This research investigates the influences on the teaching and learning of English in the Royal Thai Air Force Academy (RTAFA). In the study, a Mixed Methods design, incorporating both quantitative and qualitative research design features, was employed within a Case Study approach. Questionnaires and interviews were used as research techniques to examine and identify what constitute the influences on the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA and the factors that affect the limitation of the English proficiency of the RTAFA graduates. The quantitative methods included a pilot questionnaire for cadets (N = 35), questionnaires for every Year level of cadets in training (N = 517) and questionnaires for the English instructors (N = 9). The Quest software program (Adams & Khoo, 1993) was applied to analyse the questionnaires and group means and standard deviations were used to calculate effect sizes between students of different Year levels. In relation to the student questionnaire, some category items were also examined and analysed separately. In relation to the qualitative analysis, semistructured interviews with a small number of the RTAFA cadets in all five years of training (N = 25), the English instructors (N = 9) and the senior administrators of the RTAFA (N = 4) were conducted to complement and triangulate the data gathered from the questionnaires. The results from the questionnaires and interviews suggest that the English curriculum influenced the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA, followed by issues in relation to cadets' attitudes and motivations for studying English and cadets' English educational background. Factors that affected the limitation of the English proficiency of the RTAFA graduates were a lack of realization by the cadets of the importance of English, the very structure of the English curriculum and the content of the English syllabus, the perceived low status of English as evidenced by the lack of academic credits given to the subject, the poor facilities of the language laboratories, the perceived lack of current teaching methods and techniques of the instructors, the varying experiences of the cadets' background knowledge of English, the rigid military system and the need for more native speaking English instructors to develop the oral language skills of cadets. Based on the findings of all the data, suggested recommendations for improving the teaching and learning of English in the RTAFA include a revision of the English curriculum, an improvement of the content of English with an emphasis on listening, speaking and conversation skills, an update of the English language laboratories, smaller English classes and a constant professional development for instructors in relation to techniques in English teaching and learning.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-209).

Thesis (M.S. in Management)--Naval Postgraduate School, March 2010. / Thesis Advisor(s): Mehay, Stephen L. ; Hatch, Bill. "March 2010." Description based on title screen as viewed on April 28, 2010 Author(s) subject terms: U.S. Air Force, Retention, Promotion, Officer Commissioning Sources, Logistic Regression, Air Force HR. Includes bibliographical references (p. 87-89). Also available in print.

Thesis (D. Min.)--Denver Seminary, 2006. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-209).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63).

This project looks at the textual and intertextual subject position constructed at the Air Force Academy focusing on the "Bring Me Men..." sign formerly on the entry ramp. In thinking about identity and subject position, I use identity for each cadet and graduate’s individual experience (particularly my own) within the textually constituted subject positions. I present a brief history of the “Bring Me Men…” ramp (BMMR) and the sexual assault scandal that was the key exigence that brought those words down. My focus is on the period immediately surrounding the scandal, discussing the ideology and identity that “Bring Me Men…” privileged, the Cadet Wing’s resistance to the removal, and my own experiences with the removed tradition that was still present.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of History / Donald J. Mrozek / This dissertation examines the development of the professional military studies curriculum at the United States Air Force Academy. The study explores the rationale behind establishing an Air Force Academy, along the lines similar to the U.S. Military Academy at West Point or the U.S. Naval Academy at Annapolis. The quest for an additional academy emphasized the need for specialized training of air force cadets and creating a common bond for its future officer corps, rather than recognizing the necessity to equip them with a professional military education regarding warfare and how air power influences war, for example. This trend continued in the two main studies used to justify the Air Force Academy, as well as the development of the initial curriculum, where an integrated academic curriculum, one that emphasized both the sciences and engineering as well as the social sciences and humanities, placed any discussion of professional military studies on the back burner. The challenge of the Academy’s general academic curriculum on the cadet’s time left little room for the development of a strong, rigorous professional military studies program. However, the confluence of a cheating scandal at West Point and the resulting report, as well as a reflection during the 25th anniversary of the Academy’s founding in 1979, which developed questions on the professional military studies program within the curriculum, led to the establishment of a Permanent Professor within the Deputy Commandant for Military Instruction, and resulted in drastic changes to the curriculum for the cadets, specifically involving professional military studies. Today, the United States Air Force Academy has a Department of Military and Strategic Studies under the overall authority of the Dean of Faculty. This department has as its charter the role to provide “the study of the context, theory, and application of military power”—with special emphasis on the role of airpower to the art and science of war. The document that helps define the duty of the department also states that this necessary study for officer candidates constitutes “the essence of a military academy education” and, most certainly, the central core of a professional military studies program.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2008. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 62-63). Also available via the Internet.

Thesis (M.S.)--Naval Postgraduate School, 2003. / Title from title screen (viewed Oct. 10, 2003). "June 2003." Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-94).

Thesis (M.S. in Leadership and Human Resource Development)--Naval Postgraduate School, June 2003. / Thesis advisor(s): Alice Crawford, Jeff McCausland. Includes bibliographical references (p. 91-94). Also available online.