Education Commons^™

A Nexus Of Literate Activity: The Design Of Writing Assignments In The Disciplines, Lauriellen Stankavich

English Theses & Dissertations

Writing plays a critical role in higher education as students are inducted into disciplinary practices through different genres, methodological repertoires and argumentation strategies. In Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC) initiatives, the instructor serves as an embodied reservoir of disciplinary knowledge and an arbiter of literate practices but most crucially employs the mediating capacities of the writing assignment as a potent pedagogical nexus. In this practice space, the instructor acts as designer of the pedagogical experience—the course as a whole and writing assignments in particular. This study used interviews, survey, and the collection of syllabi and other instructional artifacts to examine …

Integrating Empathy Pedagogy With Feminist Thought And Social Justice Praxis, Ashlyn Elizabeth Brown

Institute for the Humanities Theses

This thesis outlines the need for empathy pedagogy in higher education. It will examine how empathy pedagogy can be integrated with feminist thought and social justice praxis. I argue that when we integrate empathy pedagogy with feminist thought and social justice, we are building the capacity for students to understand others’ lives in oppression. Furthermore, an integrated modality of teaching empathy will allow students to foster the traits of empathy within themselves; students are then better able to act as agents of social change by utilizing the traits of empathy to actively listen, self-reflect, and mindfully engage with other lived …

The (Un)Sustainability Of Higher Education Institutions In Jordan, Sumaya Bint El Hassan, Kyle E. Cordova, Ghaith Rabadi, Wejdan Abu Elhaija

Engineering Management & Systems Engineering Faculty Publications

Higher education in Jordan has been tied closely to the state-building process in the century since the modern Hashemite state's foundation in 1921, with its explicit purpose being to educate and train high volumes of students who are competent and capable to serve as contributors to the state's development. Though this purpose has largely been successful to date, it is becoming increasingly clear that more is needed than simply issuing degrees. In an increasingly globalized world, it is necessary to educate those who can contribute to future research arenas and labor markets over which a single state has limited control. …

Introduction: The Politics, Praxis, And Performativity Of Teacher Neutrality, Daniel P. Richards

English Faculty Publications

No abstract provided.

A Delphi Study: Retention Of Women In Leadership Positions In Stem Disciplines, Kimberly T. Luthi

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

This Delphi study explores barriers and support systems that impact women’s professional advancement in STEM disciplines. There were 20 expert panelists who committed to participate in the study and 15 panelists completed the four rounds of the study after attrition. The panelists were selected based on specific criteria including educational background, diversity within STEM disciplines, experience as a former or current female administrator who served at two-year degree offering institutions, leadership and membership within women’s advocacy organizations in STEM and related workforce education fields, and depth of knowledge and understanding of the research questions. Through the four rounds of the …

Contemporary Philosophical Proposals For The University: Toward A Philosophy Of Higher Education By Aaron Stoller & Eli Kramer, Editors, Laura E. Smithers

Educational Foundations & Leadership Faculty Publications

Aaron Stoller and Eli Kramer’s (2018) edited volume Contemporary Philosophical Proposals for the University: Toward a Philosophy of Higher Education is a thought provoking addition to the literature between philosophy and higher education. The editors argue for the possibilities of philosophical thinking, particularly a reconstructive philosophy as read through the work of John Dewey, to ameliorate the problems of our neoliberal times. The contributed chapters extend this work to particular sites in higher education as well as through additional philosophers and philosophical schools of thought. This volume will be of interest to philosophers engaged with problems of higher education, university …

Incivility As A Barrier To Embeddedness Among Engineering Students: Does Gender Matter?, Katelyn R. Reynoldson

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

To meet the current demand for engineers, research has focused on how to attract and retain qualified candidates in the field, especially those that are underrepresented (e.g., women; NSB, 2016). The present study investigates incivility and embeddedness, which have been found to be antecedents of retention in both the workplace (Cortina, Magley, Williams, & Langhout, 2001; Mitchell, Holtom, Lee, Sablynski, & Erez, 2001) and the collegiate setting (Caza & Cortina, 2007; Major et al., 2015). To extend previous research, both constructs were examined simultaneously among undergraduate engineering students. Undergraduate, first-year engineers completed an online survey indicating the extent to which …

Dwelling In The Ruins: Recovering Student Use Of Metaphor In The Posthistorical University, Daniel P. Richards

English Faculty Publications

This article argues that the field of Rhetoric and Composition has long harnessed the active potential of metaphor to change its own practices but has considerably overlooked student use of metaphor--a particularly urgent oversight given the metaphorical battleground that constitutes the discourse of contemporary higher education. Using this exigency, the article 1) explains how a more thorough reading of Lakoff and Johnson's popular work on metaphor theory can re-energize Rhetoric and Composition to be more inclusive of student experiences in classroom coverage of metaphor and 2) offers imaginative but concrete pedagogical approaches and activities aimed at facilitating student learning of …

The Effects Of Student Engagement On Retention: Comparing Male Undergraduate Stem Majors To Non-Stem Majors, Tourgee D. Simpson Jr.

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Researchers suggest certain benchmarks of student engagement (i.e., student-faculty interaction, level of academic challenge, enriching educational experiences, active and collaborative learning, and supportive campus environment) positively influence student success. This study investigated the relationship between student engagement and the retention of male, full-time undergraduate students in STEM majors by comparing male, full-time undergraduate students in select science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) majors to male, full-time undergraduate students in non-STEM majors to identify best practices to improve retention and increase degree completion among men in STEM fields.

Students were invited to participate in the National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE). …

Institutional Factors Supporting The Enrollment And Persistence Of African-American Males In Virginia Community Colleges, Alfred A. Roberts

Educational Foundations & Leadership Theses & Dissertations

The participation and persistence rates of African-American males in American institutions of higher education consistently trail those of other ethnic and gender subgroups. These national enrollment, graduation, and transfer statistics are reflected in the member institutions of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS). The purpose of this study was to determine which of the 23 member colleges of the Virginia Community College System (VCCS) have been able to enroll and graduate or transfer the highest proportional number of African-American male students and to identify the institutional characteristics and practices that best predict the enrollment and persistence of African-American males.

The …

Teaching Prayer: Pilot Survey Of Academic Courses On Personal Prayer, E. James Baesler

Communication & Theatre Arts Faculty Publications

The practical concerns of an individual interested in learning about prayer in an academic context are interconnected with the practical concerns about teaching an academic course on prayer. A pilot study proposed to investigate and evaluate the context and content of academic courses on personal prayer from the perspective of teaching prayer, asking what proportion of institutions of higher education offer courses on prayer, in which department, and on what level. The search was limited to the Christian faith, and in particular to private colleges and universities of the Catholic denomination. An online Internet search yielded a sample of 126 …

Transforming The Curriculum, The Mission Statement, The Strategic Goals: A Success Story, Nancy Topping Bazin

Women's & Gender Studies Faculty Publications

Old Dominion University, a state university in Norfolk, Virginia, enrolling approximately 16,000 students, has successfully established the goal of achieving diversity in what is taught, who does the teaching, and who is being taught. Since 1986, faculty have had to include the perspectives, contributions, and concerns of women, minorities, and/or non-Western cultures¹ in courses that fulfill general education requirements. The university's mission statement and its strategic goals emphasize curriculum transformation and the attraction of more women and male minorities into the faculty and student body. In its 1989 report, the Virginia Commission on the University of the 21st Century …