Education Commons^™

The Impact Of Mentoring On Life Science Undergraduate Mentors, Kari Nelson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Universities are increasingly encouraging their undergraduates to become mentors to others, yet relatively little research has been done to empirically understand the impact of this work on the mentors themselves. Therefore, the overall goals of this work were: (1) To evaluate the types of studies that have been conducted on the impacts of serving as an undergraduate mentor; (2) To examine the methodological rigor of recent studies and make recommendations for improvement; and (3) To asses if serving as an undergraduate mentor impacted the critical thinking of the mentors, using a valid and reliable instrument, the California Critical Thinking Skills …

Leveraging A Teacher Mentorship Program In A Complex System, Jami L. Holbein Swanson

Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The support a beginning teacher receives varies from school to school, and from district to district. When beginning teachers are not supported, their learning as teachers is not maximized. New teacher induction is the strategy most school districts employ to support new-hires. Current scholarship suggests the terms induction and mentor program are often used interchangeably, but actually have very different definitions. Mentors programs are one component of a comprehensive induction program; where as, an induction program is a series of events or activities in the beginning years of a teacher’s career. Effectively leveraging the mentorship program in a complex system …

Women In Nontraditional Occupations: A Case Study Of Worker Motivation, Katherine Wesley

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

The Women in Apprenticeship and Nontraditional Occupation Act (WANTO Act) of 1992 highlighted an urgent matter facing the American workforce that persists today. The urgent matter in 2012 involves the precarious effect of demographics on the American labor market, placing women at the crux of engaging opportunity or maintaining status quo.

Women must be empowered and encouraged to seek employment opportunities they have never considered, e.g. male-dominated, nontraditional occupations, for the U.S. to keep pace with labor market needs. The need amplifies the myriad of issues for women in male-dominated, nontraditional occupations.

Among the barriers confronting women is the persistence …