Understanding Universal Design For Learning Implementation: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study Of The Experiences Of Higher Education Faculty And Instructional Designers, Breanne A. Kirsch

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Faculty face a rising challenge in supporting diverse student populations on campuses (Bastedo et al., 2013). Inclusive pedagogy, facilitated by UDL, helps alleviate learning barriers for diverse student groups (Basham & Blackorby, 2021). However, the ambiguous operational definition of UDL poses practical challenges in implementation and assessment (Diedrich, 2021), especially when it is described variably as a practice, framework, or intervention in the literature (Basham & Blackorby, 2021). This hermeneutic phenomenological study explores the meaning faculty and instructional designers ascribe to the experience of implementing UDL in higher education.

The main question is: what is the meaning that faculty and …

Climbing The Academic Ladder While Black: Exploring The Experiences Of Institutional Belongingness For Black Counselor Education And Supervision Doctoral Students At Predominantly White Institutions, Jasmine Alicia Hawa Griffith

Counseling & Human Services Theses & Dissertations

Although ample research investigates students’ belongingness experiences in counselor education (CE) programs, existing literature only marginally explores the realities of Black master students, and there is a notable lack of empirical attention to Black doctoral students’ belongingness experiences in counselor education and supervision (CES) programs. Investigating Black CES doctoral students' belongingness experiences at Predominantly White Institutions (PWIs) is critical to understanding how the Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Education Programs (CACREP) accredited CES programs can address the troubling statistic that Black doctoral students are least likely to become full-time CE faculty. Consequently, this study utilizes critical phenomenology from …

1st Place Contest Entry: Examining Students’ Perception Of & Experiences In Stem Course Office Hours, Gabriella Dauber

Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize

This is Gabriella Dauber's submission for the 2024 Kevin and Tam Ross Undergraduate Research Prize, which won first place. It contains their essay on using library resources, their bibliography, and a summary of their research project on students’ perception of and experiences in their STEM course office hours.

Gabriella is a fourth-year student at Chapman University, majoring in Biological Sciences. Their faculty mentor is Dr. Cassandra Zalman.

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 …

Exploring A Potential Preparedness Gap Between Undergraduate Ministry Programs And Real-Life Ministry In The Southern Baptist Convention, Barton D. Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract The aim of this multicase study dissertation research was to examine the experiences, perceptions, and feelings of pastors in the Southern Baptist Convention who completed their undergraduate degrees from a Southern Baptist Convention higher education institution. Participants of the study had 3–10 years of full-time church ministry experience in local Southern Baptist Convention affiliated churches and had not yet attended graduate school or seminary. These qualifiers were placed on the selection process to allow the discovery of a possible gap between the pastor’s higher education experience and the practical ministry training required for their first local church ministry. Two …

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 …

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 …

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 …

Parenting And The Academic Library: Experiences, Challenges, And Opportunities, Courtney Stine, Sarah Frankel, Anita Hall

Faculty and Staff Scholarship

Academic Library Workers in Conversation is a C&RL News series focused on elevating the everyday conversations of library professionals. The wisdom of the watercooler has long been heralded, but this series hopes to go further by minimizing barriers to traditional publishing with an accessible format. Each of the topics in the series were proposed by the authors and they were given space to explore. This issue’s conversation revolves around parenting and how academic libraries must do more. The insights from the authors apply beyond parenting and are a great reminder that people make our academic libraries work.— Dustin Fife, series …

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 …

The Influence Of The Principalship In Retaining Novice Teachers, Casey Whittle

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of the qualitative descriptive study was to understand novice teachers’ perspectives of principal behaviors that keep them employed in a North Texas school district. A purposive sample of 12 novice secondary teachers and six secondary principals participated in semistructured interviews. The individual interviews were recorded and transcribed. In vivo coding and structural coding were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study confirmed that participants in the study believed certain behaviors of secondary principals influenced novice teacher retention. Novice teacher participants expressed a need to trust their principal and fit into the principal’s vision and …

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 …

The Causes Of Teacher Burnout And Its Impact On The Personal Lives Of Teachers, Neisha Williams

Dissertations

Abstract

This qualitative study focused on the experiences of high school teachers in the state of Georgia, United States. The purpose of this study was to gain an in-depth understanding of the reasons why high school teachers experience burnout and how the occupational burnout impacts their personal life. This study was also conducted to fill the gap in the literature and gain insight on the burnout teacher perspective on what causes burnout and what actions need to be made at various (local, district, and state) levels to help manage or eliminate burnout entirely. The theoretical framework used for this study …

Impact Of Collaborative Communities On Collective Teacher Effectiveness And Agency, Leila Barber

Dissertations

In an ever-increasing world in which change, and diversity are commonplace, leaders are often faced with the unique challenge of building Professional Learning Communities (PLCs) with unique skill sets. Building collaborative teams of educators is one way building leaders tackle this absolute task. The methods by which leaders construct teams vary widely and at times with limited direction. Teacher teams are then at the mercy of those who they are teamed with, and either reap positive rewards of collaboration, or negative discord. Teacher experiences shape the way PLCs function and how they engage with shared work with their teammates. Throughout …

Using Smartphones To Innovate Laboratories In Introductory Physics Courses, E. Bernardini, M. Carli, M.Y. Elkhashab, Andrea Ferroglia, Miguel C. N. Fiolhais, L. Gabelli, H. Jessen Munch, Darya Krym, P. Mastrolia, Giovanni Ossola, O. Pantano, J. Postiglione, J.S. Poveda Correa, C. Sirignano, F. Soramel

Publications and Research

The SmartPhysics project involved two higher education institutions, one in Italy and one in the US, with the aim of exploring the use of smartphones for laboratory experiments in introductory Physics courses. Here we present and discuss two experiments that were developed in the project: the pendulum experiment, consisting in the measurement of the gravitational constant using a proximity stopwatch, and the ‘bouncing ball’ experiment, aimed at measuring the energy lost in inelastic collisions with a hard surface. Both experiments were tested with the students in the academic year 2021-22. Our results and didactical reflections contain suggestions for the use …

Month 10 - Punihle-Waniipakw Niipaahum - Falling Leaf Moon - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ Days and Months QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee phrase for Falling Leaf Moon, coinciding with October - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation) and recorded in the summer of 2023 by Montclair students Kira Fucci and Kate Kilroy in the NAIS field school.

Month 02 - Xwahteewi-Koon Niipaahum - Deep Snow Moon - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ Days and Months QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee phrase for Deep Snow Moon, coinciding with February - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation) and recorded in the summer of 2023 by Montclair students Kira Fucci and Kate Kilroy in the NAIS field school.

Month 08 - Xwaskwiimiiwi Niipaahum - Corn Moon - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ Days and Months QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee phrase for Corn Moon, coinciding with August - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation) and recorded in the summer of 2023 by Montclair students Kira Fucci and Kate Kilroy in the NAIS field school.

Month 05 - Ehahkiiheet Niipaahum - Planting Moon - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ Days and Months QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee phrase for Planting Moon, coinciding with May - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation) and recorded in the summer of 2023 by Montclair students Kira Fucci and Kate Kilroy in the NAIS field school.

Month 06 - Wteehiimiiwi Niipaahum - Strawberry Moon - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ Days and Months QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee phrase for Strawberry Moon, coinciding with June - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation) and recorded in the summer of 2023 by Montclair students Kira Fucci and Kate Kilroy in the NAIS field school.

Kiikiipshak - Chickens - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ On the Farm QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the Munsee word for Chickens - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation), 2023.

Mahkahkwal - Pumpkins Or Squashes - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ On the Farm QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee word for Pumpkins or Squashes - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation), 2023.

Wteehiimal - Strawberries - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ On the Farm QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the Munsee word for Strawberries - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation), 2023.

Xwaskwiimal - Corn (Plural) - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ On the Farm QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee word for Corn in the plural form - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation), 2023.

Puleewak - Turkeys - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ On the Farm QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the Munsee word for Turkeys - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation), 2023.

Maalaxkwsiital - Red Beans - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ On the Farm QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the Munsee word for Red Beans - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation), 2023.

Month 09 - Ehalawiit Niipaahum - Hunting Moon - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ Days and Months QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee phrase for Hunting Moon, coinciding with September - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation) and recorded in the summer of 2023 by Montclair students Kira Fucci and Kate Kilroy in the NAIS field school.

Month 03 - Aahaasuwi Niipaahum - Crow Moon - Qr Code, Nikole Pecore

⤷ Days and Months QR Codes

Click the download button to get a QR code redirecting to the audio of the Munsee phrase for Crow Moon, coinciding with March - Spoken by Nikole Pecore (Stockbridge-Munsee Band of the Mohican Indian Nation) and recorded in the summer of 2023 by Montclair students Kira Fucci and Kate Kilroy in the NAIS field school.