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Irish Studies News And Events Spring 2024, Irish Studies

News, Magazines and Reports

Spring 2024 was a busy semester for Irish Studies at SHU! During a brilliant Saint Patick’s week celebration, “Tradition and Complexity: A Week of Art, Music, Literature, and Scholarship,” SHU faculty members Richard Falco, June-Ann Greeley, Marie Hulme, Nathan Lewis, Luciana McClure, Hilary Sweeney, and Chesley Zimmerman all presented work related to Irish Studies courses, research, and creative/fine arts. Our Irish language and traditional Irish music students also shared public readings and a performance. Visiting speakers included scholars Malcolm Sen (University of Massachusetts), Claire Bracken (Union College), Seth Mulliken (Northeastern University), and award-winning Irish novelist Caoilinn Hughes. The Chapel graciously …

Teaching Software Development For Real-World Problems Using A Microservice-Based Collaborative Problem-Solving Approach, Yi Meng Lau, Christian Michael Koh, Lingxiao Jiang

Research Collection School Of Computing and Information Systems

Experienced and skillful software developers are needed in organizations to develop software products effective for their business with shortened time-to-market. Such developers will not only need to code but also be able to work in teams and collaboratively solve real-world problems that organizations arefacing. It is challenging for educators to nurture students to become such developers with strong technical, social, and cognitive skills. Towards addressing the challenge, this study presents a Collaborative Software Development Project Framework for a course that focuses on learning microservices architectures anddeveloping a software application for a real-world business. Students get to work in teams to …

From Crossing Campus To Crossing Continents: Faculty, Chair, And Global Partner Perspectives On An International Sabbatical, Emily Faulconer, Beverly L. Wood, Stephen George-Williams

Publications

A sabbatical – a period of paid leave granted to faculty for research or study - is a construct in higher education that has experienced ebbs and flows in its favorability, though there are persistent arguments that it is important for research-active faculty (Pietsch, 2011). Early career faculty are focused on achieving tenure as this is high stakes at most institutions. Once tenure is achieved, the next goalpost is full professor. The day-to-day responsibilities of faculty can distract from and dilute efforts aimed at strategic planning, long-term planning, and reflection necessary to achieve this level of promotion. So it follows …

An Evaluation Of The Equitable Practices For Stem Education To Prepare All Students For The 21st Century, Elizabeth Simpson

Dissertations

We are almost a quarter of the way through the 21st Century, yet most education institutions do not provide STEM education for all students. Science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) have been a special focus of both industry and federal education initiatives in recent years. STEM is a proven way of building student skills needed for the workforce of tomorrow. The purpose of this study is to determine why education decision-makers resist implementing STEM programs equitably for all students. The context of this inquiry is district and school-based leaders throughout the United States, from elementary to high school, who have …

Effects Of Fundamentals Of Culture On Teacher-Student Relationship In Middle School: A Quantitative Correlation Study, Laura L. Chang

Education Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore whether teacher-student relationships could be strengthened if we knew what impacted the cultural background of middle school teachers. Using a quantitative correlation research design and a multiple linear regression analysis, I examined the relationship between one dependent variable, Teacher-Student Relationship (TSR) and four predictor variables, Individualism versus Collectivism (IvC), Monochronic versus Polychronic values (MvP), Universalism versus Particularism (UvP), and Activism versus Fatalism (AvF). This research relied on prior studies centered around teacher-student relationship, the theory of cultural humility (Foronda, 2020), and values orientation theory (Kluckhohn & Strodtbeck, 1961). The analysis explored teacher-student …

A Case Study Of The Organizational System Of Articulation At A Midwestern Regional Public University, Katherine J. Giardello

Dissertations

Quantitative research has long shown lagging community college transfer student completion rates, in addition to excess credits earned and lengthened time-to-degree for transfer students that do earn a bachelor’s degree (Horn & Skomsvold, 2011; Jenkins & Fink, 2016; Simone, 2014; U.S. GAO, 2017). Scant qualitative studies exist related to student transfer, particularly the academic enterprise of articulation and the university perspective on transfer.

This qualitative study takes up the cause, using organizational and systems theories (Birnbaum, 1988; Clark, 1983; Cohen & March, 1974; Morgan, 2006; Senge, 1990; von Bertalanffy, 1972; Weick, 1976) to frame a single site case study with …

Towards Learning Excellence In Universities: A Critical Review Of Information And Communication Technology Policies In Education In Kenya, Caroline Kiarie, Nicola-Jane Jones

Graduate School of Media and Communications

The current reality is that technological advancement has shaped how learning is being conducted in education. Communication technology has been embraced in education by both educators and learners. However, the embracement has been slow, and this was experienced during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic, when teaching and learning had to shift and relied heavily on communication technology, but in actuality educational institutions were not ready. The virus continues to linger on and has served as a wake-up call for the education sector. This therefore makes Information and Communication Technology (ICT) an essential component in education today, not only to be implemented …

Factors Influencing Student Persistence Through Undergraduate Degree Completion: A Case Study Of The Social Engagement Of Black Students At A Private Historically Black College And University., Kayla Siddell

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative exploratory single-case study examined the social engagement strategies utilized by one HBCU and the influences of these strategies on Black undergraduate students' sense of belonging and social engagement, which have been found to support and improve student persistence. Previous research on Black undergraduate students' social engagement and persistence has been primarily conducted at predominately White institutions (PWIs), with few studies explicitly focusing on social engagement and persistence at HBCUs. The site selected for this study was an HBCU under the pseudonym Fillmore State University (FSU). A qualitative exploratory case study was utilized as this methodology allowed the researcher …

Addressing The Teacher Shortage: School-Sponsored Alternative Teacher Certification Programs, Briana Renee Pepke Herr

Masters Projects

The ongoing teacher shortage in America has created an unprecedented demand for high-quality educators. To address this challenge, the establishment of school-sponsored or company-sponsored alternative certification programs is necessary. These partnership initiatives should involve assigning school or company employees as coaches to candidates, facilitating bi-weekly in-person and online coaching sessions to enhance instructional practices, and offering constructive coursework feedback. The primary objective is to equip aspiring alternatively certified teachers with essential skills, ensuring they are highly qualified while receiving ongoing support. This project highlights the need for school-sponsored alternative certification programs in producing highly qualified teachers capable of meeting the …

A Case Study On Teacher Perceptions Of The Wisconsin State Educator Effectiveness Requirement: Mandates And Results, Daniel Unertl

Dissertations (1934 -)

Teachers are the essential element in improving student learning in education. The State of Wisconsin requires public school teachers to participate in the Wisconsin Educator Effectiveness System. There is limited research on the links between required participation with the State of Wisconsin’s Educator Effectiveness System and on the experience of teachers and their outcomes for students (Dvorak et al., 2014; Jones, 2017). This qualitative case study explored, through semi-structured interviews, the experiences of Wisconsin educators who engaged with the EE System, teachers’ connections with EE and subsequent changes to their practice. The study addressed whether teachers’ felt the technical elements …

Interprofessional Community Schools, Shauna Curran, Morgan Bassett, Belle Betit, Kelly Couch, Allie Hegarty, Katelynn Leblanc

CAIEP Spring Showcase 2024

This presentation details the key components of community schools and their importance to community members and students alike. Comprised of four primary pillars, these schools focus on expanding learning opportunities, bringing in a variety of student supports, serving families collectively, while emphasizing the collaborative element of leadership. Community schools serve as an integration point of various elements of a community to come together in order to produce maximum benefits for all.

3/5ths Of Freedom: The Analysis Of {With} Black Individuals In Higher Education And Navigating Society Post-Justice-Involvement, Gabrielle Sarah Smith Finnie

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Black individuals have been disproportionately involved in the criminal justice system in the United States (Federal Bureau of Prisons, 2022). Because of their criminal justice involvement, Black individuals are perceived as second-class citizens making their quest for “freedom” an endless journey impacted by oppression and domination post-justice-involvement (Couloute & Kopf, 2018; Johnson, 2021; Pager, 2003). To combat domination and oppression, Freire (1970) emphasized pursuing higher education helps individuals who experience marginalization become more humanized and aids them on their plight to freedom. Research highlighted pursuing higher education post-justice-involvement is a liberatory yet challenging experience because of discriminatory on-campus …

A Study On The Use Of Reflective Writing Assessments To Indicate The Level Of Knowledge College Industrial Technology Students Possess Related To The Three Elements Of Technological And Engineering Literacy, William Domenick Euefueno

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

The problem of the study was to determine if the use of a reflective writing assessment at the beginning, middle, and end of a college semester indicated an industrial technology student’s knowledge and skills related to technological and engineering literacy. Experiences gained during project-based learning activities were used as the basis for this study. This descriptive study examined the reflective writing abilities of junior and senior year college students enrolled in a university’s industrial technology program of study by administering a reflective writing assignment three times over a semester of science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) course, STEM 320, Manufacturing …

Inviting Submission: Isabella Beeton At The Englishwoman's Domestic Magazine, 1856-1865, Julie Megan Sorge Way

English Theses & Dissertations

Isabella Beeton, creator of the iconic domestic manual Beeton’s Book of Household Management, died suddenly in 1865, just before her twenty-ninth birthday. Her popular book survived to codify stereotypical Victorian female ideals. Yet the “Mrs Beeton” mythos camouflages a remarkable talent: far from domestic drudgery, Beeton maintained a vibrant career as a writer and editor at the Englishwoman’s Domestic Magazine (EDM), traveling widely to research the latest fashions and laboring behind the scenes to ensure the magazine’s success. Closely examining Beeton’s EDM work demonstrates how these formative, productive years shaped her later, more popular writing. Such a …

First-Generation College Students And Sense Of Belonging At School: The Moderating Effect Of Remote Learning, Christina Su Ju

Psychology Theses & Dissertations

This study examines the effect of first-generation college student status on students’ sense of belonging, and whether remote learning moderates this effect. Specifically, this study examines whether first-generation college students’ sense of belonging at university differs from their continuing-generation college student counterpart, and whether taking remote courses impacts that relationship. It was hypothesized that first-generation college students would report lower sense of belonging than continuing-generation college students, and that remote learning would moderate the relationship such that the negative effect of first-generation student status on sense of belonging is strengthened when the student takes more remote courses. Survey data from …

Becoming Hispanic-Serving Institutions (Hsis): Disrupting Institutional Whiteness, Jacqueline Black

Dissertations (1934 -)

Hispanic-Serving Institutions (HSIs) educate disproportionately large percentages of Latinx and other underrepresented minority (URM) postsecondary students. But as most HSIs are also Historically White Colleges, whiteness permeates their campus structures, cultures, and practices. This study bridges gaps in our understanding around how legacies of historical whiteness on campuses that have recently become or are emerging as HSIs affect their efforts to serve Latinx/URM students. The project focuses on the perspectives of those faculty, staff, and administrators most intimately involved in “servingness” work on these campuses: HSI specialists. Employing a critical qualitative approach and guided by Critical Whiteness Studies and Omi …

Balancing Wellness And Leadership: Exploring Black Women Administrators’ Subjective Well-Being, Resilience, And Radical Self-Care In Higher Education, Lashae Grottis

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Leaders in higher education experience high and unrealistic demands for their skills, time, and energy, causing stress, competing priorities, burnout, compromised health, and attrition. However, unlike other racial and gender groups, Black women higher education administrators experienced these challenges more intensely. As a result of chronic stress associated with being undervalued and overworked, discriminatory and unwelcoming workplaces, and intersectional biases, Black women leaders are leaving higher education workplaces. Despite the link between gendered racism and unwellness, little is known about the problem from a positive leadership perspective. This study addressed the lack of knowledge of the wellness strategies Black women …

Best Practices In Professional Learning Communities That Influence Teacher Self-Efficacy, Silian Molly Hornsby

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study examined best practices in professional learning communities (PLCs) that influence teacher self-efficacy. Participants were primary and intermediate teachers and teacher leaders from a large suburban elementary school in Texas. Participants had to have at least 1 year of teaching and PLC experience. The semistructured teacher and teacher-leader interviews were recorded and transcribed in real time using Otter.ai software. After members checked the transcription, the transcription was uploaded into the NVivo software for coding and identifying common themes. The findings were separated into themes based on the study’s research questions. Research question 1 explored what teachers and …

The Impact Of Gratitude On Academic Advisor Job Satisfaction, Alexandria M. Widener

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Academic advisors face high job demands and have among the highest turnover rates in higher education. Gratitude may have a positive impact on job satisfaction, but it has not been studied in this population. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to understand how dispositional gratitude at work, expression of gratitude at work, and receipt of gratitude at work predict job satisfaction in academic advisors. Academic advisors who were members of NACADA: The Global Community for Academic Advising, served in a full-time role at an institution of higher education in the United States, had worked a minimum of 6 …

Harnessing The Power Of Cliftonstrengths®: How Multinational Corporations Can Use Deep-Level Diversity To Enhance Organizational Inclusion, Trapper Kay Pace

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This research explicitly investigated how multinational corporations can enhance workplace inclusion through the novel use of the CliftonStrengths® assessment as a dimension of deep-level diversity. The study gleaned insights from employees’ perspectives, employing a constructivist grounded theory approach to explicate their experiences in rich qualitative narratives. Through open-ended surveys and intensive interviews, participants were selected using purposeful sampling to ensure meaningful data collection from the study organizations’ three global regions. The researcher conducted the analysis systematically through the constant comparison of data utilizing the NVivo14 software to assist in constructing codes, themes, and a theoretical schema. Results highlighted the significance …

Resiliency, Mindset, And Academic Performance: A College Athlete's Perspective, Trisha C. Giacomazzi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem addressed in this qualitative case study was the low graduation rates self-reported by the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics institutions when compared to the general student population at a small Christian university in the Southern United States. In this study, I sought to acquire a deeper understanding of the degree to which an athlete’s mindset and psychological resilience influenced their perseverance and academic achievement on their path toward graduation. Utilizing semistructured interviews as the primary data collection method, I used purposive, convenience, and snowball selection methods to enlist a total of 10 participants from a pool of 52 …

The Correlational Effects Of Academic And Demographic Factors On Nursing Students’ Attrition, Progression, And Completion At A University College Of Nursing, Adebusola A. Obafemi

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

High United States nursing student attrition rates have attracted political, organizational, and social interest for numerous reasons. This attrition places financial burdens on the students, results in revenue loss for the college, and exacerbates the existing nursing shortage. Students' success in a nursing program is crucial for nurses to practice nursing. The purpose of this retrospective study was to explore the effects of academic performance and demographic/categorical factors on nursing students' progression and completion at a University College of Nursing in the Southern United States. The target population consisted of students enrolled at the University College of Nursing from January …

Community College Engineering Degree Partnerships With 4-Year Universities, Jeffrey Mark Stear

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Increasing the number of STEM professionals and reducing inequities in STEM are national priorities. Community colleges are important to address these concerns because they represent a higher percentage of underrepresented minority (URM) and women students. However, students starting 4-year STEM degrees in community college have had a lower completion rate. Partnerships between community colleges and 4-year universities have the potential to improve success for community college students, but more research is necessary. The purpose of this ex post facto, quantitative, correlational study was to determine the relationships among participation in different types of partnerships between community colleges and 4-year universities, …

An Exploration Of The Role Of Alternative Certification Programs In Teacher Preparedness, Bianca Dugas

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Alternative certification programs (ACPs) recently gained popularity due to their brevity and appeal to second-career candidates. However, research shows that alternatively certified teachers often need more pedagogical skills than traditionally certified teachers, leading to the possibility of experiencing challenges their first year as an educator. To address this problem, the role of ACPs in teacher preparation was investigated to identify ways to close the gaps and provide ongoing support to alternatively certified teachers. The purpose of this study was to explore the preparedness of teachers based on their experiences in their ACPs. The study was framed within Malcolm Knowles’s adult …

A Qualitative Descriptive Study Exploring The Perceptions Of New Teacher Induction Supports, Tonya P. Dixon

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The problem of novice teachers leaving the profession in the first few years of their career represented a global issue and an increased attrition rate. The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore the perceptions of novice U.S. teachers and effective systemic supports provided to new teachers through the lens of social capital. For this study, the intangible components of social capital emerged through the development and fostering of mentoring relationships in an induction program. The methodology used was a qualitative descriptive study using a survey, interviews, and thematic analysis of the survey and interview data collected. The …

Information Literacy Across The Curriculum: A Faculty Professional Development Program, Jaime Corris Hammond

Instructional Design Capstones Collection

Information literacy is a set of skills that encompass conducting research, evaluating sources and authority, and ethically using information. While information literacy as a concept has existed for 50 years, higher education has struggled to meaningfully incorporate it into college curricula. The concept of “across the curriculum” instruction, most notably Writing Across the Curriculum (WAC), empowers faculty to incorporate skills outside of their discipline to increase learning. This information literacy program uses the concept of “across the curriculum” instruction, an American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) High Impact Practice, to incorporate and contextualize these skills in a variety of …

The Information Literacy Class As Theatrical Performance: A Qualitative Study Of Academic Librarians’ Understanding Of Their Teacher Identity, Mark Aaron Polger

Publications and Research

This qualitative study examines how academic librarians understand, conceptualize, and describe their teacher identity. The role of the academic librarian has greatly changed due to the advent of information technology. Traditionally, they were generalists, who were responsible for selecting and maintaining library collections. Academic librarian roles have evolved into web developers, information literacy (IL) instructors, emerging technology innovators, marketing and outreach coordinators, open education resources (OER) advocates, and scholarly communication experts. This research investigates the academic librarian as teacher phenomenon, how they describe their professional identity as teachers, the skills, knowledge, and competencies they teach, and their beliefs of how …

Spanish-Speaking English Learners’ Experience In Spanish/English Dual Language Immersion Schools, Sara Worthington

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Research has demonstrated that dual language immersion (DLI) schools provide one of the most viable pathways for students of families who speak a language other than English to maintain and develop their home language proficiencies while also learning and improving their proficiencies in English. The professional development (PD) designed for this project focuses on maximizing the English instruction time in Spanish/English dual language immersion schools. Across the United States, the number of DLI programs has increased dramatically in the past few decades yet often the educators employed in the programs have little or no specific training in teaching English as …

Self-Regulated Learning For English Language Learners In Asynchronous Online Community College Courses, Nicole Olalde

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

The number of students who take asynchronous online courses has soared, notably since the onset of COVID in 2020. Success in these courses requires a significant amount of self-discipline. Students who struggle in this context have cited a lack of support, feelings of isolation, and difficulties regulating their learning. For adult English language learners, (ELLs) this is an additional burden because they are taking post-secondary education courses in a language that is not their first language. There is a positive correlation between the use of self-regulated learning (SRL) and academic performance. The ability of students to self-regulate accounts for a …

How Student Name Choice Affects Identity, Raquel Hunt

School of Education and Leadership Student Capstone Projects

Over the years, research on language and identity has been abundant in the field of sociolinguistics. This capstone reviewed some of the background literature on language and identity as well as more recent literature on how multilingual learners’ identities are affected by what name they choose to be called at school and what teachers actually call them. A few themes emerged: multilingual learners have difficulty with non-English names in school, multilingual learners and their families consider many factors as they choose a name to use at school, and teachers can profoundly impact students’ identities by the way they treat student …