Education Commons^™

Increasing Access To Post-Secondary Education: A Mixed Methods Study Of The Charleston Clemente Program, Mariane A. Doyle

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

There is an economic gap that favors adults who have higher levels of educational attainment (United States Department of Labor, 2010). With more than 9.3 million Americans over the age of 25 facing unemployment as of June 2012 and over 79% or 7.4 million of those unemployed Americans having attained less than a Bachelor’s degree (U.S. Department of Labor, 2012), the current need for college access measures and programs that address the adult population is an imperative one.

The Charleston Clemente Program provides a tuition-free course in the Humanities to economically-disadvantaged adult students for a total of two-semesters. Along with …

Older Undergraduate English Majors And Their Self-Described Value Of English, Joseph W. Price

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

The purpose of this multiple case study was to develop an understanding of what older nontraditional undergraduate English majors voiced as the challenges, attributes, and promises concerning their choice of that academic major.

Ten participants took part in this study; these were students enrolled during the Spring 2012 semester as English majors at an urban state university in the Midwest. Data from ten interviews were analyzed using a combination of structural and verses coding. Thirteen themes surfaced that cut across cases and questions and offered insight and explanation to the research question and sub questions. These included (in alphabetical order): …

Practice Makes Perfect? A Retrospective Look At A Community Of Practice, Ramirose Ilene Attebury, Robert Perret, Jeremy Kenyon, Deborah Green

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

Communities of practice have been touted in the organizational literature as an effective form of professional development in the workplace. When the University of Idaho Library faculty created one in the fall of 2008, they hoped the group would enhance new librarians’ understanding of publication requirements and research methods. Although the community seemed healthy during its first year, problems arose in subsequent years that led to its decline. Seeking to understand the nature of this decline, the authors conducted a survey and initiated a focus group discussion of former members. Analysis of data led the authors to identify three themes …