Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction / Rosemary Talab / The purpose of this study was to examine student motivation in a blended learning digital literacy course and its relation to student characteristics. The study consisted of 136 student participants enrolled in a blended learning digital literacy course at a Midwestern university. The Keller ARCS Motivation Model was the theoretical framework. The Course Interest Survey was used in the study, which was designed to measure motivation using Keller ARCS categories. Data was collected through the Course Interest Survey to voluntary student participants and through data obtained from the research setting. The study examined the following research questions: Research Question 1: Do statistically significant relationships exist between non-performance student characteristics and the Keller ARCS Course Interest Survey student motivation scores in a blended digital literacy course? Research Question 2: Do statistically significant relationships exist between pre-course performance student characteristics and the Keller ARCS Course Interest Survey scores in a blended digital literacy course? Research Question 3: Do statistically significant relationships exist between post-course performance student characteristics and the Keller ARCS Course Interest Survey student motivation scores in a blended digital literacy course? To examine these relationships, the study utilized MANOVAs to analyze the student characteristics on the four categories of the Keller ARCS Motivation Model. One significant relationship was found for Confidence within Academic Rank (p < .05), between Seniors and Freshmen. Seniors reported a .4799 higher Confidence score, on average, than Freshmen. Other characteristics did not have significant relationships. The mean change in pretest and posttest scores in digital literacy on the ALTSA assessment was 6.64. Recommendations for the research setting included the use of student focus groups to better understand and increase Freshmen confidence and the Freshmen experience, a review of course design and delivery methods, an exploration of variations of blended learning models, an examination of current test-out procedures, and adjustment of the scale used in this study to provide a wider range of motivation responses. Recommendations for future studies included a qualitative study of student performance characteristics, a mixed methods study of different learning models for course delivery, and an exploratory study aimed at expanding student characteristics.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Kenneth F. Hughey / African American and Latino students continue to experience lower retention and higher attrition rates then their White counterparts. The aim of this qualitative interview study was to understand how African American and Latino students at a predominantly White institution (PWI) achieved graduation in Agriculture-STEM (A-STEM) disciplines. Based on the global need for more A-STEM and STEM professionals and the under-representation of African American and Latino students in the fields, there appeared to be a gap in the research on this population and success attributes with respect to completing undergraduate degrees. There was a tendency in the literature toward examining African American and Latino students utilizing the deficit model. This study explores the lived experiences of two African American and one Latino alumni of A-STEM programs. Understanding the life stories, via counter narratives, of these students may help universities develop stronger support for student success in college for not only African American and Latino students, but for all students in A-STEM disciplines. Critical Race Theory was the framework used for the analysis and the interpretation of the data in this study. The data consisted of interview transcripts, timeline, documents, photographs, and e-mail conversations. Communicating the findings in qualitative interview studies is the result of constructing the experiences and meanings of events through the eyes of the participants in a manner that portrays a representation of their experiences. Each participant’s counter narratives were created to highlight salient patterns reflected in their experiences. The writing around the participants’ experiences, and the interrogation of data allowed for the identification of patterns that were consistent with each participant’s stories and their individual unique details. The findings revealed: (a) ethnic minority students want faculty and administrators who looked like them because having someone to understand their experiences as people of color in PWI is needed; (b) the need for organizations that support ethnic minority student academic and social success, which in turn helps to create a sense of belongingness and a more inclusive campus climate; (c) more overall faculty support in and out of the classroom; and (d) opportunities for involvement in faculty-led research projects.

Doctor of Philosophy / Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Christy D. Craft / BeEtta L. Stoney / The United States of America’s demographic population has shifted vastly to include a “new” multiracial growing population. Multiracial individuals are those who self-identify as two or more races, which now reflects a very young population. Higher education institutions are noticing an influx of more and more multiracial individuals, and many institutions are grappling with how to recognize and to support this growing population. Specifically, higher education institutions need to understand how multiracial graduate students think about their own racial identities and how they navigate their graduate school experiences. The purpose of this research was to gain a deeper understanding of multiracial graduate students’ lived experiences. There is an imperative to understand the daily experiences of multiracial graduate students to allow these students to retell the stories of their everyday lives in graduate school. The theoretical framework used to guide this study was critical race theory. Narrative inquiry methodology was the methodology chosen to focus on the unique voices and experiences of the participants in this study. Narrative analysis was employed to make meaning of the data retrieved from self-reflective writing samples and two semi-structured individual interviews with each of three participants. The findings from this research revealed the ever-present importance of racism and colorism and their impact on racial identity, the continued challenges of the campus climate experienced by multiracial students at a predominantly White institution (PWI), the impact and influence of religion at a PWI, and how multiracial students manage different types of relationships with peers and faculty. Implications for research and practice are provided as a result of the insights gleaned through this research about the lived experiences of three multiracial graduate students at one predominantly White higher education institution.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Stephen L. Benton / This study examined relationships between faculty perceptions of their academic department chair’s overall effectiveness and their ratings of his/her personal characteristics and administrative methods. The experimenter analyzed secondary data obtained from the Individual Development and Educational Assessment (IDEA) Center’s Feedback for Department Chairs system. Data came from 604 department chairs and their corresponding 9,125 faculty members across the years 2003 to 2007. Faculty completed the 70-item Faculty Perceptions of Department Head/Chair Survey, and their department chair responded to the 30-item Department Head/Chair Information Form. Exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of department chair ratings revealed three underlying dimensions of administrative responsibilities, ranked in order of importance: Departmental Operations, Faculty Enhancement, and Research and Assessment. EFAs of faculty ratings determined one factor explained the department chair’s personal characteristics—Flexibility/Adaptability—and one factor explained the department chair’s performance of administrative methods—Communication and Coordination. Items with high component matrix coefficients were summed to produce scales with high reliability for each factor. Multiple regression analysis indicated that faculty ratings of the department chair’s Flexibility/Adaptability and Communication and Coordination explained 83% of the variance in their ratings of the department chair’s overall effectiveness (p < .001). Ratings on Communication and Coordination explained the most variance. Faculty ratings of the department chair’s performance of administrative responsibilities also explained 83% of the variance in their ratings of the chair’s overall effectiveness (p < .001). Faculty Enhancement showed the strongest relationship. The findings help to explain the underlying dimensions of the academic department chair’s effectiveness and the role of faculty ratings in evaluation.

Master of Science / Special Education, Counseling, and Student Affairs / Christy D. Moran / With increased attention related to internationalization and intercultural learning within higher education, increasing numbers of college students are participating in international cross-cultural activities. Participants in short-term international Christian mission experiences are increasing dramatically. These students frequently participate in such activities during the course of their college career and subsequently experience reentry issues during their readjustment back into college life. This report reviews literature and student comments related to the reentry experiences of the growing college population of short-term international Christian mission participants. What follows is a review of various explanations of the reentry phenomenon related to socio-psychological, expectation, systems, identity formation, and grief theories. College adjustment and support literature, as it relates to student retention, is explored along with reentry services and practices associated with student affairs, international program offices, and collegiate Christian campus ministries or colleges. Student affairs professionals have a strategic role to play by intervening with students returning from short-term international experiences. By providing personal and programmatic support for students readjusting to American culture, we have the opportunity to assist students integrate what they have learned from their global experience into the development of individual identities, values, and behaviors. There are substantive educational, spiritual, social, and psychological reasons given from the literature to justify a level of intervention, unique and appropriate for each individual institution, from student life professionals directed towards supporting college students as they return from short-term international Christian mission experiences. This review highlights the need for more extensive in depth studies seeking to understand the relationship between interpersonal and programmatic support and the learning process of college students as they go through the reentry experience.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Special Education / Kenneth F. Hughey / This study investigated the impact of a seven-session career intervention in a First Year Experience course on the dysfunctional career thoughts, locus of control, and career decision self-efficacy of underprepared college students. The career intervention was based on the cognitive information processing approach to career decision making (Peterson, Sampson, & Reardon, 1991; Peterson, Sampson, Reardon, & Lenz, 1996; Reardon, Lenz, Sampson, & Peterson, 2000; Sampson, Reardon, Peterson, & Lenz, 2004) and utilized the CTI workbook (Sampson, Peterson, Lenz, Reardon, & Saunders, 1996b). Participants in the study were full-time freshmen enrolled in remedial academic courses at a small, open-enrollment institution. The study was a Nonequivalent Control Group design with delayed posttest. Ten hypotheses were identified and tested. The Career Thoughts Inventory, the Rotter IE Scale, and the Career Decision Self-Efficacy-Short Form were administered at pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. ANCOVA was used to analyze differences between the mean scores by group for each of the dependent variables. In addition, dependent t-tests were used to examine the differences between the mean scores within group for each of the dependent variables. Results of this study indicated that underprepared students who participated in the career intervention significantly improved dysfunctional career thoughts on all variables from pretest to posttest. Further, improvement in dysfunctional career thoughts was maintained four weeks after the intervention. Significant differences were also found at posttest between the treatment and control groups for CTI Total and Decision-Making Confusion. In addition, a significant positive correlation was found between dysfunctional career thinking and locus of control, indicating the participants with higher levels of dysfunctional career thoughts also had a more external locus of control. Locus of control was not significantly different from pretest to posttest in the treatment group; however, locus of control did become more internal following the intervention. At delayed posttest, locus of control of the treatment group was not significantly different from Rotter’s (1966) normative sample while the control group continued to be significantly more external than the normative sample. While career decision self-efficacy was not significantly different from pretest to posttest, students’ scores indicated confidence in their ability to perform career tasks.

Doctor of Philosophy / Curriculum and Instruction Programs / Rosemary S. Talab / The purpose of this study was to assess the professional development needs of academic instruction librarians required to improve information literacy instructional effectiveness in higher education institutions within the state of Kansas. The population in this correlational study was the 84 academic librarians with instruction duties at Kansas two-year colleges, four-year colleges, and universities. The majority of the population included administrators, staff, and specialized librarians. Most of the participants held a faculty rank, were between the ages of 41 and 55, and had served as academic librarians for less than fifteen years. Data was collected through twelve closed-ended and twelve open-ended questions on an electronic survey. The data was used to answer the primary research question of this study: “What professional development opportunities are needed in order to improve information literacy instructional effectiveness?” Three sub-questions were included in order to identify professional development needs on the various means by which information literacy is delivered, the content areas addressed during information literacy instructional sessions, and the assessment practices employed to determine the effectiveness of information literacy instruction. Data analyses for the quantitative measures of the study were conducted through the use of frequency distributions (in order to identify professional development needs of the total population) and chi-square tests (in order to identify professional development needs of the individual sub-populations). Due to the low number of answers to open-ended questions, responses to these questions were analyzed for codes and developed into categories. Analyses of the data indicated that the sub-populations shared a preference for library instruction delivered via face-to-face means; all institutions represented in this study offered considerably more instruction than what was required by their parent institution; Kansas academic instruction librarians addressed a wide variety of services, resources, search techniques, and information literacy skills during information literacy instructional sessions; and Kansas academic instruction librarians were cognizant of ensuring instruction practices were designed to include content that met the guiding information literacy standards as defined by the American Library Association. The study found Kansas academic librarians with instruction as a function of their job duties would benefit from professional development opportunities designed to develop proficiency in teaching skills, instructional design skills, assessment and evaluation skills, information literacy integration skills, and presentation skills.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Counseling and Educational Psychology / Kenneth F. Hughey / Kay A. Taylor / This qualitative multiple case study explored the campus climate and sense of belonging of Latino/a undergraduate student participants at a predominately White university. Guided by the work of Hurtado and Carter (1997), relationships among several aspects of the college environment and sense of belonging were examined. In depth interviews regarding participants’ perceptions of their experience identified how they perceived their campus climate in and outside of the academic classroom. The findings revealed how the participants’ perceptions influenced their desire to graduate, commitment to, and sense of belonging. Prominent themes that emerged were: student identity, mi casa es su casa, and class size matters. The results indicated that the participants had mixed feelings regarding their experiences in and out of class, which affected their perceptions of the campus climate and their commitment to the university. Additional prominent findings were: mostly positive academic advising experiences; student organizations and advisors are an important part of the campus climate; the importance of familial support in the participants’ sense of belonging; and the relationships between mothers and their sons/daughters. Participants identified offices and programs on campus that provide a positive campus climate, sense of belonging, and best serve Latino/a undergraduate students. The participants’ perceptions of the campus climate were related to their sense of belonging. The results contribute to the research addressing campus climate and sense of belonging for Latino/a undergraduate students overall, including strategies for their retention. Implications for practice and future research are identified.

This thesis examines factors that underscored higher education reforms in Central and Eastern Europe during the transition period from 1990 to 2005. The study explores higher education reforms in three national settings – Hungary, Romania and the Republic of Moldova, and presents a detailed analysis of the Moldovan case. Rooted in critical approaches to development, transition reforms and policy analysis in higher education, it addresses the new realities of global capitalism, inequitable distribution of power between the industrialized nations and the rest of the world, and the ways in which this power distribution impacts higher education systems in Central and Eastern Europe. Historical analyses, a qualitative cross-national analysis of HE systems in three nations, and interviews with Moldovan higher education policymakers provided rich data on higher education reforms in the region and selected nations. Higher education evolved from institutions serving very select elite in the Middle Ages to universities driving modernization in the 19th and the first half of the 20th century, and to diverse institutional types - universities, colleges, institutes - underscoring the massification of higher education after WWII. Policies pursued by Hungarian, Romanian and Moldovan leaders to expand higher education were informed by the national socio-economic, political and demographic contexts, the dominant global development agenda, and international institutional practices. The capacity of national leaders to carry out higher education reforms was limited by the colonial and post-colonial relationships that were established over centuries between each of these nations and stronger regional powers, such as the Habsburg, Ottoman and Russian Empires, the Soviet Union, and the European Union. Major regional powers had a significant role in the formation of nation states, educational institutions and higher education politics. At the same time, national elites used language and ethnic policies to shape social and higher education developments and build national identities. By bringing an international perspective to the analysis of reforms in Central and Eastern Europe, by focusing on Hungary, Romania and Moldova, and by drawing on critical theory and post-colonial studies, this research study contributes to the international scholarly discussion of higher education and development reforms, enriches methodological developments in the field of higher education, and advances the discourse of comparative higher education.

Cette étude est consacrée à l’université publique marocaine. Elle se situe dans le champ de l’enseignement supérieur public. Les chercheurs du secteur universitaire au Maroc qualifient la gestion de l’enseignement supérieur de centralisée, bureaucratisée, rigide et incapable de trouver des réponses efficaces à la société. L’université publique marocaine vit une crise : elle a fait l’objet de nombreux critiques sur la nature des services universitaires. Sur le plan académique, elle est inappropriée pour faire face à la demande sociale en matière de l’enseignement universitaire. Sur le plan interne, elle est inadaptée à cause de dysfonctionnement pédagogie, organisationnel et administratif. L’université publique n’a pas été apte à s’adapter au secteur privé en créant des débouchés viables pour ses diplômés. Devant la gravité de la situation de l’enseignement supérieur public marocain, une Commission Royale Spéciale a été créée, dont le mandat était de trouver une meilleure façon de rationaliser le système universitaire. C’est ainsi qu’en 1999, la Commission a établi une Charte nationale de l’éducation et de la formation. Les premiers éléments de la nouvelle réforme ont été mis en application dès la rentrée universitaire 2003-2004. Cette nouvelle réforme est perçue comme un moyen d’améliorer le fonctionnement des établissements universitaires publics. Son objectif principal est de réformer d’une manière globale le système universitaire public. Dans les recherches qui se sont intéressées à la réforme de l’université publique marocaine, nous avons constaté qu’il y a une absence de documentation en ce qui trait aux réactions des acteurs universitaires et professionnels face aux orientations de cette réforme. Dans le but d’apporter des éclaircissements, nous nous sommes fixé un double objectif : déterminer, à partir de la perception d’acteurs universitaires, les effets des orientations de la nouvelle réforme et de ses modalités; connaître les changements organisationnels et leurs exigences. La stratégie de recherche répondant le mieux à notre double objectif était la recherche exploratoire. La démarche que nous avons privilégiée fut celle d’une première étude avant l’implantation de la nouvelle réforme et d’une autre après trois semestres de son implantation. Les questions qui ont soutenu notre recherche sont les suivantes : les attitudes des acteurs universitaires ont-elles été modifiées par l’introduction de la nouvelle réforme? Si oui, dans quel sens ont-elles été modifiées? Est-ce que la nouvelle réforme a modifié les pratiques pédagogiques et financières dans le sens indiqué par la charte? Quelles formes de contribution des acteurs universitaires peuvent-ils apporter à une implantation efficace de la nouvelle réforme? Parmi les quatorze universités publiques que compte le Maroc, nous avons choisi l’Université Mohammed V de Rabat-Salé. Cet établissement est l'une des universités les plus anciennes au Maroc. Elle est caractérisée par un nombre significatif de départements qui ont un potentiel de recherche et une réputation nationale. Aucune université ne dispose d’autant de facultés et de différentes disciplines : lettres, sciences, économie, droit, médecine et pharmacie, médecine dentaire, ingénierie, technologie et autres. La démarche méthodologique retenue est axée sur des entrevues auprès des acteurs universitaires et professionnels de trois facultés : 1) faculté des Lettres et Sciences humaines, 2) faculté des Sciences juridiques, économiques et sociales, 3) faculté des Sciences. Celles-ci sont considérées comme des facultés pilotes par rapport à la nouvelle réforme. Nous avons entrepris deux séries d’entrevues : la première en 2001 avant l’implantation de la nouvelle réforme de l’université et la deuxième en 2005 après son implantation. Nous avons mené au total quarante-cinq (45) entrevues qui se sont déroulées en deux périodes : la première a eu lieu entre décembre 2000 et janvier 2001 et la deuxième entre décembre 2004 et janvier 2005. Lors de la première série d’entrevues, notre protocole était composé de questions spécifiques portant sur les initiatives inhérentes à la mise en application d’un système modulaire, sur les procédures pour restructurer la formation universitaire publique, sur le développement de projets spéciaux et de matériel didactique en rapport avec le nouveau système pédagogique et sur les propositions et les procédures pour la participation de l’université au marché du travail. Nous avons aussi posé des questions concernant les aspects financiers. Enfin, pour mieux comprendre le contexte, des questions portaient sur les évaluations et les recommandations de la nouvelle réforme de l’université publique. Au cours de la deuxième période d’entrevues, nous avons recueilli des données sur le soutien du département au pilotage des objectifs de la nouvelle réforme universitaire, le soutien des instances professionnelles à l’avancement de la réforme, la coopération des enseignants au plan de l’avancement des pratiques pédagogiques et les conditions nécessaires à une implantation efficace. Les réponses obtenues auprès des acteurs universitaires et professionnels ont été soumises à une analyse de contenu. Nous avons opté pour le modèle politique comme cadre conceptuel de notre recherche. Ce modèle nous a aidés à montrer l’importance des acteurs universitaires et professionnels dans les démarches pour l’application de la nouvelle réforme. Il nous a aidés également à comprendre comment les caractéristiques de la communauté universitaire peuvent faciliter ou bloquer la réussite de la réforme en cours. Cette recherche montre dans quelle mesure les objectifs de la nouvelle réforme fixés par la Commission Royale Spéciale sont en voie de réalisation. En ce sens, notre recherche pourrait être utile au plan national marocain : elle pourrait aider les responsables politiques et les administrateurs universitaires à prendre des décisions appropriées au processus d’implantation de la nouvelle réforme universitaire. / This study is devoted to the Moroccan public university. It is located in the field of public higher education. Researchers from the university sector in Morocco describe higher education management as being centralized, bureaucratic, rigid and unable to find effective answers to societal concerns. The Moroccan public university is in a crisis: it has been subject to many criticisms about the nature of its services. On the academic front, it is inadequate to meet the social demand for university education. In terms of internal, it is inadapted because of the dysfunction pedagogical, organizational and administrative matters. The public university has not been able to adapt to the private sector by creating viable opportunities for its graduates. Given the gravity of the situation of public higher education in Morocco, a Special Royal Commission was established, whose mandate was to find a better way to streamline the university system. Thus in 1999 the Commission established a National Charter of Education and Training. The first elements of the new reforms have been implemented since the academic year 2003-2004. This new reform is seen as a way to improve the functioning of public universities. Its main objective is a comprehensive reform of the public university system. In the researches that have focused on the reform of the Moroccan public university, we found that there was a lack of documentation in relation to key academics and professionals reactions regarding the directions of this reform. In quest for more clarify, we have set to ourselves a double objective: to determine from the perception of academic actors the effects of the orientations of the new reform and its terms; to determine the needed organizational changes for the implementation of the new academic reform to be effective. The research strategy that best meet our dual objective was an exploratory research. The approach we have chosen was that of an initial study before the implementation of the new reform and another three semesters after of the implantation. The questions under laying our research evolve around the following aspects: were the attitudes of university actors modified by the introduction of the new reform? If yes, in what way have they changed? Has the new reform altered the educational and financial practices in the direction indicated by the charter? What forms of contribution could university actors make for an efficient implementation of the new reform? Among the fourteen public universities that account in Morocco, we chose the University Mohammed V of Rabat-Salé. This establishment is one of the oldest universities in Morocco. It is characterized by a significant number of departments that have a potential of research and a national reputation. No other university has as many faculties and disciplines: humanities, sciences, economics, law, medicine and pharmacy, dentistry, engineering, technology and more. The methodology used focused on interviews with academics and professionals in three faculties: 1) Faculty of Arts and Humanities, 2) Faculty of Law, Economic, and Social Sciences, 3) Faculty of Sciences. These Faculties are considered to be pivotal in relation to the new reform. We conducted two series of interviews: the first one in 2001 before the implementation of the new reform and the second one in 2005 after its implantation. We conducted a total of forty-five (45) interviews in two phases: The first one has been between December 2000 and January 2001 and the second one between December 2004 and January 2005. Our protocol interviews of the first period was composed of specific questions on the initiatives inherent in the implementation of a modular system, procedures to restructure the public university education, the development of special projects, tools, training materials related to the new educational system and proposals, procedures for the university to participate in the labour market. We also asked questions concerning the financial aspects. Finally, to better understand the context, questions were raised about the assessments and recommendations for further reform of the public university. In the second period of interviews, we collected data to support the department in piloting the objectives of the new university reform, the support of professional bodies to advance the reform, the cooperation of teachers in terms of advancement of teaching practices and requirements that promote effective implementation. The responses from academic and professional actors have been put to content analysis. We opted for the political model as a conceptual framework of our research. This model has helped us demonstrate the importance of academic and professional actors in the application process of the new reform. It has also helped us understand how the characteristics of the university community can facilitate or block the success of the ongoing reform. This research shows to which extent the objectives of the new reform fixed by the Special Royal Commission are being realized. In this sense, our research could be helpful at the national level in Morocco: it could help political leaders and university administrators make appropriate decisions to the process of implementation of the new academic reform.