Digital Commons Network^™

Submitting An Erasmus + Project On Gamifying Higher Education, Carine Chisu

Creativity and Change Leadership Graduate Student Master's Projects

2019 has been the year in which climate change and climate conscience have been key concepts, the first trimester of 2020 has been determined by the coronavirus pandemic. Exactly in the same way changing external conditions make any project in need of pivoting, Higher Education has to adapt and change as well. A first identified step is the development of e-learning, but then the shorter attention span and other external reasons for the new profile of students make it difficult. Gamification was therefore identified as a possible solution. The current project describes the process of submitting a proposal of ERASMUS …

Online Instruction In Higher Education: Promising, Research-Based, And Evidence-Based Practices, Alison A. Lockman, Barbara R. Schirmer

Walden Faculty and Staff Publications

The purpose of this study was to review the research literature on online learning to identify effective instructional practices. We narrowed our scope to empirical studies published 2013-2019 given that studies earlier than 2013 had become quickly outdated because of changes in online pedagogies and technologies. We also limited our search to studies with undergraduate and graduate students, application of an empirical methodological design, and descriptions of methodology, data analysis, and results with sufficient detail to assure verifiability of data collection and analysis. Our analysis of the patterns and trends in the corpus of 104 research studies led to identification …

Stigma And Disclosure Of Chronic Pain In Higher Education: A Qualitative Study, Jennifer K. Davenport

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Students with chronic pain represent an overlooked population in higher education institutions, due to the barriers their conditions present and the stigma associated with chronic pain. There is existing research examines treatment of elderly populations and best practices for university students with disabilities, facing discrimination. This study sheds light on a gap in the existing research, where a niche population of students in chronic pain navigated disclosure issues and stigma in the academic environment. The purpose of the qualitative research study was to examine how anticipated or experienced stigma associated with chronic pain conditions influenced disclosure of chronic pain for …

The Question Of Pronouns: Recommendations For How Higher Education Institutions Should Implement Pronouns, Kaitlin Hahn

Undergraduate Theses and Capstone Projects

Historically, higher education has supported the binary genders of man and woman by championing the binary in terms of receiving higher education, such as those who go on to pursue college degrees and further. As colleges and universities are driven to become more and more accessible, so do their policies. The research to follow highlights the need for higher education institutions to recognize and implement common use of pronouns, meaning the use of They/Them or other pronouns that do not align with how someone is assigned upon birth. By looking into the scholarship on pronoun use in colleges and universities …

Factors Influencing Hmong College Students’ Persistence And Retention In Laos: A Case Study, Kou Xiong

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

Student persistence and retention in higher education is a phenomenon that has been studied for years, yielding many theories and frameworks. The purpose of this study was to explore the factors influencing the persistence and retention of Hmong college students in Laos. This study adopted a qualitative method with a single-case study design to explore the experiences of 10 Hmong students who were attending a university in the Lao’s People Democratic Republic (LPDR). Data for the study were collected via individual interviews and reflection journals. The findings of the study showed that there were seven emergent themes that influenced Hmong …

Here They Are, Send Them: An Evaluation Of The Send Program At Merrimack College, Jordan T. Mason

Community Engagement Student Work

The purpose of this study was to gather a deeper understanding of the SEND Program at Merrimack College. This program evaluation sought to determine if the SEND Program was meeting its short-term outcomes for the program. The current literature highlights the important and significant aspects of alternative break/global service-learning programs as they can provide great educational experiences for students. A survey was sent out to a cohort of alumni SEND participants to gather their perspectives of the program. Overall, the survey respondents noted positive responses of their experiences in this program, indicating that they had some level of a positive …

Behind The Curtain: The Cultural Capital Of Pilipino Cultural Nights, Xavier J. Hernandez

Journal of Southeast Asian American Education and Advancement

This study examines the phenomenon of Pilipino Cultural Nights in higher education through the lens of community cultural wealth. While in name, Pilipino Cultural Nights pay homage to the native culture of the Philippines, the processes through which these performances are produced and reproduced as annual traditions exhibit a distinct Filipino American cultural experience that is facilitated by the higher education environment. As under-represented and under-served students, Filipino American students utilize their various forms of community cultural wealth to create one of the most visible performances on their campus and a cornerstone coming of age experience for Filipino American youth. …

“I Woke Up To The World”: Politicizing Blackness And Multiracial Identity Through Activism, Angelica Celeste Loblack

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Drawing from in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 21 Black multiracial students, this project explores the extent to which processes of racial socialization and racialization can differentially inform how Black multiracial students navigate and experience involvement in

Black student and activist organizations. It unpacks the ways that anti-Black racialization and racism, experienced in the college setting, can motivate Black multiracial students’ involvement in student organizations. Moreover, it highlights the ways in which involvement in anti-racist activism and Black student organizations can impact Black multiracial students’ understandings of blackness, multiraciality, and identity more broadly. To operationalize the long term impacts of Black organizational …

International Students’ Transition To A Rural State Comprehensive University, Phillip A. Olt, Bingbing Tao

Teacher-Scholar: The Journal of the State Comprehensive University

International students face challenges as they transition to higher education in the United States. In this article, we explore that transition process when it intersects with an institution in a rural setting. We used Schlossberg’s transition theory—with a particular emphasis on the 4Ss of situation, self, support, and strategies—as the theoretical framework for this case study, and we found that the situation for international students in this transition was fraught with concurrent stressors of isolation, food, and safety. While their sense of self included a strong desire to experience United States culture and language, they struggled apart from familiar support …

Code-Switching Among African American Male Faculty Regarding Recruitment, Advancement, And Retention At Predominantly White Institutions, Shatisha Hibbler

CUP Ed.D. Dissertations

The lack of diversity in leadership roles at predominantly White institutions (PWIs) of higher education has been a concern often addressed in the strategic plans at these institutions. Exploring how African American male faculty members perceive code-switching as a strategy to address this gap in representation was the purpose of this study. A qualitative research design was used to gain an understanding of how code-switching uses the structure of language to obtain access to advancement opportunities. Results from the study show that although African American men have varying views on how to use language within the workplace setting, the majority …

Full Issue

Experiential Learning & Teaching in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Photographs In My Mind, Through Darkness And In Light: An Auto-Criticism Of A University Teacher, Melanie Renee Witt

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation is an auto-criticism, a new qualitative inquiry founded in educational criticism and arts-based research, which describes and analyzes my lived experience as a female university teacher. The purpose of this study is to describe, interpret, evaluate and thematize my experiences with professional stress, pregnancy loss, and self-care. Secondly, it illuminates auto-criticism as a methodology with potential contributions to qualitative research and higher education.

Personal documents, internal artifacts, and external artifacts generated during a challenging period of my life as a university teacher are used as data. Language and photography combine to story my lived experiences and findings.

This …

Race(Ing) Towards Legal Literacy For (Im)Migration Amidst Covid-19, Patriann Smith, S. Joel Warrican

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

Historically and contemporarily, immigration laws have disproportionately affected immigrant faculty and students of color because they often inadvertently function as racial policy. (Critical) legal literacy enacted via a bottom-up approach can help to address such laws. Higher education institutions, organizations, labor unions and associations are uniquely positioned to use critical legal literacy as a tool of advocacy for immigrant faculty and students of color amidst the adverse effects of COVID-19.

Queering The University: Implementing A Systematic & Organizational Approach To Equity, Brian Moore

West Chester University Master’s Theses

Too often higher education educators take a lackadaisical approach to solutions surrounding negative queer and trans student experiences; however, educators hold an obligation to foster student success, retention, catalyze identity development, and maximize the human potential of queer and trans students. This master’s thesis develops a systematic and organizational approach to achieving an equitable campus for queer and trans student experience through a critical action research proposal. Utilizing my perspective as queer and trans educator and/or student, I will primarily use the philosophical lens of Friere, hooks, Foucault, and queer theory to support my philosophy of education. Theoretical frameworks from …

2020-2021 Course Catalog, University Of Montana--Missoula. Office Of The Registrar

University of Montana Course Catalogs, 1895-2024

An annual catalog of courses and course descriptions offered at the University of Montana.

College Admissions For L2 Students: Comparing L1 And L2 Readability Of Admissions Materials For U.S. Higher Education, Zachary W. Taylor

Journal of College Access

Advancements in computational linguistics have allowed educational researchers to examine large amounts of text and assess the reading difficulty of that text for speakers whose first language is English (L1), and speakers whose first language is not English (L2). Considering L2 students exploring higher education, extant research suggests these L2 students do not access United States (U.S.) higher education as the same level as their L1 peers. Using popular measures of L1 and L2 readability, the current study analyzes admission instructions from 341 randomly-selected four-year U.S. institutions of higher education and finds L2 readability is more difficult (30.9) than L1 …

Leadership In Higher Education And The Impact On Faculty Satisfaction And Retention, Theresa Petersen, Frances O'Reilly

Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers

No abstract provided.

“I Never Shared My Opinion Again”: Political Communication Apprehension And Conservative College Students, Megan Elise Montgomery

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Higher education faculty have long struggled with getting students to participate meaningfully in classroom and campus dialogues. Some students avoid participating due to fear or anxiety of communicating with others. Certain topics, such as politics, can cause higher degrees of apprehension. Political minority groups can experience greater apprehension when communicating with majority groups. One minority group in academia with the potential to self-censor is the conservative student.

This study used state-based communication apprehension (McCroskey, 1984) and political communication apprehension (PCA, Jones-Carmack, 2019) as theoretical backings to explore how conservative opinion expression and self-censorship in academic settings might change over time. …

Chicanas Completing The Doctorate In Education: Providing Consejos De La Mesa De Poder, Sandra J. Castañón-Ramirez

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study described four testimonios from Chicanas who have successfully completed a doctorate in education degree, both Ph.D. and Ed.D. The literature reviewed three important areas of study. The first is a review of the systemic challenges that Chicanas must hurdle; cheap labor, segregation of schools and neighborhoods, being silenced through English-only education, and deficit thinking. The second area of review focused on ways that Chicanas create strategies for success to overcome these challenges. The third was a review of the theoretical literature through a distinctly and relevant Chicana feminist lens.

Chicanas’ strategies for success were collected as testimonios. …

A New Paradigm For Improving Race Relations, Teresa Reed

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Narratives Of Creativity Among Social Care Educators In Irish Higher Education, Louisa Goss

Theses

Research on creativity in the delivery of social care highlights growing evidence of its importance for the wellbeing and quality of life of those in receipt of care, as well as benefits for the workforce. However, what is less well understood and overlooked in the literature is how creativity is conceptualised and operationalised in practice and education. This thesis attends to this gap in research from the perspective of social care educators. With the aim of deepening understanding of higher education teachers’ construction of creativity, the study explores small stories about creativity from six educators teaching into an undergraduate degree …

Staff Accessibility And Online Engagement With First-Year Students: An Autoethnographic Reflection, Andrew Kelly

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Studying online is becoming an increasingly attractive option to prospective students worldwide, yet external completion rates tend to be considerably lower than those enrolled on campus. Through an autoethnographic critical reflection process of teaching 27 first-year online students at a regional Australian university, this article considers methods for increasing accessibility and student engagement as well as managing personal challenges supporting online students from non-traditional backgrounds. Among seven key implications for practice, this article argues the need for genuine and open-ended interaction with online students at the early stages of a semester. It also recommends that teaching staff consciously recognize the …

Introduction To 11(3) Supplemental Issue: Emerging Scholars, Rosalind Latiner Raby

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Paving The Road To College: Impacts Of Washington State Policy On Improving Equitable Participation In Dual Credit Courses, Havala Hanson

Interdisciplinary Studies

This dissertation evaluates early impacts of a state policy to increase participation in dual credit courses in Washington state through subsidizing the cost of college credits for underrepresented rural and low-income students, and through extending eligibility to earn dual credit to students in grade 10. This study evaluates both aspects of the policy, with emphasis on the impacts for underrepresented rural and low-income students, students of color, and English learners. It employs quasi-experimental designs to estimate the impact of the policy on intended outcomes. The study finds mixed early impacts of the policy. While no effects were found for students …

“Where Are You From?”: Using Critical Race Theory To Analyze Graphic Novel Counter-Stories Of The Racial Microaggressions Experienced By Two Angry Asian Girls, Talitha Angelica Acaylar Trazo, Woohee Kim

Intersections: Critical Issues in Education

This article uses critical race theory (CRT) to analyze two stories about racial microaggressions from Where Are You From?: Short stories about being Asian in America, the graphic novel written and illustrated by Talitha Angelica Acaylar Trazo in fulfillment of her undergraduate honors thesis. Where Are You From? visually historicizes the counter-stories of 48 Asian and Asian American students at a predominantly-white undergraduate institution. In this article, we examine these microaggressions in relation to institutional and structural racism and the intersections of race, gender, and power dynamics between white faculty and Asian female students. Furthermore, we propose …

The Year Of Morocco: An Introduction, Daniel Paracka

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Marking the 35th anniversary of Kennesaw State University’s award-winning Annual Country Study Program, the 2018-19 academic year focused on Morocco and consisted of 22 distinct educational events, with over 1,700 people in attendance. It also featured an interdisciplinary team-taught Year of Morocco (YoM) course that included a study abroad experience to Morocco (March 28-April 7, 2019), an academic conference on “Gender, Identity, and Youth Empowerment in Morocco” (March 15-16, 2019), and this dedicated special issue of the Journal of Global Initiatives. Most events were organized through six different College Spotlights titled: The Taste of Morocco; Experiencing Moroccan Visual Arts; …

Full Issue - Jgi V. 14, N. 2

Journal of Global Initiatives: Policy, Pedagogy, Perspective

Full issue of Journal of Global Initiatives volume 14, number 2.

How Generation Z College Students Prefer To Learn: A Comparison Of U.S. And Brazil Students, Corey Seemiller, Meghan Grace, Paula Dal Bo Campagnolo, Isa Mara Da Rosa Alves, Gustavo Severo De Borba

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The purpose of this study was to engage in a comparative analysis of Generation Z college students in the United States and Brazil regarding characteristics, motivations, interpersonal styles, learning styles, and learning methods. Quantitative data in both countries were collected and analyzed to formulate comparative findings. Themes that emerged include learning that makes a difference, achievement orientation, logic-based learning, intrapersonal and interpersonal learning, applied and hands-on experiences, learning through words, recognition, and lacking vision, inspiration, and creativity. More similarities than differences were found across themes in both populations.

Building Bridges To Overcome Widening Gaps: Challenges In Addressing The Need For Professional Preparation Of Infant-Toddler Practitioners In Higher Education, Jennifer A. Mortensen, Maryssa Kucskar Mitsch, Kalli Decker, Maria Fusaro, Sandra I. Plata-Potter, Holly Brophy-Herb, Claire D. Vallotton, Martha J. Buell

Occasional Paper Series

As the professional qualifications for those working with infants, toddlers, and their families continue to expand, institutes of higher education (IHEs) play an increasingly vital role in training the infant/toddler workforce. However, IHEs face numerous programming and pedagogical issues that make meeting the needs of these professionals difficult. These issues are further complicated by persistent challenges within early care and education. In this paper, we examine these issues in detail and discuss the Collaborative for Understanding the Pedagogy of Infant/toddler Development (CUPID), a cross-institution partnership working to enhance the quality of infant/toddler professional preparation in higher education.

Curriculum-Making And Development In A Pakistani University, Said Imran, Mark Wyatt

The Qualitative Report

Despite frequent calls for increased teacher engagement in curriculum-making and development, there are still many English language teachers worldwide who are required to work with materials that are either culturally inappropriate or inadequate. A related concern is that such materials may deprive teachers of their creative and professional capabilities to address students’ needs and interests, so that, weighed down by contextual challenges, the teachers then simply deliver the materials, adhering to the textbook closely. Contextual challenges faced by teachers may be more acute in the developing world. However, it is unclear to what extent teachers in under-resourced contexts cope. In …