Digital Commons Network^™

Where Should I Teach?, Amanda Kelley

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

Teacher attrition and migration are a continuing problem within American schools. In order to help decrease these rates, a website was created that provides information about various types of schools including; public, private, Montessori, Waldorf, and Democratic schools. In order to help undergraduates begin researching school types, the website provided a short quiz that, based on respondents’ answers, pointed them to specific school types to research. With this information undergraduates will be more informed about their teaching options, and make career choices that better suit their teaching expectations. Thus, in being more informed and satisfied in their teaching positions, teacher …

Evaluation Of The Effectiveneess Of Social Work Intervention In The "Making Attendance A Priority Program", Justine Beatriz Rangel

Theses Digitization Project

The purpose of this study was to address the problem of truancy by looking at what types of effective interventions helped to decrease truancy within the preadolescent population. This study looks at the correlation between a social work intervention and attendence with 27 fifth grade students who were in the MAPP program (Making Attendance a Priority Program). An evaluation of the effectiveness of a social work intervention on truancy rates for students in the MAPP program.

The Economics Of Parenting, Self-Esteem, And Academic Performance: Theory And A Test, Rajeev Darolia, Bruce Wydick

Economics Faculty Publications

This paper develops a theory about how signals sent to a child by an altruistic parent affect a child's self-esteem, effort and long-term performance when a parent has better information about child ability than children do themselves. We carry out OLS, 2SLS, and 3SLS estimations of our model on a sample of 651 college students. Our results show some complementary actions before college, such as parental praise, foster academic achievement above what natural ability would predict. Conversely, we find some substitutionary actions before college, such as providing them cars as gifts, are associated with lower effort in college and underachievement. …

Experiences That Impact The Recruitment And Retention Of International (Non-Native Speaker Of English) Student-Athletes In Ncaa Division I Institutions, Evangelos Kontaxakis

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

International student-athletes as a group are a unique population in any institution because they bring together three characteristics that are challenging through theEducational process. Among the challenges for someone who chooses to study in a different country include facing issues such as the language barrier as well as problems in adjusting to the new culture. Moreover, balancing the role as a student and as an athlete is another challenge that international student-athletes face. Earlier research leaves gaps as it is related to international (non-native speaker of English) student-athletes and their experiences, which impact their decision to study in the United …

I Don't Know Who I Am - Considering Where I Came From: First-Generation Working-Class College Graduates Describe Their Journeys To Baccalaureate Degrees, Janet K. Weirick

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This phenomenological study explored recent memories of some of the struggles and joys that first-generation students faced in their college experiences as they successfully completed four-year degrees at a private liberal arts college in the Midwest. These lived experiences included personal and structural issues of individual identity, class identity, first-generation observations, campus experiences, and family relationships. Their stories will inform research and provide insights for professionals working to improve levels of college retention and student growth. First-generation college students are retained and graduate at a lower rate than second-generation college students and are consequently at risk for dropping out or …

Teaching To Cultivate Gardening Education Programs In Public Elementary Schools, Andrew Noune

Theses & ETDs

In an attempt to explore ways that the educational system can encourage an understanding of food production systems and their effect on the environment and human health, I explore the components of edible school gardening programs. Eight public elementary school programs in a county in southwest Florida were studied by interviewing the facilitating teachers and observing in-class activities. Components related to horticultural procedures, academic connections, and students' home life were identified and analyzed. The findings of this research suggest that in-ground school gardens are likely to contain more horticultural components and academic connections than earth box or hydroponic gardens. Therefore, …

"You Can Still Be A Feminist, Be Proud Of Being A Woman, And Deal With The Gender Binary" Issues Of Sex And Gender At Indian Brook Camp, Flavia Grattery-Musinsky

Theses & ETDs

Established in 1941 to provide girls the opportunity to engage in physical work and wilderness trips, Indian Brook is a single-sex summer camp in Southern Vermont. Though one must be female-bodied to attend or be employed at Indian Brook, one does not necessarily have to identify as a girl/woman; this relationship is emblematic of the unique, complex, and inevitably tenuous dynamic that is a product of the incorporation of queer pedagogy into a community organized upon seemingly conventional notions of sex and gender. Utilizing ethnographic methods over a two-month period in the summer of 2010, this study examines Indian Brook�s …

Maintaining Inequality A Comparative Study Of Educational Stratification In Argentina And The United States, Maia G. De La Calle

Theses & ETDs

A growing body of literature argues that schooling is not the great equalizer; rather, it reproduces inequality. Most of these theories concur that schools are not neutral enterprises, but sites of conflict. Educational inequality can be observed in the differences in approach and quality among public schools located in different socioeconomic districts. These differences in educational experience are reflected in the curriculum, resources, achievement rates, drop-out rates, and teacher qualifications, among other factors. Given that the current decentralized educational policies in the U.S. have not reduced the expanding achievement gap, my thesis project examines whether more centralized educational policies, such …

Linking Goals To Outcomes: Exploring Students' Achievement Goals, Strategy Use, And Standards Of Success For Learning, Kirsten Nerissa Koritz

Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored stability in achievement goals and learning behaviors within a two-part learning project. Based on previous literature exploring stability in achievement goal orientation, it was hypothesized that students' goals and self-efficacy would show evidence of change within and between the two task sessions. This was tested through a series of self-report surveys. Literature on the relationship between achievement goals and reading strategies showed that mastery oriented students used more reading strategies than performance oriented students. This was tested by imposing a performance oriented measure on one half of the participants. Data was analyzed with quantitative methods. Findings from …

"If We Want An Education, We Want An Education It's Our Choice": How Four Youth At Risk Of Dropping Out Of High School Experienced Social Capital, Joanne Mcfarland Malloy

Doctoral Dissertations

Youth who are at risk of dropping out of high school are often challenged by significant emotional and behavioral support needs, and are typically disengaged from the educational process and the social networks that can help them succeed in their homes, in school, and in their communities. This research project investigated the experiences of four youth, two females and two males, who were at significant risk of dropping out of high school as they were engaged in a supportive intervention designed to build skills in self-determination, school-to-adult life transition planning, and leveraging social resources. Using social capital as a sensitizing …

The Deconstruction Of Ambition: Campus Climate, Stereotype Threat, And The Motivational Goals Of African American Students At A Selective Small Liberal Arts College, Roland S. Davis

Doctoral Dissertations

African American students face many challenges when they attend highly selective, predominantly White institutions. Lack of support for or belief in their academic success on the part of White faculty and peers may contribute to a climate in which it becomes increasingly difficult for African American students to be motivated and believe in their ability to excel academically. Studies suggest that an unsupportive racial climate on campus perpetuates "stereotype threat"---the conception that task performance can be affected by a fear of being evaluated on the basis of, or inadvertently perpetuating a stereotype about one's racial group, and a decade of …

Decoding Minority Student Retention: An Investigation Of Student Experiences And Institutional Characteristics, Stephanie S. Bramlett

Doctoral Dissertations

This study seeks to explain factors that contribute to the retention of black and Hispanic students from their first year through graduation at colleges and universities in the United States. Other studies have investigated the experiences of minority college students (Massey et al. 2006, Steele 1999, and Bowen and Bok 1998) and have focused primarily on student experiences. Using Bourdieu's (1973) conceptualization of capital as the theoretical backdrop, this study is a preliminary investigation of how student experiences and institutional characteristics influence college student graduation.

The study uses data from both the National Longitudinal Survey of Freshmen and the 2008 …

Fp-11-04 Fatherhood In The U.S.: Men's Age At First Birth, 1987-2008, Bart Stykes

National Center for Family and Marriage Research Family Profiles

No abstract provided.

Mapping The Organizational Relations Within Physical Security’S Body Of Knowledge: A Management Heuristic Of Sound Theory And Best Practice, Richard Coole, David J. Brooks

Australian Security and Intelligence Conference

Security Science education at university levels is still in its infancy, with little agreement towards knowledge, curriculum and competency. Therefore, it is essential that educators draw on relevant literature highlighting means of efficient and effective knowledge transfer for tertiary students within the Security Science domain. Such knowledge transfer will reduce the gap between academic knowledge (explicit) and professional competency (tacit knowledge). This paper presents phase one of a multiphase study. A qualitative “systems based knowledge structure” of security domain categories has been conceptually mapped as a domain heuristic. The heuristic drew on research highlighting that experts have both richer depths …

Understanding A Pakistani Science Teacher’S Practice Through A Life History Study, Nelofer Halai

Institute for Educational Development, Karachi

The purpose of the single case life history study was to understand a female science teacher’s conceptions of the nature of science as explicit in her practice. While this paper highlights these understandings, an additional purpose is to give a detailed account of the process of creating a life history account through more than 13 in-depth interviews. It includes a discussion of what the author calls composite observations where the observations of the teacher and the researcher are presented as a single unified story. Also discussed are ethical issues specific to life history created due to the intimacy created by …

Motivations For Involvement : An Empirical Test Of Parents Of Students With Disabilities, Callen Emily Fishman

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Parents of students in special education have greater barriers to parent involvement than parents of students in general education. Little is known, however, about the factors that facilitate or impede involvement practices for this group. This study investigated the extent to which the motivational factors from Hoover-Dempsey and Sandler's (2005) Model of Parent Involvement (i.e., Parent Role Activity Beliefs, Parent Efficacy, General School Invitations, Specific Teacher Invitation, Specific Child Invitations, Perceived Knowledge and Skills, and Perceived Time and Energy) predicted the Home-Based, School-Based, and Special Education Involvement of 177 parents of students in special education. Family structure, race/ethnicity, family socioeconomic …

Taking On The Perspective Of The Other : Understanding Parents' And Teachers' Perceptions Of Parent Involvement In Students' Educational Experiences, Rene Michele Wilson

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Parent involvement is considered a vital educational factor that is associated with students' academic success. Engaging parents in the educational process is a challenge confronting many school districts across the United States. This is a significant problem for schools in low socioeconomic communities where lack of resources for parents and teachers creates barriers to involvement initiatives.

Circles Of Culture And Cognition : A Sociocognitive Study Of Collaboration Within And Among Academic Groups Of Teachers In A Rural School District, Linda L. Baker

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This ethnographic case study examined the roles of district and school macro-culture and teacher sub-group micro-culture in influencing the nature and extent of teachers' professional collaboration. Informed by the sociocognitive theory that learning is rooted in social relationships and develops through interpersonal discourse and activity, the study focused on educators in a middle and high school in one small, rural district. The 41 educators who participated in the study included three administrators, 24 high school faculty members, and 17 middle school teachers. Data collection methods incorporated a general questionnaire, field notes, observations of meetings and gatherings, and extensive interviews. Most …

The Development Of Conceptual Socialization In Turkish International Students : A Language Socialization Perspective On Conceptual Fluency And Social Identity, Deniz Ortactepe

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

This longitudinal, mixed-method study relied on the assumption that international students as newcomers to the American culture experience conceptual socialization which enables them to gain competency in the target language through exposure to the target language culture. By collecting qualitative and quantitative data three times over a year, the present study examined the linguistic and social development of Turkish international students as a result of their conceptual socialization in the U.S. The stories of participating Turkish students provided evidence for the multi-faceted nature of identity (re)construction which required a closer look at not only the participants' investment, audibility and symbolic …

It's All One Curriculum: Guidelines For A Unified Approach To Sexuality, Gender, Hiv, And Human Rights Education [Arabic], International Sexuality And Hiv Curriculum Working Group, Nicole Haberland, Deborah Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Education on sexuality and HIV can help adolescents develop the capacity for healthy, respectful relationships and protect themselves from unwanted and unsafe sex, unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections. A 2015 Population Council study found that sexuality and HIV education programs that address gender and power in intimate relationships are five times more likely to be effective than programs that do not. However, most curricula still do not address these issues. “It’s All One Curriculum” provides a rationale, content, and sample activities for placing gender and rights at the center of sexuality and HIV curricula—both as stand-alone modules and integrated …

It's All One Curriculum: Activities For A Unified Approach To Sexuality, Gender, Hiv, And Human Rights Education [Arabic], International Sexuality And Hiv Curriculum Working Group, Nicole Haberland, Deborah Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Education on sexuality and HIV can help adolescents develop the capacity for healthy, respectful relationships and protect themselves from unwanted and unsafe sex, unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections. A 2015 Population Council study found that sexuality and HIV education programs that address gender and power in intimate relationships are five times more likely to be effective than programs that do not. However, most curricula still do not address these issues. "It’s All One Curriculum" provides a rationale, content, and sample activities for placing gender and rights at the center of sexuality and HIV curricula—both as stand-alone modules and integrated …

It's All One Curriculum: Activities For A Unified Approach To Sexuality, Gender, Hiv, And Human Rights Education [Bangla], International Sexuality And Hiv Curriculum Working Group, Nicole Haberland, Deborah Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Education on sexuality and HIV can help adolescents develop the capacity for healthy, respectful relationships and protect themselves from unwanted and unsafe sex, unintended pregnancy, and sexually transmitted infections. A 2015 Population Council study found that sexuality and HIV education programs that address gender and power in intimate relationships are five times more likely to be effective than programs that do not. However, most curricula still do not address these issues. "It’s All One Curriculum" provides a rationale, content, and sample activities for placing gender and rights at the center of sexuality and HIV curricula—both as stand-alone modules and integrated …

Un Seul Programme : Guide Pour Une Approche Pédagogique Unifiée De La Sexualité, Du Genre, Du Vih Et Des Droits Humains, International Sexuality And Hiv Curriculum Working Group, Nicole Haberland, Deborah Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

L'éducation sur la sexualité et le VIH peut aider les adolescents à développer leurs capacités à entretenir des relations saines et respectueuses et à se protéger contre les rapports sexuels non désirés et dangereux, les grossesses non désirées et les infections sexuellement transmissibles. Une étude du Population Council de la population de 2015 a révélé que les programmes d'éducation à la sexualité et au VIH qui traitent du genre et du pouvoir dans les relations intimes sont cinq fois plus susceptibles d'être efficaces que les programmes qui ne le font pas. Cependant, la plupart des programmes ne traitent pas encore …

Un Seul Programme : Activités Pour Une Approche Pédagogique Unifiée De La Sexualité, Du Genre, Du Vih Et Des Droits Humains, International Sexuality And Hiv Curriculum Working Group, Nicole Haberland, Deborah Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

L'éducation sur la sexualité et le VIH peut aider les adolescents à développer leurs capacités à entretenir des relations saines et respectueuses et à se protéger contre les rapports sexuels non désirés et dangereux, les grossesses non désirées et les infections sexuellement transmissibles. Une étude du Population Council de la population de 2015 a révélé que les programmes d'éducation à la sexualité et au VIH qui traitent du genre et du pouvoir dans les relations intimes sont cinq fois plus susceptibles d'être efficaces que les programmes qui ne le font pas. Cependant, la plupart des programmes ne traitent pas encore …

Un Sólo Currículo: Pautas Para Un Enfoque Integrado Hacia La Educación En Sexualidad, Género, Vih Y Derechoshumanos, International Sexuality And Hiv Curriculum Working Group, Nicole Haberland, Deborah Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

La educación sobre la sexualidad y el VIH puede ayudar a los adolescentes a desarrollar la capacidad de tener relaciones sanas y respetuosas y a protegerse del contacto sexual no deseado e inseguro, el embarazo no deseado y las infecciones de transmisión sexual. El estudio del Population Council de 2015 descubrió que los programas de educación sexual y VIH que abordan el género y el poder en las relaciones íntimas tienen cinco veces más probabilidades de ser efectivos que los programas que no lo hacen. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los planes de estudio aún no abordan estos problemas. "Un …

Un Sólo Currículo: Actividades Para Un Enfoque Integrado Hacia La Educación En Sexualidad, Género, Vih Y Derechoshumanos, International Sexuality And Hiv Curriculum Working Group, Nicole Haberland, Deborah Rogow

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

La educación sobre la sexualidad y el VIH puede ayudar a los adolescentes a desarrollar la capacidad de tener relaciones sanas y respetuosas y a protegerse del contacto sexo no deseado e inseguro, el embarazo no deseado y las infecciones de transmisión sexual. El estudio del Population Council de 2015 descubrió que los programas de educación sexual y VIH que abordan el género y el poder en las relaciones íntimas tienen cinco veces más probabilidades de ser efectivos que los programas que no lo hacen. Sin embargo, la mayoría de los planes de estudio aún no abordan estos problemas. "Un …

Teaching Activist Intelligence: Feminism, The Educational Experience And The Applied Women's Studies Department At Cgu, Tara Chaffee Robinson

CGU Theses & Dissertations

The need to teach students how to be community activists becomes increasingly relevant as women's studies continues to evolve from its activist roots. Living in a culture that discourages activist work, many women's studies students feel passionately about activist issues, but with frustrating paralysis. For this reason, many of them pursue graduate degrees to equip themselves for an activist-oriented life, since they are not sure how to do this themselves. Without the presence of a concrete social movement, women's studies students need activist behavior and community modeled for them through the institution of the university. Teaching feminist activism to women's …

Learning The “Craft Of Auditing”: Applications Of The Cognitive Apprenticeship Framework, Kimberly D. Westermann

2011

This dissertation consists of three studies examining component(s) of the cognitive apprenticeship (CA) model applied to on-the-job learning in auditing. This abstract summarizes each study, including purpose, methodology, and findings. The first study provides descriptive evidence on the importance and pervasiveness of CA as a model of on-the-job learning (OTJL) in auditing, investigates changes in its use over time, and assesses factors that promote or hinder auditors’ learning through apprenticeship. We conducted semi-structured interviews with 30 relatively new and more experienced audit partners at a Big 4 firm, seeking their impressions about past and current OTJL practices in public accounting. …

Whatever Works: Teaching Adults With Learning Difficulties In Adult Basic Education Programs: A Dissertation, Susan Noyes Spear

Educational Studies Dissertations

Research indicates that significant numbers of adult learners who attend adult basic education (ABE) programs have learning difficulties and/or learning disabilities. However, most ABE teachers have not been trained to teach students with these complex learning needs. This qualitative study, conducted through an interpretivist/constructivist lens, used in-depth individual interviews to garner the voices and experiences of ten ABE teachers as they described how they identify and manage the learning needs of their students. Results showed that ABE teachers described their practice in terms of how they identified their students' learning difficulties; their perceptions of their identity and role as an …

Appreciating Bilingualism: The First Step To Reducing Racism In The United States, Jenna Suttmeier

CMC Senior Theses

The goal of this paper is to explore the origins of modern-day racism and to discuss ways to reduce discrimination in the United States. Research on bilingualism and bilingual education indicates that bilingualism can be one method that helps reduce racism and increase cultural acceptance. For example, bilingual education can help establish multicultural identities in school children by providing better educational opportunities for English learners, teaching a new language and culture to native-English speakers, and integrating diverse cultures in classroom settings. Therefore, bilingual education can be a powerful tool in facilitating cultural awareness and reducing racial tensions in the U.S.