Education Commons^™

A Pilot Study To Explore The Use Of Expressive Writing To Reduce Anxiety And Psychological Threat In An Academic Setting, Cynthia Delores Jenkins

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to investigate if the use of Pennebaker's short-term expressive writing intervention would have a positive effect on the academic performance of a group of third semester underperforming freshmen. This is a relatively brief and simple intervention pioneered by J. W. Pennebaker (1997) who conducted numerous studies using the procedure. Most of the research has involved having subjects write about traumatic, stressful or emotional events for 15–20 minutes (the maximum) over 3–5 days. In contrast, the studies by Wilson (2006) and Cohen et al (2006) used self-affirmations for writing. For this study self-affirmation directions were …

A Phenomenological Case Study Of The Multicultural Counseling Experience Of Students And Faculty In Relation To Their Perceptions Of Their Multicultural Competency And Cacrep Standards, Nial P. Quinlan

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The shifting population demographics of the United States are an unmistakable sign that the work of professional counselors and educators will continue to see an increase in the diversity of their client populations. It can be surmised, that paralleling this population change will be a subsequent increase in the demand for multicultural sensitive education and counseling, with particular attention being given to oppressed and marginalized groups who have been traditionally underserved. The counseling profession, guided by the American Counseling Association's (ACA) Code of Ethics, has unequivocally stated that professional counselors need to be proficient at providing multicultural competent counseling services …

Attitudes And Beliefs Of Counselor Educators Toward Gatekeeping, Joanna W. Campbell

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine attitudes and beliefs of counselor educators toward gatekeeping, which become overt in gatekeeping decisions in the context of stringent and less stringent decisions made at seven gates that counselors-in-training must pass though to graduate, and factors extraneous to counselor-in-training competence that may influence gatekeeping decisions. A total of 84 counselor educators participated in this study. Results showed that counselor educators are most stringent at the admissions gate; that less stringent gatekeeping decisions are made by counselor educators who have experience as a professional counselor prior to becoming a counselor educator at the …

Experiences Of School Counselors During And After Making Suspected Child Abuse And Neglect Reports, April Sikes

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of school counselors during or after making suspected child abuse and neglect reports. The survey population for this study consisted of all members of the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) who identified themselves as working in elementary, elementary/middle, middle/junior high, middle/secondary, secondary/high school, and K-12 work settings. Email addresses were obtained from the ASCA online member directory during the summer of 2008. A total of 847 surveys were completed and returned. A total of 11,113 ASCA members were sent surveys. Of those sent, 7,021 were returned undeliverable, suggesting that the …

Middle School Parents' Perceptions Of Career And Technical Education, Virginia R. Powers Jones

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

This study explored middle school parents' perceptions of the contributions career and technical education could make to their child's educational or workforce plans. It also examined what actions parents undertake to influence their child's plans, specifically the impact of the career exploration tool, Coin Career Community©, on their actions. Last, the study explored the correlation between the course choices students made in ninth grade relative to their parents' perceptions.

This study took place at Halifax County Middle School, located in South Boston, Virginia, in spring 2009. This school was the only middle school in the county with a student population …