Education Commons^™

Social Scientists' Conceptualization And Implementation Of Research Ethics And Integrity, Heather A. Pease

Dissertations

The purpose of the current study is to identify core themes, values, and principles through which social scientists conceptualize and implement research ethics and integrity. Periods of rapid growth and interest in research ethics and integrity often coincide with significant scientific discoveries (e.g., mapping of the human genome) or scientific misconduct (e.g., Tuskegee studies). Even though research policies are being developed, they are done in a manner which does not maximize the opportunities to regulate ethics and integrity within social science research. The laws and programs aimed at mitigating acts of misconduct were originally intended for biomedical sciences, yet they …

Quality Assurance In Online Graduate Education: Program Review Processes And Assessment Techniques Used In Higher Education, Lindsay N. Turner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for conducting the study was to form an understanding of the online program assessment and assessment processes in higher education, and how program review processes were adopted and implemented through institutional policies in regard to industry quality assurance standards. The study looked at institutions classified as very high, high, or research universities by the Carnegie Classifications, and which offered online masters programs focused on preparing students for positions in educational administration or leadership roles. The study used an electronic survey and content analysis through institutional policy and quality assurance documents to develop a recommendation for institutional level quality …

The Educational Benefits Of Cultural Institutions, Brian Kisida

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A significant portion of the education children receive occurs outside of the traditional classroom and produces outcomes not typically captured by standardized achievement tests. This dissertation is part of an effort to expand the educational venues and outcomes educational researchers rigorously examine. In particular, I present the key results from experimental studies of the effects of school tours to the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, AR., and to the Museum of Discovery in Little Rock, AR.

Chapter 1 focuses on arts exposure and critical thinking outcomes. A problem for the arts’ role in education has been a …

Implementing The Caspie Coursebased Research Experience At The United States Military Academy: Affective Responses And Effects On Critical Thinking, Anthony Michael Chase

Open Access Theses

The Center for Authentic Science Practices in Education (CASPiE) pioneered a course-based research experience approach to teaching chemistry laboratory courses. The method had previously been studied in a variety of institutional settings. Recently, the United States Military Academy at West Point decided to develop CASPiE-style modules for the introductory honors chemistry course. This research setting presents clean experimental-control comparisons and a group of faculty who were completely new to the method. Equipping students with authentic research experiences early in their education is important regardless of the institution. However, cadets at a military academy must make decisions relatively early (the outset …

Analyzing Responses To Open Ended Questions For Spirit Using Aspect Oriented Sentiment Analysis, Animesh Jain

Open Access Theses

Open ended questions provide an effective way of measuring the attitude and perception of respondents towards a topic. Surprising Possibilities Imagined and Realized through Information Technology (SPIRIT) was a program (2008-2012) that employed open-ended questions to gauge program participants' attitudes related to computing. SPIRIT sought to increase the interest of high school students, especially female students, towards computing courses and careers. Pre- and post-attitude surveys were used during the program to measure the changes in attitudes of the participants towards IT and also to analyze the impact different sessions had on different demographic groups of participants. The open-ended survey questions …

The Academic Impacts Of Attending A Kipp Charter School In Arkansas, Caleb P. Rose

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

KIPP Delta College Preparatory School (KIPP: DCPS), an open-enrollment charter school, opened in 2002 in Helena, Arkansas. Since its opening, KIPP: DCPS students have consistently outperformed their peers in the Helena/West Helena School district, and moreover, recent test scores suggest that white students and minority students are achieving at the same rate, essentially eliminating the achievement gap that persists between whites and minorities elsewhere in the state. In fact, KIPP's achievement record was so influential that when Arkansas lawmakers instituted a cap on the number of open-enrollment charter schools in the state, they made an exception for KIPP, essentially allowing …

A Comparative Study Of Exact Versus Propensity Matching Techniques Using Monte Carlo Simulation, Mukaria J. J. Itang'ata

Dissertations

Often researchers face situations where comparative studies between two or more programs are necessary to make causal inferences for informed policy decision-making. Experimental designs employing randomization provide the strongest evidence for causal inferences. However, many pragmatic and ethical challenges may preclude the use of randomized designs. In such situations, subject matching provides an alternative design approach for conducting causal inference studies. This study examined various design conditions hypothesized to affect matching procedures’ bias recovery ability.

See attachment for full abstract.

Pre- And Post- Wage Differences Of Trade Adjustment Assistance Job Training Participants In Arkansas, Kimberley Hall Gordon

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A number of costs are associated with the implementation of trade agreements not the least of which is the cost to the American workforce. The information age ushered in an era of globalization unlike anything the world economy had experienced before. As countries raced forward to dominate emerging markets and grow market share, millions of American workers were left in the wake. A remedy to the plight of the dislocated worker was found in trade adjustment assistance, specifically in job training benefits.

This study examined the wage differences experienced by Trade Adjustment Assistance (TAA) job training participants served through the …

Wayfaring Strangers: A Case Study Of Rural Developmental Writers In The Missouri Ozarks, Robert Andrew Griffith

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation describes a year-long ethnographic study of rural basic writers in the Missouri Ozarks. Using Richard Hofstadter's concept of "anti-intellectualism" as a theoretical lens, I explored the attitudes of students towards writing and academic culture. This exploration was conducted by means of questionnaires, interviews, writing samples, and several experimental courses.

Using all these data-collection mechanisms, I was able to identify three characteristics of these students. They were likely to demonstrate a dualistic ("right/wrong") epistemology. Accordingly, they expected their academic reading to make matter-of-fact truth claims. Finally, students were unlikely to understand the transformative nature of any educational enterprise, hoping …

Students With Reading Disabilities Participating In Literature Discussions: A Case Study, Elysha Patino O’Brien

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative case study addressed a lack of research concerning literature discussions for students with learning disabilities in reading. Fourth and fifth grade students with reading disabilities participated in twice-weekly literature discussions, 30- to-60 minutes each, for 12 weeks. The students attended a Title I school and most were Hispanic males. Together, they read and discussed five postmodern picturebooks. The purpose of the study was to understand (a) reader responses to the illustrations, text, and postmodern features of the books, and (b) the individual reader’s response habits. Situated within a sociocultural frame, the theories guiding this study pertained to language …

Reaction To Social Pressure From Adults Versus Peers Among Mexican, Mexican-American, And Anglo-American Rural Children, Ana Maria C. Donini

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this project was to investigate whether there was a significant difference in the adherence to conventional morality and the reaction to social pressure from adults versus peers among Mexican, Mexican-American, and Anglo-American children. The instrument used was the Moral Dilemmas Test (MDT) developed by Bronfenbrenner, Devereux, Suci, and Rodgers, which measures the reported readiness of children to engage in morally disapproved behavior and their reaction to social pressure exerted by adults and peers. The subjects were asked to respond to a series of conflict situations under three experimental conditions of confidentiality, scrutiny by parents, and scrutiny by …