<p> Even though proprietary colleges and universities continue to gain market share in the higher education landscape, negative perceptions about proprietary institutions remain including reliance on contingent faculty to meet fluctuating student enrollments. Little research about the experiences of contingent faculty teaching in proprietary settings exists, and even less research exists about the unwritten expectations, or psychological contracts, contingent faculty bring with them to the employment relationship with an institution. As heavy use of contingent faculty continues, campus administrators need a more comprehensive understanding of how to best manage the expectations, benefits, challenges, and resources of this type of employment relationship. </p><p> This qualitative inquiry study collected data using open, semi-structured interviews, then analyzed data using phenomenological research methods to better understand what contingent faculty teaching at urban, proprietary institutions experience. This study also used the organizing framework of psychological contracts in order to apply the findings into recommendations for campus administrators working with contingent faculty. </p><p> The results of this study indicate that a contingent faculty member's early experiences with an institution significantly determined the way the psychological contracts with the institution were formed and maintained in later experiences. For most, once the initial relationship was formed, little experienced afterwards changed the relationship with the exception of major changes regarding institutional focus and/ or position within the institution. </p><p> Consistent with the literature, contingent faculty perceiving their overall experiences and relationship with the institution as positive had longer tenure with the institution, identified more with the institution, and exhibited more organizational commitment behaviors. Contingent faculty perceiving their experiences as negative tended to have shorter tenures with their institutions, did not identify with the institution, and exhibited less organizational commitment behaviors. However, even though organizational practices and experiences varied greatly, two types of experiences and perceptions remained consistent. First, participants were surprised and disappointed in student level of preparation for college academic work yet expressed commitment to their students' success as greater than their commitment to institutional expectations. Second, participants expressed overall satisfaction with teaching experiences, and began to identify themselves as teachers, regardless of prior professional affiliation or relationship with the institution.</p>

<p> The purpose of this qualitative research study was to examine the transition process as alumni of Intervarsity Christian Fellowship sought to find their place in faith communities after they graduated from university. Interview data revealed the process of finding a faith community was often intricately connected with each person's identity formation process. If the desired qualities were not found in faith communities, a selection process ensued where each graduated determined which unique set of qualities would not be compromised. These qualities were often indicative of each person determining what he or she would stand for in the world. Data reveal they were looking for an identity fit and companionship so they might keep growing. Numerous findings emerged which have educational and sociological implications for future graduates, leaders of faith communities, and other stakeholders who care about their transition process. The researcher was conducted in the Chicago area but was designed so the study might be duplicated in other cities and with other populations of twenty-somethings.</p>

<p> Program completion among adult learners attending adult basic education programs has been found to be an area of struggle. Cognitive ability has always been the primary factor for determining an individual&rsquo;s ability. However, non-cognitive ability has been proposed as a significant factor in academic success. Many attrition models have been developed in an effort to improve program completion and reduce attrition. The research study sample consisted of 68 adult learners attending the Appoquinimink Adult Education Program. The study focused on the effect that a course in emotional intelligence would have on program completion rates among adult learners attending adult basic education programs. The Mayor, Salovey, and Caruso Emotional Intelligence Test (MSCEIT) was used to measure emotional intelligence. The main objective was to examine the effect of a course in emotional intelligence on adult learners&rsquo; non-cognitive ability to obtain program completion. The study used a quantitative Solomon four-group design to investigate the influence of the course on emotional intelligence. The idea that emotional intelligence is teachable and learnable has not been established as fact. However, the findings of the data analysis suggested support of the proposal that emotional intelligence can be taught and learned. In addition, the findings suggested that age, gender, and ethnicity were not predictors for emotional intelligence levels among adult learners attending adult basic education programs. The findings further suggested that adult learners with higher emotional intelligence levels had an increased chance for program completion. Hence, emotional intelligence was revealed to be a strong factor for reducing attrition and increasing program completion. </p>

<p> This dissertation summarizes a study of the use of online homework with developmental mathematics students at the University of Alaska Fairbanks. To address the problem of high failure rates in developmental mathematics courses this study investigated the relationship between online homework and academic achievement, persistence, and attitude. Special focus was placed on non-traditional and Alaska Native students. </p><p> A matched pair experimental design was employed. The independent variable was homework type and the dependent variables were achievement, persistence, and attitude. Nineteen sections of developmental mathematics, six instructors, and 423 student participants were involved. </p><p> The main effect of homework type was not statistically significant to any of the dependent variables. However, the effect of the interaction between homework type and course level was significant (p = 0.005). Upon further analysis it was found that one of the four levels (beginning algebra) had significantly higher post-test scores when online homework was assigned. The interaction effects of homework type/Native status and homework type/ non-traditional status were not statistically significant on any of the dependent variables. </p><p> Also, results from homework questionnaires were compared. In general, students rated paper homework slightly higher than online homework. Instructors rated online homework higher than students did. Non-traditional students scored paper homework higher than online homework. </p><p> The conclusion of this study is that while students have a slightly more favorable attitude toward paper homework, online homework in conjunction with graded paper quizzes and face-to-face instruction does not have a negative effect on achievement or persistence.</p>

<p> The terrorist-controlled surface-to-air fire (SAFIRE) threat places U.S. air-carrier pilots and passengers at significant risk. The problem addressed in this study is that air-carriers do not provide pilots with risk-reduction training designed to prepare them to deny, detect, defeat, and report SAFIRE attacks, and there is limited scholarly research to address this topic. The purpose of this quantitative, comparative study was to analyze U.S. air-carrier pilot SAFIRE risk-reduction training as related to the principles of adult learning theory that state adult learners will be more successful when they perceive training as valuable and applicable to their daily tasks and responsibilities. The analysis included descriptive statistics to determine the majority (70.5%) of 112 U.S. air-carrier pilots contained in the self-selected purposive sample perceived SAFIRE risk-reduction training as valuable. The analysis conducted using comparative statistics indicated there was not a statistically significant difference in the perception of the value of SAFIRE risk-reduction training between the four sample groups. The findings indicated the majority (85.7%) of air-carrier pilots believed an effective SAFIRE risk-reduction training program must consist of a combination of computer-based training, classroom training, and simulator training methods. Recommendations for future research are to determine if the results of this study apply to non-U.S. air-carrier pilots, identify parameters for specific countertactics, and generate specific objectives for potential training programs.</p>

<p>This qualitative study explores the transition experiences of Post-9/11 Era military veterans from active duty military service to college students for the purpose of adding to the body of knowledge about this student population. The subjects, who voluntarily offered to participate, were 15 community college student/veterans and 10 four-year institution student/veterans. Each interview was transcribed to create a written manuscript and the data was analyzed and coded. The themes which emerged from analysis of the interview transcripts were financial issues, interpersonal issues, academic issues, community issues, isolation, and inconsistency of information received from academic institutions. </p><p> Community college students reported high levels of interaction with faculty and virtually no interaction with other students, including other student/veterans, while the four-year institution students reported low levels of interaction with faculty, high levels of interaction with other student/veterans, and minimal interaction with nonveteran students. The information suggests the need and opportunity for future in-depth studies of the student/veteran transition experience. </p>

<p> This qualitative study used narrative analysis to gain a greater understanding of the educational experiences of Latina immigrant English language learners (ELLs) and how they achieved and advance academically in the community college. The study used race-based (i.e., critical race theory and Latcrit) and asset-based methodologies (i.e., community cultural wealth) as a basis for focusing on the social identities of these students in order to gain a greater conceptual clarity of who these students are and how they are able to achieve and advance academically. The findings in this study identified current institutional inequities and challenges that hinder the academic progression of Latina immigrant ELLs, while highlighting the ways in which they draw their strength and gain support from those in their communities in order to address their challenges and achieve academically. These findings provide new ways of understanding the educational experiences of Latina immigrant ELLs. Suggestions for practice and research are made to help this specific population of students to ultimately achieve their academic goals of transfer and degree attainment.</p>

<p> Single donor museums like the Isabella Stewart Gardner in Boston, the McNay Museum of Art in San Antonio, the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis and The Barnes Foundation in Merion and Philadelphia, provide an intimate experience for their visitors, donors, supporters and staff members. They must compete with larger, more encyclopedic museums, with larger budgets and more resources. Like all museums, they hold art in the public trust and are responsible to the public. Contemporary museology asks not only that all museums protect their collections and educate the public, but that they also engage with their communities. None of the single donors highlighted had to donate their art, their money or their homes, but all chose to. Each museum chose to expand or relocate in response to difficult problems, whether financial, logistical (need for more space) or legal. Each engages new publics in creative ways. Certain predictable problems arose for each and they creatively resolved (and continue to resolve) those problems. Lessons learned from the experience of four single donor museums may suggest new thinking for those anticipating similar expansions or moves.</p>

<p> The purpose of this quantitative research project was to add to the body of knowledge of incivility in the class by examining the perceptions of community college instructors in the State of North Carolina. Instructors were asked to identify behaviors they believed to be disruptive or uncivil in their classroom, indicate how frequent these issues occurred, indicate how they handled the disruptions, and whether or not they believed their practices to be effective. Each of the 58 community colleges in North Carolina was invited to participate of that 58, 13 chose to accept the invitation. The sample included 793 instructors who received the email at the 13 colleges and the respond rate was 162 or 20 percent. The instructors in the community college have a variety of students. Instructors have students in the age range of 14 to over 65 that reflect the community in which the college is located. The survey was adapted from Indiana University which ran an incivility survey in 2000. Instructors taking the quantitative survey also had text boxes in which to add their comments. Behaviors such as chewing gum in class or not being prepared where not considered as disruptive to the instructors as cussing the instructor or making threatening comments during class. Findings included no significant between an instructors race and their perceptive of classroom incivility. There was no significance between the instructors' years of teaching and the size of the classroom and their perceptions of incivility. The findings at the community college level mirror the literature and findings at universities and K-12 schools. </p>

<p> The recent impetus to increase the number of baccalaureate-prepared nurses comes from within and outside the profession, prompting increased numbers of registered nurses (RN-BSN) to return to college. Yet little is known about what these adult, non-traditional students do to prepare for the challenges ahead. Therefore, the purpose of this mixed-methods case study was to learn how RN-BSNs prepare for their return to college, why they go about doing so, and what resources they utilize. Secondly, what are the gaps, how do they overcome them, and what is their advice to potential RN-BSN students so they could be better prepared. The Transtheoretical Model and the Epidemiological Model were used to guide the study. The eight participants interviewed ranged in age (32-57). Each had contemplated the return to school since their initial nursing program. Six were enrolled at a rural satellite site at their place of employment. While participants prepared in a variety of ways, findings showed they also did not know what to expect and thus felt unprepared in many respects. The most common type of preparation was mental; whereas the most frequent gap in preparation was academic, including writing papers, presentation skills, computer literacy, citations, obtaining books, information literacy, and study skills. Overall, five themes summarized their advice to future students: (a) obtain academic skills early on, (b) find balance, (c) make connections, (d) embrace the difference, and (e) don't wait; make the decision. Based on the findings, examples of recommendations that are both practical and affordable are outlined.</p>