Digital Commons Network^™

2012-2013 - Graduate Council Annual Report, College Of Graduate And Continuing Studies, East Tennessee State University

Graduate Council Agendas and Minutes

No abstract provided.

An Instrument Validation For A Three-Dimensional Worldview Survey Among Undergraduate Christian University Students Using Principal Components Analysis, Kathy Morales

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This quantitative study examined the structure, validity, and reliability of the Three-Dimensional Worldview Survey-Form C (3DWS-Form C) for potential use in postsecondary Christian institutions. This instrument delineates from other worldview instruments in that it purports to measure three components of a person's worldview: propositions, behaviors, and heart-orientation. Principal components analysis (PCA) was used to examine the underlying component structure and construct validity of the instrument. Cronbach's alpha and the Spearman-Brown prophecy formula were used to assess the internal consistency and reliability of the instrument. Participants were first-year university students attending a large Christian university in Virginia. Results of the study …

Student-Faculty Co-Inquiry Into Student Reading: Recognising Sotl As Pedagogic Practice, Saranne Weller, Grete Kotryna Domarkaite, Joseph Lam Chung Lam, Lidya Utari Metta

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This paper reports the evaluation of a student-faculty collaborative study investigating international students’ perceptions of the role of reading in higher education. The study examined the academic reading and source-use practices of ten undergraduate students in a range of disciplines in one UK university. In previous research on student literacy practices, students are often positioned as research “objects” rather than as active participants with an investment in enhancing the student experience through engagement in pedagogic research. In this paper we present a case study of student faculty collaboration in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL). Drawing on the analysis …

Oa Policy Development At Uri, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Slides and other materials related to a presentation on the development of an open access policy at the University of Rhode Island.

The presentation was part of a discussion on recent OA policy development in New England at the ACRL New England Chapter Scholarly Communication Interest Group Summer Program, New Roles for Supporting Digital Scholarship in Academic Libraries. The program took place on June 19, 2013 at Northeastern University in Boston, MA.

Open Access Publishing And Intellectual Freedom: Remembering Aaron Swartz, Brendan Ryan, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Slides and other materials related to a presentation on open access at the 2013 Rhode Island Library Association Annual Conference, Navigating a Sea of Change. The presentation was part of a broader discussion on open access and Aaron Swartz. It took place on June 4, 2013 at Salve Regina University in Newport, RI.

The abstract for the presentation reads: "After an introduction to the concept of Creative Commons and the tragic case of Aaron Swartz, join the panelists in discussing open access, scholarly publishing and the flow of information as they relate to libraries."

Profiling Diversity Of Australian Universities, Hamish Coates, Daniel Edwards, Leo Goedegebuure, Marian Thakur, Eva Van Der Brugge, Frans Van Vught

Higher education research

There is a good deal of consensus that institutional diversity in higher education is a good thing. Simply put, systems with more diverse institutions perform better than systems with less diverse institutions. Yet the overall diversity of Australia’s higher education system remains unclear. Significant questions and opportunities remain unresolved. How diverse are Australia’s institutions today? How can stakeholders— particularly institutions and policymakers—understand and manage this diversity? This LH Martin Institute and ACER research briefing seeks to shift discussion of diversity to a more considered level. The analysis moves beyond extant sectoral partitionings and contingent policy interventions to expose emerging dynamics …

A Class Act? Social Class Affirmative Action And Higher Education, Maimon Schwarzschild

San Diego Law Review

Comparing class preferences with racial preferences helps to point up some of the reasons for the allure of class preferences but also points up some of the problems. A crucial consideration is the question of who is to receive class preference. For example, what about immigrants and their children? In general, social class is difficult to define, and this very difficulty would confer great discretion and power on faculties and academic administrators who undertake to bestow class preferences: discretion that would be open to abuse for political, ideological, and other ends. Finally, there is the question of whether preferential treatment …

Open Access And The Institutional Repository, Julia Lovett, Andrée Rathemacher

Technical Services Faculty Presentations

Slides and other materials from a presentation at the conference Querying the Library: Digitization and Its Impact, sponsored by the James P. Adams Library at Rhode Island College. The conference took place on May 31, 2013. A video of the presentation is available at http://digitalcommons.ric.edu/ql/2013/QTL_May31/5/.

Abstract of the presentation reads: "This panel will discuss the efforts to pass a Harvard-style Open Access Policy at URI which will enable faculty authors to retain the rights to their articles even if they subsequently sign away their copyright to a journal."

Examining The Textile Design Creative Practice Research-Teaching Nexus, Helena Britt

Learn X Design Conference Series

Due to the nature of higher education (HE) in the United Kingdom (UK) educators often operate under pressure. This can be connected to requirements to undertake research and produce outputs, linked to funding awarded to HE institutions (HEIs). Approaches to research that utilise professional and or creative practice are adopted and formulated, prompting use of terms such as ‘practice-led’ and ‘practicebased’. Variation in opinion exists regarding research and creative practice by academic staff and within HEIs. The positive impact that educator research and or creative practice bring to the educational environment, learning and teaching has been recognised. Textile design exists …

Undergraduate Commencement Exercises Program, May 18, 2013

Bryant University Commencements

Bryant University Undergraduate Commencement Exercises Program, May 18, 2013.

Graduate School Commencement Exercises Program, May 16, 2013

Bryant University Commencements

Graduate School Commencement Exercises Program, May 16, 2013.

We’Re All On This Cloud Together: A Look At Five Innovative, Patron-Centered Projects At Providence College, Julie Decesare Cicilline, Julia [Test Id] Kliever, Mark Caprio, Hailie D. Posey

Library Faculty and Staff papers

iHelp: The Support for Technology and Learning Implementation Team (aka iHelp) is a collaboration with IT, Academic Media Services, Library, and the Instructional Technology Development. With multiple representatives from each department, the team’s charge is to create a one-stop digital “help” page for PC students and faculty, as well as streamline the physical services of four separate departments and cultures to better assist the community at Providence College in their technology needs.

The 2020 Project: The provost of Providence College asked the Library+Commons to compile, curate, and present scholarly materials on the future of higher education for the Academic Affairs …

Who You Know And How To Go: The Impact Of Social Capital On Higher Education Access For Black Males, Morgan E. St. John

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

This qualitative case study explores the relationship between social capital, or the social networks in a young man’s life, and access into and persistence in higher education for a group of six Black, male, upperclassmen students at Heartland University. Heartland University is a predominantly White, four-year institution in the Midwest region of the United States. The literature review discusses reasons for the steadily declining rate of males choosing to pursue a college education, particularly young Black men, whom have been referred to as an “endangered species” in society (Johnson, Farrell, & Stoloff, 2000). Providing a framework of social capital theory, …

The Pacifican May 2, 2013, University Of The Pacific

All Issues - Student Newspaper, The Pacifican, Pacific Weekly

No abstract provided.

Who Governed Yale? Kingman Brewster And Higher Education In The 1970s, Nathaniel Zelinsky

Kaplan Senior Essay Prize for Use of Library Special Collections

Relying on archival material and oral history, this essay examines two committees at Yale in the 1970s as case studies in how University President Kingman Brewster reshaped the school after the student unrest of the long 1960s. The first committee, led by the political scientist Robert Dahl, endorsed the equal admission of female students in 1972. The second committee, chaired by historian C. Vann Woodward, composed a nationally renowned report on the importance of “unfettered” free expression at the university in 1974-5. I show how each of these committees was a carefully calibrated political tool that allowed Brewster to moderate …

Exploring The Use Of Electronic Mobile Technologies Among Distance Learners In Rural Communities For Safe And Disruptive Learning, Gomang Seratwa Ntloedibe-Kuswani

Instructional Design, Development and Evaluation - Dissertations

Several studies indicated the potential of electronic mobile technologies in reaching (safe learning) under-served communities and engaging (disruptive learning) disadvantaged peoples affording them learning experiences. However, the potential benefits of (electronic mobile learning) e-mobile learning have not been well understood from the contexts of the under-served, disadvantaged, and marginalized groups in higher education of developing economies. The purpose of this study was to conduct an exploratory investigative context analysis of how current uses and impressions of electronic mobile technologies among distance learners in rural communities of Botswana can inform instructional design strategies for creating more powerful, safe and disruptive distance …

Cultivating Compassion In Undergraduate College Students: Rhetoric Or Reality?, Michael Lovette-Colyer Phd

Dissertations

While American colleges and universities are unparalleled in their ability to produce disciplinary-based knowledge through research and scholarship, their ability to encourage students to use the information and methods about which they are learning to create positive social change has lagged. Aware of the magnitude of today's global issues and dissatisfied with the current disparity between the world's reality and university curricula, scholars have begun to re-imagine the role of higher education in forming the leaders who will face our most pressing problems. Founded to provide education integrated with the formation of values, a significant number of Catholic colleges and …

Work/Life Boundary Management In An Integrative Environment: A Study Of Residence Life Professionals Who Live At Their Place Of Work, Pressley Robinson Rankin Iv Phd

Dissertations

How individuals manage work/life boundaries when they live at the place they work, as opposed to working from home, is a gap in both work/life literature and in higher education literature. An obvious example from higher education is the resident life professional that lives in the residential facility that she or he oversees. Living in a residential facility creates challenges to boundary creation. The job requirements; pressures from students and staff; supervisor expectations, both spoken and unspoken; and the physical location of their home within the building creates a highly boundary integrative environment making the establishment of boundaries difficult. The …

The Social Construction Of Ethnicity And Masculinity Of African American College Men., Jonathan Lee Johnson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to understand how African American college men construct masculine and ethnic notions of their identities, despite disproportionate social obstacles and hegemonic stereotypes. The primary research question of this study was, “how might African American undergraduate males understand and develop healthy concepts of their ethnic and masculine identities at a predominately White public institution?” The following research questions guided this study: (1) how do African American college men characterize their ethnic identity; (2) how do African American college men characterize their perception of their masculinity; (3) how do African American college men perceive their performance …

Teaching Note - Four Pillars In Understanding Globalization: How I Teach Second Year Seminar, Fang Deng

Bridgewater Review

No abstract provided.

A Comparison Of Predictors Of Student Grades In Online And Face-To-Face Community College Courses, Pamela Kay Wright Edd

Dissertations

There is an increased demand for online course offerings in community colleges while there is also an increased demand for college accountability. Many analyses examine persistence and completion rates as indicators of student success. This analysis focuses on grade outcomes. Although this traditional view of success is somewhat narrow, it will provide a starting point for an examination of online student success. This study examines to what extent the academic success of online and face-to-face course takers can be explained by student demographics, financial aid status, educational goals, and select high school performance measures. It, then, explores similarities and differences …

Adult Characteristics Associated With Gender-Typed Toy Ratings, Rachel R. Stoiko

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The toys with which children play shape their development in several domains (Trawick-Smith, Russell, & Swaminathan, 2011). Exclusive or primary play with gender-typed toys may limit children's development, because toys considered appropriate for boys, girls, or both have different characteristics (Blakemore & Centers, 2005; Serbin & Connor, 1979). Especially in infancy and early childhood, children's toy play is affected by adults (parent and nonparent), who may differentially provide access to and/or reinforce play with different toys (Kane, 2006). The variability in adults' attitudes regarding the gender-appropriateness of toys is not well-understood.;The purpose of this study was to examine the relations …

Social Media Strategy For The Hank Greenspun School Of Journalism And Media Studies, Irene Williams

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Within the past 10 years, communication online has evolved tremendously toward social media. This rapid change has been difficult for higher education institutions (HEI) to adapt to, leaving this important area underexplored. This strategic social media plan was developed to improve internal and external communication for the Hank Greenspun School of Journalism and Media Studies (JMS). By initiating social media platforms, relationships are cultivated with present and future students on Facebook and Twitter. This strategic social media plan develops and maintains Facebook and Twitter pages for JMS and interprets social media site visitation data. These data provide information on users, …

Liberal Arts Colleges During The Great Recession: Examining Organizational Adaptation And Institutional Change, Ashlie Junot Hilbun

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Liberal arts colleges strived to adapt to environmental shifts at the turn of the twenty-first century and remain relevant in American society while the Great Recession of 2007 compounded their challenges and created new fiscal and enrollment burdens, which forced these institutions to confront paradigm-changing circumstances. In an effort to advance the historical perspective of liberal arts colleges and expand the organizational adaptation research base, the current study aimed to understand how private liberal arts colleges adapted during the Great Recession of 2007 by examining institutional changes at three private liberal arts colleges and their effects on the institutions' operations. …

Private Student Loan Asset Backed Securities: A Default Curve Analysis, Nicholas Gentile

Honors Projects in Finance

Business and mainstream media devote significant attention to the student lending industry and its possible threat to the economy. While the private loan component of student lending may not be largest part of this one trillion dollar industry, it is likely to be the space where evidence supporting the media’s concerns are found. This paper examines the variation in cumulative default rates for private student loan asset backed securities issued between 2001 and 2007, revealing the dynamics of these opaque financial instruments. The study analyzes internal pool data and external economic data, uncovering the primary factors that shape the respective …

An Assessment Of Diversity Competence Among College Seniors: An Exploratory Study, Lung-Chiuan Chiang

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

In our increasingly diverse global workforce, both employers and institutions of higher learning want to know if colleges and universities equip their students with adequate cultural competence skills. Reliable instruments to measure cultural competence levels for a general student body are not widely available, however. In this report, a self-developed 33-item instrument was designed to assess college seniors’ cultural competence levels, including sub-scales for cultural awareness and cultural knowledge. An expert panel was selected to establish content validity. A pilot study was conducted to improve the design of survey format. The Cronbach’s alpha was .770 according to the reliability test. …

V. 80, Issue 19, April 19, 2013

Archway (1946-2020)

No abstract provided.

A Phenomenological Study Of Mid-Career Female Student Affairs Administrators' Experiences Navigating The Career Labyrinth Including Obstacles In Catholic Higher Education, Michele Starzyk

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

While the role of women in the Catholic Church has been a topic of much discussion, there has also been a call for the Church to partner with the laity. However, women who choose to work in Catholic co-educational, male sponsored higher education institutions may find a gendered organizational culture to embrace. Little research has been done in regards to the experience women have navigating the career labyrinth at mid-career while employed at Catholic institutions.

This study attempted to answer the grand tour question of what meaning do mid-career female student affairs professionals make of navigating the career labyrinth, including …

The Pacifican April 18, 2013, University Of The Pacific

All Issues - Student Newspaper, The Pacifican, Pacific Weekly

No abstract provided.

Cyberbullying In Higher Education, Maria A. Minor, Gina S. Smith, Henry Brashen

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Bullying has extended beyond the schoolyard into online forums in the form of cyberbullying. Cyberbullying is a growing concern due to the effect on its victims. Current studies focus on grades K–12; however, cyberbullying has entered the world of higher education. The focus of this study was to identify the existence of cyberbullying in higher education, reveal the existence of students bullying instructors, and determine its impact. Three hundred forty-six online instructors from the undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs at the school of management at a large online university were surveyed. Of the respondents, 33.8% said they had been cyberbullied …