Education Commons^™

Too Little Stem Workforce In The United States: Framing The Discourse In A Global Setting, Patrice-Andre P. Prud'homme

Theses and Dissertations

Policymakers and industry leaders are claiming that the U.S. has an insufficient number of STEM graduates. As the rhetoric of a shortage of skilled scholars and employees in STEM-related fields expands, there is a plethora of publications that refers to a phenomenon dating back to the 1950s. Nonetheless, this new paradigm presents a critical challenge to policies and programs that surround STEM education in countries around the world. While STEM, including the underlying human capital component is a major factor of economic growth in the United States, it is also in Australia and Germany. The policy analysis study is presented …

Trio-Eligible Students And Study Abroad: Influential Factors, Barriers, And Benefits, Michael R. Minton

Theses and Dissertations

Despite the fact that only 1.8% of U.S. undergraduate students choose to participate in a study abroad program, the popularity of study abroad has grown significantly in recent years (Open Doors, 2013). Participation in study abroad programs has grown by over 97% since 2000, and has increased every year since 2008-09 (Open Doors, 2013). Many institutions recognize the importance of this educational activity in preparing their students to be productive citizens in an ever-growing global economy and society.

While the number of U.S. undergraduate students participating in study abroad has continued to increase overall, it is important to note that …

Institutional Factors Influencing African-American Male Involvement In Undergraduate Student Organizations, John Mark Davenport

Theses and Dissertations

Students attending colleges and universities who have purposeful opportunities to interact with peers and faculty about educational matters and who are challenged with consistent encouragement report higher levels of satisfaction with their collegiate experience and have higher persistence rates than students who do not receive these opportunities (Kuh et al., 1991; Pascarella & Terenzini, 1991; Schroeder & Mable, 1994). In higher education, African-American males are neither retained from admission through graduation at a rate comparable to majority students nor African-American women (AASCU, 1988; ACE, 2008; Harper, 2012). In this study I set out to determine which institutional factors influence African-American …

Can We Do Better When Students Are A Threat To Self? A Review Of Legal And Policy Implications For Current Practices On College Campuses, Jennifer Ann Hemingway

Theses and Dissertations

Many colleges/universities believe that a student who is a threat to self increases campus risk and liability (Appelbaum, 2006; Massie, 2008; Pavela, 2006 & 2010). This study uses integrated policy analysis to (1) define the policy problem regarding college students who are a threat to self; (2) analyze the current legal opinion of the courts regarding institutional liability when college students are a threat to self; (3) examine the 2010 change to the direct threat provision in Title II legislation; (4) determine the implications for institutional policies and practices. The analysis illustrates, according to the courts and changes in Title …

A Democracy, If We Can Keep It: Democratic Engagement Policy In Higher Education, Maegan Gorham

Theses and Dissertations

Students will be called upon as American citizens to be knowledgeable, engaged, contributing citizens, and higher education plays a part in the development of this role. Engagement must surpass simple volunteerism in order to more fully realize the potential benefit of democracy and democratic engagement activities. In turn, institutions must respond effectively and responsibly, making informed decisions about educating all students in the safest manner possible. This exploratory policy analysis, with embedded legal research, explores the policy issue, "Is higher education the appropriate venue for instruction on democratic engagement and, if so, do the benefits and rewards of instruction on …

The Impact Of Military Experience On The Higher Education Experiences Of Veterans, Jeff Dougherty

Theses and Dissertations

Veterans have been an integral part of the student population on higher education campuses since the conclusion of World War II. The purpose of this study was to examine veterans' perceptions of how their military experiences affected their experience as college students. Twenty-six veterans were interviewed at six Illinois higher education institutions. Study findings suggest five ways in which the military experience helped veterans adjust to college: (a) veterans were experienced with group collaboration; (b) veterans held high expectations of themselves; (c) veterans were organized and task-oriented; (d) veterans were experienced learners, and; (e) veterans had experience and ability to …

Best Forms Of Involvement For First-Year Student Veterans For Academic Success, Saipraseuth Chaleunphonh

Theses and Dissertations

This study expands the research for the transition of student veterans utilizing the Post-9/11 G.I. Bill enacted in 2008. It presents a quantitative approach to study the relationship between first-time, full-time student veterans and their non-veteran student counterparts in the area of transition to college life and academic success in the first-year of college. Transition to college life is measured through variables that represent pre-entry attributes, skills gained or lost, and student involvement. The results of the study contribute to the efforts of campus professionals to coordinate services and direct resources in order to better serve and increase the academic …

Contradicting Conventional Wisdom: Women Presidents' Abilities To Forge Purposeful And Instrumental Relationships For Institutional Outcomes, Susan Amy Woollen

Theses and Dissertations

CONTRADICTING CONVENTIONAL WISDOM: WOMEN PRESIDENTS' ABILITIES TO FORGE PURPOSEFUL AND INSTRUMENTAL

RELATIONSHIPS FOR INSTITUTIONAL OUTCOMES

Susan A. Woollen

268 pages May 2015

There is a perception in the literature that women presidents are weak in the function of instrumental relationship building. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the practices developed and utilized by women presidents of 4-year institutions to identify and build relationships with key constituents whom they recognized as having resources that could lead to institution building and to learn how the presidents secured those resources.

Through an interview format, 12 presidents elaborated on the internal …

Perceptions Of Cooperating Teachers Concerning The Student Teaching Field Experience, Dawn Marie Paulson

Theses and Dissertations

PERCEPTIONS OF COOPERATING TEACHERS CONCERNING

THE STUDENT TEACHING FIELD EXPERIENCE

Dawn Paulson

142 Pages December 2014

This study explored the views of cooperating teachers on (a) their work with student teachers and university supervisors, and (b) ways to improve the student teaching process. In a mixed-methods sequential explanatory study, 153 cooperating teachers answered closed-and open-ended questions using an electronic survey; then a subset of 12 participated in follow-up interviews. All participants taught at rural or semi-rural middle schools and high schools in Central Illinois; all had experience with student teachers from a mid-sized institution in that area.

Major findings of …

Exploring The Relationship Between Faculty Perceptions Of Chairperson-Faculty Member Communication Exchanges And Department Climate, Jodi Lynn Hallsten Lyczak

Theses and Dissertations

Leadership communication has many consequences: those that affect an organization and its outcomes, and those that affect the followers. In academia, one of the most important leadership roles is that of the departmental chairperson. Through her or his communication, the academic chairperson influences nearly every aspect of departmental life for faculty, including organizational climate. In fact, it can be argued that the chairperson helps both create and sustain the department climate for faculty.

One perspective of leadership and communication posits that leadership is enacted in the dyadic communication that occurs between the leader and the follower. According to Leader Member …

College Student Unions: A Delphi Study Regarding Purposes, Amenities, Barriers And Future Influences, Michelle Annette Janisz

Theses and Dissertations

This study was designed to understand and forecast the changing role of the student union in the modern era and specifically explored the purposes served by student unions, what specific amenities and services contribute to serving those purposes, the barriers student unions face in meeting those purposes, and the most important influences that will shape the college and university student union of the future. A review of the history of college and university student unions, the components of campus environments, the role of student unions in student recruitment and retention, and the influences of environmental psychology anchor the research. The …

A History Of Academic Freedom In America, John Karl Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

This study explores the history of academic freedom in America through the focus of three interpretive models--the Gentleman Scientist Model, the Liberty Model, and the Professional Model--to show how the concept evolved over the past century. It examines violations of academic freedom, AAUP statements, and debates about the meaning of academic freedom to show how it remains a contested concept. It concludes that by studying the origins and changes in the idea of academic freedom in America, current controversies can be better understood.

An Analysis Of Program Evaluation In Community College Learning Assistance Centers, Doug Franklin

Theses and Dissertations

Learning assistance centers exist in varied formats at many colleges and provide services to support the educational mission such as tutoring, support for special needs students, study skills instruction, writing or math instruction. This study seeks to add to the small body of research on evaluation measures used within learning assistance centers and the program evaluation practices of such centers by determining the prevalence of program evaluation and what measures learning assistance directors perceive they should be using in the evaluation of their program compared to those actually being used?

Learning assistance center directors at 61 public two-year institutions, out …

Pioneers Of Asynchronous Online Education At Religion-Based Institutions Of Higher Education: A Multiple Case Study Exploring The Process Of Adoption Of Online Education At Three Private Catholic Colleges, Alan D. Hansen

Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative study examined the process of adopting online education at three private colleges. All three institutions participating in the study were private Catholic colleges that offered their first online courses in the late 1990s. The research question posed for this study was: Within the participating institutions, how did online education get started and what was the process for its development?

Findings from this research indicated that, for an institution to successfully implement online education, four elements emerged: (a) some form of infrastructure needed to be in place that could support online education, (b) a latent force, referred to as …

Understanding The Role Of Post-Secondary Coaches In High Schools: A Social Capital Analysis, Lynne Haeffele

Theses and Dissertations

The research problem for this study was to understand the role of a new category of institutional agents, post-secondary coaches in high schools, who facilitate students' college readiness. This comparative case study focused on two post-secondary coaches in two high schools participating with a university in a state-funded grant project to improve college readiness. Data collection included structured interviews with coaches, students, and other school and external personnel; written descriptions by coaches of how they do their jobs; observations with field notes taken while shadowing coaches; and relevant documents, websites and artifacts. Data analysis involved both open coding and the …

The Invisible Composition Classroom: The Reciprocity Of Face, Identity, And Politeness, Pennie L. Gray

Theses and Dissertations

This study examines the role of face and identity as they arise in a first year composition classroom. Using the illuminating theoretical framework of linguistic politeness theory, new understandings of the social interactions in the composition classroom are unveiled. Specifically, through an analysis of the politeness strategies that students use during the peer review process, it becomes clear that students prefer to temper their critique of others' work rather than openly criticize that work. Additionally, students offer far more positive feedback than their peers' work perhaps merits, minimize the revision work they suggest, and downplay their own authority over each …

Academic Hiring Gatekeeper & Employer Perceptions Of Online Degrees And The Acceptability Of Online Degrees For Faculty And Administrator Employment In Higher Education, Renee Sinow-Mandelbaum

Theses and Dissertations

Due to its flexibility and convenience, online education has become a feasible alternative for degree seeking students who are unable to attend a traditional higher education institution. Although online courses and programs have their benefits, there remains an ongoing debate on issues related to credibility, quality, and acceptability among certain stakeholders including faculty, administrators, and employers. The current study focuses on one group of academic stakeholders-namely, academic hiring gatekeepers and employers; that is, those who are directly involved in the hiring process of faculty and administrators. Specifically, the objective is to explore hiring gatekeeper and employer acceptability of online degrees …

An Examination Of The Role Of Fundraising In Divisions Of Student Affairs At Seven Four-Year Public Universities In The Midwest, Danielle Nicole Miller-Schuster

Theses and Dissertations

With higher accountability standards, divisions of student affairs must find alternative ways to balance the rising costs of college with the survival and growth of the programs and services expected. This study examined one such alternative, fundraising in student affairs, to further develop the profession's understanding of engaging in or growing development efforts. As more divisions become involved, it becomes important to learn from colleagues in the profession who are engaging in development activities. The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which divisions of student affairs were involved in fundraising activities at seven 4-year public universities …

Innovation In Academic Libraries During A Time Of Crisis, Dane Michael Ward

Theses and Dissertations

During a period of rapid social and technological change, academic Academic libraries and librarianship are experiencing a period of great change, or crisis, influenced by multiple factors including emerging technologies, declining budgets, and changing information. More than a transitory historical phase, these changes represents a fundamental transition between paradigms (Kuhn, 1962). Academic libraries and librarianship are moving from a paradigm focused on collections and books to a paradigm focused on learning. Within this context, innovations are new processes, services and products that facilitate this transition to the new paradigm.

Beyond this definitional work, the work serves as an exploration of …