Education Commons^™

Lifespan Communication And Career Development Of Black Teachers: A Socio-Ecological Approach, Veronica Whinnett Hurd

Communication & Theatre Arts Theses

This thesis unlocks the lifespan story of nine Black participants as they reflected on the communicative practices that guided their career journey towards becoming a teacher. Through the lens of Bronfenbrenner’s (1979) socio-ecological development model, the microsystem, mesosystem, exosystem, macrosystem, and chronosystem were examined to understand the content of career-related memories and with whom or what the communicative experiences occurred with across the participants’ lifespan. This study also takes an in-depth look at how the content of the memories evolved across Erikson’s (1964) childhood, adolescence, and young adulthood developmental periods, and the influence of the proximal and distal socio-ecological environments …

Infusing Complex Problem-Solving And Systems Thinking In College Leadership Development Programs, Dionicia Mahler-Rogers

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Present day leaders grapple with a dynamic environment of evolving challenges. Prior leadership studies have afforded revisions of leadership theories in an attempt to remain relevant with the prominently shifting environment. The leadership models that underscore college leadership development programs should reflect the updated theories and practices which expose student leaders to solving complex problems they will experience. This study explores the knowledge, skills, and abilities needed for college students to be able to conceptualize and address system’s level leadership challenges. Foremost, the study examined instructional tools and methods that students found impactful for improving conceptualization and achievement of systems-level …

The Use Of Reflective Questioning As A Peer Coaching Strategy In An Asynchronous Online Cognitive Apprenticeship, Jennifer Ashley Scott Brown

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The cognitive apprenticeship framework melds situated, authentic learning with social learning theory. The learning strategies included in a cognitive apprenticeship are modeling, coaching, scaffolding, articulation, reflection, and exploration. Previous research indicates that the most beneficial strategy for the learner is coaching, and is also the most time-consuming strategy for the instructor. However, no previous research has been conducted to determine which coaching strategies can be utilized in order to lessen the burden on the instructor, while being beneficial to the learner.

The purpose of this study was to explore the use of guided reflective questions as a strategy for enhancing …

Student Global Mobility: An Analysis Of International Stem Student Brain Drain, Margaret E. Gesing

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This study seeks to understand global mobility patterns of international graduate STEM students studying in the United States. Using data from the NSF Graduate Students in Science Survey (GSSS), this study investigates the political, economic, and social factors affecting students' intent to stay or go, identifying differences based on students' country of origin within World Bank defined categories of gross national income (GNI) per capita. Descriptive statistics identified factors affecting students' intent to stay or go. Chi-square analysis, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) identified differences between factors based on students' intent to stay or go, and identified differences based on …

Reconceptualizing The Work Of A Content Provider For An Online Audience: A Case Study For How Pedagogical Strategies Can Provide Models Of Engagement For Producers Of Entertainment, Diane Cooke

English Theses & Dissertations

With the interconnectivity of the Internet, and the availability of affordable media compositional tools, the proliferation of online media continues to grow exponentially. However, each day is still comprised of a fixed 24 hours, with far fewer hours spent in active media consumption. Considering the global potential for content to be found (Moreville), discovered (Cormier) or spread (Jenkins), content providers are looking for ways to attract, cultivate and hopefully expand their audiences amid all this digital clutter. In the field of entertainment, this challenge is complicated when small content providers are not aligned with an online, curated network such as …

When It Is Troublesome To Do Right: A Narrative Analysis Of The Continual Censorship And “Sivilizing” Of Huckleberry Finn, Angela P. Branyon

Teaching & Learning Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation is a part of a broader program of research that investigates intellectual freedom. The study focuses on developing understanding in three distinct, but related, research areas – the American historical and cultural narrative of race, the historical discourse of intellectual freedom, and the role The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn can play in adding to and perhaps changing these historic stories. By using historical narrative inquiry, data was examined from each story to find correlations among the discourses Where previous research centers on and develops the reasons why Huck Finn has been challenged, this research focuses on how …

Conceptual Model Of Career Counseling For Better Preparing Students For The Transition From School To Work, Brian Christopher Preble

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to design a conceptual model of career counseling for high school counselors to assist students with the school-to-work transition. A framework addressing the nature and substance of interactions and activities that support workforce preparation was needed. Qualitative research was conducted. Four focus groups comprised of unemployed individuals searching for work, gainfully employed artisans and skilled technicians, managers and employers from business and industry, and high school counselors were held to collect data. Two coders established intercoder agreements and a kappa was calculated to determine interrater reliability. Economic data obtained from interviews with business specialists …

The Effect Of Narrative Feedback On The Learning And Transfer Of Complex Communication Skills, Rebecca A. Kennedy

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of the present research was to examine the effects of narrative performance feedback on learning and transfer of intercultural communication skills learned in an experiential training task. It was predicted that feedback based on a narrative structure, especially from a first-person perspective, would enhance learning by providing schemas for memory organization, contextual information, and emotional content. Using a healthcare-related training task, participants learned the CRASH principles of intercultural sensitivity and then performed a low-fidelity, text-based simulated conversation with a patient and patient’s family member. Participants were randomly assigned to one of three kinds of performance feedback: didactic, third-person …

Breaking The Silence: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Secondary Traumatic Stress In U.S. College Student Affairs Professionals, Robert Jason Lynch

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

Breaking the Silence: A Phenomenological Exploration of Secondary Traumatic Stress in U.S. College Student Affairs Professionals is a qualitative-intensive mixed methods study using phenomenology and art-based research techniques to uncover the essence of secondary traumatic stress in U.S. college student affairs professionals. Researchers in the fields of psychology, counseling, social work and other helping professions suggest that repeated exposure to individuals experiencing trauma, or hearing repeated details of an individual’s trauma, have negative outcomes on professional helpers. Coined secondary traumatic stress, this phenomenon may be defined as “the stress resulting from helping or wanting to help a traumatized or suffering …

The Impacts Of Formal Training On The Motivation Of Middle-Aged Runners, Margaret Turley

Master's Level Papers/Projects

The problem of this study was to understand the motivational factors behind middle-aged adults who take up running, and whether or not formal training is used by this population to aid in meeting their training goals. To determine this, two surveys were distributed to running groups hosted on social media. The first survey was geared toward middle-aged runners, and the second survey was geared toward trainers and running coaches who train middle-aged runners. The results of the survey were 183 runner participants and one trainer participant. Due to the lack of sufficient data, the trainer survey was not used in …

Working Together: Examining The Effects Of Parental And Community Involvement In Schools On School Delinquency, Erica Nicole Bower

Sociology & Criminal Justice Theses & Dissertations

How do we confront the problem of school delinquency? This study examined the impact of parental and community involvement in schools on school delinquency by employing a cross-sectional secondary data analysis of the 2008 School Survey on Crime and Safety. Bivariate and multivariate analyses demonstrated that parental involvement in schools is significantly associated with and predictive of decreased school delinquency, while community involvement in schools is significantly associated with and predictive of increased school delinquency. Findings suggest that based on school administrator perceptions, stimulating parent involvement in schools and cultivating certain types of community involvement in schools may reduce delinquency …

An Eye Tracking Study To Investigate The Influence Of Language And Text Direction On Multimedia, Arwa Adulwahab Mashat

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This study investigated how native language orientation influences spatial bias, first visual fixation on screen, first visual fixation on pictures, learning outcomes, and mental effort of learners. Previous studies supported the effect of native language writing or reading direction on spatial bias, examining written text and images created by the participants (Barrett et al., 2002; Boroditsky, 2001; Chatterjee, Southwood & Basiko, 1999; Spalek & Hammad, 2005). However, no study investigated writing direction in multimedia presentations using eye tracking. This study addresses this gap.

A total of 84 participants completed the study forming four groups. The first group (NativeLeft_InstrEng) consisted of …

Cross-Racial Trust Factors: Exploring The Experiences Of Blacks Who Have Had White Mentors In The Counseling Profession, Eric Montrece Brown

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The primary researcher conducted a phenomenological study on cross-racial trust factors between Black doctoral students (n = 10) and their White mentors within the counseling profession. Three participants identified having a White professor as a mentor; two participants identified having White supervisors as mentors; five of the participants reported having both faculty members and supervisors as White mentors. Through semi-structured interviews, the primary researcher sought to ascertain what factors engendered cross-racial trust between Black doctoral students and White mentors within the counseling profession. The research team identified four superordinate themes related to cross-racial trust: contributors to trust, reasons for mistrust, …

Digital Literacy Adoption With Academic Technology: Namely Digital Information Literacy To Enhance Student Learning Outcomes, Nancy Adam-Turner

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This study explores Arts & Science faculty and librarians’ attitude of learning theory and perceptions of digital literacy (DL) and how digital information literacy (DIL) might improve and enhance student learning outcomes. Digital literacy (DL), information literacy (IL), and digital information literacy (DIL) consists of interaction with academic technology (AT) programs and tools. The objectives are: the rise of IL within the parameters of DL and discuss the birth of DIL, examine the modes of adoption and explore the levels of inclusion for faculty and librarians’ concepts of DL with DIL instruction with AT, define the IL phenomenon, and how …

Assessing Learning Strategies With An Educational Video, David James Harrison

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Even though educational films and videos have been in used for a century, there remains insufficient research into efficacious learning strategies that can be used alongside them. This study sought to investigate active learning strategies as a method to improve learning from video. This true experimental study, supported and informed by qualitative data, examined three active learning strategies utilized within video-based instruction: Guided Notetaking, Personal Notetaking, and Guided Summaries. Outcome measures included three dimensions of learning (factual, conceptual, and procedural) on an immediate posttest, perceptions of extrinsic cognitive load, likelihood that participants would use the strategies again, how often participants …

An Exploratory Factor Analysis Examining Experiences And Perceptions Of Campus Safety For International Students, Sonia H. Ramrakhiani

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Although international students make up a significant percentage of the college population and contribute to higher education institutions in multiple ways, a lack of attention is paid to their safety needs. This dissertation examined the experiences and perceptions of campus safety among international college/university students in the United States. The researcher sampled participants from different institutions around the country, who self-identified as international students. A researcher-developed 53-item Likert scale questionnaire, International Students’ Safety Questionnaire (ISSQ), was administered to the sample. Findings from the exploratory factor analysis (EFA) provided evidence for the four-factor solution for the 26-item ISSQ accounting for 48.65% …