Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research Commons^™

Bumpers College Of Agricultural, Food And Life Sciences Professional Development Opportunities And Their Impact On Perceptions Of Career Preparedness, Jessica L. Wesson

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

A student’s undergraduate education is an imperative part of developing career skills that will prepare them to transition from academia to the professional world. Experience outside of the classroom and course material taught in a formal class experience are both important. Their experiences and classes, in college, allow them to develop skills and increase their chances of being successful in the workplace (Suvedi et al., 2016).

Chickering’s Seven Vectors of Student Development were used to help explain the process of student development. A quantitative survey was sent to DBCALFS faculty, staff, and administrators, and a different quantitative survey was sent …

Disparities In Response, Motivations, And Self-Efficacy To Entrepreneurially Minded Learning Within Underrepresented Students' Groups, Kaitlin Hall

Biomedical Engineering Undergraduate Honors Theses

Systemic racism in the United States is embedded within the policies that have created oppression for certain groups. Women, people of color, and those from low-income families have less access to entrepreneurial knowledge due to the education gap. It has been determined that less than 20 percent of US patents entail a female inventor. Black and Hispanic college graduates also lack this access as fewer than half as many individuals hold patents. Ensuring that these populations are educated in inventor knowledge can facilitate greater inclusion. The historical Brown vs the Board of Education intended to end unequal public schooling. It …

Gen Z Students’ Experiences With College Choice, Heather Levesque

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore what influences Gen Z student college choice. Research on college choice has provided insight into whether or not a student will attend college; however, limited research exists on what impacts Gen Z students’ college choice and how marketing and communication influence what college a student will choose. College recruitment has always been challenging, given the high competition between colleges and universities. With the decrease in enrollment over the last decade and the unexpected impact of COVID-19, that challenge continues to grow. Enrollment and marketing administrators have difficulty expanding and diversifying their …

Exploring Associations Between Self-Concept, Ideal Self, And Assessment Practices Of High School Science Teachers, Jeffrey Celebre

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Despite being faced with major barriers to overcome, local school districts and teachers must work to align their instructional practices in science and their assessment practices to the Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS) and the New Jersey Student Learning Standards for Science (NJSLS-Science). As described in the literature, a three-dimensional approach to assessment design is one of the qualities considered the model for a true and authentic measurement of student aptitude in science. As teachers work to understand NGSS alignment and their ability to meet alignment standards as an assessor while designing and implementing NGSS-aligned assessments, they will undoubtedly encounter …

Examining How Black Administrator Employment Decisions Are Impacted By The Behaviors Of Supervisors, Annie Wilson Whitaker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how Black, public school administrator employment decisions are impacted by the behaviors of supervisors in Virginia. Commonalities among the lived experiences of Black, public school administrators were examined in order to identify specific behaviors which impact employment decisions.

Transcendental phenomenological qualitative research design was utilized. Participants were identified through gatekeeper introductions and then narrowed through snow-ball sampling. Data was collected through open-ended face-to-face interviews with 12 Black, public school administrators in Virginia via a secure online platform. The data was analyzed in order to identify emergent themes which represent the lived …

Academic Performance Among First-Year College Freshmen Following Participation In A Summer Bridge Program, Gregory Anderson Cross

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The primary purpose of this study was to determine the differences in the academic outcomes of first-year academically underprepared TN Promise-eligible college freshmen who participated in a college bridge program. A comparative research design was applied to existing data, including first-semester GPA, first-semester credit completion rate, first college-level mathematics course GPA, first college-level English course GPA, and fall-to-fall persistence rates. A random sample of 412 first-time freshman college students from five cohorts was analyzed using descriptive statistics for eight research questions. These findings indicated that there were no significant differences among college bridge participants and non-bridge participants. Non-bridge program participants …

Teacher Training And Mentoring: The Relationship Between Classroom Practices And Student Outcomes, Cledenin Veras

All Dissertations

Dominican students have the lowest performance scores in science, math, and reading comprehension compared to students across the region, according to national (Minerd, 2018) and International evaluations (TERCE, 2014). While many factors are linked to these results, teacher performance is considered an essential element (OECD, 2015) that needs to be addressed.

Project USAID READ is an initiative of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), implemented by the Universidad Iberoamericana (UNIBE). The Project's purpose is to improve the reading and writing skills of Primary Level students, by supporting the implementation of the curriculum and promoting appropriate learning environments. Training …

Teaching For Career Success: An Agricultural Industry Perspective Of Preparedness Needs For Diverse Workforce Development, Madelaine Giebler

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This research examined agricultural graduate preparedness needs through the lens of agricultural industry professionals. In the rapidly changing industry environment, continual review of agricultural curriculum needs provides relevant curriculum recommendations for academic programs. This study came at a time when agricultural curriculum was in need of review. Methodology for this study involved a qualitative mixed methods approach employing survey and interview responses. A total of 121 industry professionals, identified through the University of Arkansas Bumpers College Career Development Center, were contacted with the survey link. A total of eighteen individuals completed the surveys, and of those eighteen survey respondents, eight …

Factors That Correlate With Student Engagement And Success In Honors Student Theses At A New England Public Institution, Megan Williams

All Theses And Dissertations

The purpose of this quantitative study was to determine the factors that correlate to successful outcomes on honors theses at an undergraduate public institution compared to findings collected from several private liberal arts colleges. Utilizing Kuh’s (2008) theory of engagement and success as a theoretical framework, this study sought to understand how participation in a single high-impact practice – a culminating senior experience – impacted sense of belonging, engagement and success in an honors senior thesis. An anonymous online survey (Trosset & Weisler, 2018) was deployed to answer two research questions: does a positive student-faculty relationship correlate to engagement and …

Rural Students On College Enrollment: Perceptions Of Influence Surrounding College Choice, Lucas M. Simmons

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose for conducting the study was to describe the community, personal experiences, and life events of individuals from rural Arkansas communities in developing their decisions to attend college and how the community impacted their successful enrollment at the University of Arkansas. Specifically, the study set out to explore how rural communities were perceived to influence college enrollment decisions and choices in degree selection. Although situated at one case study institution, the University of Arkansas, the findings have importance for all rural students and communities, and ultimately public policy and institutional behaviors. Therefore, the purpose for conducting the study was …

Science Teachers' Perceptions Of Culturally Responsive Teaching In Majority Native American Schools In Oklahoma, Michelle Childress

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Native American students have consistently scored less than their white peers on high school academic achievement tests, have the lowest high school graduation rates, and have the lowest college enrollment rates. Research has evidenced challenges and struggles Native American children are faced with that negatively effects their success in the classroom. Native American students often encounter a disconnect between their home and school life resulting in difficulties of navigating two opposing worlds. When Native American students are associated with negative stereotype’s indicative of Native American culture as opposed to the dominant culture, this creates a conflict between their cultural identity …

Analyzing Carroll’S Model Of School Learning, Degree Of Learning, In Adult Basic Education, John Kelly

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study examined Carroll’s Model of School Learning (MSL) on adult basic education (ABE). The study's central question was, “Does Carroll's MSL account for additional variance in TABE 11 or 12 scores beyond instructional time after controlling for age?” A non-experimental cross-sectional design was employed to explore the fiscal year 2019–2020 dataset (n=99) from Arkansas ABE centers to show how instructional time and MSL account for variation in adults’ post-test reading scores. Hierarchical linear regression analyses were run to predict the correlation between MSL and the Test of Adult Basic Education (TABE) Reading score. The results show that MSL is …

Challenging Student Behaviors And Teacher Well-Being, Dannah Steele

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Classroom management is a necessary component of a teacher’s classroom in order for students to learn in a safe environment. When a teacher is unable to manage his or her classroom because of dangerous and disruptive behaviors, it can be physically dangerous and impede the learning of others. Teachers frequently exposed to challenging behaviors experience high levels of stress that transcends into their personal lives. The purpose of this study was to determine how administrators can better support teachers who experience high levels of stress incurred from working with students who exhibit challenging behaviors in the classroom. Data collected through …

Intervention Program To Ease The Transition Out Of High School, Marissa Sareñana

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

“At-risk” youth are more likely to drop out of school and less likely to pursue higher education than their counterparts, hindering their economic future. This project was implemented at Learning for Life Charter School (LFLCS), an alternative 7th-12th grade school for at-risk youth. The project included conducting various readiness assessments and an education intervention designed to increase seniors’ level of preparedness for life after graduation. Seniors met individually with social work interns to identify a post-graduation plan, formulating short and long term goals. Once students formulated their post-graduation plans, they were guided on the necessary requirements to transition into their …

Motivating Youth On Probation To Post-Secondary Success, Ximena Soto

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The Silver Star Youth Program at Rancho Cielo Youth Campus works with at-risk youth ages 15 ½ to 18 to help them achieve a high school diploma. Unfortunately, many Silver Star participants lack the motivation to graduate high school and continue on to higher education or to pursue good jobs. Of the 25 students surveyed, 25% stated having some knowledge about college and future plans after graduation. The remaining 75% of students were unsure or undecided on their plans. This capstone project was designed to motivate these at-risk youth to post-secondary success. Two intern-led workshops provided students with information about …

Increasing Access To Intervention Services At Rancho San Juan High School, Bernardo J. Lopez

Capstone Projects and Master's Theses

The United States is experiencing an increasing number of youth suffering from high levels of stress. This capstone project was implemented at Rancho San Juan High School (RSJHS). This newly built public high school is located in the far northside of Salinas, CA. The purpose of the capstone project was to support RSJHS’ Wellness Center to provide students with counseling services that can help them academically, emotionally, and socio-economically by addressing barriers of inefficiencies in access to services. Specifically, the project consisted of the development of a standardized intake process for the intervention specialist. A standardized intake form was created …

Improving Self-Efficacy And Knowledge While Reducing Anxiety In High-Risk Breast Cancer Patients Through Standardized Education, Shelley Miles

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Breast cancer is the leading cause of death of women in the United States. Patients at high risk for developing cancer are more easily identified in today’s world. Early identification might be due to strong family history or genetic mutations, such as BRCA1 or BRCA2. Screening and risk reduction guidelines have been developed over recent years for these patients. Adherence to these guidelines continues to be a problem. The factors stemming from this problem include lack of knowledge about being high-risk, understanding the guidelines, and anxiety and depression about the perceived risk of developing breast cancer. These factors can cause …

The Impact Of Webquest On Improving Grade Nine Students English Writing Skills In Public Schools In Qatar, Abdelkarim Ibrahim Chaabane Mr., Abdelkarim Ibrahim Chaabane Mr.

Multidisciplinary Studies Theses

Despite the tremendous efforts that have been exerted in Qatar to improve the teaching of EFL writing, EFL teachers still fail to deliver adequately and the learners’ writing proficiency remains below expectations. This study is an attempt to investigate the impact of WebQuest on improving grade nine EFL students’ writing skills to inform teachers and policy makers for future intervention and improvement. The data is from fifteen male students who study at a preparatory school in Qatar. They were selected based on opportunistic convenience sampling strategy (Duff 2008). The participants took a pre-test and a posttest about writing a descriptive …

Factors Promoting And Inhibiting The Practice Of Needs Assessment By Human Performance Practitioners, Christopher D. Adams

STEMPS Theses & Dissertations

Needs assessment is an essential activity for human performance improvement practitioners. This qualitative study employed the critical incident technique to determine factors, encountered by practitioners during needs assessment, which promote or inhibit successful needs assessment by exploring practitioners work across 50 incidents. Using extreme cases representing practitioners’ most and least successful needs assessment experiences allowed participants to recall rich detail of their process and the context in which they were working. Participants were also asked to reflect on what criteria they used to select most and least successful examples. From that basis, the study explored three research questions and associated …

The Effect Of Tier 2 Intervention On Student Achievement & Student Self-Efficacy, Cheyenne Morgan Hill

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Biology is a key course in a student's learning path. It provides important information about the living world and creates foundational knowledge that will be used in other science courses as the student progresses through his or her secondary and post-secondary education. However, there is a pattern of low student achievement in this required science course. The inability for students to understand and retain the curriculum in turn leads to low self-efficacy. Together, this creates a poor attitude toward science and a reluctance to pursue further science courses and in turn science careers. Response to Intervention (RTI), a common educational …

The Sel Implementation Monkey: Identifying Factors That Serve As Barriers To The Successful Implementation Of Sel In The Classroom And School Setting, Aron Dody

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify factors that served as barriers to the successful implementation of social and emotional learning in the classroom and school setting. This study utilized a reflective case study approach concerning USD 417’s social and emotional learning implementation journey.

The research questions for this study were: 1. What factors or conditions serve as barriers to the implementation of SEL in the classroom and school setting? 2. What resources or supports would lead to increased fidelity amongst teachers in the implementation of SEL in the classroom and school setting?

The reflections and data were used …

Mobile Technology For Language Learning And Instruction: Investigating Beliefs And Attitudes Of Indonesian Efl Preservice Teachers, Dodi Siraj Muamar Zain

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This study is primarily aimed to investigate beliefs and attitudes of Indonesian EFL preservice teachers toward the use of mobile devices such as smartphones or tablets for learning and instructional practice in Indonesia. Furthermore, this phenomenological study attempted to reveal the factors affecting these two constructs from 20 Indonesian EFL preservice teachers through semi-structured interviews. The findings revealed participants’ beliefs that mobile devices could positively contribute to the development of language performance as learning tools and the development of language instruction as instructional tools. Regarding attitudes of EFL preservice teachers toward the use of mobile devices for learning and teaching, …

Increasing Active Learning And Achievement In A Large Lecture Calculus Class Through A Flipped Classroom Model, Kimberly King

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

University Calculus I courses serve as a means of access into high demand STEM fields and large lecture style passive calculus courses can be difficult for students. A mixed methods research design was used to compare a flipped instructional approach to a traditional lecture approach in large section Calculus I courses. The flipped lecture model required students to view videos of calculus instruction that included embedded quiz questions to allow for problem solving explorations during face-to-face class time. The traditional format included content from the video and limited time for additional problem solving. A professor with prior experience teaching Calculus …

A Classical Delphi Study: Identifying The Essential Leadership Characteristics, Traits, And Skills Of Lutheran School Leaders, Alan Freeman

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Principals play a key role in the success and sustainability of Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (LCMS) schools. This study examines the qualities, characteristics and traits possessed by successful Lutheran school leaders to provide a framework for developing current and future leaders of Lutheran schools. Today’s Lutheran school administrator must understand and be effective in financial planning, marketing, curriculum and instruction, community outreach and strategic planning in addition to the more traditional areas of curriculum and instruction, employee evaluation, and other school management tasks. Today’s successful Lutheran school administrator must be a leader and not just a manager. Thus, Lutheran schools …

The Impact Of Prosodic Reading Instruction On Adolescents’ Silent Reading Comprehension, Judy Lynn Fields

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Research has established a strong relationship between silent reading comprehension and prosodic reading fluency among young readers, but much remains unknown about this relationship among older readers (Breen, Kaswer, Van Dyke, Krivokapic, & Landi, 2016; Cypert & Petro, 2019). The goal of this study was to determine the impact of prosodic reading instruction on adolescents’ silent reading comprehension. Conducted in a classroom setting in two different school districts, this study included three certified English teachers and a total of 52 students in grades 8, 9, and 10 for a period of nine to twelve weeks with a total of 810 …

Teaching White Privilege At A Southern University: A Multi-Method Approach, Morgan Browning

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Fueled by individual and systemic prejudices, racism continuously cycles through American society. Eliminating racism begins with education and awareness on all societal levels. Denying the existence of privilege, specifically White privilege, allows people to ignore racial inequalities and aids in the perpetuation of injustice. This study focused on educating students at a southern university about privilege, oppression, racism, and discrimination with the goal of contributing to a less racist campus. A similar program developed and implemented in a previous study by the researcher was adapted for online modules. These four online modules consisted of presentations, activities, videos, speakers, and reflective …

A Sociocultural Analysis Of Book-Length Works Mentioned In The English Journal, 2010-2020, Elizabeth Price

Curriculum and Instruction Undergraduate Honors Theses

Between 2010 and 2020, the book-length works mentioned in the English Journal were recorded in order to assess societal and professional trends reflected in the uptake of these books in pedagogical articles. The data shows a continued heavy presence of canonical literature, particularly Shakespearean plays, as well as an increase in diverse perspectives, a higher respect for new genres such as Young Adult Literature and the Graphic Novel in the classroom, and a pushback on two popular novels, To Kill a Mockingbird and The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.

Library Resources Utilization By Lecturers In Nigerian University, Abigail Chikaodinaka Obodo Phd, Justina Nneka Eze Phd, Mercy Ifunanya Ani Phd

Library Philosophy and Practice (e-journal)

This study was designed to examine the utilization of library resources by lecturers in Nigerian tertiary institutions using lecturers Enugu State University of Science and Technology (ESUT) as case study. The specific objectives of the study is to find out the level of availability of library materials in Nigerian university, and determine the extent of use of the materials by lecturers. It is also to find out the factors that impede lecturers use of the library. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population for the study consisted all the full time lecturers made up of 536 …

Positive Behavior Interventions And Supports Effectiveness In Southeastern Ohio, Kacey Ryan Cottrill

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how leadership implemented the positive behavioral interventions and supports (PBIS) framework and what conclusions could be ascertained from implementing it. Leadership in southeastern Ohio districts was examined to understand how they used PBIS and if PBIS made significant differences before and after implementation. The comparison included demographically diverse areas (urban, suburban, rural) in southeastern Ohio. PBIS implementation was measured with the School-wide Evaluation Tool (SET) administered to district administrators. The resulting data from the SET and Ohio assessment scores showed no significant difference in PBIS implementation and fourth-grade reading scores of …

The Utilization Of Portfolio In Linguistics And Its Effect On The Attitudes And Understanding Of Students At Universitas Negeri Malang, Nur Faiz Kholidiyah, Nurul Murtadho, Hanik Mahliatussikah

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This study aims to present the use of Portfolios to develop independent learning and student understanding: forms, uses, and results. Portfolios can increase students’ understanding of lectures and foster student responsibility in completing a particular job. Researchers used a qualitative approach through observation, questionnaires, and documentation. The results of this study indicate that learning with portfolios in the form of summaries and concept maps is then presented in three languages, namely Arabic, English, and Indonesian in ten minutes for each language. By using a portfolio, students are not only independent and understand in learning but also practice language skills.