Education Commons^™

Once More, With Feeling: Partnering With Learners To Re-See The College Experience Through Metaphor And Sensory Language, Taran Cardone

Antioch University Full-Text Dissertations & Theses

This study focuses on better understanding students and their internal worlds through conceptual metaphor theory and sensory language. Using a phenomenological and arts-based approach, I examined students’ metaphorical constructions of their college experiences and the sensory language and information informing those constructions. By engaging participants in a multimodal process to re-see their experience through connoisseurship and criticism, I explored the following research questions: How do students metaphorically structure their college experience? What sensory language do college students use to describe the metaphorical dimensions of their college experience? How does sensory information shape the metaphorical structuring of their college experience? Through …

Acknowledge Us: An Exploration Of The Lived Experiences Of Female Army Veterans In Undergraduate Programs, Jennifer O'Neil

Educational Studies Dissertations

The purpose of this dissertation is to explore the lived experiences of female United States Army veterans who have enrolled in an academic undergraduate program post discharge. As higher education continues to be an important transition point for female veterans, understanding the lived experiences of this population provides higher education administrators and faculty the opportunity to create and implement services and programs that will appropriately assist this population in their educational journey. Using a phenomenological methodology (Moustakas, 1994; Patton, 2015; van Manen,1990) thirteen female veterans across five different eras (Vietnam, 1980’s peacetime, Desert Storm, Iraq and Afghanistan) took part in …

African American Christian Senior Pastor's Beliefs About Mental Health Treatment, Trinaa L. Copeland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In the African American community, the Black Church and its clergy have served as gatekeepers to formal mental health treatment. Little is known about the beliefs of African American Christian senior pastors about mental health treatment and their personal views influencing their counsel to congregants seeking support through the church. This transcendental phenomenological study explored the lived experiences of African American Christian senior pastors in relation to how they understand mental health treatment and provide it to their congregants. The research questions explored three areas: (a) the senior pastors' experiences in rendering mental health treatment, (b) the senior pastors' personal …

"Do The Hard Work": Identity Development And First Year Doctoral Students, Davin J. Carr-Chellman, Carol Rogers Shaw

Adult Education Research Conference

This qualitative, phenomenological study examined the experiences of first year graduate students learning to become doctoral students in education doctoral programs. Findings include the centrality of identity development and social justice.

Older Adults And A Writing Workshop: A Phenomenological Study, Jennifer Lynn Alex

Dissertations

This study examines how older adults experience the phenomenon of participating in a writing workshop and how older adults interpret their experiences, understandings, and realities of writing. Ten older adults, ranging in age from 62 to 83 with varying degrees of experiences in writing, participated in this study. Through a semi-structured interview, each participant related his or her experience first as a writer and then as a member of a writing workshop offered through a Community Literacy Center in a mid-sized Appalachian city.

A phenomenological analysis method was used to identify and analyze themes of meaning that emerged in the …

Language Learning Strategy Use By Colombian Adult English Language Learners: A Phenomenological Study, Elsie E. Paredes

FIU Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe how Colombian adult English language learners (ELL) select and use language learning strategies (LLS). This study used Oxford’s (1990a) taxonomy for LLS as its theoretical framework. Semi-structured interviews and a focus group interview, were conducted, transcribed, and analyzed for 12 Colombian adult ELL. A communicative activity known as strip story (Gibson, 1975) was used to elicit participants’ use of LLS. This activity preceded the focus group session. Additionally, participants’ reflective journals were collected and analyzed. Data were analyzed using inductive, deductive, and comparative analyses. Four themes emerged from the inductive analysis …

Thinking Inside The Box: Graduate Students’ Perspectives On Hindered Creativity, Michelle N. Anderson

Adult Education Research Conference

This phenomenological study focused on the lived experiences of adult graduate students in relation to creativity. Findings illuminate the influence of professors on educational experiences of hindered creativity.

A Phenomenological Study Of The Educational Experiences Of Black Women: Learning As You Go, Eva Young, Mary Ziegler, Kathy Greenberg

Adult Education Research Conference

This research study provided a descriptive picture of educational experiences of three sets of Black sisters who grew up in the inner-city. A qualitative existential-phenomenological research study design was used to derive common themes that represented the universal essence of the participants’ experiences. This study illuminated the formal and informal learning experiences of Black women and the profound role cultural experiences of family and community play in shaping their learning experiences through adulthood. Findings suggest that the educational experiences of Black women influenced their development, voice, self-esteem, and self-defined achievement and success. These findings dispute adult development theories that suggest …

Teaching Adults With Disabilities In The Postsecondary Setting: Examining The Experiences Of Faculty Members, Tammi Summers

Adult Education Research Conference

This phenomenological investigation explores the essence of postsecondary faculty experiences teaching adults with disabilities. Twelve participants revealed how their positive and negative experiences impacted their teaching practices and resulted in specific disability dilemmas.

“I Learned More Than I Wanted”: A Phenomenological Investigation Of The Experience Of Having One’S Beliefs Challenged In An Undergraduate Religion Course, Steven B. Frye

Adult Education Research Conference

This phenomenological study explored the experience of having pre-existing beliefs challenged in learning. Themes of an environment of challenge, the powerful role of the teacher, and choice stood out against the ground of the learners’ expectations of being challenged in the undergraduate religion class.

Learning Space And Space For Learning: Adults’ Intersubjective Experiences Of Improvisation, Pamela Meyer

Adult Education Research Conference

This phenomenological study asked the question, “What do adults experience learning improvisation?” The findings highlight the intersubjective, whole-person nature of learning and transformation, and of the learning space.

“It Permeates The Whole Fabric Of Your Life”: The Experience Of Scholars Who Have Studied Self-Directed Learning, Robert C. Donaghy

Adult Education Research Conference

A recent dissertation presented a new and different view of self-directed learning. This research presents the stories of eight scholars who have studied this topic over the years. Implications for research and practice are discussed.