Education Commons^™

Architechture: Rebuilding The Traditional University For The 21st Century, Sarah E. Shearer

CMC Senior Theses

This senior thesis is an examination of the major complexities and considerations encountered in developing an e-learning program. In light of the changing landscape of higher education resulting from technological advancement, combined with changing pedagogies and financial pressures, traditional institutions are under heightened scrutiny and most in need of innovation. Online learning as been proposed as a solution to many of these issues, but creating a successful program is no small feat. Furthermore, experimental research on specific course designs and delivery often fails upon real-world implementation. Looking through the lens of Design-Base-Implementation Research (DBIR), an emerging research model that seeks …

Conceptualizing Contemplative Practice As Pedagogy: Approaches To Mindful Inquiry In Higher Education, Melissa Hammerle

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

A compelling argument has been made which claims that institutions of higher education focus disproportionately on transmitting basic skills to their students at the expense of supporting issues of central importance to the development of emerging adults, including clarifying values and identity and defining individual purpose and meaning (Palmer & Zajonc, 2010). As a result, an increasing number of postsecondary teachers are considering how they can refashion education by using contemplative inquiry to deepen student learning and personal growth. This movement to reframe the teaching-learning paradigm has led to the development of teaching methods that seek to cultivate emotional, psychological …

The Tap: An Examination Of The Controversy Of Secret Societies On College Campuses, Mackenzie Crane

Theses and Dissertations

Secret societies on college campuses have enjoyed prestige and influence since the founding of Phi Beta Kappa in 1776. Some, like Skull and Bones at Yale University, appear to do their members a great service by connecting them to a network of successful alumni. Others, like the Machine at the University of Alabama, have been accused of crime and discrimination. This study serves to examine what impact these groups have on their members and the surrounding community. It also explores the concept of formalized secrecy within the democratic realm of higher education. This is achieved through historical study of three …

From Dar Es Salaam To Dartmouth: A Case Study Of The Experiences Of Fogarty Aids International Training And Research Program Fellows At Dartmouth College, Lisa Anne Purvis

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

From Dar es Salaam to Dartmouth: A Case Study of the Experiences of Fogarty AIDS International Training and Research Program Fellows at Dartmouth

Lisa Purvis, EdD Candidate, MPH, MBA

Background

The United States (US) is a major host nation to international college students and scholars who study a variety of disciplines (Farrugia & Bhandari, 2014). Beginning in the last decade, the demand for global health training has risen (Kanter, 2008; Kerry, Ndung'u, Walensky, Lees, Kayanjas, & Bangsberg, 2011).

Since 2000, Geisel School of Medicine at Dartmouth has been one of 26 US universities participating in a global health training program, …

Investigating Educational Quality At One Comprehensive University, Blake Thurston Findley

Honors Program Theses

President Obama has called for increased access to higher education and simultaneously wants greater educational quality from our colleges and universities. Comprehensive universities in particular, due to their high enrollment of underserved populations, need to ensure they are providing the highest quality education possible. The current study investigated educational quality at a comprehensive university by examining research-supported behaviors related to educational quality as well as perceptions of educational quality of faculty and students. The study found that faculty play a tremendous role in comprehensive universities, yet are underappreciated by their administration. Additionally, comprehensive universities are trying to be everything to …

Knowing Me, Knowing You: The Dilemma Of Diversity Courses In Higher Education, Marian Derlet

Doctor of Education (EdD)

American institutions of higher education are increasingly addressing the issue of diversity. Many colleges list diversity as one of their institutional values, while others not only name diversity as a value, but also require diversity courses. This paper examines the difficulty posed by these objectives due to a lack of agreement and/or understanding of the term diversity. Traditional notions of diversity include differences of race, religion, and ethnicity. However in the 21st century, the term diversity now includes such categories as age, socio-economic status, and disability. This paper argues that as college students seek to define diversity for themselves, they …

Out Of The Closet And Into The Woods; Nature As A Model For Resilience During Gay Identity Development., Lance Johnson

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

Navigating the process of coming out led to feelings of isolation, depression, and a loss of self-worth that were compounded by a period filled with negative social media and mainstream messaging. This thesis explores how an understanding of the systems and processes of nature as well as physical exposure to nature offered a place of healing and an avenue for understanding my identity as a Gay man: from identity confusion all the way through to identity synthesis. Using Scholarly Personal Narrative Methodology, I will interweave poetry and counter narrative storytelling to illustrate the significance of nature during my identity development. …

Tejanos In College: How Texas Born Mexican-American Students Navigate Ethnoracial Identity, Tomás Sanchez

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

For Latina's in the United States, navigating the spectrum of racial and ethnic identities can be complicated. This same complication has the potential to affect one of the largest groups of Latina's in the nation: Mexican-Americans living in Texas or Tejanos. Through qualitative analyses of interviews and surveys and the use of an ecological framework on identity development theories for Latina's, Native Americans, Multiracial peoples and those in the Mexican diaspora, this study examines various factors that influences the ethnoracial identity choice of Tejano college students.

Findings revealed that there were several common themes across all the participants, even those …

Helping Students Find Meaning While Finding My Own: A Scholarly Personal Narrative Navigating Single-Motherhood And A Career In Admissions, Amber Rich

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

ABSTRACT

In this dissertation, I explore my role as an administrator in higher education admissions at a major university and as a working mother who faces many real world challenges. The grueling travel demands, lofty enrollment goals, campus and inter-office politics, as well as the weekend and late night hours required, made it extremely difficult to achieve a healthy work life balance in admissions while also raising a small child. Additionally, "admissions" is increasingly becoming the "hot seat" within institutions of higher education. Gone are the days of an almost tenure like quality to enrollment professionals. If an enrollment director …

Inquiry-Based Teaching In The College Classroom: The Nontraditional Student, Daniel A. Kiernan

Theses and Dissertations

Decline in the economic realm often bolsters an increase of nontraditional student enrollments in colleges and universities (Windolf, 1992). Many of these students, who do not desire to major in some scientific area, find themselves struggling in required science courses. Over the last decade, science departments of higher education have been adjusting their curriculum to include inquiry in the college science classroom. Although inquiry-based teaching has been shown to be very academically positive in science classrooms from K-12, “at the college level the data are mixed as to whether increasing inquiry instruction can significantly change students’ learning or attitudes toward …

Student Conduct Codes At Religious Affiliated Institutions: Fostering Growth, Emily Longshore

Theses and Dissertations

The following study focuses on student conduct codes at two religiously affiliated universities in the southeastern portion of the United States (El Shaddai University and Cornerstone University) and the extent to which these codes foster whole student development. In order to develop a well-formed understanding of this topic, the background information contains a brief summary of the historical beginnings of the colonial college in America and an explanation of the role codes of conduct have played in higher education over the years, including relevant disciplinary theories and findings from previous studies. Finally, my own findings gleaned from school histories, mission …

Religiosity, Spirituality, And Quality Of Life Among Selected University Students, Abby Austin Kreitlow

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Objective: College marks a time of transition and self-exploration. Quality of life can be enhanced or diminished throughout this experience. The objective of this study was to identify the level of religiosity, spirituality and quality of life and identify if there was a relationship between a person's level of religiosity and spirituality and quality of life.

Participants and Methods: The sample group, consisting of 548 Midwestern university undergraduate students, completed the Spiritual Wellbeing Scale (SWBS) and the Ontological Wellbeing Scale (OWBS) in the spring semester of 2015.

Results: Findings indicate that Midwestern university students have a moderate sense of spiritual …

Perceptions Of Failure In Education: Changing The Fear Of Failure Through Gamification, Kathie Anne Kallevig

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of was study is to examine the perceptions in higher education of failure and the use of gamification to address the fear of failure. The perceptions of students about failures and successes in learning through gamification were explored. The research design for the proposed study was a survey comprised of qualitative and quantitative questions. The survey explored how students in formal education view failure in games and in learning, how failure strategies are viewed in higher education lesson plans and if failure strategies can be used to promote learning in games. During the summer of 2014 and during …

Through The Looking Glass: Barriers And Coping Mechanisms Encountered By African American Women Presidents At Predominately White Institutions, Maria Louise Baxter-Nuamah

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

The purpose of this research is to identify factors (experiences, career paths, and barriers) that influence the career advancement of African American women administrators in higher education. African American women's experiences in higher education are molded by both external factors and internal factors specific to "traditional" social roles within and outside of the university. This qualitative study examines the personal and professional growth of five African American women who rose to executive leadership positions as presidents at predominately white colleges or universities .

There are five main themes in this study. First, African American women who aspire to senior level …

Culture Clash: A Case Study Of The Issues That Non-Traditional College Presidents Face In Adjusting To Academic Culture, Sean Michael Heuvel

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Women In The Trenches: Barriers To Female Staff's Advancement In Higher Education, Carla A. Costello

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

This qualitative phenomenological case study examined the intersection of organizational structures and gender, as well as perceptions of climate, and their collective impact on professional advancement opportunities of women working in lower-level positions in higher education, namely classified and professional staff (Acker, 1990; Allan, 2011; Kanter, 1977). Kanter's (1977) theory of the role of structure in organizations posits that position in the organizational hierarchy and work role influence the amount of access an employee has to information, resources, promotional opportunities, and support. In gendered organizations (Acker, 1990, 2006), women face barriers in advancement. While Kanter (1977) argued that structure not …

Students' Self-Determined Motivation, Emotional Intelligence And Academic Persistence: An Examination Of Second Year Students At A Public And A Private Historically Black University, Evanda Shentelle Watts-Martinez

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Effects Of Virtual Conversations On International, Students' Intercultural Communicative Competence, Jingzhu Zhang

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Understanding The Lived Experiences Of Students In A Comprehensive Four-Year Undergraduate Leadership Development Program, Jessica Walker Hench

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Accessibility Of Thai University Websites: Awareness, Barriers And Drivers For Accessible Practice, Rattanavalee Maisak

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

Governments and organizations have to respond to a range of legislative and policy initiatives intended to promote equal opportunity for all. The Thai government has passed a number of laws which aim to protect its citizens from discrimination and from breaches of their human rights by government departments and agencies. The Persons with Disabilities Education Act B.E. 2551 (2008) and the Thailand Information and Communication Technology (ICT) Policy Framework (2011-2020) required government agencies to delivery equal education and access to online information for all Thais. Most Thai universities receive government subsidies, and therefore have an obligation to contribute to national …

The Requirement To Be Fit And Proper: What Does It Mean To Australian Psychologists?, Francesca A. Bell

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

The phrase fit and proper is used in the Health Practitioners Regulation National Law Act (Qld), 2009, which came into effect nationally in 2010 and governs psychologists. As with previous legislation that used the phrase, the legislator does not define fit and proper, leaving it up to each profession to determine its exact meaning and inform the courts accordingly. A review of the literature established that to date no Australian psychologist has attempted to define the construct. This means that Australian lawyers do not get any guidance from psychologists regarding how they should interpret the phrase fit and proper in …

Thinking Differently About Reflective Practice In Australian Social Work Education: A Rhapsody, Lynelle Watts

Theses: Doctorates and Masters

There are many different ways of thinking about reflective practice in social work education in Australia. This research utilises a musical metaphor to illustrate this diversity. Written as a piece of music with album notes, the study utilises a reflexive methodology with a qualitative mixed method approach. Three studies were conducted to explore how reflective practice is understood in social work education and practice in Australia. The first study examined my own learning and teaching of reflective practice through an autoethnographic process. The findings indicated a range of models of reflective practice potentially available to the educator. Also explored in …