Education Commons^™

California Community Colleges Child Development Laboratory Schools, Shari Yates

Dissertations

Community colleges in California are the primary source for preparing the early childhood care and education (ECE) workforce. The California child development lab school mission is to prepare ECE practitioners, provide a laboratory where college students can study and research child development/education, and offer a service to children and families. There are many benefits that are derived from laboratory schools but many community college lab schools have been reduced and/or closed over the past three years. The purposes of this Delphi study were (a) to examine the most pressing issues, problems and barriers facing California community colleges child development labs …

An Online Faculty Training System Proposal For Asbury University, Thomas J. Fee

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Mind, Brain, And Education: A Case Study Of Student Perceptions Of An Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, Martha C. Lees

Doctoral Dissertations

Advances in developmental and neuroscience research, calls for educational reform, and an emphasis on interdisciplinarity have generated interest in how science might inform educational practice and policy, resulting in the emerging field of mind, brain, and education (MBE). A primary goal of the field is to connect the cognitive and developmental sciences, biology, and education to develop a scientific grounding for educational practice and policy. Interdisciplinary MBE graduate programs seek to train a new generation of interdisciplinary researchers and practitioners. The purpose of this case study is to investigate students’ perceptions of their experiences developing interdisciplinary understanding in an MBE …

A Novel Approach To Using Personal Response Systems And Diagrams To Foster Student Engagement In Large Lecture: Case Study Of Instruction For Model-Based Reasoning In Biology, Johanna M. Fitzgerald

Doctoral Dissertations

At UMass Amherst a method of personal response system (clickers) use in large lecture biology called Guided Application of Model-based Reasoning (GAMBR) has been designed to give students experiences in reasoning like expert biologists: In large lecture biology many instructors appear to use clickers mainly as a quizzing and attendance tool. Less well documented and examined are uses of clickers to facilitate cognitive engagement in learning scientific models and skills. In GAMBR, clicker questions ask students to apply and perturb biological models; this is designed to engage them in model-based reasoning. In an attempt to understand such a course, an …

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 …

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.

Impacts Of The Game-Centered Approach On Cognitive Learning Of Game Play And Game Performance During 5-Week Of Spring Season With Intercollegiate Female Soccer Players, Kanae Haneishi

Doctoral Dissertations

Game-centered approaches have been increasingly recognized for their features and the impacts in coaching profession. Research with the game-centered approach is still underdeveloped in coaching sports and physical activities. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to describe the impacts of the game-centered approach on cognitive learning of game play and game performance during 5-week of spring season with intercollegiate female soccer players. Game performances at beginning, mid, and end of the season were examined through Game Performance Assessment Inventory (GPAI) with seventeen participants. Cognitive learning of game play was also assessed with instant recalls and practice journals with all …

Exploring Faculty Members’ Multicultural Competence At A Faith-Based Institution, Stephanie Fenwick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study explored challenges related to issues of diversity for faculty members teaching in nontraditional adult degree completion programs. The problem addressed was an increasing expectation that faculty members facilitate learning to help increase the cultural proficiency of their students without having prior training or needed experience. A critical appreciative inquiry (CAI) case study methodology with a transformative conceptual framework was used to explore the intersection of effective adult learning paradigms and multicultural competence. The primary research question addressed the cultural competence challenges that faculty members confront when teaching in the adult classroom. A purposeful sample of 188 faculty members …

A Content Analysis Of Implicit Legislator Discourses Within The Passage Of The South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act (2008): Implications For Opportunity And Access To Higher Education, Katie Smith

All Dissertations

On June 4, 2008, South Carolina Governor Mark Sanford signed the South Carolina Illegal Immigration Reform Act into law. According to the Act (Section 59-101-430), 'an alien unlawfully present in the United States is not eligible to attend a public institution of higher learning in [South Carolina]'. After the passage of this legislation, public colleges and universities in South Carolina were prohibited from enrolling (or reenrolling) undocumented immigrants as students, and are now required to verify the legal status of all students, through the federal e-verify system. This legislation represents a true limiting of higher education opportunities, as well as …

A Phenomenological Study Of University Faculty Experiences With Disruptive Undergraduate Students In A Face-To-Face Classroom Or Laboratory Setting, Anne Marie Gillespie

Dissertations

Behavioral review teams on university campuses have become the standard since the shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University. An institutional assumption is that faculty members will make referrals to these specialized teams when encountering disruptive students within their classrooms. Unknown is what actions faculty members actually take when faced with disruptive students in the classroom. This phenomenological study captures the experiences of faculty members with disruptive undergraduate students in face-to-face university classroom or laboratories.

All of the participants in the study described experiences with disruptive undergraduate students. Three female and three male faculty members, split evenly between tenured/tenure …

Instructional Change In Academic Departments: An Analysis From The Perspective Of Two Environment-Focused Change Strategies, Kathleen M. Quardokus

Dissertations

Numerous reports demand changes in college and university teaching practices. This is especially true for science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) disciplines. STEM stakeholders are concerned about student retention within STEM majors, as well as the lack of sufficient graduates with the knowledge to advance these fields. A common conclusion of these reports is that teaching practices must change. Although these calls for change have occurred for decades, STEM fields have yet to experience widespread change. Thus, there is a need for more effective change strategies. Recently, researchers have suggested that effective change strategies should focus on changing the environments …

Incredi-Bull-Ly Inclusive?: Assessing The Climate On A College Campus, Aubrey Lynne Hall

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) students have unique experiences on campus such as discrimination, exclusivity, and homo/transphobia. Stated simply, this research project intends to address these issues by 1) identify students' perceptions of gender identity and sexual orientation diversity on campus, 2) identify the experiences of LGBT students during their time at the institution, and 3) acknowledge suggestions from the student body for ways the University being studied is, or may continue to be, inclusive of sexual orientation and gender identity.

Through the application of the campus climate framework and modification of existing climate surveys, a student-centered campus climate …

An Evaluation Of Florida Gulf Coast University's Residence Life Staff Member's Hurricane Preparedness, Erin Floto

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) is located along the coast of the Gulf of Mexico in southern Florida, in an area vulnerable to hurricane strikes. At FGCU, The Office of Housing and Residence Life (OHRL) is responsible for three locations on- and off-campus where students reside in apartment or suite-style housing. Due to the large number of students with varying backgrounds, the OHRL staff members have become essential personnel during severe weather events that may cause safety concerns for the residents living in OHRL housing locations. This study's purpose is to assess the Residence Life staff on their level of …

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 …

Between Sites: Critical Convergences At The Personal, Interpersonal, And Institutional Levels In A Service Learning Course, Kendra Rashaun Brewster

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Set within the context of the increasing emphasis on civic engagement and transformative education, this work addresses service learning as a form of civic engagement that holds both the risks of acriticality and critical potential. This study examines the capacity for the critical consciousness and relationality that define the primary commitments of critical service learning (see Kinefuchi, 2010). Thus, this study is grounded in the ways that the circuits of privilege and dispossession were breached in a service learning course where college students travelled to mentor adolescent girls who were in a secure residential facility. The narratives of former service …

From The Bx To A Ba: Latino Male Students And The Transition From High School To College, Alejandro Eduardo Carrion

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This study aims to provide a counter narrative to the deficit filled discourse surrounding Latino males by informing teachers, policymakers and researchers of the barriers and resources encountered by this population as they make the transition from high school to college. A qualitative research design was utilized for this study, which focused on 10 Latino males who mainly identified as Puerto Rican and Dominican, from the Bronx. Bourdieu's Theory of Practice, and his theoretical tools of field (structures), habitus (dispositions) and capital (social, cultural and economic), was used as the theoretical framework guiding this study. Participants shared the nuances of …

Chemistry Graduate Teaching Assistants: A Comparison Of The Classroom Discourse Within Expository And Problem-Based Learning Laboratories, Kelley M. Current

Masters Theses

Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) commonly function as instructors within undergraduate chemistry laboratories. This study sought to explore and describe GTA classroom discourse within two distinct instructional modes, using discourse analysis as the theoretical framework. Theclassroom discourse within a series of verification style labs was comparedto the classroom discourse produced within a set of Problem-Based Learning (PBL) labs. The results suggest three primary findings: (1) the apparent relationship between the instructional mode and form of GTA classroom discourse, (2) the patterns in classroom discourse observed within a given instructional mode repeat, irrespective of content, and (3) the classroom discourse observed within …

The Over-Education Of The Negro: Academic Novels, Higher Education And The Black Intellectual, Archie Lavelle Porter

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This dissertation focuses on the academic novel - a literary genre which fictionalizes the lives of students and professors in institutions of higher education. In particular this project focuses on academic novels written by black writers and which address issues in black higher education. This dissertation has two concurrent objectives: 1) to examine the academic novel as a particular genre of literature, and to highlight some specific novels on black American identity within this genre, and 2) to illustrate the pedagogical value of academic fiction. Through the ancient practice of storytelling, academic novels link the travails of the individual student …

Socialization Of International Women Faculty, Daniela Ximena Véliz Calderón

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Research indicates that women and minority faculty often experience disparate socialization experiences in academia (Clark & Corcoran, 1986; Tierney & Bensimon, 1996; Tierney & Rhoads, 1994). For faculty, a positive socialization experience can lead to a successful academic career, whereas a negative one can cause alienation and departure (Tierney & Rhoads, 1994). Faculty attrition rates are higher for women than for men (Menges & Exum, 1983; Rothblum, 1988), and at high prestige institutions, women and faculty of color may have higher rates of attrition (Olsen, Maple, & Stage, 1995). Currently, the majority of international faculty members are employed at research …

Social Media Use During The College Transition, Kevin J. Yurasek

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Starting college is an exciting and pivotal time for students. During this time, the student will be faced with challenges of his or her social identity and will need to develop or modify identities based on new social situations. Previous research shows that social media play a role in identity development, but there is little information regarding the extent. Are new college students using Facebook during their transition to communicate their new identity/social group to new peers? Are they using Facebook to maintain nostalgia for previous identities/social groups? This information will be valuable to higher education professionals working with these …

(Re)Envisioning Placement For 21st Century Writing Programs, Jessica Nastal-Dema

Theses and Dissertations

Writing assessment has continued to gain prominence within educational settings and public discourse in the United States throughout the past century. Placement into First-Year Writing, however, is consistently ignored in the scholarly literature, despite its central role within writing assessment and the university. This dissertation argues that placement is central to all students' university experiences, and deserves more attention. Placement is at the heart of composition: it affects each student, each instructor, each writing program, each institution. It significantly influences retention, instruction, budget, and even national reputation, since student retention and graduation rates are key factors in national rankings such …

An Examination Of The Psychological Contracts Of Contingent Faculty Teaching At Urban, Proprietary Colleges, Ann Marie Marlier

Theses and Dissertations

Even though proprietary colleges and universities continue to gain market share in the higher education landscape, negative perceptions about proprietary institutions remain including reliance on contingent faculty to meet fluctuating student enrollments. Little research about the experiences of contingent faculty teaching in proprietary settings exists, and even less research exists about the unwritten expectations, or psychological contracts, contingent faculty bring with them to the employment relationship with an institution. As heavy use of contingent faculty continues, campus administrators need a more comprehensive understanding of how to best manage the expectations, benefits, challenges, and resources of this type of employment relationship. …

Student's Perception Of Teacher Immediacy Behaviors On Student Success And Retention, Rebecca Rae Mullane

Theses and Dissertations

This investigation tested the relationship and the fit for a causal model between both verbal and nonverbal teacher immediacy behaviors in the classroom and affective learning, cognitive learning, and student success and retention. Data was collected from two distinct populations, a large Midwestern university and a Midwestern community college. Results indicate that both verbal and nonverbal teacher immediacy behaviors independently predict or cause a level of affective learning and cognitive learning, and affective learning predicts or causes cognitive learning, further supporting that path model. Practical implications of these findings are discussed and recommendations for areas of future research development are …

An Investigation Of The Implementation Of Support Services In A Graduate Advising Center, Susan W. Maxey

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Susan W. Maxey on April 10, 2014.

Faculty Perceptions Of Learning Spaces, Paul B. Czarapata, Doyle Friskney

Morehead State Theses and Dissertations

A capstone submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Education in the College of Education at Morehead State University by Paul B. Czarapata and Doyle Friskney on April 9, 2014.

Study Of The Design Of A First Generation Community College Stem Learning Community, Susan M. St. Pierre

Higher Education Student Work

First generation students attending college have difficulties achieving academic success, engaging with their peers and persisting (Jehangir, 2010); are growing in number on college campuses; and are significantly underrepresented in STEM programs of study. This research examined the role that a STEM focused Learning Community (STEM LC) and student participation in Early College programs with STEM exposure have on first generation student achievement engagement and retention. The purpose of the project was to research and design a framework for a community college STEM LC for first generation students as a means to increase academic achievement and student retention for this …

Postsecondary Writing: First-Year Students’ Perceptions Of College Writing Preparedness, Kerri E. Hoppe

Higher Education Student Work

As access to higher education continues to grow it is important to consider the way students are prepared for college level work. This is especially true in the area of writing, which is considered to be the academic skill most linked to success at the college level (Conley, 2008). This qualitative study investigates college writing preparedness through the perspectives of ten first-year students at a small, liberal arts institution in Massachusetts. The study sought to explore how K-12 institutions and postsecondary schools can work to better prepare students for college writing. Participants described the differences between secondary and postsecondary writing …

The Externship Experience: Developing A Short-Term Experiential Learning Opportunity To Enhance Career Development, Alexandra Finney

Higher Education Student Work

Research supports experiential learning models, focusing on career exploration, as one of the best ways college students can clarify their interests and determine future goals (Orndorff & Herr, 1996). This capstone explored the existing literature on: fundamental career development theories, experiential learning’s connection to career preparation, student populations needing additional career preparation, and ways to address these needs. Typically, sophomore students need but rarely receive this special attention, since they statistically have the highest withdrawal rates (Tobolowsky, 2008). This capstone project was conducted through a mixed methods pragmatic methodological assessment of the development and implementation of Merrimack College’s Externship Experience. …