Education Commons^™

Cognitive Factors In Higher Education Students: Goals, Mindset, And Internalized Motivation, Mary Kovach

Journal of Research, Assessment, and Practice in Higher Education

This manuscript demonstrates the value of understanding three cognitive factors in higher education. These three cognitive factors (i.e. goals, mindset, and internalized motivation) provide educators with the ability to enhance academic outcomes and to motivate students towards achievement. Each cognitive factor is dissected and applied to students in the higher education classroom. Additionally, research is presented to create a motivational atmosphere, specifically within the classroom environment, that will improve student mindset and develop stronger academic goals for students. Lastly, this manuscript proposes suggestions for future research that will contribute to the findings of the overall construct of motivation in an …

Higher Education Experiences Of International Faculty In The U.S. Deep South, Elizabeth Omiteru, James Martinez, Rudo Tsemunhu, Eugene F. Asola

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Immigration was one of the key issues from within the Obama administration. One focus of the administration was to retain brilliant foreign scholars who have studied in the United States (U.S). Rather than let International Faculty return to their countries after completing their programs, employers found it advantageous to retain these professionals to boost the United States workforce. Higher education was one of the government sectors that experienced an increase in the numbers of foreign nationals choosing to remain in the United States after completing their degrees. What many International Faculty may be oblivious of, and which their programs of …

The Influence Of Engaging Centralized Student Support On The Academic Achievement Of Student Veterans, Paul Morgan

Dissertations, 2014-2019

As more veterans and service members enroll in higher education, institutions are investing greater resources in the establishment and enhancement of centers to support them. However, little is known about the outcomes associated with utilization of the centers. Furthermore, researchers have consistently aggregated veterans and service members under “student veterans” with little regard for potential differences. Using regression analyses and analysis of variance, this case study explored the effect of visits to a veterans center on grade point average (GPA), the effect of academic need on frequency of visits, and differences in academic achievement for different types of military-affiliated students. …

The Organizational Structures Of Instructional Design Teams In Higher Education: A Multiple Case Study, Jason Drysdale

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study investigated how organizational structures influence leadership over online learning initiatives for dedicated instructional designers in higher education. A qualitative research method was used for within-case analyses for 3 individual universities and a comparative case analysis of all 3 studied institutions. Purposive sampling was used to identify each university that participated and operated within 1 of 3 organizational structure profiles. Data were collected through document analysis and semistructured interviews with participants in 3 key roles at each institution: dedicated instructional designer, online faculty member, and online learning administrator. The organizational structure that most positively influenced the ability for dedicated …

Higher Education Social Responsibility: An Empirical Analysis And Assessment Of A Hispanic-Serving Institution's Commitment To Community-Engaged Scholarship, Student Integration And Sense Of Belonging, Juan Salinas Jr.

Theses and Dissertations

Current efforts in higher education institutions to increase persistence and success among Hispanic students continue to be ineffective and thus new conceptual frameworks need to be explored. Data from the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities asserts that increasing the number of Hispanics that graduate is vital for our country’s future. In turn, Hispanic-Serving Institutions need to nourish and nurture their students to ensure that they graduate and institutional frameworks would benefit from cultural and epistemological congruence with Hispanic students, their families, and their communities.

Educational leaders have urged educators to take on the responsibility and commitment to students’ success …

Propensity To Trust And The Impact On The Academic Success Of Student-Athletes: Implications For Athletic Officials In Higher Education, Trevor Thomas Wilson

Theses and Dissertations

Student-athletes enter higher education in the United States with diverse backgrounds and academic preparation. In some cases, student-athletes are underprepared for the academic rigor, social structure, and ethical expectations of these institutions. Athletic coaches are charged with the recruitment of highly skilled, competitive, and prepared student-athletes, while other athletic officials are responsible to provide the proper academic support, care, and overall well-being of student-athletes. If coaches, athletic administrators, advisors, and learning specialists could identify educational and demographic patterns related to student-athletes' propensity to trust, they would be better equipped to gain these students' trust and help them navigate the stress …

It's About Communities: The Commitment To Promoting A Culturally Competent Environmental Health Workforce, Clint Pinion Jr., Leslie D. Mitchell, Jason W. Marion

EKU Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Environmental health and public health are profoundly local. The Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP) firmly agrees and for this reason, it is important to have local environmental health experts who know the pulse of their communities. AEHAP believes in supporting the advanced scientific education of environmental health in these communities through people from these communities. Accordingly, AEHAP has sought to promote and support accredited environmental health programs among a diverse cross-section of the U.S. higher education landscape. AEHAP’s students are diverse in many ways, including socioeconomically, racially, ethnically, and culturally. The value of this approach enhances the overall …

Inclusion And Social Justice As Peacemaking Within Higher Education, Mary Dana Hinton

The Journal of Social Encounters

The Journal of Social Encounters has been described as “a venue in which we can encounter one other and build the common good together” (Okumu & Pagnucco, 2017, p. ii). In many ways, this description of the Journal mirrors what we endeavor to accomplish in higher education in the United States in general, and in Catholic higher education in particular. While our mission statements vary, and how we achieve the mission will look different on all of our campuses, there is widespread consensus that higher education provides a space wherein people can learn together for the good of supporting our …

A Systems Approach To Increasing Awareness And Coordination Of Student Retention And Completion At A Canadian College, Peter A. Mal

The Dissertation-in-Practice at Western University

As competition for students and scarce resources increases due to political and economic pressures, awareness and coordination of student retention and completion become a critical priority for post-secondary institutions. However, despite increased attention on Strategic Enrolment Management (SEM) (Black, 2010; Gottheil & Smith, 2011; Hossler & Bontrager, 2015; Wilkinson et al., 2007) and the growth of retention-focused student services in recent years, retention rates remain unchanged (Habley, Bloom, & Robbins, 2012). Post-secondary students are in the midst of a significant transition period (Tinto, 1993) and face challenges related to mental health and wellness, relationships, rigors of academic life, and personal …

Promoting And Establishing An Effective Campus-Wide Academic Advising System, Katie Kerr

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

This study explored the role of directors of campus-wide academic advising programs and their contributions to promoting and establishing effective campus-wide academic advising systems. Specifically, directors of campus-wide academic advising addressed how they engaged academic units within a unified campus-wide advising system. This included an exploration of how academic advising organizational structures in higher education institutions and leadership styles of directors of campus-wide advising contributed to the effectiveness of their work. Three themes materialized from this study: (a) emergence of the position of director of campus-wide advising, (b) advising organizational structure and culture, and (c) leadership strategies of directors of …

The Industrial Revolution Of Higher Education, Adriel Adon Hilton, Kevin Mcclain, Donavan L. Outten

Journal of Research Initiatives

For generations, higher education has accommodated its scholars through analog forms of instruction akin to blackboards and textbooks. As society blossomed into a globalized marketplace with information readily available at the stroke of a button, higher education has had to meet the needs of an evolving student population. Through the use of business models like Six Sigma, higher education has attempted to adapt and keep up with the times. This article will highlight the key impacts Six Sigma has had on higher education and supplementary improvements needed within the marketplace.

Book Review: Courtrooms And Classrooms: A Legal History Of College Access, 1860-1960, Mark A. Addison

Journal of College Access

Issues of college access are increasingly met with resolutions within social and economic contexts. Models such as cost of production output, and race and socioeconomic-conscious strategies form the basis of such analyses (Jenkins & Rodriguez, 2013; Henriksen, 1995; Treager Huber, 2010; Schmidt, 2012). We can expect retooling and reinventing of such models with increasing college costs and changes in student demographics.

Leadership In Higher Education In A Culture Of Declining Relevance And Incivility, Sam Evans

International Journal of Leadership and Change

The institution of higher education is experiencing numerous challenges, and questions are surfacing regarding our relevance in an environment where the focus is on workforce development. Concerns are being raised about the preparation of our graduates for the demands of the workplace and, internally, we are dealing with behaviors characterizing a culture of incivility. These are not new concerns, but the prevalence of disconnects between higher education and the realities of the workplace appear to be increasing. These perceptions of disconnects tend to be exacerbated by behaviors occurring on university campuses that in some cases have become violent and/or disruptive …

Analytics: Potential In Higher Education, Brian Brausch, Joseph Cangemi, Keith Moody

International Journal of Leadership and Change

Analytics is altering the world of business and leadership as companies take advantage of its descriptive and predictive capabilities. Industries incorporating analytics into their daily operations are outperforming their competitors, generating greater profits and reducing expenditures. Following industry’s lead, higher education is beginning to make sure of big data to induce academic success by means of increased enrollment, retention, and graduation rates. Incorporating analytics into the decision-making process and overarching operations of an organization may yield considerable outcomes in corporate and academic environments. Integrating analytics into corporate culture requires collaborative partnerships focused on mutual interest and leadership expertise. This article …

Dual-Career Couples: A Coup Or To Cope In Academia, Kendall D. Isaac

Theses and Dissertations

Dual-career couples are common in academia. Indeed, anyone presently working at a higher education institution can likely make a cursory and informal inquiry to see if there are couples on his campus and quickly realize that several exist. Couples working on the same campus can bring with it certain positives such as increased institutional loyalty and productivity, as well as certain negatives such as departmental frustration at a trailing spouse hire and possible discord at times when the couple’s relationship lacks harmony. In an attempt to delve deeper into this phenomenon and to explore the pros and cons associated with …

A Whole New World: Students With Disabilities Transition To Postsecondary Education, Warren Whitaker

Dissertations

Since the inception of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of 1990, there has been a steady increase in the enrollment of students with disabilities in higher education. With the postsecondary transition in educational supports from the Individuals with Disabilities in Education Act (IDEA) in high school to ADA in college, there has been a lack of research related to the experiences of these students with disabilities while they are in college. Considering the changes in disability experience resulting from education policy changes from high school (IDEA) to college (ADA/Section 504), the purpose of this study was to examine the …

In Pursuit Of Transformative Learning: Exploring The Stimulation Of Curiosity Through Critical Reflection In The College Classroom, Bo Y. Bae

Dissertations

Educators in higher education are faced with growing pressures to shift pedagogical practices in order to accommodate the growing population of learners and improve student learning outcomes. While the acquisition of knowledge and skills are important to the learning process, they are insufficient in preparing students to function in rapidly changing environments. Curiosity is a vital component in the learning process that, when stimulated, has the potential to increase students’ capacity to think critically. Implementing teaching practices that intentionally focus on how curiosity can be stimulated and enhanced develops students’ abilities to access higher levels of thinking that are essential …

Developing A Study Abroad Program For Student Veterans, Andrea Dame

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

Universities across the nation are seeing an increase in student veterans who are taking advantage of the educational benefits offered for life after the military. These students are non-traditional and come from diverse backgrounds bringing in a unique perspective to higher education institutions (Howard and Brode, 2013). Since 2009, there have been more than 1.7 million Post-9/11 GI Bill users (Department of Veteran Affairs, 2017). This educational benefit has been instrumental in helping veterans and their dependents go to school and obtain a two or four-year degree but there is a 36-month limit to this educational benefit which reduces the …

Underrepresented Student Involvement With The Office Of Sustainability, Jelitsa Fonseca

M.A. in Higher Education Leadership: Action Research Projects

The purpose of this study is to further understand the disconnect between sustainability efforts and the underrepresented student population at the University of San Diego (USD). One of the main concerns of this study is why underrepresented students are not getting involved in sustainability activities on campus, and whether or not that is due to being a minority on campus, which may impact how they choose to get involved in these efforts. The main research questions are: How can I help the Office of Sustainability at USD reach out to underrepresented students who may have stigmas and/or stereotypes towards sustainability? …

Muslim International Student And Higher Education: A Qualitative Study Of Students' Experiences Against A Backdrop Of Islamophobia, Donna M. Seppy

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

International student enrollment at institutions of higher education in the United States continues to rise. Despite political and social tensions, students from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) nations continue to enroll in record numbers, yet there is minimal literature focused on the experiences of this sub-group of international students.

This qualitative study sought to understand the lived-experiences and perceived needs of Muslim International students from Middle East and North Africa nations enrolled in an institution of higher education in the northeast United States. This study employed a phenomenological approach to discovery aimed to develop new understandings of their …

Incivility In The Workplace: The Experiences Of Female Sport Management Faculty In Higher Education, Elizabeth A. Taylor, Robin Hardin, Natalie Welch, Allison B. Smith

Faculty Publications

Access to higher education for women has dramatically increased in the United States during the past 50 years. Female college graduates have reversed the figures and gone from being outnumbered by their male counterparts 3 to 2 in the 1970s, to now outnumbering male college graduates 3 to 2. Women also graduate from masters and doctoral programs at a higher rate than men.

However, increases in the number of women obtaining college and advanced degrees has not translated to comparable representation in faculty positions or leadership roles in higher education. This lack of women in leadership positions, as well as …

The Doctoral Quest: Managing Variables That Impact Degree Completion, Glenn Gittings, Mathew J. Bergman, Kobena Osam

Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.

Fostering Accountability And Repairing Harm: A Program Evaluation Of Restorative Justice At The University Of Denver, Ryan Smith

Higher Education: Doctoral Research Projects

Restorative Justice is a practice that incorporates harmed parties and the greater community in resolving harm or conflict, the ultimate goal of restorative justice being to make things right. This practice has been used increasingly in student conduct processes on college campuses across the United States. This doctoral research paper serves to evaluate the restorative justice program housed at the University of Denver, which has been using this process since 2012. Utilizing a responsive evaluation framework, the evaluation process consisted of interviews with program stakeholders, university staff and faculty members with a long term interest in the success of the …

The Confidence To Engage: Conflict Engagement Styles Of Academic And Student Affairs Deans In A Large, Midwestern State College And University System, Aaron Peterson

All Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Other Capstone Projects

Conflict engagement is an integral part of higher education. Academic and student affairs deans are certainly no exception to this concept. This study examines reported conflict approaches of academic and student affairs deans in a large Midwestern state college and university system using the Rahim Organizational Conflict Inventory-II (ROCI-II). There are four hypotheses of the study. The first was that academic and student affairs deans at four-year universities would report a compromising style. The second was that academic and student affairs deans at two-year community and technical colleges would report an integrating style. The third was that male deans would …

A Longitudinal Comparison Of Quality Of Life In Rural Counties With And Without Community Colleges, John Edward Jablonski

Legacy Theses & Dissertations (2009 - 2024)

An ex post quasi-experiment was conducted to compare the quality of life in counties where community colleges were established to the quality of life in similar counties where no colleges had been established. Twenty-eight pairs of rural counties were studied. The first county in each pair was chosen such that the only institution of higher education there between 1960 and 2010 was a community college that was founded in the 1960s. The second county in each pair was chosen as a control from the same geographic region, with similar population and similar per capita income in 1960 and no institution …