Education Commons^™

Leadership Characteristics And Practices Of Selected High-Performing Nonprofit Organizations In Northeast Florida, Janie Karen Smalley

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The nonprofit sector plays a vital role in the quality of life in any community. Challenges such as economic fluctuations, the organization’s image in the community, and adverse legislative policies threaten the vitality of organizations. It is incumbent upon nonprofit leaders to help their organizations overcome these challenges. It is therefore important to understand leadership characteristics and practices of organizations that achieve a high-level of performance and have the ability to overcome threats to their success. The purpose of this mixed-method study was to examine the nonprofit sector in northeast Florida, identify a selected sample of high-performing organizations, and understand …

A Collective Case Study Of Mobile E-Book Learning Experiences, Jeffrey Scott Kissinger

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research was designed to explore the learning experiences of state college students using mobile e-book readers. The purpose of the study was to build a rich description of how students used electronic textbooks delivered on mobile computing devices for college-level, introductory sociology courses. This research employed a multiple case study design that thoroughly investigated and documented student experiences with this instructional technology.

The bounding frame was comprised of the literature on mobile technology, mobile learning theories, and e-books. Situated within the mobile learning framework was a theoretical lens of learning theories commonly found in the literature on mobile learning …

A Path Analysis Of The Behavioral Intention Of Secondary Teachers To Integrate Technology In Private Schools In Florida, John P. Mccombs

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research was designed to investigate the behavioral intention of a sample of teachers to develop curriculum based projects that require students to use technology. This research employed a quantitative study design of an educational version of the Universal Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology model. The UTAUT model was expanded to include factors from the Theory of Planned Behavior, and Social Cognitive Theory.

The sample was composed of 251 private school teachers in Florida who completed an on-line survey instrument based upon the UTAUT model. The results were analyzed with confirmatory factor analysis that identified several factors that …

Impact Of Teacher Demographic, Knowledge, And Instructional Variables On Children's Language Development, Donna Ellis

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of the present study was to determine whether a set of teacher demographic, knowledge, and instructional variables is related to preschool children’s literacy development. Specifically, the study investigated how these teacher variables impact children’s language development scores on the four subscales of the Preschool Language Assessment Instrument, Second Edition (PLAI2) and the four subscales of the Test of Language Development – Primary, Fourth Edition (TOLD-P:4). There were two major research questions in the study: (a) Will the predictor set of CLASS emotional support, CLASS classroom organization, CLASS instructional support, level of education, years teaching pre-kindergarten, and answers on …

The Effects Of Using Interactive Word Walls To Teach Vocabulary To Middle School Students, Ledale Southerland

UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Teaching vocabulary to middle school students requires that educators find the most effective means of instruction to achieve this goal. The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using an interactive word wall as the tool to combine five effective, research-based teaching strategies with social interaction to teach vocabulary to middle school students. In this study, 124 middle school students participated. The control group consisted of 67 eighth grade English students, and the intervention group was comprised of 57 seventh grade English students. The intervention was for a period of four weeks and included specific activities that …