Education Commons^™

Students' Lived Experiences Of The Realization Of Academic Wrongness (Raw), Dana Carol Kemery

Theses and Dissertations

Being wrong is a common phenomenon for students in academic environments; however this phenomenon has yet to be described from the student perspective. The purpose of this phenomenologic inquiry is to describe the realization of academic wrongness (RAW) as experienced by senior level nursing students during a high stakes testing period. Observations, class documents, communications, and semi-structured interviews were collected to gain a full description for the realization of academic wrongness within context and as this phenomenon unfolded for the students. The data were analyzed using Moustakas (1994) 7 step phenomenological process. Fourteen invariant constituents emerged during data analysis which …

Learning Language With Technology In A Hybrid University Eap Course, Jerol Brent Enoch

Dissertations

Today’s college campuses are offering increased alternatives to the traditional face-to-face classroom, including hybrid or blended courses that combine online and face-to-face elements. Language learning is no exception. This instrumental case study examines the affordances and constraints of integrating technology into a hybrid language classroom, following one teacher’s construction of an undergraduate, hybrid English for Academic Purpose (EAP) grammar class for ten international students in their first year of study at an American university. Drawing on data from this single classroom case, findings address both the instructor’s and students’ perceptions of course content and delivery, knowledge expression activities, and classroom …

School Libraries, Disabilities, And A Phenomenological Progression To Policy Change, Patrice Narret Foerster

Dissertations

Research has shown that school librarians are not well equipped to work with students who have disabilities. Applying a conceptual framework culled from the public policy process literature, this phenomenological study used interviews with Washington, DC, policy workers--some of whom advocate for students with disabilities--to explore the possible connection between library experiences and the placement of libraries within the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA). The findings indicate that these workers are not framing libraries in the same way that library professionals do and are not viewing school libraries as a direct source of student instruction. This dichotomy suggests that …

Refreshment For The Soul: A Phenomenological Study Of The Student Experience Of Beauty In School, Paul Reiff

Dissertations

Prompted by the ratio-scientific emphasis in the curriculum, I conducted this study to explore the lifeworlds of students to understand their lived experience of beauty in school. This investigation entailed a phenomenological study, the method of which included in-depth interviews and focus group discussions with four high school students. This study aimed to examine the essence of beauty in the lived experience of students in school, to explore the perceptions of students regarding school as a place to appreciate beauty, and to understand the needs of students as a place that develops their aesthetic sensibilities. The findings include the description …

The Essence Of The Library At A Public Research University As Seen Through Key Constituents’ Lived Experiences, George Joseph Fowler

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

“The library is the heart of the university” is an oft-repeated metaphor used to describe the role or centrality of the library. The implication is that the library is central to the university’s teaching, research, and service mission. This concept, though previously generally accepted without authoritative proof, is facing numerous challenges to its validity. There has been considerable research and talk about how to make the library central, again. Much has been focused on what to do, rather than why.

As John Budd stated in 1995, “grounded study of the use of libraries, say, or of the transmission of information …

“It’S Like A Mountain”: The Lived Experience Of Homeless College Students, Valerie Karen Ambrose

Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to describe the experience of college for homeless students. Using a phenomenological approach, the researcher completed interviews in which participants were asked to describe what college was like for them. The interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using a hermeneutic approach. All interviews were analyzed within the contexts of each other to identify themes. The participants all lived in a world of homelessness that they could never fully ignore. The world of homelessness was grounded in the contexts of the body and other people. An encompassing central theme of “Escaping the Homeless World through …

Am I A Bully? A Mixed Methods Phenomenological Study Of The Perspectives And Experiences Of Girls Who Are Relationally Aggressive, Laura A. Hogarth

Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

This explanatory mixed-methods, phenomenological study investigated how relationally aggressive females perceive and experience their social world. The first, quantitative phase of the study included 237 students (85 males, 152 females) in grades 6 to grade 8 from four different schools. All students completed the quantitative measures of the study; a peer nomination scale of relational aggression, the Basic Empathy Scale (Joliffe & Farrington, 2006), and a self-concept measure, the Self-Description Questionnaire Short Form (Marsh et al., 2005). Female students whose mean relational aggression score was greater than 1 SD about the class mean, and received votes from more than 30% …

The Cultural Isolation Of Providers And Educators Caused By Stigma And Compassion Fatigue When Serving Survivors Of Invisible Wounds, Bronwyn G. Pughe

Ed.D. Dissertations in Practice

Abstract

The purpose of this phenomenological study is to give voice to the lived experience of providers and educators regarding stigma and compassion fatigue. In this study, using critical social theory as a lens, I seek to understand how providers and educators experience and recognize the stigma they carry, their own compassion fatigue and what they do to stay healthy—including mental physical, emotional/psychological, intellectual, and spiritual health.

The Student Experience Of Other Students, Brian Kelleher Sohn

Doctoral Dissertations

The literature on higher education classroom climate and its relationship to teaching and learning is dominated by studies and theorizing regarding the role of the instructor. But when instructors use learner-centered approaches and diffuse the role and authority of the teacher, students gain a higher level of influence in the learning experience of their peers. In this phenomenological case study of a unique graduate seminar, I interpreted the thematic structure of the student experience of other students (SEOS). Data sources included field notes, audio recordings of class sessions, weekly student post-class reflections, and individual and focus group interviews with students. …

Saudi Women Studying In The United States: Understanding Their Experiences, Trinidad Macias

Theses & Dissertations

The number of students from Saudi Arabia studying in the United States is increasing; this study focused on understanding Saudi women studying in the United States. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to address the main research question: What are the perceptions of Saudi women on their experiences as international college students in the United States? In an attempt to understand their experiences, eleven Saudi Arabian women were interviewed. Data were collected using a semi-structured interview format. Analysis of the data was conducted via a four-step process that consisted of transcribing the interviews, reduction, horizontalization, and imaginative variation (Merriam, 2002). …

A Day In Their Shoes: Lived Experiences Of Five Agricultural Education Teachers Working With English Learners, Julie A. Ketterling

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation took a phenomenological approach in order to take a deeper look into the experiences of five agricultural education teachers that taught English Learner (EL) students and factors that affected those experiences. Dunkin and Biddle’s (1973) Teacher Model provided the conceptual framework and underpinnings for the literature review. The study identified a pilot study teacher with EL experience and 4 agricultural education teachers that taught agricultural education at schools with at least a 15% EL student population. The interviews were semi-structured in nature and each was audiotaped and later transcribed. Each of the transcribed interviews was coded. Through a …

Losing Diana: Children And Families Reflect On The Closing Of A School In Rural West Virginia, Allison Nicole Pyle

Theses, Dissertations and Capstones

This was a phenomenological study that explored school consolidation through the lived experiences and perceptions of students and their families. This study included five elementary students, ranging from second through sixth grade and six adult participants, including parents and grandparents. Individual interviews, focus groups, and artifact exploration were utilized as the primary data collection methods. Because school consolidation is a social as well as an individual experience, this study worked through the constructivist perspective to allow a greater understanding of the complexities and nuances of personal relationships that develop and evolve throughout the consolidation process. This study also utilized feminist …

A Phenomenological Study: Foster Care Youth Aging Out Of The System, Guy Thompson

Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this applied dissertation was to explore the lived experiences of teens aging out of foster care, in an effort to better understand their needs. While the child welfare system is geared towards family preservation, reunification, and adoption, most young adults transitioning from the foster care system are not reunited with family members or are only reunited as a last resort. Unfortunately, every year, thousands are leaving the support of the foster care system, unprepared. Youth departing the child welfare system are not gradually transitioned into becoming self-sufficient. They do not have an effective support system available if …

Voices Of Perseverance: A Phenomenological Exploration Of The Life Histories Of Female African-American Registered Nurses, Marva E. Brooks

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

There is a demand in the United States for a representative body of registered nurses to meet the needs of an ever-growing, aging, and increasingly diverse population. The implementation of the Affordable Care Act and the aging and retirement of the majority White nursing workforce created a need for a diverse body of competent and culturally-sensitive nurses to care for the aging baby boomers, an increasingly diverse population, and to counter healthcare disparities. Lack of diversity in nursing has been compounded by the high attrition rate of minorities in nursing education programs, particularly African Americans, the largest minority group in …

Latina Principals In Southern California: A Phenomenological Look Into Their Journey Towards Leadership, Fabiola Bagula

Dissertations

California is home to almost 15 million Latinos, however, according to the 2015 State of Higher Education Report for California, only 12% of the Latino population between the ages of 25 and 64 has a baccalaureate degree or higher, compared with 42% of the White population. Latina students have some of the lowest levels of educational attainment at every point in their K-12 journey and in general, very low occupational attainment. Given these troubling findings, this research sought to understand and tell the stories of Latinas in k-12 leadership positions in Southern California. In this study, Latinas describe how they …

Capabilities Eroded And Childcare Dilemmas: A Phenomenological Study Of Low-Income Single Student Mothers In Higher Education In The United States And Germany, Katja Robinson

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to explore the lifeworlds of low-income, single student mothers in two contrasting welfare regimes, the United States and Germany, to understand how their individual experiences as students and as mothers at the micro-level were shaped by policies regarding childcare and financial support at the macro-level. As single mothers represent a marginalized constituency, the capabilities approach in combination with the concept of defamilisation was used as an analytical framework that focused on their individual and social well-being. The objective of this cross-national study was to provide a deeper understanding of how the issues of …

Effects Of The Green Life Nature Education Program For 4th Grade Students Who Attend Bay Area Title One Schools: A Mixed-Methods Study, Jessica Blundell

Doctoral Dissertations

This explanatory sequential design mixed-methods evaluation measures the effects of the GLNE program on (a) students’ personal and social skills (b) students’ stewardship of the environment (c) students’ knowledge and understanding of science concepts. Quantitative survey data and qualitative data from a phenomenologically-based study are analyzed and compared in order to understand the impact of attending Green Life Nature Education (GLNE) program, the only Bay Area Residential Outdoor School that serves urban youth with no-cost programing.

The quantitative data from student surveys implies that in general, attending GLNE has a neutral impact on students. While there were several negative impacts …

A Phenomenological Study Of Professional And Practical Changes Experienced By Teachers Involved With Action Research In A Learning Community Master’S Program, Jay Dean Meiners

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

In the United States, the majority of teachers have a master’s degree or higher. However, there exist concerns in the literature that having an advanced degree does not make teachers better. There thus needs to be a way to improve the outcome of a master’s degree in education so that teachers do advance their practice and bring change to their classrooms as a direct result of their experience in a master’s degree program. By focusing on the use of action research in a learning community, the intent of the present phenomenological study was to discover changes that occurred in teachers …

Postmodern Picturebooks, Gender, And Reading Difficulties : A Phenomenological Exploration Of One Boy's Experiences, Diane Marie Hamilton

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

Abstract