Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2006. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-121). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Duquesne University, 2006. / Title from document title page. Abstract included in electronic submission form. Includes bibliographical references (p.92-96) and index.

Thesis (D.M.A.)--University of North Texas, 2006. / System requirements: Adobe Acrobat Reader. Accompanied by 4 recitals, recorded June 26, 2000, June 18, 2001, Nov. 4, 2002, and Oct. 2, 2006. Includes bibliographical references (p. 50-54).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Cornell University, 1920. / "Reprinted from the Journal of the Association of collegiate alumnae, vol. XIV, no. 3, Dec., 1920." Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.A.)--Western Kentucky University, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 25-28).

This thesis seeks to understand how the notion of belonging is experienced by undergraduate residential students. Framing the research against the influence of neo-liberal policy and practices, this study employs a phenomenological approach and theorises the data using a poststructural framework. Throughout the thesis aspects of Lacanian theory are utilised as an interpretive lens, chosen for its ability to reveal that which is usually concealed. Beginning with an exploration of the reasons that ‘belonging to a university community’ is of interest to higher education student support practitioners, I conclude that this is a result of the therapeutic culture we are currently experiencing in education, along with a need to bring together a heterogeneous group of students who do not seemingly ‘belong’ together. This need comes from a desire to maintain higher education in its position as an elite pursuit which guarantees a better life. Yet paradoxically, in the current economic context, the achievement of a degree qualification can no longer guarantee a better life. Notions of belonging and community are therefore argued to be important in this context, as they serve to retain students and meet government objectives (which are to increase the number of students in higher education, thus sustaining the UK’s edge in a competitive global market). The data from nine participant interviews is analysed and interpreted through a poststructural lens. A poststructural framework is chosen based on my own experiences as a practitioner in this field: that our student support interventions which aim to engender a sense of belonging and community in students are somewhat flawed. Thus, my aim in this thesis is to understand from the students themselves how they experience belonging and community, and in doing so, understand if our University practices have had a part to play in this. Data from participant interviews reveals the themes of ‘stories, memories and rituals’, ‘place and home’ and ‘social networks’ and these are analysed with specific reference to Lacanian psychoanalysis, along with other theorists where relevant. Lacan is chosen as aspects of his theory allow me to take account of unconscious human drives, therefore revealing more than language can alone, and providing a more holistic understanding of how the phenomena are experienced. This thesis concludes with a phenomenological description of belonging, which is a pastiche of my participants’ voices. From this I draw the conclusion that the notion of ‘belonging to a university community’ is largely fictive, and symptomatic of a neo-liberal influence. I contend that experiences related to me by the participants suggest that ‘belonging’ is experienced in a way which is independent of any university interventions, and that ‘community’ is not recognised by students as anything other than a familiarity with their surroundings. I end the thesis with recommendations for student support practitioners and with a reflection on my research journey.

No description available.

This study arose out of a research project on teacher education in England and Wales which was funded by the Department of Education and Science and which was based at the University of Leicester School of Education from 1979 to 1982. The study aimed to explore the ambivalence and ambiguity which, the literature suggested, were inherent in the enterprise of training teachers in universities. Empirical data on university teachers of education were collected by questionnaire and interview and the findings are considered within a number ofS contexts. In university departments of education university teachers train students to become school teachers. The first context examined in the study is the sociology of occupations which is used as a framework within which to compare and contrast the two occupations of university teaching and school teaching. University teachers and school teachers are thus established as reference groups for university teachers of education. Next the study considers the role of these reference groups within the context of the history of teacher education in the universities. In the central part of the study data on the social, educational and occupational backgrounds of university teachers of education are considered in relation to the two reference groups of school teachers and university teachers. Data on the nature of the work undertaken by university teachers of education are also examined in this context. The study then explores the context of occupational constraint and control, comparing and contrasting teacher education in the universities with university teaching in other subjects and with school teaching. The role of ideology in teacher education is then analysed as a context within which to view the nature of ideology in teacher education in the universities, again drawing on empirical data from questionnaires and interviews. In the final chapter additional data are presented to bring together the findings and interpretations presented in the body of the study.

M.Ed. (Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine unit instructional costs and analyze the extent to which these costs differed in selected baccalaureate-level professional programs in a public Research I university. Interest also focused on the internal and external forces that impact on instructional costs in these programs. Double-digit inflation, declining state revenues, and projected enrollment decline have prompted legislators to ask (1) Why are increased appropriations for higher education needed, when enrollment projections indicate a decline? (2) Where in the public sector will the state realize the maximum benefit from any new dollars expended? Robinson, Ray, and Turk's environmental, volume, and decision forces that impact on cost behavior served as the analytical framework for this study. Presumed cost sources were identified, and costs were categorized into direct and indirect components. The research design included four phases of data collection; data collected provided responses to research questions concerning unit instructional costs in selected professional programs. Total costs per upper-division student credit hours in 1980-81 were highest for pharmaceutical science, followed by nursing, mining/geological engineering, architecture, civil engineering, secondary education, and accounting. Spearman rank correlation coefficients resulted in a -.86 correlation between average costs per student credit hour and student-faculty ratios, and a +.88 correlation between average costs per student credit hour and number of credits required for graduation. Interview responses by program administrators indicated that internal groups impacted more heavily on program policy issues overall than did external groups or organizations. The literature indicated that the accrediting agency was the only external force with substantial and consistent bearing on costs. The major conclusion drawn from this study was that, in relative terms, costs are very stable. Administrators must tailor a system of cost analysis that assesses the potential impact of proposed policy changes on program costs.