Educational Leadership Commons^™

Short-Term International Service-Learning: Faculty Perceptions Of And Pedagogical Strategies For The Design And Implementation Of Successful Learning Experiences, Thomas Jacob Van Cleave

Dissertations and Theses

Faculty-led short-term international service-learning (STISL) experiences are thought to have great potential in developing students' global citizenship through combining study abroad and community service pedagogies. However, thorough investigation of the pedagogical strategies employed in STISL courses to achieve such outcomes has yet to be conducted. This qualitative narrative inquiry of STISL faculty at 7 different institutions across multiple academic disciplines and country service sites sought to fill that void. Data reveal a new conceptualization of STISL teaching, learning, and service success that involves culturally contextualized solidarity, global civic engagement, and global competence, which culminate into students' global agency. Emerging from …

2013-08-15 Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, Morehead State University. Faculty Senate.

Faculty Senate Records

Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes for August 15, 2013.

Mothers’ Involvement In Children’S Learning, Khush Funer Murtaza

Professional Development Centre, Gilgit

No abstract provided.

Academic Advising Structures That Support First-Year Student Success And Retention, Brett Leland Mcfarlane

Dissertations and Theses

Academic advising has been touted as a key to student success and retention. Today's academic advising delivery models vary considerably and little is known about the efficiency and effectiveness of these models. The purpose of this study was to determine if there is a relationship between how academic advising is delivered to first-year students at a four-year public, high research activity university located on the west coast and the students' satisfaction with advising, advising learning outcomes, and retention. In the study, responses of 628 first-year students to a survey which asked them about their attitudes toward and experiences with academic …

State Need-Based Aid And Four-Year College Student Retention: A Statewide Study, Kara Lynn Mcfall

Dissertations and Theses

Every college age student should have the opportunity to attend college and earn a degree, but the fiscal realities for lower income students prevent the majority from attending and the vast majority from completing college, thus perpetuating an intergenerational trend of limited postsecondary education and a likelihood of marginal income and status. Past research studies have shown that, among lower income students, those who receive higher levels of grant funding to offset college expenses are more likely to persist toward completing their educations than those who do not receive the same level of grant funding and thus are forced to …

Detection Of Salmonella Enterica, Escherichia Coli O157 And Listeria Monocytogenes Through Bead Based Magpix® Fluidics, Karamveer Singh, Francisco Fernandez, Sonam Sahni, Alejandro Calderón-Urrea

STAR Program Research Presentations

The research is testing the limits of detection and multiplexing with the use of three pathogens with the machine created from Luminex called Magpix. The pathogens are Salmonella enterica, Listeria monocytogenes, and Escherichia Coli O157. The gene that is being focused on for each pathogen is invA for Salmonella, hlyA for listeria, and hlyA for Escherichia Coli. In this research, we started with prepared probes that were attached to the magnetic microsphere beads. Then we extracted and amplify the DNA. Furthermore, the probes were combined to the amplified DNA and used this in Magpix which gave a corresponding MFI value.

Teacher Perceptions Regarding The Relationship Of Modified Year-Round School Calendars With Student Achievement, Student Behavior, And Teacher Efficacy, George Eugene Huffman

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze demographic and school data, as well as data on the perceptions of teachers regarding the impact that a modified year-round school calendar has on student achievement, student behavior, and teacher efficacy. Prior research and literature examined the impact of year-round school calendars on student achievement and student behavior; however, there was a limited amount of research on the perceptions of teachers regarding the school calendar and the impact that the school calendar has on teacher efficacy.

A thirty-seven item researcher-developed questionnaire was utilized for the purpose of this study. The data for …

Whose Code Of Conduct Matters Most? Examining The Link Between Academic Integrity And Student Development, Ann E. Biswas

English Faculty Publications

Although most colleges strive to nurture a culture of integrity, incidents of dishonest behavior are on the rise. This article examines the role student development plays in students’ perceptions of academic dishonesty and in their willingness to adhere to a code of conduct that may be in sharp contrast to traditional integrity policies.

Exercise Participation During Weight Loss On A High Protein – Low Carbohydrate Diet Plan In Females Aged 15-25 Years, Margaret Mobley-Meulman

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Weight gain due to poor diet and lack of exercise is responsible for over 300,000 deaths each year (U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2010). Obese adults have an increased risk for serious health conditions including high blood pressure and cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, coronary heart disease, stroke, gallbladder disease, osteoarthritis, sleep apnea, respiratory problems, and certain cancers (National Cancer Institute, 2012). Participation in exercise can help control weight, strengthen muscles and bones, and reduce the incidence of cardiac events, stroke, hypertension, type 2 diabetes, colon and breast cancers, osteoporotic fractures, gallbladder disease, obesity, depression, anxiety, and delay mortality …

Predicting Performance On The Tennessee Comprehensive Assessment For Reading For Third Graders Using Reading Curriculum Based Measures, Robert S. Kirkham

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Despite flexibility waivers granted to states by the United States Department of Education from some provisions of the No Child Left Behind Act, our nation’s public schools continue to struggle to improve reading proficiency as measured by high stakes assessments. To reach state targets for reading proficiency schools must use data at the earliest point possible to inform instructional strategies and identify students at risk of failure. The response to intervention model holds promise for improving reading outcomes particularly for early elementary students.

The effective use of reading curriculum based measures (R-CBM) to determine if instruction is adequate to produce …

Principals’ Perceptions Of Successful Leadership, Gary L. Childers

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purposes of this qualitative multiple case study were to determine the catalysts and pathways that caused principals to move from managers to effective leaders. Data were collected through a series of interviews with 4 principals who were selected through a purposeful sampling procedure. The interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and analyzed using inductive coding to determine themes. Findings were presented for each theme within the context of reviewed literature.

National polls indicate that 6 out of every 10 of the nation’s schools need major changes or an overhaul. Can improving the skills of their leaders make a difference in …

The Effects Of Political Culture Of Fear On Student Perceptions Of Leadership In Student-Faculty Relationships, Amin Mohamed

All Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to analyze the effects of a political culture of fear and power distance on student perceptions regarding the leader-member exchange theory (LMX) relationship with faculty, and their perceptions of nature of leadership in Libyan business schools. 650 Faculty members and students from business school in seven Libyan Universities were invited to participate in this study. The final number of participants that were accepted was 314. A survey was used to measure the relationship between faculty members and students, leadership style, culture of fear, and power distance. Different kinds of analysis were used to answer …

Atheism, Agnosticism, And Nonbelief: A Qualitative And Quantitative Study Of Type And Narrative, Christopher Frank Silver

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Extensive research has been conducted in exploration of the American religious landscape, however recently has social science research started to explore Nonbelief in any detail. Research on Nonbelief has been limited as most research focuses on the popularity of the religious “nones” or the complexities of alternative faith expressions such as spirituality. Research has been limited in exploring the complexity of Nonbelief or how non-believers would identify themselves. Most research assumes nonbelievers are a monolithic group with no variation such as Atheism or Agnosticism. Through two studies, one qualitative and one quantitative, this study explored identity of Nonbelief. Study one …

Faculty Perception And Use Of Learning-Centered Strategies To Assess Student Performance, Matthew Lynn Johnson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

In this study, the researcher explored collegiate faculty use and perception of learning- centered strategies to assess student performance on various learning tasks. Through this study, the researcher identified the assessment strategies that faculty participants most frequently used, as well as the strategies that they perceived to be most effective. In addition to an analysis of the most frequently used assessment strategies for the entire sample, the researcher also investigated differences in strategies used by faculty members in specific discipline sub-groups: Arts and Humanities, Natural and Health Sciences, and Social and Behavioral Sciences. Participants taking part in this study were …

Student Attitudes Toward Blended And Online Courses: A Comparison Of Students In Traditional Classroom Writing Environments And Students In Blended Writing Environments, Rowan Farrington Johnson

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study presents a mixed methods investigation of student attitudes toward blended and online courses. Specifically, the study compares two groups of university freshmen writing students. These groups respectively took writing classes in traditional classroom environments (without individual computers for each student in the classroom) and in blended classroom environments (with individual computers for each student in the classroom). The research questions were the following: RQ1: What are some of the general prevailing student attitudes toward blended classroom environments and online classroom environments? RQ2: If students take writing courses in a blended environment, will their attitudes toward blended and online …

Meaning And Spirituality In Adolescence : Practices And Perspectives Of School Counselors, Jill Elizabeth Schwarz

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

Adolescence is a crucial life stage involving aspects of identity development and decision-making that have potential life-long consequences. Researchers have found that a sense of meaning and purpose is related to a number of beneficial factors during adolescence, including resilience, healthy self-esteem, academic engagement, and overall well-being. Spirituality is a main avenue through which many individuals find a sense of meaning and purpose and may be one of the mediating factors between adolescent meaning-making and well-being. Despite this knowledge, there is a lack of research involving the use of meaning-based counseling in the schools. There is also evidence that students …

Pay By Gender And District Size, Theodore J. Kowalski

Educational Leadership Faculty Publications

Superintendents nationwide experienced small growth in median salaries from 2011-12 to 2012-13, according to a new study by AASA. As expected, salaries for the top district leaders generally increased with district enrollment. In four of the five categories across the size of school districts, the median salaries paid to female superintendents slightly exceeded those paid to their male colleagues. In drawing conclusions from these data, one must consider the relatively small number of respondents in the smallest and largest groupings of student enrollment in the school districts.

The Perceptions Of The Effectiveness Of Making Middle Grades Work, Darryl Rene Porter

Dissertations

Many school districts throughout the United States utilize educational programs in their schools to improve student achievement. The Southern Regional Education Board recognized that to improve graduation rates in high school, students’ academic performance in middle schools needed to be improved, which gave rise to the Making Middle Grades Work initiative. The researcher conducted this study to determine the perceptions of the effectiveness of Making Middle Grades Work initiative. Participants in this study included 114 teachers and 18 administrators. The participants indicated their perceptions of the effectiveness of the Making Middle Grades Work initiative by responding to questions on a …

Prekindergarten And Kindergarten Teachers' Perceptions Of Demographic Determinants And Academic Success, Melanie Ellen Boyle

Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to examine kindergarten and prekindergarten teachers' perceptions of academic success for children based on the type of care children received prior to beginning kindergarten, as well as other demographics, which could cause variations in academic success. The researcher used a seven section multi-method survey instrument, which included teacher demographic questions, Likert-scale perception questions, and one open-ended question. Sections of inquiry included: Common Core, general academic risk factors for students, barriers to overall academic success, student demographics, and promotion of academic success for students. The survey instrument was distributed to prekindergarten and kindergarten teachers in …

The Effect Of Preschool On Reaching Achievement Among Kindergarten Students, Reisha Monique Mckinney

Dissertations

As early childhood education continues to move to the forefront of public policy debate, more attention is being paid to early literacy. Strickland and Riley-Ayers (2006) indicated that early literacy and early learning opportunities play a vital role in academic achievement. This study invested whether there were statistically significant relationships between preschool attendance based on the reading and language arts scores from the Georgia Kindergarten Inventory Developing Skills test.

The study also determined if there were differences in the reading and language arts for those who attended preschool and those who did not based on free/reduced and full paid lunch. …

The Relationship Between Socio-Economic Status And The Frequency Of School Web Page Access To Both Mobile And Non-Mobile Sites, Richmond Hughes Parker

Dissertations

Research has shown that student performance increases when parents become more involved in their children’s education, and the positive influence of parental involvement has been shown to persist across racial, gender, and socio-economic barriers (Miller, Adsit, & Miller, 2005). As a result, an increasing number of schools have sought to use the Internet as a tool to engage parents (Swann & Fenner, 2005). The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using the mobile web as a tool to help facilitate increased parental communication and involvement at the secondary level. It examined the relationship between socio-economic status, …

Impact Of Early-Exposure Environmental Education On A Child's Selection Of Words And Creativity, Reid Fisher

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

Environmental education researchers have long identified a connection between formative play experiences in nature settings and pro-environmental behaviors (i.e., career paths) of their subjects later in life. Most studies have been post-hoc retrospective looks that have not had the ability to assess causation. As more children are removed from free-play wilderness opportunities, some schools are seeking means to create those formative experiences within the educational setting, but research has not been done to address the impact that this approach has on developing particular environmental behaviors. To address that gap in the literature, this study seeks to identify the impacts that …

Mandatory Ethics And Jurisprudence Training: Does It Make A Difference In Disciplinary Actions Of Occupational Therapy Professionals?, Susan Spratling Mcdonald

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

There have been few studies examining disciplinary actions by state boards of occupational therapy. Researchers have mainly studied mandatory continuing competence but not the influence of mandatory ethics and jurisprudence training. This study is based on disciplinary reports between January 2004 and December 2012 for Tennessee and Alabama State Boards of Occupational Therapy. The first of two research questions asked if there was a difference in the percentage of disciplinary reports for occupational therapy practitioners licensed in Tennessee who participated in mandatory ethics and jurisprudence training compared to the percentage of disciplinary reports for occupational therapy practitioners in Tennessee prior …

The Retention Of College Students With Disabilities: What Encourages Them To Stay In College?, Michelle Rigler

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study explored the retention rate of college students with disabilities and the factors that encourage this population of students to successfully persist to graduation. The study explored the current lack of information in regard to the comparison of the retention rates of college students with disabilities to that of the general college population and the population of other minority college students. Through this qualitative study, disability-service offices at medium-sized, and four-year public universities in the southeast region of the United States were explored. Directors of these offices and students with invisible and apparent disabilities were interviewed. This study has …

The Impact Of Specialized Treatment On The Empathy Levels Of Urban, Low-Income, Third And Fourth Grade Elementary School Students, Ronald Joseph Yother

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This study examined the impact of specialized treatment on the empathy levels of urban, low-income, middle-aged elementary school students who attend a local neighborhood school. The data set consisted of the pre and posttest scores of 99 students who attend a single, small, urban, district school in a system of approximately 21,032 other elementary school students. The first of three research questions asked whether self-reported levels of empathy can be altered across the various experimental treatments (new clothes and empathy training) imposed during the study. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey post hoc comparisons for the pre and posttests …

Citizens Changing Ideas Into Action: A Phenomenological Study Of Community Learning, Eleanor Mccallie Cooper

Masters Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This phenomenological study defines and explores the concept of community learning as a driver of economic and social change. Community learning refers to the creation of new knowledge and skills as a result of people interacting with each other to affect change within a locality. Jointly-created knowledge and skills build the efficacy of individuals as well as the capacity of a group to further its purpose. The question that shaped this study was: How do communities educate themselves for change? A theoretical framework is developed based on social constructivist learning theory, organizational and collaborative learning, and community development. This study …

Elementary Teachers’ Perspectives Of Inclusion In The Regular Education Classroom, Becky Lorraine Olinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine regular education and special education teacher perceptions of inclusion services in an elementary school setting. In this phenomenological study, purposeful sampling techniques and data were used to conduct a study of inclusion in the elementary schools. In-depth one-to-one interviews with 8 participants were conducted using semistructured format.

The 2 research questions were focused on perceptions regarding the practice of inclusion in an elementary school setting, the effectiveness of inclusion, the supports that facilitate inclusion programs, and barriers to successful incorporation of inclusion services. The findings suggest teacher recognition of barriers that …

K-12 Virtual Students: Relationships Between Student Demographics, Virtual Learning Experience, And Academic Achievement, Jamie H. Whitinger

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to identify significant differences in academic achievement among virtual students of various backgrounds, demographics, and virtual learning environments. The study also sought to identify factors that may predict the academic achievement, as defined by final course grade, of virtual students. This study examined those relationships for the 476 students enrolled in virtual courses between January 2010 and January 2013 in Sullivan County Schools, TN. These students were in grades 7-12 during the time the courses were taken. Independent variables in Phase I of the study included gender, race/ethnicity, socio-economic status, prior number of virtual …

Northeast Tennessee Educators’ Perception Of Stem Education Implementation, Kristin Turner

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

A quantitative nonexperimental survey study was developed to investigate Northeast Tennessee K-8 educators’ perceptions of STEM education. This study was an examination of current perceptions of STEM education. Perceived need, current implementation practices, access to STEM resources, definition of STEM, and the current condition of STEM in Northeast Tennessee were also examined. The participating school districts are located in the Northeast Region of Tennessee: Bristol City Schools, Hamblen County Schools, Johnson City Schools, Johnson County Schools, Kingsport City Schools, Sullivan County Schools, and Washington County Schools. Educational professionals including both administrators and teachers in the elementary and/or middle school setting …

A Phenomenological Investigation Into The Self-Efficacy Beliefs Of Teachers Who Have Persisted In The Teaching Profession, Shana Market Norton

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

This phenomenological study investigated the lived experiences of 12 secondary school teachers from public secondary schools in northern Georgia regarding their feelings about self-efficacy and why they have persisted in the teaching profession. The research questions centered around their perceptions on how self-efficacy influences the academic achievement of their students, on what personality characteristics they feel teachers add to their positive or negative self-esteem in teaching, and on what factors they identify as influencing their professional self-efficacy in teaching. Teacher self-efficacy, the belief in oneself to succeed at completing a task, is a key factor in retaining teachers. Four data …