<p>The purpose of this study was to examine the experiences of students enrolled in a basic skills math class at a California community college and the role of the peer model in informing their college-going behaviors. There is significant interest in increasing the number of students who complete basic skills courses and make progress towards a degree and transfer to a four-year college. While poor performance by students enrolled in basic skills classes is generally associated with a lack of academic preparation, research indicates that students may lack the cultural capital or college know-how necessary to be successful. This case study considers the role a peer model can play in informing students of college-going behaviors when interventions are embedded in the classroom. </p><p> The site of this case study was an Arithmetic class taught in the fall 2012 semester at a mid-size, diverse community college in northern California. The class included embedded interventions provided by a peer model who demonstrated college-going behaviors. Semi-structured interviews with six students, the peer model, and the instructor, as well as observations of the classroom and supplemental instruction, provided rich data for the findings and implications of this study. The central research question was, &ldquo;How do embedded interventions offered in a basic skills math class inform college student behavior?&rdquo; </p><p> Purposeful sampling was used to identify the participants for this qualitative study conducted in the tradition of a bounded case study. Initially, two primary themes were identified and used to guide my data analysis: 1) the significance of feeling cared for, and 2) acquiring college know-how. Later in the process of data collection and analysis, I identified the significance of setting and maintaining expectations and the emergent theme of faith. </p><p> The findings from my study have implications for both practitioners and researchers. For practitioners, this study provides a framework for teaching students college know-how in order to advance student success, specifically students enrolled in basic skills courses. The findings from this study also indicate the significance of students feeling cared for and how this contributes to course completion and success. For researchers, data from student interviews indicate that we can learn from students about the factors they believe inform their course success. Including student voices in future research about student success will help the field understand the interventions or treatments that students find most significant. </p>

<p> Teachers are critical to student learning in the classroom, and just like students, teachers perform better when they are able to make choices based on what is relevant to them. Action research is a way for teachers to systematically inquire and reflect to make necessary improvements in practice for student learning. This study involved teachers who had conducted action research as a component of their Master's in Curriculum and Instruction program at one Midwest college. It examined teachers' perceived lasting benefits of conducting action research, the elements they continue to implement, and the supports of and limitations to continuation of the practice. </p><p> As part of a mixed-method study, a researcher-developed survey was first used. Seventy-seven teachers provided responses to the online survey. Fifteen survey participants volunteered to offer narrative elaboration of their responses in a follow-up telephone interview. </p><p> The compiled data included totals and percentages from the survey and themes and quotations from the teachers' narrative responses. Together, the findings revealed that 98% of the teachers felt they benefited from conducting action research. They perceived the greatest professional benefits of conducting action research to be thinking more reflectively, positively impacting student learning, and inquiring more about their practice. </p><p> Teachers were continuing to conduct action research based on the impact they perceived the practice had on their students' success in the classroom. The elements they continued most often were identifying a focus, collecting and analyzing data, and reflecting on the process. This practice allowed them to learn from evaluating the effectiveness of their implementations and realize there was rigor and relevance to what they were doing. </p><p> With 92% of participants desiring to continue action research, two major factors were given as greatest support for continuation. Teachers desired a combination of collaboration with peers on issues that mattered to them and time in the school day to collaborate and conduct action research.</p>

<p>Every college age student should have the opportunity to attend college and earn a degree, but the fiscal realities for lower income students prevent the majority from attending and the vast majority from completing college, thus perpetuating an intergenerational trend of limited postsecondary education and a likelihood of marginal income and status. Past research studies have shown that, among lower income students, those who receive higher levels of grant funding to offset college expenses are more likely to persist toward completing their educations than those who do not receive the same level of grant funding and thus are forced to rely upon other means, such as student loans or employment, to pay for college. The majority of this research was conducted prior to the recession that began in December 2007 (National Bureau of Economic Research, 2008), which has been more severe and longer lasting than any economic contraction since the Great Depression (Dwyer &amp; Lothian, 2012); more current research is needed to determine whether the educational retention behaviors of lower income students in the current challenging economic climate are positively impacted by grant funding. In this study I used quantitative methods to analyze a specific state policy change to determine whether a significant change in the grant funding provided to lower income students resulted in increased retention rates for these students. This study examines school years from 2006&ndash;2010, thus encompassing the recent financial crisis and affording an opportunity to explore the persistence behaviors of lower income students during the greatest financial crisis of modern times. The ultimate purpose of the study is to provide conclusions from the research to postsecondary policy makers in the hopes of informing policy and supporting continuing funding of need-based financial aid for lower income students. </p>

<p> This pre-experimental, participatory action research study investigated the impact of Cardiopulmonary Resuscitation (CPR) training on participants' perceived confidence and willingness to initiate CPR. Parents of seventh and eighth grade students were surveyed. Parent participants were asked to watch the American Heart Association's Family and Friend CPR Anytime training DVD. A pretest-posttest design was used to determine the differences in perceived confidence and willingness to initiate CPR before and after CPR training. The study used both descriptive and inferential statistics. The analysis of survey responses revealed: (1) Video-based self-instruction CPR training does increase perceived confidence in initiating CPR, (2) Knowing the victim and the presence of body fluid does have an impact on participants' expressed willingness to initiate CPR, and (3) CPR training increased the likelihood that CPR would be initiated in all scenarios with the greatest increase being with victims with body fluids on their face.</p>

The globalization of business has resulted in both large numbers of workers living and working abroad, as well as an increasingly multicultural domestic work environment. Organizational research has shown that cross-cultural training mitigates or proactively guards against the frustrations, misunderstandings, and culture shock often resulting from cross-cultural interactions that lead to poor adjustment and job performance (Harris & Kumra, 2000). Despite the recent surge of studies in this area, previous cross-cultural effectiveness studies have failed to take into account a number of moderating variables. Particularly, the role of the expatriate's supervisor and the personality and motivational differences of the expatriate have not yet been explored. Thus, the present study draws upon cross-cultural training theory, in addition to the leader-member exchange framework, in proposing that cross-cultural training for the supervisor of an expatriate subordinate will moderate the impact of cross-cultural training on the expatriate subordinate's adjustment and job performance. Furthermore, self-efficacy, openness to experience, and extraversion were tested as moderators of the relationship between cross-cultural training and job performance. Participants were individuals from a variety of countries who were coming to the United States for practical training. They took part in a web-based cross-cultural training study before leaving for the U.S. or shortly after they arrived. Results indicate that supervisor cross-cultural training does impact the effectiveness of cross-cultural training on job performance and work-related adjustment. Additionally, results support the predictions that self-efficacy and extraversion moderate the relationship between cross-cultural training and job performance.

Previous training research has typically considered individuals' motives for attending training as voluntary or mandatory. This study expanded upon previous research by exploring the various motives or reasons that individuals have for attending training and development programs. A review of previous research on training suggested six reasons or motives as potential determinants of individuals' decisions to attend training. A model was developed proposing individual and contextual variables as antecedents of reasons for attending training, and relationships were hypothesized between attendance motives, pre-training motivation to learn, and indicators of training effectiveness. Participants were one hundred seventeen mathematics teachers of various grade levels (K--12) who attended a summer professional development program. The program was designed to improve content knowledge of mathematics and promote nationally recognized instructional practices. Participants completed two surveys, administered before and after the four-week program. Results provided support for hypothesized key reasons for attending training: compliance, skill improvement, intrinsic interest, career management, and performance standards. Individuals who reported attending the program based on intrinsic interest or a desire for skill improvement also reported higher motivation to learn, while those who attended due to a compliance motive were less motivated to learn. Performance and goal orientation emerged as significant predictors of individuals' reasons for attending training. Further, motivation to learn was positively related to training reactions. The results suggest that individuals' decisions to attend training and development programs may be based on complex factors and personal goals. Implications for future research are discussed.

<p>For over a decade, the nursing profession has increased enrollments and established new education programs in response to the national nursing shortage. The profession has focused on increasing the numbers of new graduate nurses prepared to replace the nation's aging nursing workforce. Considering the expense of this educational process with close supervision requirements, limited clinical spaces, and high attrition rates, this exploratory mixed methods study examined mentoring as a success strategy to retain nursing students in school. This study of nursing students enrolled in an associate's degree program in one California community college explored mentoring from the students' point of view. The study explored the personal perceptions and meaning attributed to the mentoring experiences of one group of nursing students. </p><p> Using focus group interviews, the qualitative phase of this study identified the characteristics and shared experiences of 20 volunteer participants. In the second phase, 112 student volunteers (57% response rate) completed an online survey developed from an analysis of the focus group interview data. The respondents' demographics were representative of the four semester nursing program student body. The survey findings affirmed that the participants perceived mentoring by a registered nurse beneficial and useful. Coaching and encouragement from a nursing professional as well as peer support had a positive impact on the program outcomes of retention and program completion. </p>

<p>Critical reflection as a learning tool for nursing supervisors is a complex and multifaceted process not completely understood by healthcare leadership, specifically nurse supervisors. Despite a multitude of research studies on critical reflection, there remains a gap in the literature regarding the perceptions of the individual, the support required in the environment, and stimulus needed to integrate critical reflection into the nurse supervisor role. The purpose of this qualitative hermeneutic phenomenological study was to explore the meaning critical reflection has for nurse supervisors and the role of critical reflection within clinical practice settings. The data obtained through a modified vanKaam analysis employing <i>NVivo 9</i> software revealed five themes concerning critical reflection. These five themes include (a) personal experience, (b) sources of valuing critical reflection, (c) self-awareness as primary competency, (d) time is a function of prioritization and (e) framework tools for workplace integration. Critical reflection meaning developed through nurse supervisors&rsquo; past experiences with critical incidents and a willingness to develop their own self-awareness. The role critical reflection plays in the environment can be enhanced through making it a priority in the workplace and providing training necessary to increase understanding of the process. Workplace integration requires developing nurse supervisors&rsquo; facilitation skills. The study findings support the underlying value critical reflection holds as a significant part of supporting organizational transformation toward a learning organization culture. </p>

<p> This dissertation is an inquiry into the worldviews and global justice actions of persons who have experienced non-dual consciousness. This research explores how people who have self-reported experiencing non-duality and are engaging in global justice actions describe economic globalization and global scale inequality as it relates to their actions. Eight open-ended in-depth interviews generated rich data around the themes of (a) non-dual experiences, (b) personal transformations, (c) understanding of global affairs, and (d) non-dual global justice in action. The primary findings are twofold. First, the participants hold conventional analysis of global affairs, such as the inherent exploitation of the capitalist economy, within the sense of an interconnected whole without any contradictions between the two. Second, the participants reported that their personal transformations had decisive influence in shaping their understanding of the world, as well as their choice of global justice actions. Because of the impact of their personal and often spiritual transformations on their global justice actions, participants consider fostering others' transformation to be their act for global justice. Their engagements for global justice are significantly different from conventional activism both in form and in nature. Instead of "analyzing, criticizing, and making a change," the non-dual global justice actors "love, care, and make a difference" through their way of being on this planet.</p>

<p> This dissertation assesses the impact of structural constraints to participation on residents of a rural non-core county and members of a local grassroots organization in conjunction with the measurement of grassroots members for the presence of transformative leaning. This study is motivated by three research questions: (1) To what extent may the presence of structural constraints to participation in community action activities be found in adult residents of a rural non-core county? (2) To ;what extent may the presence of structural constraints to participation in community action activities be found in members of a local grassroots organization? (3) How many members of a local grassroots show evidence of the 10 phases found in transformative learning? Theoretical foundations for this work are based upon the following research; Theodori's (2008) analysis of structural constraints to participation in community action activities , Mezirow's (2009) development of transformative learning theory in adult populations, and King's (2009) Learning Activities Survey as a measurement of transformative learning. Purposefully obtained data were collected from the general population to establish a measurement of structural constraints to participation. </p><p> Within the grassroots organization survey data were used to determine the presence of structural constraints to participation and transformative learning. The findings utilizing regression analysis suggest significance for structural constraints to participation in the general population is minimal, and not significant at all in member of the grassroots organization. Transformative learning in members of the grassroots organization was confirmed by significance for 5 of the 15 variables analyzed. The results were contrary to expectation; yet, these conclusions do contain important implications for those involved in community development.</p>