Educational Administration and Supervision Commons^™

Just Ask: Using Faculty Input To Inform Communication Strategies, Krista Hoffmann Longtin, Megan M. Palmer, Julie L. Welch, Emily C. Walvoord, Mary E. Dankoski

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Faculty members today are bombarded with information, yet limited in time and attention. Managing communication with faculty is an increasingly important function of faculty development offices. This study explored how communication frameworks can be paired with web design principles and attention economics to increase the effectiveness of communication with faculty members. We developed and tested communication approaches designed to enhance faculty members’ identification and involvement with our programs. The advantages, disadvantages, and effectiveness of each model are presented. Ultimately, the study reframed our understanding of communication strategies, not as static tools, but rather as opportunities to engage faculty.

Tracking Pod's Engagement With Diversity: A Content Analysis Of To Improve The Academy And Pod Network Conference Programs From 1977 To 2011, Stacy E. Grooters

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

This study examines the degree to which sessions from the annual Professional and Organizational Development (POD) Network Conference and articles from To Improve the Academy engage questions of diversity. The titles and abstracts of 3,946 conference sessions and 560 journal articles were coded for presence and type of diversity. A significant variation in inclusion of diversity over time was found for the conference sessions (p < 0.001) but not the journal articles. Overall, the findings suggest that the organization has been inconsistent in its scholarly engagement with diversity and should work to encourage more regular engagement with diversity by its members.

Preparing New Faculty For Leadership: Understanding And Addressing Needs, Anne Kelsch, Joan Hawthorne

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

A perceived decline in effective faculty participation in campus leadership and governance is well documented, both in the literature and via anecdote. Characteristics common within the culture of higher education make nurturing campus “citizenship” among junior faculty challenging. This essay describes findings from an interview based study of junior faculty in which understanding of professional responsibilities beyond teaching and research was explored. The study documented the deep sense of unpreparedness with which new faculty approach key issues in higher education, including those associated with governance and leadership. Two possible strategies for redressing that unpreparedness, both showing preliminary but positive results, …

Developing Scholarly Teachers Through An Sotl Faculty Fellowship, Beth A. Fisher, Michelle D. Repice, Carolyn L. Dufault, Denise A. Leonard, Regina F. Frey

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

The increasing interest in incorporating evidenced based teaching in higher education has created a pronounced need for faculty to learn the theory and practice of the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL). This article describes a program designed to prepare faculty to (a) draw on existing SoTL studies when designing and implementing evidenced based teaching methods, (b) design SoTL studies to test the effectiveness of those methods, and (c) integrate their new knowledge of SoTL into the practice of “scholarly teaching.” This program has proven to be a successful model for incorporating evidenced based teaching into undergraduate science, technology, engineering, …

Sequential Online Course Redesign: When “It Just Takes Time” Works No Longer, Genevieve G. Shaker, Sarah K. Nathan, Elizabeth J. Dale

To Improve the Academy: A Journal of Educational Development

Despite the increase in formats of online education, evidence suggests that the academic achievement gap could widen without iterative adaptation. This comparative case study analyzes the implementation of an online undergraduate course delivered consecutively in hybrid and fully online formats. Student feedback and instructor reflection address adaptive processes for online learning and adjustments to enhance the second course following a sequential redesign. Results include students’ challenges with technology and workload, benefits of cross course collaboration, instructor efforts to mediate challenges without sacrificing rigor, and advice for educational developers as they support online teaching through rapid adaptation by design.

A High-Need Azeri School: A Georgian Perspective, Nino Sharvashidze, Miles T. Bryant

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

This article contributes to the International Study of Leadership Development Network initiative to identify high-need schools around the globe by focusing on a small minority ethnic school in the country of Georgia. It will be clear in this article that the challenges the Karajala School administrator faces in this former Soviet bloc school stand as an example of the educational disadvantages common to rural minority ethnic schools in Georgia and to many small rural schools in former Soviet bloc nations. The Karajala School is populated with Azeri students and is located in an isolated agrarian village. In the Republic of …

Being And Belonging: A Critical Phenomenological Study Of Undergraduate Chinese International Students’ Sense Of Belonging In Residence Halls, Christina W. Yao

Department of Educational Administration: Faculty Publications

Despite the large number of international students from China in U.S. higher education, little research exists on these students’ perceptions of the racial climate in residence halls. This research study illuminates the experiences affecting the sense of belonging of first-year Chinese international students and provides insights on how these students perceive the climate within their new collegiate ‘home’. I used a phenomenological orientation to understand participants’ lived experiences. A critical lens was used to analyze and examine the contextual influences on the participants’ experiences.

This study is centered on understanding how undergraduate Chinese international students’ experiences with domestic students affected …

Changes In School Connectedness And Deviant Peer Affiliation Among Sixth-Grade Students From High-Poverty Neighborhoods, Kathleen Moritz Rudasill, Kate Niehaus, Lisa J. Crockett, Christopher R. Rakes

Department of Educational Psychology: Faculty Publications

This longitudinal study examined associations between changes in School Connectedness and changes in Affiliation With Deviant Peers among students from high-poverty backgrounds during the year immediately following the transition to middle school. Sixth-graders (N = 328) attending two middle schools in a large school district completed measures of School Connectedness and Affiliation With Deviant Peers at three points across the year. Results from parallel process modeling showed that students’ reports of School Support significantly declined across the school year, School Support and Affiliation With Deviant Peers were negatively associated at the beginning of the school year, and students who reported …

Church-Based Hiv/Aids Prevention For Adults, Hattie Acheampong

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) disproportionately affect African Americans in the South; given that population's high rate of church attendance, churches have been one potential avenue for HIV/AIDS education. Research has shown the importance of HIV/AIDS education in reducing risk behavior and infection, although church-based HIV/AIDS prevention programs for adults have received little scholarly attention, including the impact of such programs on attitudes, behavioral control, and intention to engage in safe sexual practices. Using Ajzens' theory of planned behavior as a foundation, the purpose of this quantitative study was to explore whether there is a statistically …

School Leaders' Perceptions Of Caribbean Students' English Language Needs, Erica Pike

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Although British West Indian Caribbean (BWIC) immigrant students are considered to be English speaking students by U.S. public schools, many of them speak other languages. These students experience hardships and have unique remediation needs that many schools are not providing. The conceptual frameworks that guided this case study were sociocultural theory, acculturation theory, and leadership theory. These theories postulate that culture influences learning, second language acquisition is linked to adapting to a new culture, and leadership is important to implement system-wide changes. Qualitative data included interviews with 6 teachers and 3 administrators who work closely with BWIC students, New York …

Editor's Note, Janie M. H. Fritz

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the Editor’s Note to Volume 33, Issue 1 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Strategies For Easing Faculty-Management At Institutions Of Higher Education, Sarah H. Vanslette, Zachary A. Schaefer, Kathy Hagedorn

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

With calls across the discipline of communication to use our research to enhance the lived experience of organizational members and employees of all industries, this essay focuses on the often tense communication between university faculty and university leaders. Using communication and business scholarship as our foundation, we recommend communication strategies that should facilitate better communication between university faculty and management. These strategies will not only help faculty and staff overcome disagreements and avoid uncivil discourse, but the strategies can also be applied to uncivil non-academic workplace environments. The authors will also outline how these incivilities and recommended communication strategies play …

Informing The Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (Uta) Debate, Deanna D. Sellnow

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Inherent in the job of communication administrators (e.g., basic course directors, chairs, directors, deans) is the never-ending challenge of finding the right balance between economic efficiency and instructional integrity in terms of course delivery. Therefore, the question we continually struggle to answer is where to find balance with regard to compromising educational quality for financial frugality. Although always an issue, this subject is spotlighted prominently today as funding support for higher education wanes. The proliferation of online courses now being offered (e.g., MOOCs/massive open online courses) serves as a prime example.

Exploring The Educational Value Of The Undergraduate Teaching Apprentice (Uta) Experience, Molly Reynolds, Deanna Sellnow, Katharine Head, Kathryn E. Anthony

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Employing graduate students as teaching assistants (GTAs) is a common practice in universities across the United States. Using undergraduate students as teaching assistants/apprentices (UTAs), however, is not only less common but also often sparks debate among various stakeholder groups (e.g., teachers, administrators, community members). Moreover, relatively little empirical research has been published to support arguments on either side of the issue. The present study extends research by providing evidence to support the educational value of employing UTAs as teaching apprentices. More specifically, researchers conducted a grounded theory qualitative analysis of free-write essay responses collected from 33 UTAs throughout the course …

The Undergraduate Teaching Assistant: Scholarship In The Classroom, Sarah M. Flinko, Ronald C. Arnett

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This essay casts the role of the Undergraduate Teaching Assistant (UTA) within a Kantanian sense of imagination—the not yet pushes off of the actual and the tangible (Kant, 1781/1963). The UTA accesses a temporal glimpse into a professional scholar/teacher vocation through experience in a lived context that unites teaching and scholarship. The role of the UTA offers what Martin Buber (1965/1988) called “imagining the real” (p. 60), a moment of creative ingenuity that begins with the doing of concrete tasks within the profession.

Undergraduate Instructor Assistants (Uias): Friend Or Foe, William J. Seiler, Jenna Stephenson Abetz

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Undergraduate students have been and continue to be employed as instructor assistants (UIAs) in a variety of courses across disciplines. However, relatively little empirical research has been published regarding the educational merits for them or their students. The present essay extends such research by focusing specifically on UIAs’ perceived value of the Personalized System of Instruction (PSI) on their learning and personal growth. The authors conducted in depth interviews with six former UIAs and employed a qualitative thematic analysis of their responses. Perceived benefits that emerged from the analysis include, for example, learning how to balance many different roles and …

Review Of Wheeler, D. (2012). Servant Leadership For Higher Education: Principles And Practices. San Francisco, Ca: John Wiley & Sons., John Howard Iii

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Review of Wheeler, D. (2012). Servant leadership for higher education: Principles and practices. San Francisco, CA: John Wiley & Sons.

Editor's Note, Janie M. H. Fritz

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the Editor’s Note to Volume 33, Issue 2 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Teaching Communication Ethics As Central To The Discipline, Robert L. Ballard, Leeanne M. Bell Mcmanus, Annette M. Holba, Spoma Jovanovic, Paula S. Tompkins, Lori J. N. Charron, Melba L. Hoffer, Michelle A. Leavitt, Tammy Swenson-Lepper

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Communication ethics as a field of study within the communication discipline has made significant contributions in a variety of areas, including teaching. This paper offers an historical overview of communication ethics, with special attention to four major approaches to pedagogy – ethics in human communication, moral psychology and intuition, a communication ethics framework, and a critical communication ethics pedagogy. For the department seeking to incorporate communication ethics through stand-alone courses or throughout curricula, the authors suggest ways for communication administrators to address questions of desired competencies for communication graduates, and to articulate related learning outcomes. Future recommendations for the field …

An Explanation Of Course Flipping And Its Application To Basic Course Instruction, Mary Mino

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Flipping courses has become a topic of interest for communication instructors. This essay’s primary purpose is to assist communication educators and administrators in understanding course flipping as an instructional delivery approach. Course flipping, encouraging consistent active student learning during class sessions and appropriately using technology (or another means) to prepare students for these sessions, has most effectively accentuated instructional objectives. In fact, flipping the basic course has significantly increased students’ understanding of the relevance of the course and positively affected performance outcomes. In addition, to help instructors who want to employ this approach, a process in which they can engage …

Back To The Future: Cicero's Five Canons As An Assessment Framework, Jeanne M. Persuit, Julie-Ann Scott, Richard K. Olsen

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

Responding to an external mandate to engage in program level assessment, an assessment ad hoc committee within a large and broadly focused communication studies department invokes the Five Canons as the framework for an imbedded assessment process. The article explores the challenges that the Five Canons helped resolve and the unique organizational and curricular advantages that the Five Canons offer.

From The Voice Of The President: Advancing The Discipline Through Communication Leadership, Amanda Mckendree, Christina Mcdowell Marinchak

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

College and university presidents hold significant leadership positions not only in an administrative capacity, but also in their respective academic disciplines. This summary report presents results from a study of college and university presidents who hold an academic degree in communication at any level (BA, MA, and/or Ph.D.). The interview findings are organized according to the following major themes: Disciplinary identity, Ethical communication, Communication leadership, and Advocacy within the discipline. The summary report concludes by highlighting responses to the interview findings from top leaders within the communication discipline.

Complete Issue, Volume 33, Issue 2

Journal of the Association for Communication Administration

This is the complete issue for Volume 33, Issue 2 of the Journal of the Association for Communication Administration.

Strategies For Creating A Unique Culture In Preparation For Campus Relocation: A Process Evaluation, Dana Ague

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The relationship between a college and its founding church changed as the college developed its liberal arts programs and leaders sought to create an independent new culture from the church. Using Clark's organizational saga framework, the purpose of this study was to assess the effects of culture change on this institution. The research questions examined strategies that leaders used to transition the campus to its new reality. A formative, qualitative, process-oriented evaluation was used to collect interview data from 22 institutional leaders and other key stakeholders; data were also collected from institutional documents. The data were then coded and analyzed …

Master's Students' Experiences In A Graduate Preparation Program: Multicultural Competency And Social Justice Curriculum, Kristin I. Mccann

Dissertations

This dissertation study focused on master's students experiences with multicultural competency curriculum in graduate preparation programs (GPPs) and contributes to gaps in the extant literature on multicultural issues in higher education. The two overarching research questions for the study considered how, if at all, students' understanding of core concepts of the required course (privilege, oppression, and social justice) changed over time as evidenced by a primary curricular component called the photo elicitation project. Educators' experiences were also addressed, per their impact on the context in which students learned. This study employed a qualitative approach and, in line with the study's …

Community College Students With Psychological Disorders And Their Perceptions Of Online Learning, Gretchen Winifred Langford Warren

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Theses & Dissertations

Research focusing on students with learning disabilities is abundant for secondary and higher education. Studies utilizing data on students with psychological disorders cover secondary and 4-year university education. However, community college students with psychological disorders and their perception of online classes is an area of educational research which lacks data. Students across a wide spectrum of psychological disorders tend to find learning challenging. The community college's learning environment may best fit their learning styles. With modem educational innovations, the online learning methods must take into consideration the unique psychosocial, cognitive, and academic needs of the community college student population.

An Analysis Of Erickson's Concept Of School Legitimacy In Relationship To School Success And Failure, Michael Griggs

Theses and Dissertations

School legitimacy is the approval of principal and teacher authority that derives from the school community's trust (Erickson, 1987). When clients--the various stakeholders, including parents and students--recognize their school as legitimate, they trust that those in authority will help their economic future, protect their personal identities, and look out for their best interest. The concept of school legitimacy is applied to four case studies that involve poor and minority students to examine its role in a school's success or failure. The dissertation seeks to examine the process for constructing school legitimacy through reviewing literature, case studies, and surveys. Surveys are …

A Study Of The Relationship Between Public K-8 And Middle Schools And Student Achievement In One South Carolina School District, Marc Gardner Zachary

Theses and Dissertations

Abstract This study examined the impact of grade configuration on academic achievement. Specifically compared were 6-8 middle schools versus a K-8 school in one upstate South Carolina district. One purpose of this study was to determine if the performance, as indicated by the Measures of Academic Progress (MAP) reading and math tests, was different for students enrolled in grades 6-8 in a certain school configuration. The other purpose was to determine if reading and math growth during the transition year from elementary to middle school is higher in 6-8 middle schools or K-8 schools. The researcher utilized data from 3 …

The Effects Of Explicit Listening Strategy Instruction On The Listening Comprehension Of English As Second Language (Esl) Community College Students, Yi Guan

Doctoral Dissertations

This mixed methods study explored the effects of explicit listening strategy instruction on the beginning-level ESL learner's listening comprehension at a community college in Northern California. Most previous studies measured the effectiveness of listening strategy instruction by comparing students' test scores, but little research explored the students' listening strategy development and their perceptions of the strategy instruction. Furthermore, no prior research exists on the effects of listening strategy instruction among community college students.

The researcher employed the concurrent triangulation approach, collecting and analyzing both quantitative and qualitative data simultaneously. Data sources included interviews, a listening test, background surveys, and classroom …

"My Gut Has To Feel It": A Participatory Action Research Study Of Community College Educators Navigating The Emotional Terrain Of Human Rights Education, Lindsay Padilla

Doctoral Dissertations

Informed by feminist theories of emotion and the concept of critical emotional praxis, this PAR study highlights the emotional terrain of four Northern California community college teachers who teach human rights. The following meta-question guided this research: "Given the role of emotions in challenging injustice, as well as in engaging in personal and societal change, what role do emotions play when teaching in a community college?" Data sources included journals, monthly meetings, final reflection narratives, and exit interviews, which were culled for emergent themes. The findings indicate that the co-researchers in this study experienced emotional ambivalence (the simultaneous experience of …