Education Commons^™

The University As A Gendered Organization: Effects On Management Type, Climate And Job Satisfaction, Margaret E. Crowder

Dissertations

Numbers of women holding faculty positions in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) remain low in university systems, despite gains women have made in achievement of advanced degrees. No one reason is clearly the culprit for the low numbers, though women in STEM have been shown to have more negative perceptions of climate, be more dissatisfied with their jobs, and have greater inclination to leave their positions than men.

As males comprise a majority of STEM employees, the masculine-genderedness of these organizations may create a more dissatisfactory work environment for women. This may, in turn, have negative impact on the …

A University-Wide Student Support Program: Comparative View On Student Success, Kevin Patrick Thomas

Dissertations

Student support programs occur throughout the country in various forms at colleges and universities. The STEPS program at Western Kentucky University provides support to students who are required by state mandate to enroll in developmental or supplemental education courses. This program tracks the individual interventions utilized by students such as tutoring, intrusive advising, and supplemental education seminars. Through an analysis of retention and graduation data, this study compared the success of STEPS participants to eligible students who are non-participants of the program. The study also compared the STEPS participant population with eligible students within other four-year public Commonwealth of Kentucky …

The American Public Comprehensive University: An Exploratory Study Of The President's Role In Fundraising, Robert L. Jackson

Dissertations

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine America’s 272 public comprehensive universities and the president’s role in fundraising in order to better understand this unique group. In addition, this study examined the president’s background, training, duties, and specific involvement in the fundraising process. Also, this study reviewed what background and training would have been helpful prior to and during a presidency in preparation for these duties and responsibilities.

Previous studies stated that presidents ranked fundraising as the number one area where they were least prepared when they assumed their new role. In addition, many university presidents reported that …

Sense Of Community In Graduate Online Education: Contribution Of Interaction, Jo Lita Shackelford

Dissertations

This non-experimental quantitative descriptive study was designed to determine which types of learner-learner and learner-instructor interaction are most predictive of student sense of community in online graduate courses at a regional comprehensive university. Surveys were used to measure sense of community and to collect perceptions of frequency and importance of nine learner-learner interactions and seven learner instructor interactions from participating students (N = 381) within online courses in which they were enrolled. Student demographic information included age, gender, experience with online learning, number of face-to-face class meetings, and employment status.

Results indicated that learner–learner interactions that were most predictive of …

An Analysis Of Factors Impacting K-12 Technology-Infused Design, Wesley A. Waddle

Dissertations

Public education in the 21st Century can be characterized as being in a period of unparalleled change, including the adoption of Common Core State Standards, increased public accountability, and renewed emphasis on the educational needs of every student. Simultaneously, as public education seeks to address these demands, the digital divide between traditional classroom instruction and learning needs of 21st Century students continues to grow, despite considerable fiscal investments in educational technology.

This study examined two questions: What teacher-related factors positively impact the level of technology-infused lesson design? and To what degree does the use of an instructional framework to guide …

The Relationship Between Organizational Commmitment And Position In Postsecondary Education, Linda Brewer Keller

Dissertations

Organizational commitment has been linked to important employee behaviors and perceptions, including turnover, intent to turnover, absenteeism, and job satisfaction. In spite of its important outcomes, the formation of commitment is not well documented and research concerning antecedents has provided inconsistent results. Little of this research has involved the postsecondary education field and characteristics unique to it. This study investigated the relationship between employee position and organizational commitment in the postsecondary education setting. The model of organizational commitment utilized was the three-component concept developed by Meyer and Allen (1997) composed of affective, continuance, and normative commitment.

Research participants were 2,914 …

Evaluation Of Electronic Assessment Systems And Their Ability To Meet Ncate Standard 2, Anthony Kirchner

Dissertations

The pressures relating to accountability and data collection, not only from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) but also from other national organizations, continue to increase the demand for educator preparation programs to systematically collect, analyze, and report on the success of their students and their programs. Many educator preparation programs have turned to electronic assessment systems (EASs) to help ease the data collection burden, to allow for the collection, aggregation, disaggregation, and reporting of data for programmatic improvement, as well as to meet the needs of the accreditation process.

The purpose of this study was to …