Education Commons^™

Perceptions Of Mode Selection Of Textbook Delivery Across Course Subjects, Gail M. Spencer-Scott

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Universities are exploring the use of e-books in order to mitigate the high cost of textbooks. The study university was providing both delivery modes to students but was considering adapting to using e-books exclusively. An investigation of users' perceptions on textbook delivery modes had not been conducted at the local site. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of students about using e-books and the experiences of textbook directors in the decision-making processes regarding the use of e-books versus textbooks. The Davis' Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) served as the conceptual framework for the study and …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Influence Of Teacher Collaboration On Teacher Morale, Alison Goldstein

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Currently in secondary education, there is an impetus to have educators collaborate; however, teaching has often been perceived as a solitary occupation, and often logistics prevent collaboration from occurring. Furthermore, the stress of the job, teaching of different disciplines, and low morale can often prevent teachers from collaboration. The research problem addressed in this study reflects the challenges that teachers have with engaging in collaboration. The purpose of the qualitative case study was to understand how teachers are affected by collaboration, the barriers that prevent collaboration, and the possible benefits of collaboration. This case study is grounded in the constructivist …

Assessing Student Leadership Competencies And Adequacy Of Preparation In Seminary Training, Valerie Miles-Tribble

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

As more seminary student-practitioners seek non-pastoral leadership roles in faith-based

and secular organizations, the complexities of the roles demand leadership competencies beyond traditional religious study. Limited research assessing leadership competencies in seminary contexts raises uncertainty about whether leadership preparation needs are addressed adequately in seminary. This quantitative study focused on whether or not student self-assessed adequacy of preparation is related to, affected by, or influenced by self-assessed leadership competencies, individually or in the aggregate. The theoretical foundation joined Evers, Rush, and Berdrow's learner-centered theory that urges student input on competency development needs and Boyatzis's leadership competency theory that frames a …

High School Students' Participation In Fine Arts Programs And Perceived Leadership Self-Efficacy, Howard Benjamin Burge

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Research suggests that participation in fine arts programs may enhance the development of leadership skills in student populations; however, few studies have examined the unique association between fine arts students and the development of their leadership self-efficacy skills. Lambert's theory of constructive leadership formed the theoretical framework for this quantitative study. The 3 research questions asked whether there is a significant relationship between (a) the number of programs and self-reported leadership self-efficacy, (b) the type of programs and the self-reported leadership self-efficacy, and (c) the quality of programs and the self-reported leadership self-efficacy. The sample included 103 high school students …

Perceptions Of Discipline Policy, Practices, And Student Incivilities Related To Senge's Five Disciplines, Nkoh Lovonne Gaston

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

High occurrences of student incivilities are a growing concern in the K-12 education system. This problem may be directly impacted by systems thinking and inconsistent school policy enforcement. At a local high school, this problem affected student learning outcomes and teacher-student interpersonal relationships. The purpose of this case study was to explore the perceptions of teachers and administrators regarding consistency in discipline policies and practices, as well as student incivilities as they related to Senge's 5 disciplines. The conceptual framework for this study was Senge's 5 disciplines of organizational learning: systems thinking, mental models, team learning, shared vision, and personal …

School Counselors' Perceived Multicultural Competence, Adherence To The Asca National Model, And Students' Performance, Jessica Helene Conroy

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Multicultural competence (MCC), despite its integral part in school counseling and the school setting, is not applied within the American School Counselor Association (ASCA) national model (NM). Rather, the ASCA NM is a guideline that is expected of school counselors with limited opportunity for deviation. Without incorporating multicultural practices in the school setting, student performance may suffer. Student performance affects everyone who is learning, working, or has a child who is or will be at the middle school level. The purpose of this study was to identify if perceived MCC, as measured by the MCCTS-R, and/or adherence to the ASCA …

Middle School Mathematics Teachers' Perspective Of Technology Integration: A Qualitative Case Study, Patricia Coleman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many studies have documented that technology integration increases summative assessment scores, yet many teachers do not integrate technology in their teaching. The purpose of this qualitative study was to discover the extent to which middle school mathematics educators are or are not integrating technology in a school district where summative scores were below mathematics state benchmarks. Guided by instructional constructivism and the technology acceptance model, this case study examined how teachers perceived advantages and barriers to mathematics instruction that uses technology. Five of the nine mathematics teachers at the middle school volunteered to participate in a semi-structured interview and be …

Addressing Gaps In Student Reading: Read 180 Program Evaluation, Shonda Patrice Pittman-Windham

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students are reaching middle school 2 or more years behind in reading ability. As a result, they are unable to meet state testing standards. In 2007, the READ 180 program was implemented at an urban middle school in Virginia to address the reading gaps of these middle school students. The purpose of this sequential mixed-method program evaluation was to analyze the reading success of 30 READ 180 students and the perceptions of 4 teachers who taught the READ 180 curriculum. The theoretical framework that served as a basis for this study was Vygotsky's zone of proximal development, which holds that …

Student Perceptions Of Connectedness In Online Courses, Cynthia Dawn Worley

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Students who obtain college degrees have a higher earning potential and greater likelihood of employment. Although researchers have found that student enrollment and performance in online college courses has increased, attrition has also risen at a higher rate than in face-to-face courses. The problem of declining persistence in online courses at a rural community college in the Southeastern United States was addressed in this study. The community of inquiry framework was used in this qualitative case study to explore perceptions of 10 experienced online learners. The research questions were focused on students' perceptions of the roles of connectedness and student …

Implementing Assistive Technology Through Program Planning, Shaune Lasheane Mckinney

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Special education (SPED) service providers in the military are often underprepared to use the needed assistive technology (AT) in the classroom. This concurrent mixed-method study sought to explore the attitudes, skills, and quality indicators of assistive technology (QIAT) among 19 currently employed military SPED certified multidisciplinary team members. The conceptual framework of this study was based on the professional learning community model, which holds that the team members work collaboratively to educate the families it serves. All team members completed a quantitative QIAT survey and open-ended questionnaire, and individual qualitative interviews were conducted with a subsample of 8 volunteer staff. …

School Administrator And Staff Member Perceptions Of A Teenage Pregnancy Prevention Program, Sharon Lacretia Mcconnell-Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Mississippi is among the states with the highest teenage pregnancy rates, and the study site is among the high schools with the highest teenage pregnancy rates in the state. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to identify successful practices and areas for improvement in the implementation of a teenage pregnancy prevention program (TPPP) at the study site based on the perspectives of school administrators and staff members. Bandura's social cognitive theory provided a conceptual framework for considering behaviors and the social contexts in which they occur. Twelve participants were interviewed, including 3 administrators and 9 staff members. Data …

Strategies For Developing Interpersonal Communication Skills For Business Students, Sharon A. Pope

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Strategies for Developing Interpersonal Communication Skills for Business Students

by

Sharon A. Pope

M.B.A., Cleveland State University, 1995

M.S.H.P/A., University of Cincinnati, 1983

B.Ed., University of Toledo, 1981

Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment

of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Education

Walden University

December 2015

Research has shown that interpersonal communication skills (ICS) are important for employment success, particularly if they are learned by students during college. A private university in Ohio identified the need to enhance students' ICS; however, the university's faculty lacked strategies to teach those required skills. The purpose of this qualitative case study …

Role Ambiguity, Role Strain, Job Dissatisfaction, And Difficulty Transitioning Into Academia Among Nursing Faculty, Paula Stallard Whitehead

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Registered nurses with experience in the clinical area entering academia go through a transition that may lead to difficulties such as role ambiguity and role strain when beginning a new job. The purpose of this study was to understand the experiences leading to role ambiguity, role strain, difficulty with role transition, and job dissatisfaction among the faculty at colleges of nursing in the mountain region of Western North Carolina. Guided by Kahn's organizational role theory and Schlossberg's transition theory, research questions investigated the nursing faculty experience of role ambiguity, role strain, difficulty transitioning into academia, and job dissatisfaction. A qualitative …

Preparation And Support Of Female Head Athletic Trainers In Collegiate Sport, Bekki Turner

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Title IX of the U.S. Education Amendments of 1972 has significantly improved women's access to previously male-dominated areas of education in the United States, but few of these studies have focused on the experiences of women currently in the higher education field. This study explored female head athletic trainers' perceptions of the role of U.S. higher education institutions in preparing and supporting their achievement of leadership positions in U.S. collegiate sports: it also explored their views on potential changes in current higher education curricula and certification processes. This phenomenological study used Ridgeway's status construction theory as its theoretical lens for …

Nclex-Rn Predictor Test Scores And Nclex-Rn Success, Annie Ruth Grant

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Health care professionals and nurse educators are concerned about increasing percentage of first time test takers failing the NCLEX-RN exam. The purpose of this retrospective study was to examine predictive accuracy of the Assessment Technologies Institute (ATI) RN Comprehensive Predictor for passing or failing the NCLEX-RN exam in a cohort of nursing students (N = 195). South Eastern Technical College in South Carolina is in jeopardy of losing accreditation for their nursing program because of the low percentage of first time test takers failing. The college's pass rate on the NCLEX-RN exam has been below the national and state averages …

A Case Study Of Rti Data Teams, William Lee Washington

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This qualitative case study addressed the persistent achievement gaps in annual measurable objectives (AMO) data at a public rural elementary school in the Mideast United States. Response to intervention (RTI) data teams from 2010 did not produce expected student gains after 5 years of implementation in the school under study. Based on Mandinach and Jackson's data-driven decision making conceptual framework, the purpose of this study was to examine the work of the RTI data teams as they attempted to improve student learning and close achievement gaps. A purposeful sample of 13 staff members involved in the RTI implementation process was …

Middle School Teachers' Experiences With Cross-Curricular Connections At The Incident Level, Melita M. Penchalk

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many curricular innovations, including cross-curricular teaching, are started in schools without adequate teacher preparation and support, reducing the effectiveness of the interventions in supporting student learning. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to describe the implementation of the cross-curricular connections teaching technique in middle schools. Research questions focused on how middle school teachers experienced implementation of cross-curricular teaching at the incident level and how teachers perceived cross-curricular teaching and its long-term value. Myers-Briggs personality type theory informed the study, supporting the postulation that teachers are more comfortable teaching from their personality types. Data from 10 middle school teachers …

Effect Of Sleep On Vigilance, Short-Term Memory, And Learning In College Students, Ayesha Uddin

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Despite years of research supporting a link between sleep and cognitive functioning, little research has focused on the effect of sleep on cognitive factors in the college population. According to the trace reactivation hypothesis, sleep plays a crucial role in memory consolidation and learning. Cognitivism further indicates that the processing of information is limited when sleep is restricted. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the effect of sleep on vigilance, short-term memory, and learning; an additional goal was to test whether these variables influence grade point average (GPA). Sleep and GPA data were collected using self-report questionnaires. …

How Discourse In Public Community College Documents Supports The Learning College Philosophy, Terri Ackland

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Since the late 1990s, community colleges have changed strategies to enhance student success, moving from a traditional faculty-focused teaching model to a student-focused learning paradigm using O'Banion's 6 college learning principles to define and guide the learning college model. However, it is unclear how much the model is being used by community colleges or shared with stakeholders. The learning college model, supported by transformational language research on decision making and innovative thinking, provided a conceptual framework for this discourse analysis study. The purpose of this study was to discover the extent to which the language of the learning college model …

Exploring Teacher Perceptions Of Blended Learning, Jill I. Sorbie

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although research supports the blended learning methodology as a way to personalize and engage students, research also documents the widespread hesitation among educators when it comes to embracing technology. District leaders believe that such is the case in an upper Midwest school district where all high school students are provided devices, yet these leaders note that few teachers are fully exploiting the tools. Framed by the connectivism and social constructivism theories, this qualitative case study focused on teachers' views of blended learning, its influence on their teaching practices, and how they see it helping students to learn. The guiding research …

Retrospective Study Of Trauma Programming And, Domonique La'toya Rice

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

In state psychiatric hospitals in the United States, many patients are admitted with a history of trauma. Although trauma-focused interventions are offered within these psychiatric facilities, there remain issues with the higher-than-average length of treatment and rehospitalization rates for patients with a diagnosis of posttraumatic stress disorder or for those who are suffering with a history of trauma. This study investigated between group differences for measured levels of attendance and type of group intervention (which included the men's trauma recovery empowerment model, dialectical behavior therapy, and art and healing) on the risk for violence as measured by scores on the …

Exploring The Experiences And Relationships Of First-Year Teachers And Mentors, Melanie Jane Strey

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Educators have a moral imperative and job-embedded expectation to effectively teach all students, which requires a commitment to continued personal growth. The purpose of this instrumental project study was to explore the lived experiences of first-year teachers and their mentors who teach in a culturally-diverse school district. The conceptual framework was based on supporting adult learning methods through the theories of critical thinking, constructivist perspective, the theory of mentoring, and culturally-instructional teaching. The guiding research questions addressed the perceptions of 5 first-year teachers and 5 mentors regarding individual and shared learning as a result of mentor-mentee relationship. A constant comparison …

A Program Evaluation Of My MathTm: Improving Student Computational Fluency Through Inquiry-Based Instruction, Andrea Townsend

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This program evaluation study addressed a critical deficiency in early childhood math proficiency for a local urban school district. To strengthen students' skills in mathematics, the district adopted the Common Core State Standards and piloted an inquiry-based instructional program called My Math. The purpose of this project study was to determine the extent to which My Math met the goals of improving Grades K-2 students' math proficiency. The conceptual framework was based on theories of multiple intelligences, social learning, and foundations of social development. The National Program Evaluation Standards were used to guide the program evaluation. The research questions centered …

Students' Learning Experiences And Perceptions Of Online Course Content And Interactions, Alex Azike Nwankwo

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The recent economic downturn has increased demand for higher education. Because most postsecondary schools offer online courses, it is necessary to assess the effectiveness of those offerings and provide information that will assist colleges and universities in meeting citizens' educational needs. This qualitative case study was used to examine the learning experiences and perceptions of students in online courses at a university in the western United States. Moore's transactional distance learning theory was used to assess interactions among students, instructors, and course content. Purposive sampling was used to select 18 students from 3 university departments to participate in the study. …

Teachers' Perceptions Of The Reading Achievement Gap Between High-Achieving Students And Below-Basic Students, Helen Anne Iaconelli

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Atlantic Avenue Elementary School (AAES) experienced reading achievement gaps between high-performing students and below-basic students within the school reading curriculum and balanced literacy framework. Vygotsky's theories of scaffolding and zone of proximal development served as the framework guiding this project, which used a qualitative case study design to explore reading teachers' perceptions of the ways in which they were addressing this reading achievement gap. Individual interviews, classroom observations, and lesson plans were the sources of the qualitative data collected from 6 reading teachers. The data were coded manually using emerging and constant-comparative strategies to identify common themes. The themes that …

The Effects Of A K-12 Dual Language Instruction Program On Student College Readiness, Danielle Adair Cortes

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Diverse student populations are increasing in local, state, and national settings. There are achievement gaps in college readiness which must be closed between various student demographic groups. It is important for schools to know what methods work best for language acquisition to close the gaps and open postsecondary opportunities for all students. The purpose of this sequential, explanatory, mixed-method, formative program evaluation study was to examine the effects of a dual language (DL) program on improving the college readiness of students. Guided by the framework of learning and second language acquisition, college readiness levels between DL and non-DL students were …

Read 180 Evaluation: Balanced Literacy In A Low-Income, Underperforming Urban High School, Daniel Lombardi

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This study investigated the effectiveness of the READ 180 balanced literacy program in addressing the problem of low reading achievement among urban minority high school students. Research has shown low reading achievement to negatively impact academic and economic success. Holdaway's theory of natural literacy, which suggests reading instruction should be purposeful and realistic, supports READ 180 as a remedial intervention. The specific purpose of the study was to evaluate READ 180 in relation to improving classroom reading achievement, standardized language arts test scores, and graduation rates among students in a low-income, high-minority urban high school. Subjects were 2 cohorts of …

Relationships Among Adult Student Performance And Satisfaction Variables For One Campus Of A Career University's Mba Programs, Curtis G. Smith

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The number of adult learners has grown significantly since World War II, and workplace environments have expanded to embrace many new areas of expertise and knowledge. The expectations of these learners in terms of the courses offered by career universities have become increasingly diverse. University personnel need to find ways that optimize and align courses offered with those expectations. The purpose of this correlational study was to understand the relationships between outcome variables in adult education programs and students' perceptions of the quality of their educational programs. Five historically tracked variables were examined: program GPA, job placement rate, program completion …

A Phenomenological Study Of High School Teachers' Motivation As Related To Teacher Performance Management, Richard Hugh Wildman

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Teacher motivation factors prominently in the sustainable development of educational institutions, and relate to self-efficacy, job satisfaction, and retention. Prior motivational research in education has addressed factors relating to teacher motivation, but there is a dearth of research into the impact of performance management on motivation. This phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of 5 teachers in relation to the performance management process in the selected school. The project study was guided by Bandura's social cognitive theory, Maslow's hierarchy of needs, and Herzberg's motivation-hygiene theory. In-depth, semistructured interviews were used to extract the essence of the lived experiences as expressed …

A Mixed-Methods Investigation Of Heterogeneously Grouped Inclusion Students At Southeast High School, James Paul Ferry

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Inclusion education led to academically-homogeneous grouping of students at southeast high school. Administratively, the decision was made to increase rigor, inclusion students would be grouped heterogeneously in senior economics classes. Guided by Dewey's pragmatic theory, the purpose of this sequential, explanatory, mixed method study was to investigate whether a significant difference exists in the course passing rates, end-of-course test (EOCT) scores, and graduation rates between inclusion students in heterogeneous classes and those in homogeneous classes and how participants perceived the grouping. Archival data (N = 42) on student instructional grouping, passing rates, EOCT scores, and graduation rates were analyzed using …