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Older, Wiser, Novice: An Autoethnographic Study Of Nontraditional Students' Participation In Collegiate Forensics, Laura Kathleen Pelletier

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

There is a growing trend in nontraditional college student enrollments in the United States. Older, nontraditional students are currently the majority on many college campuses. Due to the constraints on nontraditional students' time, they are often unable to spend as much time on campus as traditional students and are unable to fully partake in campus life and socialization. Cocurricular activities, such as collegiate forensics, can be time consuming activities which for nontraditional students, especially those who have children, may seem like an impossible fit for their already busy schedules. Because college demographics continue to change and there are a growing …

The Role Of The Congregation In Community Service: A Philanthropic Case Study, Mark T. Mulder, Kristen Napp, Neil E. Carlson, Zig Ingraffia

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The authors discuss the Family Leadership Initiative, a collaboratively designed program to strengthen families and improve children's education in Grand Rapids, Mich. Monthly meetings were held for parents and children that included bonding time, parent education and homework support for students, and time for ministry. Initial evaluation shows high levels of satisfaction, with students reporting some academic improvements. In addition, the program provided a rare opportunity for congregations to collaborate with each other. Future success depends on whether modifications to the program strike a delicate balance that nurtures sustainability, collaboration, and responsiveness.

International Pen Pals Engaging In A Transformational Early Childhood Project, Marcie Hill

All ETDs from UAB

The purpose of this qualitative multiple case study was to utilize an international pen pal project to enact transformation education by enabling students to gain a stronger respect for cultural diversity and changing students' perceptions of a diverse culture. A total of 39 sixth grade students, 16 second grade students, and two teachers participated in this study. One sixth grade teacher in Jakarta, Indonesia and one second grade teacher in north Alabama were participants and served as collaborative member checkers. Limited literature exists on the topic of pen pal writing between children who live in different nations with the goal …

The Role Of The Congregation In Community Service: A Philanthropic Case Study, Mark T. Mulder, Kristen Napp, Neil E. Carlson, Zig Ingraffia

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

The authors discuss the Family Leadership Initiative, a collaboratively designed program to strengthen families and improve children's education in Grand Rapids, Mich. Monthly meetings were held for parents and children that included bonding time, parent education and homework support for students, and time for ministry. Initial evaluation shows high levels of satisfaction, with students reporting some academic improvements. In addition, the program provided a rare opportunity for congregations to collaborate with each other. Future success depends on whether modifications to the program strike a delicate balance that nurtures sustainability, collaboration, and responsiveness.

The Role Of The Congregation In Community Service: A Philanthropic Case Study, Mark T. Mulder, Kristen Napp, Neil E. Carlson, Zig Ingraffia, Khary Bridgewater, Edwin Hernández

The Foundation Review

· The Family Leadership Initiative (FLI), part of the larger Gatherings of Hope Initiative, was a collaboratively designed program to strengthen families and improve children’s education in Grand Rapids, Mich.

· FLI was launched in 2011 with two cohorts of 20 congregations who took part in a six-step design process.

· Programs were implemented in fall 2011. The program entailed holding monthly meetings for parents and children that included bonding time, parent education and homework support for students, and time for ministry.

· The initial evaluation shows high levels of satisfaction, with students reporting some academic improvements.

· For the …

The Most Interesting Place: The Eastern Mediterranean And American Cultural Knowledge, Gregory Wiedeman

University Libraries Faculty Scholarship

This study addresses how nineteenth-century Americans perceived the lands of the Eastern Mediterranean. The project rests upon a detailed examination of American primary school geography textbooks that enjoyed widespread circulation during the century. The lack of an effective education apparatus in the period rendered American students incredibly reliant on their textbooks. These texts reflect the general common knowledge of the region shared by most educated Americans. Additionally, this study draws support from a thorough analysis of travel accounts that were extraordinarily popular during the period. These works offered Americans a chance to explore vicariously the most interesting lands of the …

A Novice Esl Teacher's Experience Of Language Learning In France: An Autoethnographic Study Of Anomie And The "Vulnerable Self", Christopher Ryan

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

"This thesis combines diary study with autoethnography to report an MATESL candidate's study abroad experience as an advanced learner of French. The writer summarizes language-learning experiences in Quebec and France while focusing on his second study abroad experience in France, where he encountered an educational system that was inconsistent with his training as a language teacher and his learning style as a language learner. He discusses challenges he faced in a language institute he was required to enroll in before he could matriculate in the university. Rote memorization and test preparation were the primary focuses of two classes, but the …

Sustainability With An Ethical Aim: Lessons From An American Nun In Amazonia, Stephanie Denise Demaree

Doctoral Dissertations

Research Topic

Human imagination, an ethical aim and action are the progenitors for reconciliation between humans and their environment. Two examples of such reconciliation are found in Brazil and are the result of the tireless work of an American Nun, Sister Dorothy Stang and the staff of the Iracambi Atlantic Rainforest Research and Conservation Center. The present inquiry portrays the history, current programs, and the potential for the findings to shape the lives of those committed to work toward creating a balance between human endeavors and sustainable environments.

Theory and Protocol

This research is grounded in critical hermeneutics and follows …

Freedom In Education: The Movement To Educate The Freedmen In The Pee Dee Region During Reconstruction, Aliyyah Willis

Honors Theses

The current scholarship on the education of the freed slaves in the South during Reconstruction is not so much one of differing points of view, but of specialization within the broader topic. Most of this scholarship focuses on the Southern region as a whole, rather than limiting the scope to just one state or smaller geographic area. Instead of arguing for or against a particular point of view, today's historians are focusing on one part of the larger topic to analyze. Whether studying the people themselves and their motivations, the teachers who educated them, or the system of education that …

The Role Of University-Industry Collaboration In Regional Economic Development, Ranjana Srevatsan

Dissertations

Innovation has played an important role in the economic development of regions. It is believed that research collaboration between university and industry has a positive influence on regional growth and development. This research explores the role of university-industry collaboration in regional economic development at the metropolitan level. The collaboration between university and industry is examined through two measures: Industrial research funding (IRF) to universities and science and engineering graduates (SEG). The research is divided into two models. The first model studied the combined effect of the metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) and studied the influence of IRF and SEG on per …

Understanding Captive-Takers Motivations, Methods And Targets, Jean Garner Larned

Dissertations

Understanding Captive-Takers Motivations, Methods and Targets is the ultimate goal in order to help those who train, manage and prevent hostage taking events which include police officers, negotiators, recovery personnel, academics and psychologists. The overall lack of literature relating to the topic of captive-taker motivations is another impetus for this dissertation. There is a dearth of scholarly material in any of the main areas of understanding kidnapping/captive-taking/hostage-taking from the perspective of the perpetrator within law enforcement, psychology, private sector or academia. It is anticipated that this research study and the data garnered from it will assist academics, psychologists, private corporations, …

Teachers' Perceptions Toward The Secondary Physical Education Program In The State Of Kuwait, Khaled A. Al-Kandari

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this research was to determine the perceptions of physical education teachers and supervisors toward the secondary physical education program in eight domains in the State of Kuwait. Stratified and cluster sampling were used to select two schools of female teachers and two schools of male teachers from each district (6 districts); therefore, 24 schools were selected randomly. One hundred thirty-eight physical education teachers were selected and 66 supervisors were selected. A four-point rating scale (i.e., strongly disagree to strongly agree) and open-ended questions were included in the survey. Cronbach's alpha reliability, descriptive statistics, and independent sample t …

Factors Which Influence The Use Of Active Learning Strategies By Nursing Faculty, Deborah Lowell Shindell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Nursing education is facing a crisis. Anachronistic teaching methods are no longer keeping up with the needs of new graduates entering practice. Despite a body of knowledge which supports the use of active learning in higher education, nursing faculty continue to rely on lecture as their primary pedagogical approach. Previous study of the use of research products in clinical nursing practice identified systematic factors such as characteristics of the communication of research findings and characteristics of the organization form the greatest barrier to use. This study discovers if these same barriers face nursing educators.

Using Roger‟s Theory of Diffusion of …

Establishing Construct Validity Of The Biology I Subject Area Testing Program In Mississippi, Christy Michelle Hollis Philippoff

Dissertations

Science education has undergone many revisions since it was permanently embedded in the country's educational curriculum at the end of the 19th century. Some of these revisions occurred as a direct result of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). This legislation placed more accountability on schools than ever before by requiring that all students pass a series of standardized tests (USDE, 2010). High schools in Mississippi require four areas of standardized testing: English II, Algebra I, U.S. History, and Biology I (Wroten, 2008). The focus of this study is the Biology I Subject Area Test.

In an effort to …

A Quantitative Study Of Learning In The School Cafeteria Using Educational Placemats, Keshia Lasha Gaines

Dissertations

This study investigated if there was a difference in student achievement after participants were exposed to educational placemats in a school cafeteria for four days each (four different placemats). Also, the student’s gender and ability grouping was considered in relation to achievement. This study included 49 ability grouped third grade students in an elementary school in south Mississippi. Students were pre-tested with researcher-made math instruments before the educational placemats were introduced and post-tested afterwards. For research purposes, some placemats served as a control and did not relate to the pre-test and post-test content. Statistical measurements of the differences were derived …

Barriers And Enablers Of Interdisciplinary Research At Academic Institutions, Leslie Suzanne Thornton Butler

Dissertations

This research study examines the factors that motivate and lead to the success of faculty members who conduct interdisciplinary research. Because a comprehensive study of the research patterns of interdisciplinary researchers has not been conducted, the main intent of this research project was to create an instrument that would measure research habits and attitudes. It is important that such research be conducted using individuals who are interdisciplinary researchers as well as disciplinary researchers. One intent of the research study was to provide comparisons between disciplinary researchers and interdisciplinary researchers. Another intent was to provide university administrators with a better understanding …

From Facebook To Gradebook: An Examination Of The Relationship Between Teen Use Of Social Networking Sites And Academic Achievement, Melody Dickerson Swang

Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Principals' Perceptions Of The Importance Of Classroom Walkthroughs, Shannon Anne Mcgill

Dissertations

Education reform has required school administrators to become instructional leaders that ensure teacher effectiveness and academic success for all students. Classroom walkthroughs are one way that instructional leaders can accomplish this task. This study examined the level of importance that principals place on the practice of classroom walkthroughs and on specific elements of classroom walkthroughs; it further explored the relationships among perceptions about classroom walkthroughs and student achievement, school performance levels (AYP), and socio-economic status (SES) of the school.

This was a quantitative study that utilized survey methodology, archival data and correlational analyses to identify the relationships among principals‟ perceptions …

Leadership Practices That Promote Increased Student Achievement In Secondary Schools, Billy Ray Jones

Dissertations

The purpose of the following study was to determine the degree to which the perceptions of teachers and school level administrators may differ, and the effects of these perceptions on student achievement as measured at the school level by the school’s accountability score reported in the form of the Quality Distribution Index (QDI). This index ranges from 0 to 300 and is used in the state of Mississippi to assign schools to one of seven accountability labels. Schools may be classified as one of the following depending on their QDI score: star, high performing, successful, academic watch, at risk of …

Sexuality Education, Eva Goldfarb, Norman A. Constantine

Department of Public Health Scholarship and Creative Works

Sexuality education comprises the lifelong intentional processes by which people learn about themselves and others as sexual, gendered beings from biological, psychological, and sociocultural perspectives. It takes place through a potentially wide range of programs and activities in schools, community settings, religious centers, as well as informally within families, among peers, and through electronic and other media. Sexuality education for adolescents occurs in the context of the biological, cognitive, and social-emotional developmental progressions and issues of adolescence. Formal sexuality education falls into two main categories: behavior change approaches, which are represented by abstinence-only and abstinence-plus models, and healthy sexual development …

U.S. Demographic Diversity And The Achievement Gap: Grappling With Nuances, Robert A. Devillar, Binbin Jiang

Journal of Emerging Knowledge on Emerging Markets

In this article, the authors examine various nuances relating to demographics on race, ethnicity, gender and income in the United States, and ways in which they relate to educational access, participation and achievement. These nuances persistently remain below the surface of our national consciousness, schooling experiences at all levels, and everyday discourse. Thus, it is necessary to make them explicit and, depending on their positive or negative influence, integrate them into our policies and practices or challenge and discard them. This obligatory culling of the wheat from the chaff is required if our attempts to move forward progressively and steadily …

Teaching Asia In The American South: A Case Study Of An African American Teacher’S Journey, Guichun Zong

Journal of Emerging Knowledge on Emerging Markets

Policy makers and researchers in American teacher education have long called for increased numbers of minority teachers to address the cultural gap between teachers and students, particularly in urban schools. However, very little is known about what these teacher candidates bring to and what happens to them as they progress through their professional development programs. The central purpose of this case study is to gain insights on an African American teacher candidate’ perspectives on teaching about Asia in the era of globalization: its primary purpose, curriculum, and effective strategies and resources to engage students. It also explores factors that shape …

Cultural Competence In Transnational Settings & Quality Education For American Indians: Anatomy Of Challenges, Kay Traille, Brittani K. Roy

Journal of Emerging Knowledge on Emerging Markets

This article juxtaposes the lived experiences of two educators newly immersed in very different work environments. One of the educators, one coming from a British education background, looks at the anomalies of communication, work practice, and student expectations at a university located in the southern United States. The second educator, working in a K-12 school system on an American-Indian reservation in Arizona, looks at the challenges of NCLB, ELL, curricula, assessment methods, dropout rates, and funding. Upon examination of the issues of a quality and fair education for American Indians, it becomes clear that teachers have to bring an existential-phenomenological …

Race To The Top Leaves Children And Future Citizens Behind: The Devastating Effects Of Centralization, Standardization, And High Stakes Accountability, Joe Onosko

Democracy & Education

President Barack Obama’s Race to the Top (RTT) is a profoundly flawed educational reform plan that increases standardization, centralization, and test-based accountability in our nation’s schools. Following a brief summary of the interest groups supporting the plan, who is currently participating in this race, why so many states voluntarily submitted proposals, and what features of the plan that are most problematic, eight arguments are offered as to why RTT is highly detrimental to our nation.

The Impact Of A School-Wide High School Advanced Placement Program And Culture On Participating Students' High School Achievement And Engagement Outcomes And First Year University Academic Success, Gregory E. Tiemann

Student Work

Along with a high grade point average and high standardized test scores, access and success in higher education is impacted by the courses on a student's transcript. Advanced Placement (AP) courses have set up a cooperative endeavor between secondary schools and colleges, increasing the likelihood of higher levels of educational attainment and early college success. An AP culture which challenges high school students in taking more advanced placement courses can serve as the greatest impact for them as they are bound for college and academic success. This study examined the relationship of AP courses and student achievement as measured by …

Bowen Family Systems Theory And Its Relationship To Teachers: Does Differentiation Of Self Predict Teacher Job Satisfaction?, Noal Baxter Cochran

Dissertations

Educational leaders are charged with maintaining the academic success of students, the faith of stakeholders in the educational process, and the growth of the educational profession. These objectives have become difficult during a time of noticeable discontent among the stakeholders of educational systems. The discontent is noted strongly among the ranks of teachers who continue to cite decreased job satisfaction as they face increased internal and external accountability pressures, declining resource availability, and reduced familial support. The resulting teacher job dissatisfaction has led to an increased need among the leadership of educational systems to develop an understanding of the issues …

A Study Of Mexican American Education In The Mercedes Independent School District, 1908-2008: Opportunities And Obstacles?, Beatrice De Leon Edwards

Theses and Dissertations - UTB/UTPA

This study investigates the educational history of the Mercedes Independent School District of deep south Texas during the twentieth century with a focus on the opportunities and challenges encountered by Mexican American schoolchildren who were served by the district. The methodology selected is qualitative research wherein the researcher is the primary instrument collecting the experiences of participants with direct or indirect knowledge of the school district. Also examined are archival documents such as high school yearbooks, graduate pictures, school board minutes, maps, and newspaper articles. The demographics of the school district have changed from an all-Anglo school district at its …

Immigration To The Great Plains, 1865-1914 War, Politics, Technology, And Economic Development, Bruce Garver

Great Plains Quarterly (through 2013)

The advent and vast extent of immigration to the Great Plains states during the years 1865 to 1914 is perhaps best understood in light of the new international context that emerged during the 1860s in the aftermath of six large wars whose consequences included the enlargement of civil liberties, an acceleration of economic growth and technological innovation, the expansion of world markets, and the advent of mass immigration to the United States from east-central and southern Europe.1 Facilitating all of these changes was the achievement of widespread literacy through universal, free, compulsory, and state-funded elementary education in the United States, …

Pages News, Volume 19, No. 2, July 2011, John Dearing, Markus Dotterwelch, Thomas Foster

PAGES

Contents: Inside PAGES -- PAGES calendar -- Special Section: Integrative Paleoscience for Sustainable Management -- Editorial -- Integrative paleoscience for sustainable management -- Workshop Report -- Regional integration of past records for management of modern resources -- Science Highlights -- Conservation and habitat restoration of moorland and bog in the UK uplands -- Spatial and temporal controls on hydro-geomorphic processes in French Prealps -- Past land use and soil erosion processes in central Europe -- Long-term perspectives on an iconic landscape: Origins and future trajectories -- Grazing activities and biodiversity history in the Pyrenees -- Managing biodiversity using long-term regional …

Street Theatre : Critical Pedagogy For Social Studies Education, Al-Karim Datoo, Zainab M. A. Chagani

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

This paper aims at exploring the usefulness of street theatre as critical pedagogy in teaching of social studies education. It gives a brief background of street-theatre and its linkages with critical pedagogy. In the light of theoretical underpinnings of this arts-based pedagogy, the paper deliberates upon the relevance and efficacy of street theatre in a social studies classroom. This paper uses a street theatre performance case to look at the techniques such as: body motion, body work, props, use of visual and audio aids, etc.; processes such as: conscientization and catharsis; and dialogical approach employed by street theatre to bring …