Digital Commons Network^™

A Mixed- Methods Study Investigating The Perceptions Of Culture Among Faculty, Staff, Adjunct Instructors, And Administrators In A Four-Year, Private, Midwestern University, Amanda J. Price

Dissertations

This mixed-methods study investigated the different perspectives between faculty, staff, adjunct instructors, and administrators utilizing the Competing Values Framework developed by Cameron & Quinn (2011). The quantitative portion of this study analyzed how each employee type viewed the institution’s current culture and how these perceptions were similar or dissimilar to the preferred culture. The qualitative portion, on the other hand, aimed at understanding each group’s viewpoints on the university’s ability to achieve its mission and purpose, adapt and change, clearly communicate, and to effectively lead. These insights were necessary for the researcher to gain insight into the institution’s culture beyond …

A Strategic Plan To Thread Genomics Competencies Into Undergraduate Curriculum, Holly Mathis

Dissertations

Problem: Genomics in undergraduate nursing education has experienced slow adoption in the United States. Various approaches have been proposed but do not address barriers to successful implementation.

Methods: A strategic plan was developed to increase the amount of genetics and genomic content in the curriculum of an undergraduate nursing program. A gap analysis was performed on the curriculum revealing a paucity of content. A SWOT analysis informed the strategic plan, which included a faculty education program using the ANA/ISONG’s Essentials of Genetic and Genomic Nursing: Competencies, Curricula Guidelines and Outcome Indicators (2^nd ed.) (2009) as a foundation.

Results: Faculty …

Systematic Literature Review Of Soft System Method Use In Information Systems Field, Abdurehman Ali, Shimelis Shiferaw Deneke

African Conference on Information Systems and Technology

Information system (IS) papers are published in different Journals and conferences using various methods focusing on different problems. IS is an interdisciplinary field and contains information related to technology, human and organizational issues. Problems related to this are most of the time messy and confused ones and these needs soft system methodology (SSM) uses because this methodology basically emphases on activities inside the organization and allows a participation of heterogeneous groups like IS discipline do. Therefore, the study focuses on how SSM uses in IS field.

SSM help to construct complex structural and governmental conditions and delivers a possible change. …

Transforming Higher Education: Responding To The Coronavirus And Other Looming Crises, Michael Mascolo

Pedagogy and the Human Sciences

Higher education is being deeply challenged by the coronavirus. The immediate threats of the coronavirus come at the heels of an existing panoply of problems that already threaten higher education as we know it. These include, of course, the looming enrollment crisis, the high cost of higher education, intractable student debt, the corporatization of education, limited learning on campus, and a general loss of faith in higher education among many sectors of the nation. How are colleges and universities to respond to these challenges? This paper calls upon colleges and universities to consider the need for structural transformation in order …

Training To Develop Academic Advisor Efficacy And Workforce Readiness, Jessica Powers

Dissertations

The competitive workforce views training as an investment in human capital, which is seen as its most valuable asset. In order to meet labor demands of tomorrow, the workforce will depend on higher education to educate workers. This will put academic advisors and the training they receive further in the spotlight, as they play a meaningful role in student success. Training has been shown to increase occupational self-efficacy and impact employee performance, but empirical research is lacking from the advisor perspective to explore their perception of training and occupational self-efficacy. In a study of N = 108 of faculty and …

2020 July 1 - From My Notepads Newsletter, Office Of The President, East Tennessee State University, Brian Noland

From My Notepads: A Newsletter from President Brian Noland

No abstract provided.

A Professional Learning Partnership: Educator Perceptions About Program Effectiveness And Impact On Rural Educators, Tara Lynn Villalobos

Dissertations (1934 -)

A partnership model between several school districts and a liberal arts university was explored as a means of delivering quality professional development in this interpretive study. Teachers self-reported their thoughts about the effects of the professional development delivered through a partnership model, the effects on their practice, and the similarities and differences between this professional learning and other professional development opportunities they have been a part of. The researcher conducted two rounds of interviews with six educators, three from each of two districts. Data from the interviews was compiled and coded to determine common themes. Several themes emerged in support …

Increased Access To Information Communication Technologies And Work-Life Balance With K-12 Leaders, Carolyn D. Washington

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study describes the lived experiences of kindergarten through 12th-grade leaders (K-12) relative to the increased accessibility of information communication technology (ICT) and work-life balance (WLB). Technology has evolved and become more accessible in the 21st century in individuals’ personal and professional lives. Research has shown the impact of ICT in other high demanding professions, with little research available relative to the impact with K-12 leaders. However, the role of the K-12 leader is likewise considered highly demanding with extended work hours. The K-12 leader is responsible for the day-to-day activities of the principalship, being available after hours for …

Dialogue Sessions On Diversity, Equity, And Inclusion Topics: A Phenomenological Action Research Study In An Independent School Setting, Erica Forniss Wiltshire

Theses and Dissertations

Administrators and teachers play an integral role in creating educational spaces where all students can feel safe, welcome, and appreciated. Inspired by the unique responsibility of educators and guided by the work of noted proponents of cultural competence, this exploration is approached through a triplicate lens including phenomenological philosophy, critical race theory, and social reconstructionism. This critical social reconstructionist-hermeneutic phenomenological action research study seeks to gain a deeper understanding of early elementary, independent school teachers’ views on cultural competence before and after three targeted dialogue sessions.

Influence Of Teachers’ Psychological Safety, Principals’ Transformational Leadership, And Organizational Uncertainty On Schools As Learning Organizations, Lloyd D. Jackson

Theses and Dissertations

The primary function of a school is learning. What this causal-comparative and correlational study sought to resolve is whether schools which are designed for learning can learn. The purpose of the study was four-fold. First, to validate the Dimensions of a Learning Organization Questionnaire (DLOQ) as an instrument to be used to within the school context. Secondly, to ascertain if there was a difference in how the factors of the DLOQ loaded in relation to the achievement level of a school. Thirdly, the study was to assess whether the dimensions of learning organization—continuous learning, dialogue and inquiry, collaboration, embedded systems, …

Fit For Population Health Service: Assessing The Change In Public Health Competencies Of Interprofessional Undergraduate Health Sciences Students, Cassity Gutierrez, Sara Johnston

International Journal of Health Sciences Education

Background. A 2012 IOM report is just one of an increasing number of recommendations to incorporate a population health approach into training of all health professionals. In light of the emphasis on and necessity for all future health professionals to possess core public health competences, a medium sized public University incorporated Introduction to Public Health as a required course in their undergraduate, interprofessional Health Sciences curriculum.

Purpose. The purpose of this study was to assess the change in core public health competencies of undergraduate Health Sciences students who completed an Introduction to Public Health course.

Methods. The Tier 1 …

Policy Storms At The Central Office: Conflicting Narratives Of Racial Equity And Segregation At School Committee Meetings, Serena M. Wilcox

Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation Faculty Publications

This article reports findings from a multiyear critical ethnography that examined race talk dilemmas of school leaders at the central office at a small urban school district to understand why racialized educational policies and practices still persist against African American students. This study takes a structural approach to investigating the impact that race talk has on educational policymaking at the local district level. The guiding research question in this paper examines how we can understand educational reform and policy implementation and the unintended consequences of those interventions through the local from a historical context.

A Case Study Of The Campus Climate For Diversity At A Hispanic-Serving Institution: Perspectives From Latinx Undergraduate Students, Ariana Vargas

LSU Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to investigate how Latinx students perceive the campus climate in curricular and cocurricular settings at a four-year public Hispanic-Serving Institution (HSI) in Texas. In addition, the study examined Latinx students’ understanding of the HSI designation and how their expectations of institutional diversity and inclusion are shaped by this awareness. Specifically, the study explored elements of the climate for diversity, as related to the Multicontextual Model for Diverse Learning Environments (Hurtado et al., 2012), including classroom experiences, cocurricular experiences, and relationships with faculty, staff, and peers. The primary sources of data included interviews …

The Relationship Between School Climate And Student Achievement At The Middle School Level In Georgia, Curtis Brett Wallace

Theses and Dissertations

School leaders from all over our nation are under scrutiny and pressure to raise their students’ academic achievement. Good standards-based classroom teaching, supportive teachers, administrators, and parents, and a motivated student all make for a high achieving student. But what is the relationship of the school’s climate to the achievement level? Does the student’s socioeconomic status affect academic achievement? This study collected data from 431 traditional public middle schools in the state of Georgia serving students in Grade 6 through Grade 8 exclusively during the 2017-18 school year. A stepwise multiple regression was used to examine the relationships in both …

How And Why Higher Education Information Technology Professionals Keep Their Skill Sets Current, Vicky L. Deur

Dissertations

The rapid change in technology creates a challenge for universities to understand the importance of why and how IT professionals keep current in their skill sets, as opposed to leaving the profession or becoming obsolete in their position. This study captured information from IT professionals in higher education regarding the learning activities they find useful in maintaining or updating their skills, an estimate of time spent in those learning activities both at work and outside work, and information on what factors contributed to this maintenance.

Previous research on social cognitive theory and locus of control theory supported the conceptual frame …

Relational Trust As A Determinant Of Principal Turnover: A Quantitative Analysis, Steven Michael Jeretina

College of Education Theses and Dissertations

The issue of principal turnover in American schools has gained greater attention over the last twenty years due to the trend of double-digit annual principal turnover rates. The connection between principal turnover and school climate has largely been focused on how changes in the principal position negatively affects school climate. No research, to this point, has examined the correlation between relational trust between teachers and their principal and principal turnover rates. This study achieves this goal by addressing the question: What, if any, is the relationship between relational trust and principal turnover? This study employed a quantitative methodology supported by …

Exploration Of Ipass Reform At A Public, Comprehensive Four-Year University: An Intrinsic Case Study, Maria Domingo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

Students enroll in universities to earn degrees as a way to improve social and economic competitiveness. However, many large, comprehensive universities are having difficulty in supporting students to ensure timely graduation and are seeing a large number of students stop out before a degree is earned. Academic advising is seen as an effective strategy to help improve retention and completion rates in universities. However, large comprehensive universities often lack the resources to ensure students receive the support needed to ensure completion. We know four-year graduation rates are rare, and there are numerous factors contributing to this issue. Thus, universities and …

Preparing To Cocreate: Using Learning Circles To Readyextension Professionals For Meaningful Stakeholderengagement, Bob Bertsch, Jill Heemstra, Doug Golick

Department of Entomology: Faculty Publications

Extension professionals are being asked to address complex public issues. Doing so requires cocreativeapproaches that engage, in a significant way, the people affected by these issues. Successful engagement,however, requires specific skills and a cocreative mind-set. Extension professionals in two states participatedin learning circles to improve their engagement skills. Using a survey and interviews, we studied the impact ofthe learning circle experience on participants. We found that learning circles helped participants practicecolearning, build relationships, and change their mind-sets in ways that could move their work toward morecocreative efforts.

Competency-Based Education Through The Lens Of Personalized Learning In A Large Public High School, Marcus J. Belin

Dissertations

When students end the chapter of high school, the question education must ask is, “What does it take for a student to walk across the stage and receive their high school diploma?” Is it a transcript full of passing letters ranging from A–D or is it a known belief that students do not have gaps in their knowledge and can apply their knowledge in real-world situations? This study identifies the problem and the basis of research in the program evaluation. It also focuses on identifying a policy that best supports competency-based education (CBE). Lastly, the study …

Program Evaluation Of Behavior Plans And Rubrics: The Process And Impact On Student Growth, Tamariay Gordon

Dissertations

ABSTRACT

In 2017, a behavior plan and rubric, introduced at an alternative behavioral school, hindered students’ transition back to their home school. Students remained at the alternative school because they failed to meet the skewed goals of the behavior plan and rubric. The gathering of qualitative and quantitative data from stakeholders casts a brighter light on the imperfection of the plan and rubric that students and parents failed to understand. A study of the behavior plan and rubric showed areas that created an environment that prevented students from being successful. The development of areas of change produced policy considerations to …

Computer-Based Learning: Effects On Student Learning And Interpretation Of Curriculum, Hasani Jackson

Dissertations

ABSTRACT In 2010, the Superintendent of Prestige School District (a pseudonym) implemented online learning programs that would cater to student learning while increasing achievement. With the adoption of computer-based programs into Prestige School District System, curriculum specialists wanted to align programs to the Common Core State Standards initiated by the Department of Education. Through gathering quantitative and qualitative data on behalf of various stakeholders within Prestige School District, the goal of this study was to uncover the key elements of online learning programs that can be improved to enhance student achievement. Results provide a foundation for positive learning initiatives that …

In Search Of A Third Place On Campus: An Exploration Of The Effects Of Built Space On Students' Sense Of Belonging, Kimberly S. Stave

Dissertations and Theses

Despite decades of environmental behavior research demonstrating the impact physical space has on human behavior, the American university has been slow to adopt this data into campus design and renovation plans. Campus ecology literature has demonstrated that the physical environment of the university campus communicates messages that influence students' feelings of well-being, mattering, and inclusion within the campus community, all significant contributors to student learning and retention.

Campus spaces designed for community building are essential to cultivate a sense of belonging for university students, however, locations dedicated to this type of social interaction, such as third places, are an often-underestimated …

Academic Executives’ Perceptions Of Team Relations And How These Relationships Impact Leadership And Institutions, Alex Ryan Arceneaux

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

Research suggests there are many factors that contribute to the success or failure of university leaders. This study explores one of these factors—the relationships between the university president and their executive team and the group’s collective sociability—and uses social capital theory to suggest executive teams utilize relationships to influence leadership and the institution. The researcher employs a qualitative phenomenological approach using purposeful sampling to reveal how presidents and their executive teams perceive how their relational experiences impact the team and university. The research found that three themes emerged that broadly cover how organizational structure promotes or hinders relationship building, how …

Examining Factors Facilitating Career-Changing Teachers’ Adaptation To Change And The Challenges They Encounter, Abdullah Çeti̇n, Fatma Sadik

The Qualitative Report

The present case study was designed to examine factors that facilitate the adaptation process of science teachers who were appointed or transferred to state schools, the challenges they encountered, and how they coped with these challenges. It was carried out with the participation of six science teachers (three males, three females) working at state middle schools in Turkey. The data were gathered through interviews with the teachers and analyzed through content analysis using the NVivo program. The research results reveal that the prominent factors that facilitate teachers’ adaptation to school environments are their professional love, interest in students, effective communication, …

The Role Of Mentorship In Achieving Nba Success: Narratives Told By Nine Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame Inductees, Mark J. Lasota

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Mentorship entails a special relationship between two people centered on personal or professional growth and development. An effective mentoring relationship is not always easy to acquire. A recent study out of Olivet Nazarene University (2019) suggested around 75 percent of professional men and women want a mentor, but around 37 percent actually have a person in their lives they considered a mentor. On a macro level, the National Mentoring Partnership (2014) estimated only around one-third of children and teenagers have a trusted individual outside their households they can turn to for guidance and support.

Considering the widespread application of mentoring …

Sense Of Belonging From A Distance: How Online Students Describe, Perceive, And Experience Belonging To The Institution, Marleigh Luster Perez

Dissertations and Theses

The availability and ease of access to online bachelor's degree programs has led to a dynamic shift in the world of higher education. While overall, there has been a decrease in student enrollments, distance student enrollment has been growing. According to a report by the Babson Survey Research Group, between the fall of 2012 and the fall of 2016 students pursuing higher education at all levels across degree-granting institutions fell by 3.8%. During the same four-year period, the percentage of those students choosing to take all or some of their courses at a distance increased from 25.9% to 29.7%. Among …

Residence Life As Learning Organizations: An Inquiry Into Organizational Elements That Support Integration Of The Residential Curriculum, Heather Kropf

Dissertations and Theses

Student learning and success is tied to the learning goals and mission of each institution, including environments outside of the classroom. Students are more diverse than ever in terms of their lived experience and their culture, identity, and how they engage in learning. Research has indicated that students spend the majority of their time outside the classroom, where they are learning through informal and formal environments. This has significance and opportunities for student affairs practitioners who desire to create student learning environments. In fact, residence life curricular approaches have demonstrated positive learning experiences for students.

However, implementing a learning-based curricular …

Leadership Development Of Women In Panhellenic Organizations, Kristen Reynolds

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

This study seeks to understand how women of Panhellenic sororities at the University of San Diego (USD) define and perform their meaning of leadership to create positive change in their organizations. My overarching research question was: How can I assist the members of Panhellenic sororities at USD to take up their authority as leaders to influence positive change in their chapter? This research reflects my experiences with Panhellenic sorority women at USD and intentional stakeholders throughout the 2019-2020 academic year. This study was influenced by Ira Chaleff's work on courageous followership, Baxter Magolda’s theory of self-authorship, and David Cooperrider, Diana …

Giving Back: Employees Volunteer Time At Statesboro Farmer’S Market2go, Georgia Southern University

Athletics: News & Publications

• Giving Back: Employees Volunteer Time at Statesboro Farmer’s Market2Go

Promoting Learner Agency Through Critical Pedagogy In The English Language Classroom, Susan Zyphur

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Student Scholarship

In this self-study action research project, I explored how students exercised agency and how it may be affected by a critical pedagogy approach in a community college English as a Second Language (ESL) setting. The participants were adults enrolled in an advanced ESL course in a community college in the greater San Diego area. Students engaged in three dialogic circles as part of a needs assessment dialogue and two successive critical pedagogy dialogues. Data were collected using a classroom observation protocol (supported by audio recordings of the dialogues), student writings in response to journal prompts, and an analytic journal which …