New England. Perceptions were evaluated within each college and then compared between each College. A mixed-methods approach was utilized with concurrent implementation of qualitative and quantitative strands. Data were gathered from the Faculty Survey on General Education which was completed by fifty-six (29.3%) of the undergraduate faculty members. In addition, twelve faculty members were randomly selected to participate in open-ended interviews. Descriptive statistics and independent t-tests …

A Needs Analysis For Social Media At A Southern Postsecondary Campus, Sheri Burnett

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education At Morehead State University by Sheri Burnett on October 26, 2015.

A Mixed-Methods (Quantitative-Qualitative) Study To Identify The Perceived Level Of, Zeky Zardo

Dissertations

Different approaches to developing leaders have been established through various forms of self-assessment, action learning, and education and training activities (Smither et al., 2005). The existing body of research on the impact and success of college and university leadership development programs focuses heavily on undergraduate leadership programs and not graduate-level programs such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) or the doctorate. The purpose of this mixed-methods (quantitative–qualitative) study was to identify the perceived level of transformational leadership skill development by students enrolled in a doctoral program in organizational leadership. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to …

Campus Writing Centers, Student Attendance, And Change In Student Writing Performance, Suzana G. Brown

Dissertations

This dissertation examined the relationship between students attending a writing center and the change in students’ writing performance over the course of a semester. The study also sought to determine whether demographics (age, gender, ethnicity, marital status, and whether a student is a first-generation college student) were related to students’ change in writing after they attended a college writing center.

Five Mississippi colleges and universities participated in the study. The study began with 110 students; however, only 78 students submitted two essays during the semester. Of those, 34 reported that they attended the writing center, 28 reported that they did …

The Relationship Between Demands And Resources And Teacher Burnout: A Fifteen-Year Meta-Analysis, Tammy Marie Stewart

Doctoral Dissertations

This meta-analysis explored the phenomenon of teacher burnout— the biggest contributor to teacher attrition (Owens, 2013; Unterbrink, 2014; Yu, 2015). The focus of this study was to use meta-analytical procedures to explore the relationship between burnout dimensions (i.e., emotional exhaustion, depersonalization, and feelings of personal accomplishment) and specific demand and resource correlates. Demand correlates included work overload, role conflict, role ambiguity, and student misbehavior. Resource correlates included peer support, supervisory support, and decision-making. This meta-analytical research method encompassed fifteen years of published and unpublished studies from January 2000 through January 2015. A total of 116 studies met the following inclusion …

A Program Evaluation Of A Remediation Program For Underprepared College Students, Jane Neuenschwander

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This participant-oriented program evaluation study was prompted by the problem that a cohort remediation program for underprepared freshmen at a small, private university in Appalachia was implemented for 1 year and dropped without any review of the program's impact on retention. The purpose of this project study was to conduct a summative program evaluation that recorded perceptions from the cohort program's participants and to compare their retention rates with underprepared students' retention rates from the subsequent year's individualized remediation. The study was guided by Tinto's retention theory, which posits that academic and social integration is critical to retention. A Chi-square …

Architechture: Rebuilding The Traditional University For The 21st Century, Sarah E. Shearer

CMC Senior Theses

This senior thesis is an examination of the major complexities and considerations encountered in developing an e-learning program. In light of the changing landscape of higher education resulting from technological advancement, combined with changing pedagogies and financial pressures, traditional institutions are under heightened scrutiny and most in need of innovation. Online learning as been proposed as a solution to many of these issues, but creating a successful program is no small feat. Furthermore, experimental research on specific course designs and delivery often fails upon real-world implementation. Looking through the lens of Design-Base-Implementation Research (DBIR), an emerging research model that seeks …

Exploring The Significance Of Social Influences On Epistemic Beliefs, David D. Gatsos

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

This document proceeds from an interest in applying theories of student development to higher education policy. The process sobered me from idealistic expectations of profundity to focus on adding relevant building blocks to the established foundation of epistemological development. Progress was found in moving toward clarifying what happens during the change process as a student moves from naïve to mature beliefs. Lead forth out of this ambiguity, unearthing the nature of social influences as a player in the developmental process became a target of this work.

Moving toward a deeper understanding of how concepts of attachment, naiveté, authority, and potential …

Program Evaluation Of A Tutoring Program To Prepare Disenfranchised Students For College, Rhonda Lee Petrini

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since 2001, the San Colombano Project has provided the College-Bound Tutoring program for disenfranchised prospective first-generation college students in a southwestern community of the United States. However, an evaluation of the program had never been conducted. The purpose of the study was to conduct a qualitative, responsive program evaluation in a naturalistic setting using a case-study approach with a constructivist lens to create a narrative portrait of the program. Guided by critical race theory, Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, and Wlodkowski's motivational theory, the study explored the effectiveness of the program. Interviews were conducted and archival data were examined to …

Evaluating Retention Strategies For At-Risk Undergraduate Nursing Students, Joanna L. Ramsden-Meier

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As there continues to be a nursing shortage and a lack of diversity in the nursing profession, it is important to retain at-risk students who have been admitted to nursing programs. The purpose of this program evaluation was to compare at-risk students who had not received retention services to at-risk students who had received retention services at a Midwestern college. A formative evaluation was conducted using information from three sources: the college, the students, and the community. Guided by a constructivist theory defined by Ponticell, this study examined the effectiveness of the retention program in terms of its impact on …

Preparing For Changes In Teacher Preparation Program Accountability: Evaluating The Factors That Influence Job Placement Of Teacher Preparation Program Graduates, Amy F. Johnson Phd

All Student Scholarship

Teacher preparations programs are facing increased pressure to report on the outcomes of their graduates, including their job placement rates. Prior research on job placement for teachers establishes that a variety of factors are related to whether or not individuals apply for and receive jobs. This research study explored these factors through quantitative analysis of three cohorts of teacher preparation program completers within the University of Maine system, using logistic regression to identify the individual and contextual characteristics that are most predictive of job application and hiring.

Exploring Stakeholders' Perceptions Of The Evaluation Of Early Fieldwork Experience In An Undergraduate Teacher Preparation Program, Amber R. Peacock

Theses and Dissertations

This study is a qualitative meta-evaluation of the early field experience (EFE) program at a small, private, undergraduate teacher preparation program in Virginia focusing on the perceptions of preservice teachers, cooperating teachers and course instructors about the EFE evaluation objectives, evaluation experience, and resulting data usage. The EFE evaluation protocol at the study site is explored using a participatory-oriented evaluation model that solicited the perceptions of stakeholders. Analysis of EFE evaluation documents and semi-structured interviews with the stakeholders were conducted to explore the extent to which (1) official EFE objectives are congruent with the EFE evaluation, (2) the intended evaluation …