Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Curriculum Impact On Educational Philosophy Identification, Rebecca Tuttle

Student Research Symposium

An educator’s teaching philosophy represents their personal beliefs regarding the purpose of classroom instruction and the methods used to facilitate learning. While an individual’s educational philosophy often transforms over time, more research is needed to characterize influences on evolving theory and practice. This survey-based study was conducted to determine if the curricular content has an impact on teaching methodology despite a teacher’s philosophical identification. The study population comprised of adult learner-educators enrolled in a graduate educational philosophy class. The subjects were surveyed after completing a term examining the main tenets of five main educational philosophies (Liberal, Behavioral, Progressive, Humanist, Radical). …

Flipped Teaching And Learning In English Language Programmes In Higher Education, Rania M Rafik Khalil

English Language and Literature

Flipped teaching over the past fifteen years has invaded the classrooms of schools and has helped evolve the teaching strategy of different disciplines. Although the concept emerged as inverted teaching to allow space for active learning in the classroom, flipped teaching today, has found its way to higher education settings. Higher education institutions such as Harvard University, have used this approach in physics and other disciplines. Literature reviews however, show that there is little research in the field of English as a Foreign Language which can be found related to using the flipped approach. This paper aims to share the …

Spectators Or Patriots? Citizens In The Information Age, Amrita Dhawan

Publications and Research

In theory, a strong democracy rests on robust citizen participation. The practice in most democracies is quite different. This gap presents a challenge, which can be narrowed by augmenting civic education to bring it up to date with the current information environment and thus give citizens the opportunity to participate. Robert Dahl’s work on democracy provides a model that looks at this problem structurally. He writes about the ideals and the actual institutions necessary for a democracy and if we situate his model in the modern information environment we get a better idea of how to improve civic education. Successful …

Making Your Traditional Text Work: Input, Scaffolding And Communication, Andrew J. Demil

The Coastal Review

Second Language Acquisition (SLA) studies provide evidence that comprehension activities that involve meaningful language production and communication promote language acquisition more effectively than mechanical drills. Recent studies review the state of foreign language textbooks and demonstrate that the majority of foreign language textbooks do not follow SLA research. This article provides ways that a second language instructor can use a traditional text to help lead to meaningful language instruction.

Examining The Relationship Between Mental Health Professionals Knowledge And Beliefs As Predictors Of Attitudes Toward The Deaf, Pearl M. Weiss

Wayne State University Dissertations

Individuals who are D/deaf experience significant barriers and disparities when accessing mental health services. Factors associated with improving knowledge and beliefs could reduce these disparities among mental health professionals by incorporating cultural competence during professional training, academic curricular, and internship programs. The purpose of this study was to examined the relationship between mental health professionals’ knowledge and belief as predictors of attitudes toward individuals who are D/deaf. Variances in demographic data also were explored as predictors of attitudes regarding individuals who are D/deaf.

A nonexperimental, correlational research design was used for this study. The survey was completed by 65 mental …

Adult Students' Perceptions Of Transfer Services At An Historically Black University, Kimberly Anne Crews

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Data from the National Center for Education Statistics have indicated a steady growth of students attending 3 or more institutions while pursuing a baccalaureate degree. When students transfer institutions, they may have specific needs for their new institution. Informed by the transfer receptive culture framework, the purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore the perceptions of students who had attended 3 or more postsecondary institutions on the services they received, before and after their transfer. Purposeful sampling yielded 9 adult students with multiple-institution attendance histories. Data were collected through semistructured instant messaging interviews. A series of messages included …

Nurse Practitioner Residency Programs: An Educational Journey, Gregory Paul Rys

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Primary care is in a state of crisis due to the lack of clinicians and increasing numbers of insured patients. Encouraging more students to go directly through school for their doctor of nursing practice degree and nurse practitioner (NP) certifications is one proposal to alleviate this crisis. However, this approach would deliver graduates with minimal leadership and clinical experiences directly into practice. One resolution to mitigate this concern would be an NP residency program. Evaluating the knowledge and attitudes of stakeholders prior to the implementation of a NP residency program is an important first step to this implementation plan. The …

The Relationships Among Job Satisfaction, Length Of Employment, And Mentoring Of Nursing Faculty, Zelda Suzan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The shortage of faculty in nursing education programs has been well documented by the National League for Nursing. Job satisfaction is important in retaining nurse educators, and one New York nursing program was interested in examining the potential impact of mentoring on satisfaction. The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine job satisfaction, measured by the Job Descriptive Index/Job in General scale (JDI/JIG), between nurse faculty participants in formal mentoring programs compared to participants receiving an informal type of mentoring. In addition, the length of employment was examined as a possible factor in predicting job satisfaction. The theoretical framework …

Improving Graduate Students' Satisfaction With Academic Advising, Jamie Loretta Green

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Academic advising is associated with increased student retention and academic success. However, advising at an urban graduate school of education in Tennessee has been criticized for limited advisor availability, poor communication, and lack of advising knowledge. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain a deeper understanding of the reasons for student satisfaction or dissatisfaction and to identify techniques to improve academic advising. This study was guided by the conceptual frameworks of Kelly's personal construct theory and Daloz's psycho-developmental perspective. The research question addressed the perceived role of academic advisors that graduate students associated with academic success. The …

Understanding The Relationships Among Students' Goal Orientations, Self-Efficacy, Anxiety, And Accelerated Academic Success In The Redesign Of Developmental Mathematics, Kelly Ann Hogan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The low success rates of increasing numbers of underprepared students taking developmental mathematics classes 'often minority and economically disadvantaged' are challenging community colleges across the United States. These students, who must start in the lowest levels of precollege mathematics courses, are unlikely to pass the first course and earn a credential. Using a mastery goal orientation theoretical framework, a quantitative, survey research design was used to ascertain any correlations between students' goal orientations, self-efficacy, test anxiety, and success in a new model of learning. Survey data were used to answer 3 research questions: (a) the relationship between success and students' …

Factors That Impact African American High School Equivalency (Hse) Students' Pursuit Of Higher Education, Jamiyla Chandler-Melton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

African Americans account for a disproportionate percentage of students who pursue college education in comparison to European Americans. Indeed, a considerable number of African American High School Equivalency (HSE) students are not enrolling in college once they earn their HSE diploma. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to examine 3 African American HSE students' perceptions about factors that influenced their pursuit of higher education at the selected HSE study site. These 3 students were selected for their inclusion because of their ethnicity, enrollment in the HSE program, academic underpreparedness and lack of pursuit of higher education, and strong …

Evaluation Of A College Of Medicine Peer-Mentoring Program, Myra Haney Singleton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Peer-mentoring experiences in higher education have been largely effective largely effective, however institutions implement them differently. The focus of this program evaluation was a peer-mentoring program at a medical school in the southeastern region of the United States, which had not previously been evaluated. Guided by Kolb's experiential learning theory, the purpose of the evaluation in this study was to examine whether the peer-mentoring experience was perceived as helpful to new students and how students thought the program could be improved. The sequential mixed-method design consisted of a survey of 179 students and interviews of 8 students. A thematic analysis …

Impact Of Orientation Programs On Nontraditional Students' Perceived Academic Success In Adult Education Programs, Marsha Ann Webster

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Many administrators and faculty within higher education institutions have grappled with identifying and employing effective strategies to facilitate student success and persistence. The current study focuses on assessing nontraditional students' self-efficacy beliefs and their perception of the orientation program at a 2-year continuing education program in a Caribbean nation. The study is important as the findings have the potential to increase nontraditional students' persistence and learning. Bandura's social cognitive theory and the theory of self-efficacy served as the theoretical frameworks of this sequential mixed-methods design study. The quantitative research questions examined the reported self-efficacy levels of 77 participants and nonparticipants …

Understanding Attrition Among English As A Foreign Language Teachers In Online Training, Joseline Castaños

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Attrition among students in online courses worldwide is well-documented at the undergraduate, graduate, and post-graduate levels. However, little is yet known about the reason for attrition among in-service teachers in online training. Online education aims to provide access to education for the masses, but with higher attrition rates, it may be viewed as less effective than traditional education. This study explored factors that influenced attrition and persistence among teachers of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) in an online teacher training environment. Tinto's Community of Inquiry framework and Short, Williams, and Christie's Social Presence Model provided the conceptual framework for …

The Effect Of Simulation Training On Nursing Students' Content Exam Scores, Lori Ann Podlinski

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Simulation training has been implemented at a small nursing school in the eastern United States to improve the currently low content exam scores in nursing courses. With the guidance of Kolb's experiential learning theory, differences in 8 course content exam scores were investigated for students who received simulation training in the content area before the exam and students who received simulation training after the exam, using a quasi-experimental, comparative design. Archival exam scores from 424 content exams, 212 completed by students who received simulation training before the exam and 212 completed by students who received simulation training after the exam, …

Scholarly Writing Among Graduate Students: A Qualitative Project Study, Marsha Armstrong Harwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

This project study focused on scholarly writing skills of adult students enrolled in a private graduate institution in the West Indies. The institution provided writing instruction, but scholarly writing skills remained inadequate for some students when they began their final projects. The project study provided insight into the most pervasive writing skill deficits and the positive and negative influences on writing skill development among graduate students. The research design was an applied qualitative case study using data collected from a purposeful sample of convenience within a bounded system of current students, faculty members, and administrators in one institution. Open-ended questionnaires …

Adult Learning-Focused Professional Development For Dental Hygiene Clinical Instructors, Meghan Ann Mcguinness

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

At a dental hygiene program within a community college in New York State, clinical instructors are hired based on their expertise as practitioners. Most clinical instructors lack a background in adult learning theory and practice, which is an issue because their students are adult learners whose average age is 26. The instructors' lack of knowledge in this area challenges their effectiveness. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore dental hygiene instructors' views about what kind of professional development offerings related to adult learning might help improve their teaching effectiveness. The conceptual framework for this project study was …

Preparing Faculty To Teach Online: Promoting Success In The Online Classroom, Julia Babcock Hamilton

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Distance learning students at a community college in the southeast United States were not completing their coursework as well as were students enrolled in traditional courses. This disparity was negatively affecting the institution's state performance measures, putting at risk the institution's state-based funding under the state's performance model. The purpose of this qualitative, bounded case study was to explore faculty experiences with online course professional development and faculty's teaching practices related to successful student online course completion. Chickering and Gamson's 'Seven Principles for Good Practice in Undergraduate Education' served as the study's conceptual foundation. Distance learning faculty (n = 10), …

Grit, Student Engagement, And Academic Performance At A Historically Black Community College, Sharonica Marie Nelson

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Obtaining a college degree benefits individuals and society, yet only 20% of students are graduating from community colleges. At many institutions, graduation rates have decreased over the last 5 years, including one historically Black community college in the southern United States. To explore possible causes of low graduation rates at this unique and understudied type of college, this correlational study examined the relationships among student engagement, academic performance, and grit-persistence and passion toward long-term goals. Tinto's theory of student persistence served as the theoretical framework for this study. The convenience sample included 116 college students who already had a first-year …

A Modified Program Evaluation Of Training For Employer Compliance With Health Insurance Requirements, Joanneandi Davenport

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

A training program was established in the Midwestern United States to help employers understand compliance requirements of the health insurance industry. The purpose of this study was to conduct a modified program evaluation of the effectiveness of Pay or Play, a portion of a larger Benefit Compliance Program. The reason for the evaluation was the high percentage of remediation needed for administrators of employee health insurance following Pay or Play seminar sessions, which posed the question of program effectiveness in education of participants. This study is important because administrators of employee health insurance are responsible for understanding compliance regulations and …

Single Mothers Of Young Children And Continuing Education, Jackiethsha Lynette Fluellen

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The number of households headed by single mothers living in poverty exceeds that of all other categories of poverty-stricken households, and poverty impacts the children negatively in various ways. When single mothers choose not to continue their education, they lessen their chances of finding higher paying jobs and raising their families out of poverty. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to better understand why some single mothers decided to continue into higher education. The study considered the decisions of 6 single mothers of young children in Montgomery County, Texas, and the obstacles they overcame while completing their education. The …

The Impact Of Self-Efficacy On Retention In Technical Colleges, Percy W. Reed

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Vocational and career training institutes focus their energy and resources on student support services, increasing student retention as it relates to minority populations. Despite these efforts, a specific vocational and career institute in the southeast United States reports a 50% retention rate of students who are enrolled. This case study explored students' descriptions of how self-efficacy supported their perseverance while attending the vocational and career training institute. The conceptual framework included Bandura's notions of self-efficacy and Tinto's integration model. Purposeful sampling strategies were used to interview 10 successfully-retained students enrolled in their 4th term or beyond at the vocational and …

Relationship Between Internships And Employment Competencies Of Degreed Professionals Who Completed A College Internship, Shawn Barnwell

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

An estimated 1.5 million underemployed or unemployed college graduates have one or more college degrees, and many have high loan debt. Policy makers, students, and institutions of higher education are all concerned with the question of how prepared students are to enter the workforce upon graduation, yet little is known about whether internships are a strategy to improve career preparedness and gainful employment after graduation. Guided by Dewey and Kolb's experiential learning theory, the purpose of this nonexperimental study was to evaluate the impact of internships on career preparation from the perspective of graduates, specifically to evaluate whether graduates perceive …

Military Students' Persistence In Earning An Online College Degree, Aysel Renay Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The purpose of this basic qualitative study was to gain insight into the factors that military students perceive to have an impact on their persistence. The conceptual framework for this study was Knowles' principles of andragogy. The research questions were designed to explore military students' persistence, measures of engagement in academic activities, decisionmaking to assure success, and the strategies considered important to earn a degree at an online college. Demographic surveys, status reports and degree plans, and semistructured telephone interviews were collected from 13 military students. Interview data were transcribed and all data were open coded and thematically analyzed. Military …

A Depiction Of Women In Tennessee With Low Literacy Skills And Their Access To Higher Education And Employment, Rebecca Puig

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

This phase one study was conducted using qualitative research methods in order to describe to policymakers and local literacy program experts more completely the current challenges and needs some adult women in Tennessee with low-literacy skills face when pursing higher education or a professional career. In turn, such information can assist them in better identifying appropriate resources and interventions to serve these women.

Data were collected through a cross-case analysis of two individual case studies and five interviews with three adult learners and two literacy program experts. Artifacts (e.g., flyers) were also collected, but provided no substantial contribution to the …

A Mixed-Methods (Quantitative-Qualitative) Study To Identify The Perceived Level Of, Zeky Zardo

Dissertations

Different approaches to developing leaders have been established through various forms of self-assessment, action learning, and education and training activities (Smither et al., 2005). The existing body of research on the impact and success of college and university leadership development programs focuses heavily on undergraduate leadership programs and not graduate-level programs such as the Master of Business Administration (MBA) or the doctorate. The purpose of this mixed-methods (quantitative–qualitative) study was to identify the perceived level of transformational leadership skill development by students enrolled in a doctoral program in organizational leadership. In addition, it was the purpose of this study to …

Nefdc Exchange, Volume 28, Fall 2015, New England Faculty Development Consortium

New England Faculty Development Consortium Exchange

Contents

President’s Message: The Importance of Academic Technology - Dakin Burdick, Mlount Ida College

Snow Lessons from a New England Winter: Using Technology Tools to Empower Learning during Class Cancellations - Lori Rosenthal, Lasell College

Call for Proposals for the Spring 2016 Conference

Kairos: The Right Time for the Laboratory as Educational Model - Al DeCiccio, Labouré College

Save the Date: Spring Conference, Tuesday, May 24, 2016; theme: Inclusive Excellence: Teaching and Learning in an Increasingly Interconnected World; Tufts University; keynote speaker: L. Lee Knefelkamp, Columbia University and AAC&U

Universal Design for Learning for 21st Century Success - Katie Novak, …

Technology Literacy Skills Needed In Further Education And/Or Work: A Delphi Study Of High School Graduates’ Perspectives, Christina Louise Smith

USF Tampa Graduate Theses and Dissertations

Technology and the importance of computers in education have been recognized since the educational reform movement of the 1980’s. Change that acknowledged a need for high school students to: understand the computer as an information, computation, and communication device; use computers for personal and work-related purposes; and understand the world of computers, electronics, and related technologies (A Nation at Risk, 1983, p. 26). The study, A Nation at Risk recognized our nation’s lack of computer technology skills and since, the standards in education have changed to design curriculum and integrate technology to better prepare high school students with necessary ready …

Applying Systems Theory As A Lens On Teacher And Student Perceptions Of Assessment And Feedback In An Intensive English Program, Thomas A. Germain

MA TESOL Collection

The goal of this project was to apply systems theory, or more generally, systems thinking as a lens on the perceptions of teachers, students, and administrators who work together at an intensive English program (IEP). This goal necessitated a two-part project: a review of pertinent literature on systems theory and a limited qualitative study situated at the IEP. Sixteen participants, including seven teachers (more than half of the current faculty), two teacher/administrators, and seven students from different levels within the program, were invited to participate. The primary focus of the study was on participants’ awareness of and attitudes about two …

An Analysis Of The Impact Of Emotional Literacy Instruction On At-Risk Students, Shannon H. Garcia

Dissertations

This study examined the impact of social-emotional literacy instruction for at-risk adolescents ages 13 to 18 at the high school level. Of particular interest is the impact of social-emotional literacy instruction on at-risk youth Grades 9-12 in secondary high schools’ 8-week-long social-emotional literacy class through Project AWARE, particularly in the areas of suspension, expulsion, attendance, connectivity, attitude toward school, resiliency, and relational aggression rates; the data were analyzed using archival data and teacher interview. Project AWARE, the social-emotional literacy intervention examined in this study, educates and provides mentorship for at-risk students, while also providing a group educational component on relationships …