Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons^™

The Motivation To Write Profile-College: A Tool To Assess The Writing Motivation Of Teacher Candidates, Ernest Solar, Angela Marie Mucci-Guido Ph.D., Carolyn Cook, Barbara Marinak

Teaching/Writing: The Journal of Writing Teacher Education

Writing is an important aspect of literacy regardless of the grade or discipline. State standards have defined the writing genres, crafts, and skills that are to be taught by teachers in PK-12 classrooms. However, in addition to standards, research indicates that a teacher’s own conception of writing is crucial to establishing classroom conditions necessary for young writers to grow, explore and take risks. If this is the job of PK-12 educators, then it is essential for higher education instructors to understand and explore the writing conceptions of teacher candidates. One of these critical conceptions is the motivation to write. The …

Theory And Practice In Doctoral Dissertation Research, 2007-2017: A Content Analysis By Degree Type, William Friel

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

In response to the overwhelming presence of professional practice doctoral degrees in the early 2000s, universities offering Doctor of Education (EdD) and/or Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) degrees in higher education studies began to question the purpose and value of each degree. These universities asked: What is the value of academic research if it does not aim to improve the condition of what is being studied? This led to a theory-practice debate among departments offering the EdD and the PhD from the perspective of the goal of the dissertation research: Truth or improvement. To address this tension, the Carnegie Project on …

Group Work Works, Graham Glanville

Excellence in Teaching Series

In this presentation, Graham outlines the importance of integrating social learning throughout the academic programme and not just in relation to group assessment.

In Search Of Themes – Keys To Teaching Qualitative Analysis In Higher Education, Petra K. Boström

The Qualitative Report

Teaching research methods in psychology involves communicating a number of methods stemming from diverse philosophical traditions. The process of searching for themes is a central part of various qualitative methods of analysis and involves the transformation of coded raw data into a thematic structure. This process has often been briefly described which can create a problem for students who encounter qualitative analysis for the first time. The aim of the present paper is to explore how the process of transforming codes into a thematic structure can be described and communicated through higher education teaching. Literature on research methods and related …

Getting The Most Out Of Moodle: A Workshop, Dara Cassidy

Excellence in Teaching Series

In this guest lecture, Dara gave an overview of useful features within Moodle such as HP5 and the Progress Tracker. She also gave an overview of pertinent TEL Frameworks.

Improving The Rigor Of Online Education: Exploring Characteristics Of Faculty And Syllabi Within An Online Program Assessment Process, Brad J. Hamel

All NMU Master's Theses

As online course enrollments grow, overall perception of rigor still lags compared to that of traditional face-to-face education. The purpose of this research was to tie faculty and syllabi characteristics to the rigor of online courses. This study explored the relationship between faculty and syllabi characteristics and performance on an online entry-level course design quality assurance assessment (pass, pass with concern, or fail). A decision tree analysis was used to predict the relationship of the independent (faculty and syllabi characteristics) and the dependent (entry-level course design assessment) variables. Findings suggest that faculty rank and writing intensive are key characteristics predictive …

Academic Integrity In The Post-Truth, Fake News Era, Kevin O' Rourke Dr

Excellence in Teaching Series

In this guest lecture, Dr O' Rourke highlights a number of new challenges in relation to academic integrity with particular reference to the global explosion of fake news.

Asynchronous Video And The Development Of Instructor Social Presence And Student Engagement, Kayla Collins, Shannon Groff, Cindy Mathena, Lori Kupczynski

Education Collection

Enrollment in online learning continues to grow in the higher education sector, along with persistent goals dedicated to achieving better student outcomes and lowering attrition rates. Improved student engagement has been shown to possibly reduce attrition rates through a greater sense of connectedness and decreased feelings of isolation among online learners. Instructor social presence may be the most important factor in building the relationships that foster learning and retention. Through communication, the instructor conveys the necessary immediacy behaviors required to cultivate these interpersonal relationships. With improved technology that allows for enhanced communication in online classrooms, the use of asynchronous video …

Cultivating Academic Self-Efficacy Through Supportive Social And Self Regulated Learning Strategies For Students In Higher Education, Graham Glanville

Faculty Presentations

This research set out to enhance engagement in computer programming, a known difficult subject area for 1st year BSc in IT students. Programming lecturing staff had strong reservations about introducing group work in their classes, claiming group work was a counter-productive learning approach. The study was framed on a mixed methods action research approach, and a number of interventions, centred on reflective learning and social learning, were introduced. The findings indicated a strong preference by students to work in groups when tackling computer programming problems, but no strong evidence was found that reflective or social learning activities enhance programming skill …

Community Of Inquiry: Discovering Social, Cognitive, And Teaching Presence In A Hybrid Master Of Divinity Program, Vincent J. Tango

Higher Education: Doctoral Research Projects

This doctoral research project examines how students and instructors define and build community and ascertains what role community plays in student learning. This research was conducted utilizing a qualitative embedded case study at a private graduate theological school. The theoretical framework of Community of Inquiry (CoI) provided the foundation in which to discover the elements of social, cognitive, and teaching presence in student learning. This project elicited stories that reveal how community is at the center of the learning experience and that community building should be a priority in developing the curriculum. Three main themes emerged about building and sustaining …

Mindset, Mentor, And Money: How Each Influences College Success, Malachi Nichols

Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Across society, the consistent influx of students enrolling in higher education institutions without a comparable increase in degree attainment has produced a heightened awareness and a desire to identify the factors related to influencing college success. This dissertation aims to develop a greater understanding of three potentially relevant factors and their respective influences in facilitating college success at the University of Arkansas. First, I evaluate the Student Talent Enrichment Program (STEP) Grant program, designed to fulfill low-income first-year students’ financial needs and encourage their persistence on to their second year of college. Second, I study the effectiveness of the BounceBack …

An Analysis Of African-American Faculty Experiences During The Tenure Process, Katrina M. Hubbard

Dissertations

Abstract

How faculty allocate their time among research, teaching, and service, and the perceived quality of that work determines whether faculty obtain tenure or are released from the university (Bellas & Toutkoushian, 1999; Link, Swann, & Bozeman, 2008; Price & Cotten, 2006). Prior research indicated that African-American faculty comprised 4.5% of the faculty at high-activity research institutions and 3.5% of faculty at very-high-activity research institutions (The Chronicle of Higher Education Almanac 2016-2017, 2016).

The purpose of this study was to 1) document African-American faculty experiences during their tenure probationary period at PWI research institutions; 2) compare faculty experiences during the …

A Digital Immigrant Venture Into Teaching Online: An Autoethnographic Account Of A Classroom Teacher Transformed, Karin A. Lewis

The Qualitative Report

This paper presents an autoethnographic account of a classroom teacher’s experience transitioning to teaching online within the shifting culture of academe in the 21^st Century. After decades as a classroom teacher, the author engages in autoethnography to reflexively analyze her challenging transition to teaching online. The author examines her perspectives, beliefs, thought process, learning, and development. Findings regarding her new way of teaching, thinking, and living as an online instructor may provide insights for others in academe.

Project-Based Curriculum As A Guide For The Re-Sequencing Of Discipline-Specific Statistics Courses, Veronica Fruiht

Psychology | Faculty Presentations

In discipline-specific statistics courses the pedagogical challenges of providing conceptual statistics training are compounded as students lack the background in mathematics necessary for understanding probability and fail to see the applicability of statistics to their field. To address these challenges, a statistics course targeted for health and behavioral science students was redeveloped utilizing a project-based curriculum. Per the American Statistical Association’s call for increased integration of technology, real data, and conceptually-focused active learning in introductory statistics, students interacted with real data to learn concepts necessary to answer discipline related questions. Because topics in the course were re-sequenced to be more …

A Vision For Catholic Higher Education In The 21st Century: Reflecting On The Boston College Roundtable, Patrick Mcquillan, Michael J. James, Timothy P. Muldoon

Journal of Catholic Education

The nucleus of any university is the intellectual life that unfolds among faculty and students. Inevitably, that intellectual life is shaped by the broader university context. Examining that process—in particular, its connection to a Catholic understanding of university mission—offers insight into pressing issues. For instance, what shifting social and academic conditions—both opportunities and challenges—set a context for campus conversations? How might Catholic institutions respond to these conditions? Can Catholic institutions provide a hospitable place for integrating faith and reason at the institutional and personal levels? Can the Catholic intellectual tradition serve as a constructive and creative lens for transforming Catholic …

Putting Students In The Front And Center: Exploring And Refining Student Centered Learning Techniques, Michelle M. Bennett, Anne Boettcher, Brent D. Bowen, Tonje Crossley, Dawn Groh, Tyrone Groh, Timothy B. Holt

Publications

Student-centered learning (SCL) represents a growing trend in higher education that emphasizes active learning strategies in lieu of more traditional passive strategies such as lecture. This study explores different techniques under the rubric of SCL to evaluate the utility of selected tools to enhance student knowledge and student learning. Specifically, this study tests the use of student portfolios, flipped classrooms, digital learning strategies, and problem-based learning to enhance a student’s learning experience. Originating as a collaborative effort from a university faculty learning community, this study includes a multi-disciplinary look at the effects of SCL approaches in the fields of aviation, …

Exploring The Impact Of Undergraduate Intramural Sports On Undergraduate Students’ Perceived Sense Of Community: A Multiple Regression Analysis, Nathan Penland

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

Research has shown benefits to the student experience for college students when they participate in intramural sports on university campuses. These benefits include improved physical and social health as well as academic performance. This non-experimental, predictive correlational study sought to understand if a relationship exists between the predictive variables of length and frequency in intramural sports and sense of community as the criterion outcome with undergraduate students on private liberal arts campuses. Participants were undergraduate students from two institutions of similar size, and sense of community was measured by Chavis, Lee, and Acosta’s (2008) Sense of Community Index 2 (SCI-2) …

Informal Order, Needs Analysis, And The Eap Curriculum, Faisal S. Al-Maamari

The Qualitative Report

The academic curriculum is developed through a systematic process whereby content is created through the alignment of needs to stakeholder or target group. This qualitative research study features a small-scale, English for academic purpose (EAP) needs analysis (NA) of three credit-bearing EAP programs and the corresponding departmental programs conducted at a Language Center at a higher education institution in Oman. Based on interview, observational and documentary data, the analysis showed divergences in academic literacy (writing and reading) between the EAP and content programs. Principally, the findings pointed to the presence and operation of a group of informal orders and the …

Competencies For Competency Based Higher Education: A Delphi Study, Cathryn Grammer Margolin

Dissertations

Purpose: It was the purpose of this study to identify the important competencies necessary in the workplace for graduates from a competency based education (CBE) program for the bachelor of business administration (BBA) degree, and the learning activities that best support the teaching of those competencies as perceived by human resource (HR) experts working in business.

Methodology: This study used a modified policy Delphi design to identify the competencies needed for a CBE BBA program. HR professionals completed three rounds of surveys to identify and prioritize competencies, and then offered suggestions for learning activities to contribute to CBE BBA students …

Critical College Experiences Of The Middle Third Of The High School Graduating Class, Nathan Kaoru Keikiokamakua Hanamaikai

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Seven recent graduates from a large, open access university in the Western United States who also graduated from high school in the middle third of their graduating class were interviewed to examine what they considered critical decisions during college and what effect those decisions had on their progress towards graduation. More than 45 critical incidents were identified by the participants. All incidents involved interaction with another person to some degree. All but 11 of the incidents were with people outside of institutional employees. Of the 11 incidents, the majority involved faculty members in either positive or negative situations. Upon further …

December 2015 Isidore Update, University Of Dayton. Center For Online Learning

Center for Online Learning Newsletter

No abstract provided.

November 2015 Isidore Update, University Of Dayton. Center For Online Learning

Center for Online Learning Newsletter

No abstract provided.

October 2015 Isidore Update, University Of Dayton. Center For Online Learning

Center for Online Learning Newsletter

No abstract provided.

September 2015 Isidore Update, University Of Dayton. Center For Online Learning

Center for Online Learning Newsletter

This issue includes feedback from students about their Isidore preferences.

August 2015 Isidore Update, University Of Dayton. Center For Online Learning

Center for Online Learning Newsletter

The August 2015 Isidore update includes instructions for Isidore site creation, training sessions, and the new Isidore Twitter feed.

Developing An Understanding Of How College Students Experience Interactive Instructional Technology: A Ux Perspective, Adam Wagler

Department of Educational Administration: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Technology is increasingly mobile and social, resulting in dynamic digital and interactive environments. The ubiquitous nature of interactive instructional technology presents new paradigms for higher education, creating challenges for instructors to compete for time and attention as students are bombarded by information in a digital, media rich world. The problem being studied, with all of these technological advancements, is how instructors can approach these challenges from a user experience (UX) perspective. A macro level view sees college students taking multiple courses at a time, over many semesters, and using different interactive instructional technology that mix with other forms of online …

Brigid's Peace: An Examination Of The Influences Of The Catholic Intellectual Tradition On One Writer's Creative Work, Marie A. Hulme

Presidential Seminar on the Catholic Intellectual Tradition

The genesis of my novel, Brigid’s Peace, which I began in the spring of 2013 coinciding with my studies in the Presidential Seminar, was an interest in examining the need for luminosity, for transcendence, for beauty in the face of dark despair and evil. My work centers on the story of an Irish Catholic family living in Belfast, Northern Ireland during the time of sectarian conflict known as “the troubles,” but more specifically on the impact of events related to that time on one young woman, Brigid Donegan, an artist and one of seven sisters. Through a close, third person …

Guiding Future Practices: A Review Of Parent And Family Services, Caleb Bridges, Sara Heiman, Nicholas Hyer, Carrie Radke, Allison Wright, April Heiselt

New York Journal of Student Affairs

Working with college students often includes working with their parents and families. Higher education institutions across the US have addressed this cultural shift with the creation of parent and family services. As research illustrates continued relationships between students and their parents, student affairs practitioners will need to address this need. This article is a call for student affairs professionals to be creative and proactive when focusing on the future needs of parents and families of college students. Innovations for parent and family services, including the use of technology and the need for collaboration between on-campus departments, are shared.

Student Knowledge Of Signs, Risk Factors, And Resources For Depression, Anxiety, Sleep Disorders, And Other Mental Health Problems On Campus, Robert J. Dobmeier, Thomas J. Hernandez, Randi J. Barrell, Donnelle J. Burke, Crystal J. Hanna, David J. Luce, Stephanie J. Catlin-Rakoski, Janine J. Rowe, Monica Siclare

New York Journal of Student Affairs

A mixed methods study sought to assess knowledge of the signs, risk factors, and campus services available for mental health disorders. A survey was completed by 831 participants at a college of approximately 9,000 students in the northeastern region of the United States. Students evidenced a need for more education about mental health problems on the college campus. Respondents felt more knowledgeable about depression than about anxiety and sleep disorders. Over half of the respondents were unable to identify specific mental health problems that they were aware of. Upperclassmen had a keener awareness of risk factors for anxiety and sophomores …

Moving From A Predominantly Teaching Oriented Culture To A Research Productivity Mission: The Case Of Mexico And The United States, Gus Gregorutti

Faculty Publications

This study qualitatively analyzes the culture conflicts professors in the United States and Mexico are experiencing with the increasing pressures to produce more research about higher education. The first dataset was collected from 36 faculty members from 12 small and medium sized private, doctorate-granting universities. These universities are located in 11 states across the United States. The remaining data came from 44 faculty members employed at four small and medium sized private, doctoral granting universities in four states across Mexico. Results showed that universities in the US are transitioning from a predominantly teaching college culture to a more research orientation. …