Education Commons^™

Along For The Journey: Graduate Student Perceptions Of Research, Alissa Droog, Kari D. Weaver, Frances Brady

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

Graduate student identities and personal lives are heavily tied to their experiences of research, and many struggle to find, understand, and use information for research purposes. Using a drawing exercise rooted in visual research methods combined with semi-structured interviews, a research team in the United States and Canada explored graduate student perceptions of research with 19 participants. Thematic analysis identified six themes: research is abstract; research is an odyssey; social support makes or breaks the student experience; research is an emotional continuum; interplay between identity/values; information is problematic. The study has implications for how librarians support graduate student research.

How Mathematicians Characterize And Attempt To Develop Understanding Of Concepts And Definitions In Proof-Based Courses, Rachel Rupnow, Timothy Fukawa-Connelly

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

Mathematics education research has long focused on students’ conceptual understanding, including highlighting conceptions viewed as problematic and looking for ways to develop more desirable conceptions. Nevertheless, limited research has examined how mathematicians characterize understanding of concepts and definitions or promote activities beneficial for students. Based on interviews with 13 mathematicians, we present thematic characterizations of what it means to understand a concept and definition, highlight activities mathematicians believe assist students’ learning, and examine their reasons for promoting these activities.

Results include mathematically grounded descriptions of what it means to understand a concept but general descriptions of approaching and supporting learning. …

Designing For Everyone: Accessibility, Inclusion, And Equity In Online Instruction, Kimberly Shotick

Faculty Books & Book Chapters

This chapter introduces practices that promote equity and inclusion in online learning spaces through the lens of Universal Design for Learning.

Does The Degree Matter? Understanding Employer Hiring Perspectives On Community College Health Information Technology Program Graduates, Tricia L. Broughton

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Health Information Technology (HIT) is an in-demand occupation across Illinois and as such community colleges offer related preparation programs in the form of one-two semester Career and Technical Education (CTE) Certificates and Associate of Applied Science (A.A.S.) degrees. Community college applied programs aim to meet the needs of local employers and the interest of students to obtain employment within their communities. Research suggests that employability as perceived by employers goes beyond the technical skill requirements of the job. This dissertation project aimed to better understand employer’s hiring perspectives on community college health information technology (HIT) program graduates and ultimately whether …

Who Helps The Helper? A Phenomenology Of The Impact Of Secondary Trauma During Covid-19 On Student Affairs Professionals In Dean Of Students Offices, Case Management Roles, Residential Housing And Cultural Resource Centers, Jeffrey M. Salmon

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Student affairs professionals (SAPs) are no strangers to experiencing secondary trauma as their work in multiple fields brings them in close contact with students in crisis. During the COVID-19 pandemic, higher education found its world turned upside down and students were facing heightened trauma due changing class modalities, problematic finances, disruptive living situations, lack of basic needs, as wells as virus-related death and sickness. This phenomenological research study examines the essence of secondary trauma specifically during the COVID-19 pandemic experienced by SAPs who work as Deans of Students, Case Managers, Housing Professionals, and Cultural Resource Center Professionals. This research interviewed …

The Quality Of Centers Of Teaching And Learning: What We See And What We Don’T, Darrell H. Robin

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

An institution of higher education will create a Center for Teaching and Learning (CTL) as a hub for pedagogical and professional development for its faculty. While CTLs have developed over the past fifty years, their administrators and staff have endeavored to develop, strengthen, and enhance quality pedagogical skills for anyone who teaches for the college from adjunct instructors to tenured professors. Specifically looking at how Illinois community college CTLs provide professional development opportunities for educators, this critical summative content analysis considers what CTLs value in their professional development along with the types of support they provide faculty. Relying on the …

"Leaving My Mark In White Spaces": A Critical Qualitative Case Study Exploring Black/African-American Undergraduate Women's Perceptions Of The Campus Environment's Influence On Persistence At A Hispanic-Serving Women's Institution, Keri Anne Alioto

Dissertations of Practice

"Leaving My Mark in White Spaces": A Critical Qualitative Case Study Exploring Black/African-American Undergraduate Women's Perceptions of the Campus Environment's Influence on Persistence at a Hispanic-Serving Women's Institution

One of the most overlooked populations in university environments and in research are students who identify as Black/African-American undergraduate women (B/AAUW). B/AAUW experience the intersectionality of both race and gender discrimination in higher education, often leaving these students silenced and marginalized while navigating their college experience. The purpose of this critical qualitative case study was to better understand how B/AAUW perceived the campus environment contributing to their sense of belonging and academic …

Middle School Grow Your Own Teaching Program, Andrew J. Vondran

Dissertations of Practice

Middle School Grow YOur Own Teaching Program

This dissertation addresses the teacher shortage in the United States of America. The profession of education has struggled to find teachers to fill vacancies and it is being felt throughout the country. This is not just in the rural areas or areas of low socioeconomic status. Even high paying districts are feeling the squeeze. Many school districts are trying to combat this problem in different ways, especially Grow Your Own teaching programs. Many of these programs run by school districts are focused on high school students, although there has been a lack of …

Evaluation Of A Math And Medication Administration Proficiency Program In A Pre-Licensure Nursing Program, Dianne J. Hoekstra

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Calculation of the correct dosages is a key factor for safe patient medication administration. For decades nurse educators have aimed to improve the knowledge and skills of the pre-licensure nursing students for medication administration. In a midwestern pre-licensure nursing school, a program was implemented using a curriculum wide approach for the teaching, remediation, and assessment of the math skills required for safe medication administration; known as the Math and Medication Administration Proficiency (MMAP) program. This dissertation evaluates the MMAP program using a logic model and mixed methods approach. Results indicated improvement in the pre-licensure nursing students’ success with the testing …

The Transformative Power Of Student Affairs Case Management: A Qualitative Case Study, Thomas L. Cravens Ii

Dissertations of Practice

Colleges and universities are incorporating case management services to support the increasing needs and psychosocial stressors of their students. While there is quantitative research on the efficacy of case management services in higher education, there is dearth literature examining the experiences of minoritized college students engaging in these services. The purpose of this study is to better understand how case management services foster minoritized students’ ability to manage psychosocial stressors. This study was informed by the Student Affairs Case Management Model and utilized an intrinsic, qualitative, case study methodology. Data was collected via interviews with six minoritized students participating in …

Placement Measures In Dual Credit: A Quantitative Study, Jessica I. Pickel

Dissertations of Practice

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the studied college broadened its eligibility criteria for dual credit to include an in-progress high school GPA. To determine whether the use of an-in progress GPA should be fully adopted as a placement measure, further study was needed. This quantitative study examined the relationship between the placement measures used before and during the COVID-19 pandemic and dual credit students’ access to and performance in the gateway ENGL 101 course taken at Prairieland Community College.

Data were collected from a small community college in the Midwestern region of the United States retrospectively over the academic …

¡Puedes Hacerlo! A Qualitative Case Study Exploring The Experience Of Latina Community College Students With Aspirations To Transfer, Sandra Pizano

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examined the motivation and source of support for first-generation Latina community college students who aspire to transfer to a four-year institution. The study is informed by Yosso’s Community Cultural Wealth model, to explore how participants navigate their school environment and the vertical transfer process through an asset-based lens. The study aims to dismantle the deficit narrative that is many times told about communities of color. Eight students who self-identify as first-generation community college Latinas, plan on completing an associate degree within 1-2 semesters of the interviews, and have identified a transfer four-year institution were interviewed for this study. …

Feedback In Context: A Case Study Of Students’ Perceptions Of The Role, Value, And Use Of Instructor Feedback In A College Writing Course, Susan J. Roach

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This case study investigated first-year composition students’ perceptions of instructors’ written feedback. Participants reported on their understanding of the role of feedback, how they processed feedback, and if and how they used it. Thirty-one participants completed a short online survey; the responses were analyzed to identify students who exhibited a range of attitudes and practices. From this group, 15 students were chosen to participate in semi-structures interviews that included a think aloud exercise that asked them to go over previously graded drafts from their class. The findings of this study support that, although students profess they appreciate and see value …

Interactions Of Sexuality Training, Sexual Awareness, And Comfort With Sexual Discourse In Counselors-In-Training, Katie Adeline Rodenkirch

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Since the initial call to action nearly half a century ago, sexuality training has not been made a core component of counselor education. Despite this, upon graduation counselors are expected to be able to handle diverse client needs, some of which are likely to be sexual in nature. Nevertheless, there is limited research regarding counselor sexuality education or factors influencing counselor-in-training comfort with sexual discourse. The purpose of this research study was to determine the relationship(s) and interaction(s) between counselor-in-training sexuality training experience, sexual awareness, and comfort with sexual discourse. The study also explored group differences based on gender and …

The Relationship Between Fully Online Gateway Science Courses And Student Academic Performance In Health Career Associate Degree Programs At Regional Community College, Mukesh George

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The severe shortage of healthcare professionals creates an increased demand for new graduates in Allied health and Nursing programs. Gateway science courses to HCAD programs such as A&P are often considered predictors of student success in Allied health and Nursing programs. A&P courses have been traditionally taught face-to-face, and the COVID pandemic has forced institutions to switch these courses to a fully online format. Despite its increased popularity, the impact of fully online gateway courses on student academic performance in HCAD programs needed to be clarified. This quantitative study examined the relationship between fully online gateway science courses and student …

What A Difference A Day Makes. A Qualitative Case Study On Student Experiences Of Involvement In Clubs And Organizations During Covid-19, Luevinus Muhammad

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative case study explores the experiences and sense of belonging for Valiant Region College (pseudonym) students who served as club leaders/officers during the 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 school year. Twelve students total were interviewed either individually or within focus groups and shared their personal experiences, trials and triumphs as they navigated through the COVID-19 pandemic. The findings of this study highlighted four themes: (a) the importance of in-person activities, (b) participants felt a sense of belonging with face to face (F2F) engagement prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, (c) students struggled to create involvement activities during the COVID-19 pandemic, and (d) …

"It Solidified My Position That I Should Be In Science": A Case Study On How Participating In A Stem Intervention Program Influences The Science Identity Development Of Low-Income Students In Stem At A Community College., Manuel Rodriguez

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Individuals coming from low-income backgrounds, particularly women and people of color, are disproportionately underrepresented in STEM fields. The low representation is often attributed to low enrollment and completion rates in STEM programs. Community colleges play a crucial role in increasing diversity in the workforce. However, there is not much information about how community college students’ experiences in STEM academic programs supports their science identity development. The purpose of this case study was to understand how participation in a STEM intervention program assisted low-income students in their science identity development. Science identity development has been used to understand how students’ interactions …

Forest County’S Historically Underrepresented Rural Students And Barriers To College, Tracy Ash

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study used newly collected survey data from the Perceptions of Educational Barrier Scale – Revised (PEB-R; Gibbons, 2005) to examine the reported educational barriers of students who are currently enrolled at the University of Midwest and who graduated from one of the five designated rural high schools in Forest County, Illinois. The research sample consisted of 29 students. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the relationship between the PEB-R mean scores of reported educational barriers to post-secondary opportunities of historically underrepresented students who graduated from any of the five rural high schools in Forest County and …

Black Male Sense Of Belonging At Predominantly White Institutions, Christopher M.D. Mitchell

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The objective of this dissertation is to identify the sense of belonging of Black male students attending predominantly White institutions (PWIs). In many cases, Black males feel they do not belong in collegiate environments in the United States. Thirty-nine Black males attending a mid-sized Midwestern university were surveyed using the Basic Psychological Needs Satisfactions and Frustrations Survey and the College Persistence Questionnaire. One interesting result was a significant correlation between social integration and relatedness satisfaction, indicating Black males feel like they belong in the collegiate environment when they are integrated socially with students and faculty who look like them. This …

Faculty Engagement With Universal Design For Learning In The College Classroom, Erin Wilhelm

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore faculty engagement with Universal Design for Learning (UDL) in the college classroom. Specifically, this study sought to uncover how instructors of record of Middleview University (MU) use and experience UDL-based tools and pedagogy. The lived experiences of the participants were examined to reveal any possible challenges, benefits, and level of professional preparedness concerning UDL principles and their application to the classroom.Semi-structured interviews, classroom observations, and the collection of course artifacts and institutional content were the primary sources of data. The findings of this study revealed that, although the participants did …

Policy Matters: Edi Evaluation Of An Academic Library's Policies, Kimberly Shotick, Michele N. Hunt, Sata Prescott, Alissa Droog, Sarah Mchone-Chase

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

Why does policy matter, and how can libraries reform their policies to create a more equitable library for library workers and library users? The authors discuss their experience in reviewing the policies of their library with an EDI (Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion) lens. The authors describe how they initiated and developed this project, the factors that they considered in forming their evaluation rubric, and what they learned from the process.

Unpacking The Graduate Student Research Experience: Findings From A Drawing-Based Interview Study, Alissa Droog, Frances Brady, Kari D. Weaver

Faculty Peer-Reviewed Publications

What do graduate students think research is? How do they come to be scholars and how can we as information professionals better support their needs?

Using a drawing exercise rooted in visual research methods (Hartel, 2017; Doucette & Hoffman, 2019; Bryans & Mavin, 2006), a cross-institutional research team in the United States and Canada explore these questions through an interview-based study of graduate student perceptions of research.

At present, the existing body of knowledge examining student perceptions of research strongly focuses on undergraduates (Griffioen, 2019; Insua et al., 2018), leaving a critical gap in theory and pedagogy needed to support …

Northern Illinois University Student Government Association: How Currently Involved Undergraduate Latino Students Engage, Understand, And Interact With The Student Government Association, Jacob Burg

Student Capstone Projects

The purpose of this study is to explore the varying experiences of involved Northern Illinois University Undergraduate Latino students and their engagement with their Student Government Association. This study attempts to analyze the research question, to what extent are involved undergraduate Latino students aware of the Student Government Association (SGA), and what is their past and current level of engagement with the organization? The goal is to analyze the current levels of understanding and engagement, understand breakthroughs in marketing, determine areas of opportunities and threats to involvement, and to determine the best course of action for future administrations to provide …

African American Men In Higher Education: The Intersection Of Career Development And Educational Success, Lamar Black

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This study analyzes the relationship between African American male students and the career services office. While there is extensive research on the barriers African American men face in a postsecondary environment, as well as previous research highlighting the impact career services has on student success, there is limited research on the intersection of these two groups. There has been a long standing disconnect due to several factors, which are discussed in the study. The implications of this information could inform the career services office on how to establish better relationships with this group of students and provide them with information …

Cadet Perceptions Of Learning Using Police Video Simulators, Stephen Francis Miko

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The topic for this study was police cadet perceptions of learning using video simulators. The main research question for this project was: “How are video simulators perceived by police cadets as a learning method at the police academy?” The participants for this qualitative study were 16 recently graduated police cadets from an anonymous midwestern suburban police academy. They were chosen using purposive sampling based on their relevance as recently graduated cadets. The cadets were interviewed and the results in the study show the perceptions towards the use of simulators as a learning strategy were generally positive and the cadets thought …

Touchpoints: How Faculty And Advising Understand And Colloborate On Guided Pathways Reforms To Influence And Support Major Choice In A Community College, Bryant Bates Manning

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Guided pathways is a nationwide whole-college reform that aims to improve college completion rates and times for students, especially in the community college sector. This multisite case study sought to explore how pathways institutions supported students to better align with the right academic and career programs. Through individual semi-structured interviews, faculty members and advisors reflected on if and how they collaborated to better serve students in this capacity. Three themes emerged during data analysis and were reported in narrative form: a.) divergent faculty and advising attitudes about pathways reforms, b.) inconsistent perceptions on levels of collaboration, and c.) criticisms and …

Eat Glass And Walk On Fire, While Managing A Pandemic: A Narrative Study Of African American Women Who Serve As Chief Housing Officers, Valronica Marie Scales

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Creating uncertainty and stress, the COVID-19 pandemic and increased attention on racial relations, drastically changed how higher education and student affairs operated. For African American women, combatting racism and sexism has always been a daily occurrence in their professional and personal life but the pandemic heightened the challenges African American women had to overcome. This narrative inquiry study explored the lived experiences of African American women who were serving as Chief Housing Officers at Predominately White Institutions during the first 18-months of the COVID-19 pandemic. Findings highlight how the intersection of sexism and racism shaped the lived experiences of the …

A Semiotic Phenomenology Of Consumptive Pedagogy By College Instructors In A General Education Program, Giselle L. Betts

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the instructional and visual pedagogy of university faculty teaching sociological consumer education within an interdisciplinary general education program. This study addresses gaps in the literature regarding program and course format, visual utilization, and teaching philosophies from faculty members’ perspectives. Utilizing a semiotic phenomenological approach, implications for instructional facilitation are discussed at length.Findings of this study include five themes that impact the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning, as well as sociological consumer education. Participant life experiences and disciplines are implicated as instrumental towards participant instructional philosophies. The nature and impact of interdisciplinary program …

Perceptions Of Oppression, Emancipation, Empathy, And Participation In The Workforce, Matthew Smith

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

Human resource development (HRD) is no longer about simply acquiring the skills needed to perform a task and is now a tool which can shape society and the ways in which we interact with one another. At the forefront of this transition are new ways of imagining HRD, including critical human resource development (CHRD) and critical management studies (CMS). This article examines the preconceptions learners bring with them into critical HRD programs. The study presented is an exploratory case study at an international organization with offices in the United States and Canada. Semi-structured interviews with six participants and a document …

Creating A Sense Of Belonging For Latinx Students In Community College: You Matter, You Fit In, And You Belong, Francisco Javier Bataz

Graduate Research Theses & Dissertations

This dissertation examines the perceptions of Latinx sense of belonging in a Midwest community college and how their academic and social experiences are impacted. Sense of belonging is meaningful to community college students because Latinx students are historically underserved in postsecondary education. The goal is to better understand the perceptions of Latinx students in a community college setting and to find out what factors impact sense of belonging. This study is significant because Latinx student retention outcomes in higher education are very low. The Latinx population is the fastest growing group in the United States. Therefore, providing support and an …