Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2002. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI Company.

It is well documented that students are struggling in developmental and introductory mathematics courses at community colleges across the nation. However, the reasons that these students struggle are not as well known. While numerous researchers have investigated the effects of inquiry-based learning on K-12 students, the research on this topic at the community college level is lacking. For my dissertation work, I have collected attitudinal surveys, observational data, and final exams from eight sections of a developmental mathematics course and nine sections of College Algebra at a large Texas community college. Approximately half of the instructors involved in the study incorporated some level of inquiry-based teaching strategies in their classrooms (referred to in this dissertation as “student-led” sections) while the remaining instructors employed a more direct strategy (referred to as “lecture” sections). Using this data, I investigated the relationships between teaching methods and attitudes, teaching methods and content knowledge, and attitudes and content knowledge. The evidence showed that IBL teaching strategies have a greater effect on students’ attitudes for students enrolled in a developmental mathematics course than those enrolled in College Algebra. IBL teaching strategies had no positive effects on developmental students’ performance on a skills-based final exam, but student-led sections performed just as well as lecture sections. In College Algebra, participants in student-led sections scored significantly higher than lecture sections on two out of five objectives: write the equation of a line in slope-intercept form (p<0.001) and use properties of logarithms to write an expression as a single logarithm (p<0.01). Lecture sections scored significantly higher than student-led sections on one objective: write the equation of an exponential function given two data points (p<0.05). However, the wording of the problems for this objective differed between lecture and student-led sections. Finally, when comparing the eight Basic Math Skills objectives with the 17 attitudinal variables, 1.4% of pairs were significantly correlated on the pre-survey and 15.4% of pairs were significantly correlated on the post-survey. Of the five College Algebra objectives and 17 attitudinal variables, 16.5% of pairs were significantly correlated on the pre-survey and 7.1% of pairs were significantly correlated on the post-survey. / text

This study sought to understand why some students at Eagle University (pseudo.) complete the doctoral program in instructional technology while others do not. The study explores factors and issues affecting doctoral attrition and completion of the Ph.D. in instructional technology (IT) in the College of Education at Eagle University, a major research university with very high research activity. Participants in the study were eleven former doctoral students from Eagle University (pseudo.), six of whom met the requirements for graduation (completers) and five of whom ended the pursuit of the doctoral degree in instructional technology at EU (non-completers). A qualitative study informed by phenomenology, the purpose of the study was to explore these phenomena from the perspective of the students. Postmodernism served as the theoretical framework. Participants were interviewed using the structured interview guide developed by the researcher. Two important findings were that only one of the eleven students knew what to expect from the program; and that completers were more likely to report that their primary motivation for pursuing the Ph.D. was for personal satisfaction. Recommendations were made based on student feedback, and included implications for students as well as implications for the university/program. Examples of advice for students were: 1) contemplate their goal(s) in pursuing the Ph.D. and consider the impact if something happened to alter that goal, and 2) seek out doctoral support groups and begin to establish relationships with current members. Two selected recommendations for the university/program were 1) develop a pre-application seminar or eLearning module to provide potential doctoral students with a realistic understanding of the program, and 2) consider developing a mentoring program that matched more experienced students or non-advisory professors to new students. Results of the study indicated that multiple factors affected both completers and non-completers; and these factors were often similar. However, among the key factors separating completers from non-completers were the determination of the student and the quality of the advisor relationship.

Field Research Project (M.A.)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2007. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-50, 55).

Thesis (Ph.D.) --Edith Cowan University, 2005. / Submitted to the Faculty of Community Services, Education and Social Sciences. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Melbourne, Dept. of Education Policy and Management, 2005. / Typescript. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 254-269).

Field Research Project (M.A.)--Cincinnati Christian University, 2007. / Abstract and vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 49-50, 55).

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2008. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 68-74). Also available online in Scholars' Bank; and in ProQuest, free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--UCLA, 2008. / Vita. Description based on print version record. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 227-245).

Thesis--Zurich. / Bibliography: p. 299-304.