Adult and Continuing Education Commons^™

Building Collaborative Research Teams, Molly Throgmorton

Research and Innovation Events

This video goes over how to find funding opportunities that encourage collaboration, how to put together a team of collaborators using your current network and how to foster collaboration throughout your entire project. It also covers a few examples of successful collaborative teams on campus.

Sponsored by the Division of Research and Innovation.

Introduction To Grant Proposal Budgets, Molly Throgmorton

Research and Innovation Events

This video goes over the primary steps of building a proposal budget, including understanding the funder's requirements, identifying the project's expenses, drafting the budget justification and incorporating the budget into the overall proposal.

Sponsored by the Division of Research and Innovation.

Using Daily Learning Objectives To Guide Teaching And Assessment With Chris Estepp -New Faculty Lunch Discussion, Chris Estepp

TFSC Publications and Presentations

Daily learning objectives should drive instruction and assessment. This talk will discuss creating measurable, student-centered objectives and how to create assessments that can effectively measure student learning.

Increasing Student Comfort With Addressing Microaggressions: Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts, Devin Boggs Riley, Breanna Lewis, Bryan Hill, Jacquelyn D. Wiersma-Mosley

Inquiry: The University of Arkansas Undergraduate Research Journal

Students on college campuses are not prepared or equipped to defend themselves or their peers when they experience or witness a microaggression. The purpose of this study was to measure the impact of the Ouch! That Stereotype Hurts program on s tudent comfort level when addressing microaggressions and other gender, racial and cultural insults. This educational program provides examples of different types of microaggressions seen in classrooms and workplace scenarios. The program is a 30 minute in dividual, self paced, guided eLearning program that enables learners to explore communication skills for promoting inclusion and respect among their peers. Participants were …

Recalibrating Student Services: Examining Staff Perceptions Of Services During Covid-19, Justin White

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

As a result of the 2019 global coronavirus pandemic, nearly every business and industry in the United States was forced to adapt its operations to accommodate the restrictions that a community health crisis necessitated. This study examined the experiences of front-line Enrollment Services staff while serving students during the pandemic at one community college in the Midwestern United States. The study focused on staff perceptions of how college policies, processes, and leadership affected the student onboarding experience that encompasses the complete path a student takes from beginning as an applicant to becoming an enrolled student in the classroom. The study …

Does Self-Reference In Concept Mapping Influence Transfer?, Daniel A. Parker

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Concept maps are a popular learning activity that have successfully demonstrated student learning outcomes. Research suggests that concept mapping has a positive effect on recognition, recall, and transfer. Likewise, researchers in cognitive psychology have shown the value of referencing oneself with a concept. Known as the self-reference effect, learners who connect their experiences or traits with new knowledge are more likely to remember that knowledge than if they used other mnemonic devices. Previous research suggests that integrating self-reference in concept mapping may improve recall. However, to date, no study has investigated the influence of this combination on higher order learning …

How Bad Do You Want It?: The Personal Motivation Of Joining A Sorority, Garry Butler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

College campuses provide students with endless opportunities to become members of various student organizations that provide leadership, accountability, a sense of belonging, personal growth, and development. Many colleges have provided students with the opportunities to join social Greek fraternity and sorority organizations. The foundation of social fraternity and sorority organizations are built on principles such as sisterhood, brotherhood, scholarship, service, philanthropy, and leadership. Many traditional college-age women who desire to become members of a social sorority organization all participate in a formal recruitment process. There are various motivations that traditional college-age women have for joining social sororities on college campuses …

Advising Student Veterans In Higher Education, Brett Edward Rankin

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Student veterans are a growing population in higher education with over 650,000 veterans using education benefits in 2018. Student veterans are enrolling in colleges of all types, and many institutions have support services designed for them specifically. In most cases these support services are limited to veteran centers where officials certify credit hours for financial benefits and do not offer services to help them fully assimilate into higher education. Student veterans bring a wide range of life experiences, culture, and work ethic to college campuses which serves to build and diversify the student body. However, veterans have reported feeling isolated …

Lgbtq+ College Students' Perceptions Of Social Presence And Self-Disclosure In Online Learning: A Single-Case Study, Scott Anthony Wright

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Social interaction among learners plays a significant role in online learning environments (Garrison, 2006; Kreijns et al., 2014; Mykota, 2017). The construct of social presence in online courses is important because it influences interaction and connectedness among learners and its effects on their learning outcomes and emotional well-being. Social presence at its essence refers to how an individual is perceived as a "real person" in an online environment (Gunawardena & Zittle, 1997). Online students must decide what aspects of their social identities they share in their interactions with their peers and instructors. Furthermore, LGBTQ+ students must negotiate what aspects of …

A Case Study Of Eastern Region Arkansas Promise Participants And Their Expectations For The Future, Robin Freeman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to develop an in-depth understanding of how Eastern Arkansas youth with disabilities and their parents describe their expectations for the future, after participating in the Arkansas PROMISE program. The study sought an understanding of how participants viewed themselves and their expectations for the future, for employment, for participation in higher education, for independent living, and for future financial support. The research used a case study approach, interviewing five students and five parent participants. Participants were asked a series of questions to get an understanding of their experiences, their expectations for the future, and their …

Examining The Relationship Between Library Services Use And Fall-To-Fall Retention In Community College Libraries, Eric Deatherage

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Community college libraries exist to support institutional outcomes. One such outcome is student retention. This study’s purpose was to fill the gap in the literature at the community college level, proposing that a model including all library service use types would explain variance in student retention beyond that explained by total library financial expenditure. Services included were numbers of physical materials circulated, digital books circulated, e-serials used, reference transactions, library presentations, attendees at presentations, gate counts, and interlibrary loan materials borrowed. Additionally, it was proposed that the relationship between gate counts of physical entry into the library and student retention …

Cordes Chair Seminar: Teaching Authentically In An Age Of Reality Superstars, Casandra Cox

TFSC Publications and Presentations

The Teaching and Faculty Support Center is pleased announce that Casandra Cox, instructor in the Department of Agricultural Education, Communications and Technology, will present the November Cordes Chair Seminar from 2 - 3 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 30, in Home Economics 108. Her presentation is entitled, "Teaching Authentically in an Age of Reality Superstars." Cox has been on the AECT faculty since 2003 and has received numerous teaching awards, including the Bumpers College's John W. White Outstanding Teaching Award and the Jack G. Justus Excellence in Teaching Award. She is also a Fellow of the U of A Teaching Academy.

Text-Relevant Video Segments And Reading Comprehension Of Culturally Unfamiliar Texts With Adult Speakers Of English As A Second Language (Esl), Amirreza Karami, Freddie A. Bowles

Curriculum and Instruction Faculty Publications and Presentations

This pilot study is a mixed-methods sequential explanatory study that investigated the effects of watching text-relevant video segments supported by the Schematic Information-Processing (SIP) model of reading comprehension on reading comprehension of adult speakers of English as a Second Language (ESL) in terms of text familiarity and the retention of the content of a culturally unfamiliar text. Twenty homogeneous participants were randomly assigned to two groups: one control group and one experimental group. The results of the quantitative analysis showed that the experimental group outperformed the control group in both the immediate and delayed post-tests. Qualitative findings also highlight the …

Understanding The Importance Of Ambition In The Workplace, Jeff Bean

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Though a common term, ambition is a multifaceted concept that is vastly under researched despite it being labeled necessary for success in the workplace. Of even greater irony is that several sources indicate a significant majority of the reason that employees leave organizations is due to a perceived lack of career development or opportunity, a problem that speaks directly to talent management practices. In light the costly nature of this problem and the presence of sophisticated talent management professionals in large and medium-sized organizations which comprise half or more of the workforce, it causes one to question the assumptions that …

Naturalistic Decision Making In First Sales Calls: A Narrative Study Of Experienced Technical Sales Professionals, Douglas Williams

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The first conversation between business-to-business sellers and new customers comes with the potential for both opportunity and risk. Sellers spend substantial effort gaining the right to engage in a first call with a potential customer. This study fills a gap in the literature by exploring the role of Naturalistic Decision Making (NDM) and how it impacts the way experienced technology sales professionals navigate first conversations with new customers. NDM explores how experienced professionals make decisions in high-stakes, real world situations that are ambiguous, time-pressured, and have poorly defined goals. While NDM studies have been performed in other professional disciplines, none …

Academic Librarian Experiences And Perceived Value Of Oer Professional Development: A Case Study, Elaine Thornton

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Academic librarianship is a constantly changing profession. Open education librarianship has developed as an area of specialization. Effective continuing professional development (CPD) for learning about open educational resources (OER) is needed to meet academic librarians' knowledge and training needs engaged in this area. This narrative case study examines the experiences and perceptions of academic librarians who completed a structured open education leadership program. Interviews were conducted with a selection of program fellows to capture the personal perspectives of the program participants. These interview narratives were transcribed and, alongside program curriculum and participant projects, utilized to answer the study's research questions …

Overcoming Learning Anxiety In Workplace Learning: A Study Of Best Practices And Training Accommodations That Improve Workplace Learning, Ann-Marie Piscitelli

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S. and affect 40 million adults, or 18.1% of the population each year. Anxiety plays an essential role in encouraging productive learning outcomes; however, uncontrolled anxiety could result in heightened emotions that create barriers to learning. Employees who have anxiety disorders may experience these barriers to learning when in traditional training programs and may require support or accommodations to boost their unique learning needs for development in the workplace. Human Resource Development (HRD) professionals’ challenge is how best to intervene when an employee exhibits behaviors of learning anxiety to nurture …

Principal Perceptions Of Effective Performance Coaching: A Case Study, Kimberly A. Starr

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study focused on the effectiveness of leadership coaching and its impact on school principals’ professional growth. Through an in-depth interview process with eight principals, perceptions regarding their leadership or performance coach’s effectiveness were explored using the CLEAR Coaching Model as a conceptual framework. Participants shared experiences through participation in the School Support Program hosted by the Arkansas Leadership Academy. Five significant themes emerged from this study: 1) the coaching relationship impacts effectiveness, 2) a working alliance is needed to ensure desired outcomes, 3) understanding school culture and current reality are necessary before coaching can begin, 4) the …

Identifying Effective Teaching And Recruitment Strategies Used By Efnep In Reaching Limited Income Audiences In The United States, Alexandria Mcleod

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The two articles presented in this thesis used a researcher-developed literature-based survey instrument to collect data on the Expanded Food and Nutrition Education Program (EFNEP) in the United States. Data was collected on methods of teaching, communication technologies used, recruitment strategies, barriers to attending classes, and program assistant demographic data. There were 803 program assistants working during the 2018-2019 program year. There were 346 program assistants who completed the 35-question survey instrument during data collection.

The first article focused on identifying effective teaching strategies used to increase program engagement by collecting data on program characteristics, methods of teaching, and educational …

Andragogy For All? A Look At Arkansas Community College Students' Preferences For Andragogical Assumptions, Emilee Sides

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Community colleges are tasked with juggling multiple missions. They provide open access to education for adults in their community, work with industry partners to educate the local workforce, and provide relevant programming to the communities they serve. When compared with students at four-year institutions, community college students are older, more ethnically and racially diverse, come from lower socioeconomic statuses, and less academically prepared.

Like other community colleges across the country, one of the primary goals of Arkansas community colleges is to help their students succeed. Unfortunately, the state has historically performed poorly in regard to educational outcomes. To get the …

Keepers' From Remote/Hybrid Teaching: What I'Ve Learned That I Will Incorporate Into F2f Classes, Dave Bostwick, Sheri Deaton, Elizabeth Dickerson, Page Dobbs, Jean Henry, Michael Riha, Alejandro Rojas, Helene Siebrits, Lora Walsh

TFSC Publications and Presentations

Faculty presenters share tools and techniques used during remote/hybrid teaching they plan to incorporate into face-to-face courses post-pandemic.

Practical Strategies For Managing Emotions And Stress In The Elusive Search For Work-Life Balance, Jennifer C. Veilleux

TFSC Publications and Presentations

In this talk, Dr. Veilleux discussed the rationale for thinking about work-life integration rather than work-life balance, while validating the importance of recognizing the emotional repercussions of feeling a conflict between the work and non-work portions of life. She provided a three-step strategy for recognizing the “message” of an emotion, with the goal of helping people recognize that emotions do not occur about things that do not matter, and thus identifying and processing emotions about stressful experiences (including conflicts between work and life) can be crucial steps toward psychological well-being.

The Effects Of Implementing The National Guard Tuition Assistance Program On Accessing Higher Education Funds For Arkansas National Guardsmen At The University Of Arkansas, Erika Gamboa

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The Arkansas National Guard Tuition Assistance (NGTA) program was created to recruit and retain Arkansas National Guardsmen by providing college funding regardless of Armed Services Vocational Aptitude Battery (ASVAB) test scores. The funding provided up to 100% of tuition costs at any Arkansas public college or university and was effective between Fall 2017 to Fall 2019. The approval process included collaboration between the Arkansas National Guard Education Office, the Arkansas Department of Higher Education, and the institution of higher education Guardsmen attended.

The study focused on the effects the NGTA had on Guardsmen who attended the University of Arkansas during …

Baby Boomers In Technology-Rich Environments: Using Piaac To Study The Association Of Workplace Learning With Technology Competency, Julie M. Galliart

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A skill gap in Problem Solving in Technology-Rich Environments (PS-TRE) between U.S. Baby Boomers and younger generations has been documented in previous studies using the Programme for the International Assessment of Adult Competencies (PIAAC) Survey of Adult Skills (Rampey et al., 2016). Bringing this generation of workers up to speed in this competency area is important because older workers are a growing segment of the U.S. workforce with 13 million employees expected to be age 65 or older by 2024 (Toossi & Torpey, 2017). Workplace learning may be a solution, but few studies in adult learning document outcomes of training …

Effects Of Gatekeeper Course Modality, Age, Gender And High School Gpa On Kaplan Subject Area Exam Scores, Vernon Hoffman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The question of equivalency regarding course modality has plagued and intrigued educators for as long as multiple modalities have existed. In the modern world of academia, the two prevailing modalities are face-to-face or traditional courses and online courses. A multitude of factors have contributed to the increase in online course offerings, including increasingly dependable technology and fiscal pressures on institutions of higher learning.

A great deal of scholarly research has compared modalities using within-course measures such as course grades and comprehensive final exams. Most of these studies have found the two modalities equivalent. However, a dearth of research exists which …

Normalizing Struggle, Catherine Martin Christopher

Arkansas Law Review

A person who is effective in law school, on the bar exam, and in practice utilizes the same set of skills in each of those scenarios: close, critical reading; synthesis of multiple sources of law into a coherent rule or schema; appreciation of both the big picture and the fine details of a set of rules of law; analysis of a factual scenario for facts that meet or fail a legal test; assessment of the validity and strength of counterarguments; and, of course, clear, concise, thorough, organized communication. Because all these skills are useful from the first day of law …

The Impact Of Graduate Assistantships On The Preparation Of Early Career Student Affairs Professionals, Mary L. Skinner

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative case study explored the graduate assistantship experiences of early career master’s prepared student affairs professionals and examined the role these assistantships played in the preparation for their current position. The study included 10 participants who had all graduated with a master’s in higher education within the past 5 years, had participated in a graduate assistantship within student affairs, and worked full-time within a student affairs department at the time of the study. Each participant took part in a one-on-one interview that was recorded, transcribed, and reviewed for themes. I followed Braun and Clarke’s (2012) six-phase approach to thematic …

A Perspective Of Female Faculty In Hospitality Higher Education, Clarissa Mason

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Bullying and related incivility have become critical social issues influencing not only individual lives but also society at large; yet, extensive research on bullying only began about four decades ago (Randall, 2001; Sanders, 2004). Bullying can happen to children, but it can also impact adults more often than one would think. The 2014 WBI U.S. Workplace Bullying Survey, conducted by the Workplace Bullying Institute , found that “, one-quarter of adult Americans (27%) said they directly experienced abusive conduct at work” (Namie, Christensen, & Phillips, 2014, p.4), and over one third of adults are aware of incidents of workplace bullying. …

Perception Of County Extension Agents’ Organizational Fit After Participating In The Mentoring Component Of The Cooperative Extension Service Onboarding Program, Angela Blacklaw-Freel

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study is to determine the perception employees of the Arkansas Cooperative Extension Service (CES) after participating in a mentoring program. The CES implemented an onboarding program in 2010 which included a yearlong mentoring component for county extension agents because they were resigning at an alarming rate. The study aimed to illuminate if the mentoring program increased the county extension agents’ perception of fit after completing the program by determining if they felt they possessed characteristics that were compatible with the organization.

This study was founded on the mentees’ viewpoints of their perceptions of person-organization (PO) fit, …

The Impact Of The Arkansas Scholarship Lottery On College Choice And Completion Of Adult Students, Collin Callaway

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

In 2008, Arkansas citizens overwhelmingly supported a referendum to legalize a state-run lottery to support college scholarships. The Arkansas General Assembly passed a law in 2009 that detailed administration and procedures of the lottery, and students first received scholarships (branded as the Academic Challenge Scholarship) in fall 2010. The program was largely modeled after other state-run scholarships with two major exceptions: policy makers intentionally established lower eligibility requirements and included adult students. This study measured the impact of the state lottery funded Academic Challenge Scholarship on adult college choice and completion. Findings included significant demographic and college choice differences between …