(2017). Competency-Based Education Models: An Emerging Taxonomy. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Kent State University. Competency-based education (CBE) degree programs have grown significantly over the course of the past few years. Within the field of CBE, experts have differing views as to what elements are most critical to a high-quality CBE program. The purpose of this Q methodology study is to determine what models of CBE programs emerge from an investigation of what experts perceive to be the most essential and least essential components of a high-quality program. In this study, 33 experts in the field of CBE sorted 72 statements about multiple aspects of CBE programs. Data collection included the Q sorts, a demographic institutional survey, follow-up questions and brief biographies of participants. From this research, two primary factors were revealed, one with emphasizes the curricular elements of competencies and assessments as primary, the second of which emphasizes fiscal sustainability and business processes along with competencies. Nine of the study participants demonstrated mixed… [Direct]
(2021). An Exploratory Study of the Trends Emerging from a Forced Shift to a Digital Interface on University Faculty's Instructional Design. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of Nebraska at Omaha. The COVID-19 crisis upended the typical college experience as educational institutions had to close campuses and send students home mid-semester in the spring of 2020. The COVID-19 pandemic left educators around the world with limited choices on how to move forward with high quality education for all. This abrupt closing of higher education facilities forced an immediate pivot to online synchronous or asynchronous digital classrooms for faculty and students and ushered in emergency remote teaching. While higher education has gradually expanded online offerings every year over the past twenty years, for many college students, classes were still in person until the pandemic swept across the world in March 2020. This exploratory research study investigates trends emerging during a forced shift to a digital interface on university faculty's instructional design regarding course content, assessment, and student engagement during the COVID-19 pandemic. A mixed data approach was used… [Direct]
(2023). Exploring Developmental Trajectories of Social and Emotional Skills in Early Childhood Using a Novel Person-Centered Approach. Society for Research on Educational Effectiveness Background & Context: Developmental theorists and researchers have long argued that children's early skill development is critical to subsequent positive developmental outcomes (Bailey & Jones, 2019; Masten et al., 2006; Cichetti & Rogosh, 2002) and is shaped by ecological contexts (Bronfenbrenner & Morris, 1998). Yet, there is little longitudinal research examining how specific developmental patterns within the social and emotional domains are associated with features of children's home and early education and care (EEC) settings. Increasingly, researchers are using person-centered analytic approaches to examine latent patterns of growth and change in social and emotional skills, as these methods reject the notion that populations are homogenous, and go beyond documenting average trends to illuminate unique and unobserved profiles of developmental trajectories over time (Collie et al., 2019; Huang & Siraj, 2023; McCoy et al., 2018; Weiss et al., 2022). Such… [Direct]
(2016). A Community of Practice That Supported the Transition from Doctoral Student to Faculty Member. Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance, v87 n5 p27-30. Professional collaboration is an important aspect of any field. It allows for individuals to share ideas and be part of a team. The TPSR Alliance has been a space for such professional collaborations where members have been able to both benefit from and contribute to it by sharing research and practices revolving around developing responsible behaviors in youth using the teaching personal and social responsibility (TPSR) model. We have had the opportunity to be a part of this community over the course of our doctoral education process and during our transition from graduate school to our current academic careers in higher education. The TPSR Alliance was established to foster and sustain work of individuals who had the common goal of developing unique youth-development programs. Programs are designed with the long-term plan of preparing young people for responsible citizenship. The TPSR Alliance became a professional-development forum for us as graduate students, and sustains us… [Direct]
(2016). UNESCO TVET Strategy, 2016-2021: Report of the UNESCO-UNEVOC Virtual Conference. 28 September to 3 October 2015. UNESCO-UNEVOC International Centre for Technical and Vocational Education and Training This virtual conference took place from September 28 to October 3 on UNESCO-UNEVOC's e-Forum and brought together 165 participants from 57 countries. This virtual conference was the twelfth in a series of moderator-driven discussions introduced by UNESCO-UNEVOC in 2011. Conducted on the UNEVOC e-Forum–a global online community of over 4,000 members–and guided by an expert, these discussions provide a platform for sharing of experiences, expertise and feedback. This virtual conference provided stakeholders an opportunity to inform UNESCO's strategy for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) for the period 2016 to 2021. The questions addressed at the conference included: (1) What should be the guiding principles of the new UNESCO strategy for TVET; (2) What are the emerging issues and trends in TVET to which the strategy should respond; (3) What are the most important elements that should be contained in the strategy; and (4) What should the role of UNESCO be in… [PDF]
(2018). Exploring Teacher Leadership Practice, Efficacy Beliefs, and Student Achievement. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, University of La Verne. Purpose: The purpose of this study was to explore teacher leadership practice in an effort to understand how the behaviors of teacher leaders, and interactions among them, contribute to teacher and collective efficacy for the purposes of increasing student achievement and closing student achievement gaps. Methodology: A grounded theory approach to qualitative research was used to establish a theoretical foundation among the constructs of teacher leadership, efficacy beliefs, and student achievement. Data were primarily collected through an examination of the perspectives of 33 formal and informal teacher leaders in a county in Northern California. Findings: A theoretical framework called teacher leadership for efficacy and equity is proposed, which outlines direct and indirect pathways for teacher leadership to improve student achievement. Teachers who improve student achievement and close student achievement gaps through teacher and collective efficacy (a) focus on equity and… [Direct]
(2018). Low Attendance and Transition Rates of Women at the Tertiary Level: Impact of Internet Innovation in Ghana. Education Quarterly Reviews, v1 n2 p141-152. Ghanaian education industry, especially at the tertiary level has witnessed progressive growth over the years. As a result of this, technology is required to sustain this progress since technology has become a powerful tool for women to further their education without experiencing any role conflict. However, of great concern are the challenges such as gender imbalance, the high cost of tertiary education, women's inability to secure ICT equipment. Based on this, the study examined the relationship between Internet Technology (IT) accessibility and women's tertiary education in Tamale. The quantitative case study was adopted as research design and using purposive sampling procedure also supported by simple random sampling for data collection. A chi-square test was employed to examine the causal relationship between internet technology availability and women's education accessibility. It was discovered that there is a strong positive relationship between internet availability and… [PDF]
(2018). The Role of a Faculty Advisor: A Phenomenological Study Examining How Faculty Experiences Shape Their Understanding of Academic Advising. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D.(Educ.) Dissertation, Drake University. Academic advising has received a considerable amount of attention as a tool for student retention, development, and academic achievement in higher education. The faculty advisor model is the most commonly used advising model with over 75 percent of institutions utilizing faculty to deliver advising services. While research shows the positive impact the faculty-student advising relationship can have on retention and persistence, students regularly express dissatisfaction with their advising experiences. Academic advising literature often makes recommendations how faculty "should" advise based on the perspectives of the students, advising administrators, or professional advisors. To enhance academic advising services, institutions must understand advising from both the student and faculty points of view. The purpose of this phenomenological, qualitative research study was to examine how faculty experiences shape their understanding of the role of an academic advisor…. [Direct]
(2018). Adult Public Library Patrons' Perceptions of an Academic Library E-Learning Resource. ProQuest LLC, Ed.D. Dissertation, Walden University. Many Americans lack the skills required to use public access computers and the Internet at public libraries (PLs). Staff members of a PL in the Midwestern United States provide basic computer training to support patrons' Internet and public access computer use. However, adult patrons who are beyond the basic skills level and those with sensory-disabilities are underserved. The purpose of this qualitative single-case study was to understand how an academic library's information literacy e-resource affected the PL's adult patrons' learning based on the perceptions of adult patrons at a PL. Kling's social informatics served as the study's conceptual framework and the research questions centered on how academic library's e-resource affected the participants' learning. Purposive homogeneous sampling was used to identify 10 participants over the age of 18 who were patrons at the target site. Data were collected using observations, semi structured interviews, and document review. The data… [Direct]
(2014). The Role of After-School Digital Media Clubs in Closing Participation Gaps and Expanding Social Networks. Equity & Excellence in Education, v47 n1 p78-95. This article considers how after-school digital media clubs, as an example of informal learning, can provide meaningful opportunities for youth to participate in the creation of interest-driven learning ecologies through media production. Ethnographic research was conducted in two after-school digital media clubs at a large, ethnically diverse, low income, public high school over the course of an academic year. The after-school clubs provided students with opportunities to develop digital literacies that could be leveraged for the acquisition of cultural and social capital. Although participation in the clubs expanded students' offline social networks, restrictive school policies blocked access to social media and video sharing sites. Students were unlikely to share their work online and missed opportunities to develop network literacies that are crucial to more equitable modes of online participation…. [Direct]
(2017). Information Seeking of Scholars in the Field of Higher Education. ProQuest LLC, Ph.D. Dissertation, Michigan State University. This study examines the information seeking of scholars in the field of Higher Education. I interviewed Higher Education scholars about their use of the web, library resources, and interpersonal networking for their research. I also spoke with them about how the faculty reward system shapes their information seeking habits. I drew on information behavior concepts to describe their behaviors. Because Higher Education is an interdisciplinary field, there is a broad swath of literature Higher Education scholars might draw from. This study examined how these scholars seek information in an information rich environment with limited time. The findings of this study describe how the career expectations for Higher Education scholars shapes their information seeking choices, how scholars change their information seeking over time, how emotional and interpersonal factors influence their choices, and how the tools available for information seeking influence their research. Many of the findings… [Direct]
(2016). Distributed Leadership through the Lenses of Special Education Leaders. Journal of Special Education Leadership, v29 n1 p3-22 Mar. In recent years, specifically in the last decade, there has been a substantial amount of research emphasizing the importance of leadership in the field of education. Distributed leadership is of interest because it provides for a higher level of group problem-solving and higher rates of effective decisions; therefore, it is a leadership model that encourages collaboration, knowledge sharing, and consistent interactions. This study investigated how two types of leaders of special education, administrators of special education and special education teacher leaders, using Q-sort methodology, prioritize distributed leadership statements. Two factors emerged from the findings: (1) planned distributors, who were generally younger, more educated with less experience at their current position, and working in larger school districts with higher rates of poverty; and (2) embedded distributors, who were predominantly more experienced, less educated, older females working in smaller and more… [PDF]
(2016). University Student and Teacher Perceptions of Teacher Roles in Promoting Autonomous Language Learning with Technology outside the Classroom. Computer Assisted Language Learning, v29 n4 p703-723. Helping students to become autonomous learners, who actively utilize technologies for learning outside the classroom, is important for successful language learning. Teachers, as significant social agents who shape students' intellectual and social experiences, have a critical role to play. This study examined students' and teachers' perceptions of the specific roles teachers may play in promoting autonomous language learning with technology outside the classroom. Interviews were conducted with 15 language learners and 10 language teachers at a university in Hong Kong. The study found mismatches between students' and teachers' perceptions of the degree of teacher involvement and the specific roles teachers could play. On the one hand, students expected teachers to play a greater role in supporting their autonomous learning with technology by recommending a variety of technological resources and sharing metacognitive and cognitive strategies for effective use of the resources. On the… [Direct]
(2016). Negotiating Service Learning through Community Engagement: Adaptive Leadership, Knowledge, Dialogue and Power. Education as Change, v20 n1 p104-125. This article builds on two recent publications (Preece 2013; 2013a) concerning the application of asset-based community development and adaptive leadership theories when negotiating university service learning placements with community organisations in one South African province. The first publication introduced the concept of 'adaptive engagement'. The second analysed empirical findings from the first phase of an action research project that endeavoured to take a teamwork approach to service learning placements. This paper reports on the larger, second phase. Different student teams were each tasked with undertaking an activity that had been identified by an NGO as an area of development need. The paper discusses this approach filtering the above-mentioned theories through a Foucauldian lens for analysing power relationships, knowledge and ownership over decision-making. Findings highlight the multi-layered complexity of community engagement, communication and power relations, and… [Direct]
(2016). An Exploratory Study Investigating the Impact of a University Module That Aims to Challenge Students' Perspectives on Ageing and Older Adults. Practitioner Research in Higher Education, v10 n2 p25-39. This study aimed to assess if a module on an undergraduate degree programme had challenged students' perspectives on ageing and older adults. Courses on gerontology are on the increase within the UK to support increasingly ageing populations, with agendas to promote ethical care and to challenge the incidence of elderly abuse. Research consistently reports society's often negative attitudes towards older people, with this in mind a module on a gerontology programme at a North West of England University focused on developing a range of activities whereby students enrolled on the programme would be able to challenge their existing attitudes towards older adults. Interviews were undertaken with 3 students to explore if attitude change had occurred within a framework of social psychological definitions of attitudes and transformative learning. Three main themes emerged from the interviews, these were: (1) The relationship between beliefs and the development of attitudes, (2) Attitude… [PDF]