Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2007. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 204-218).

Thesis (Ph. D. in Teaching and Learning)--Vanderbilt University, Aug. 2007. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

<p> Simulation has been used in nursing education for many years in order to show students complex patients, allow practice of new skills without allowing actual harm to come to the patient, as well as being able to build up student confidence in abilities. The primary focus for this qualitative study was associate degree nursing faculty perceptions of their students transferability of knowledge gained through participating in simulation activities in the clinical setting and, may assist in planning future educational activities. The nursing faculty provided insight to what they felt the students needed to know and reflected on what they actually saw students do in actual clinical situations. The research question addressed in this study was the following: What are associate degree nursing faculty perceptions on student transferability of knowledge to an actual clinical setting after having experience in simulation activities? There was also a research sub question addressed, which was, What do associate degree nursing faculty perceive as barriers to becoming successful in clinical performance and knowledge retention? The study used a basic qualitative design. A basic qualitative design was appropriate for this study because it examined simulation use by nursing faculty at multiple chosen schools and their experiences with knowledge transferability. The study sample consisted of associate degree nursing faculty from the East South Central and West South Central regions of the United States. The study participants ranged in age from 30&ndash;66 years of age, and they all have been teaching for at least one year. The guided face-to-face interviews by the participants revealed the following themes, providing a safe environment, clinical experiences/nursing skills, simulation integration in course content, and faculty development and training regarding simulation use. The purpose of the study was to examine transferability of knowledge gained through simulation activities on student clinical performance, and this was actually not addressed in any of the participants&rsquo; answers. The researcher found that all the faculty participants are able to work together in all areas where simulation is utilized, in order to produce competent graduates who will be able to enter the workforce as nurses. Recommendations for further research include using a larger sample size and from other geographical regions in order to have a more diverse sample of nursing faculty.</p><p>

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<p> Students in the United States are obtaining more college degrees than ever before. In 1975, 21.9% of Americans held bachelor&rsquo;s degrees, and in 2012, 33.5% of Americans held bachelor&rsquo;s degrees (Rampell, 2013). A study in 2011 indicated that Americans possessing a bachelor&rsquo;s degree earn approximately $2.27 million, those with master&rsquo;s degrees earn $2.67 million and those with doctoral degrees earn $3.65 million over their adult lifetime, dwarfing those with some college, who earn $1.55 million, or no college, who earn $1.30 million (Burnsed, 2011). </p><p> Unfortunately, the increase in college degree attainment in the United States does not include all Americans. Among low-income students, degree attainment has been fairly flat for several decades (Mortenson, 2016). Although education can be a great equalizer and opportunity generator, among lower income students it is often times an insurmountable challenge to obtain a bachelor&rsquo;s or post baccalaureate degree. College students can have challenges in obtaining learning opportunities due to factors beyond their control, such as geography and access to quality instruction. </p><p> In order to provide equity and opportunity for nontraditional students who either working, have family responsibilities, or are low income or first generation college attenders, it is important to make every effort to connect these students with meaningful and attainable opportunities to obtain a college degree. One such delivery model of curriculum is online learning. Online learning in higher education&mdash;in which students are obtaining bachelors, masters, or doctoral degrees&mdash;takes place either partially or fully in a virtual environment accessible from e-learning devices such as laptops, tablets, or smartphones. </p><p> The goal of this study was a greater understanding the best practices in adult online education. The participants in the study were asked to help identify both the challenges and successes experienced in their online learning environments. While success in both teaching and learning is subjective, the data revealed a number of common themes, which indicated similar elements that lead to success in an online environment in areas of curriculum design, classroom management, and use of technology.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between personality types and second language acquisition. The study addressed a problem that is inadequately investigated in foreign language acquisition research; specifically, personality traits as predictors of language learning in college students studying Spanish as a foreign language. The researcher conducted one sample t-tests to assess statistically significant differences between mean personality type score and the test value, as well as, a multiple linear regression analysis. A convenient sample of college students (n=52) completed the Neris Personality Type Indicator at the beginning of the course, and took several examinations throughout the semester. Personality traits were correlated with examination grades. The results of the analysis indicated that personality types were not related to second language acquisition. The results of the multiple linear regression analysis were not significant, F (5,46) = 0.39, p = .85, R2 = .04, indicating that the model consisting of the personality types contributed to 4% of the variance in test grade. Because the model was not statistically significant, the researcher did not evaluate the individual predictors.</p><p>

This research explores the question of how best to remediate the math skills of adult college students. Two bodies of literature relating to adults and poor mathematical performance are reviewed, and a summary of one of the most influential theories of learning is presented. First, the literature on adult learners is reviewed to gain insight into characteristics of and assumptions about adult learners. The second body of literature explores psychological factors contributing to poor mathematical learning. Research on math anxiety, math avoidance, and women and math is reviewed, along with research on interventions implemented by colleges to help students overcome negative feelings about their ability to learn math. The third summarizes Jean Piaget's theory of intellectual development and its relevance to adult learners. In-depth interviews were conducted with nine "good" college instructors who teach developmental mathematics to both traditional and non-traditional undergraduates. The teachers were asked to talk about their experiences learning math, their teaching philosophies and methods, and their observations about adult mathematics students. Students in the instructors' current classes answered open-ended questions in an anonymous written survey. The surveys asked students to describe their instructor's teaching methods, their feelings about learning math since being in the class, and their beliefs about the role age plays in ability to learn math. The responses of the teachers and students indicate that (1) cognitive ability to do math does not change with age, (2) ability to learn basic math depends on two main factors: motivation and having a "good" teacher and, (3) good college remedial mathematics teachers are non-threatening; use a student-centered, active learning approach; stress understanding over memorization and rote computations; and focus on developing reasoning, problem solving and higher order thinking skills. The conclusion of the dissertation is that a Piagetian approach to teaching basic math is as applicable to older students as it is to younger learners, but that more research is needed to determine the ways in which differences, other than cognitive, between age groups can help or hinder mathematics learning.

Returning or reentry students represent an increasingly large percentage of the student population in higher education. Many of them not only manage to stay in school, but also appear to make significant strides in cognitive and affective development. Relatively few works have dealt with developmental issues of adult or returning students, and most have focused primarily on women, who constitute the majority of returning students. This study examines the effect of higher education on adult male returning students. It focuses on the possibility that by returning to school, men may transform what Mezirow (1989) calls "previously held meaning perspectives." It also attempts to determine to what extent, if any, a given sample of adult males have learned to become more critical about previously held views, and what the implications are for the way they choose to live in the world. The study draws on theories of adult development and transformative learning with emphasis on the transformative learning theory of Jack Mezirow (1989, 1991). The methodology for this study is qualitative. Six men in their second year at a Massachusetts community college were interviewed individually and asked questions pertaining to their view of themselves and the world prior to entering college and then afterwards. A focus group was held afterwards. The data was then analyzed in light of the theories examined in the study. The findings indicate that the experience at the college enabled the men to make marked changes within both the affective and cognitive domains. Viewed as part of an ongoing process, their perspectives on education, themselves and the world were transformed. This transformation also carried over to their relationships with family and friends. The men learned to acknowledge weaknesses and to ask for assistance from instructors and academic support personnel. Eventually, they learned how to connect to students and staff across age and gender lines. The men were able to confront challenges presented by difficult subjects. They came to see knowledge as being socially constructed and subject to change. They also developed a better understanding for the causes of individual and social change.

Using critical discourse analysis, seven "problematic moments" that occurred during a two week educational event in the conversations of a multinational group of fourteen students at an international development education institution are analyzed. Each moment illustrates some aspect of "silence" which I define as an consequence of ideology. A relationship is established between the micro meanings of those interpersonal and group silences with the macro level meanings of changes occurring at the international level. Contradictions in the discourse of international development education are revealed through this analysis and the dilemmas these contradictions pose for an international institution embedded in that discourse are explored. Changes which are having an impact on international development education programs include U.S. foreign policy since the end of the cold war, the increased integration and dependence of less developed countries on the international market economy, and the reduction in the amount of "public space" in which non-governmental organizations can operate. As the institution is drawn into the new international market economy, it is changing to become more academic and expert based. Its program is being developed to train graduates to manage the non-governmental and private organizations that work for an agenda of globalization. One result of these changes is confusion about the concept of identity as old theories of the self are no longer meaningful in the new-world (i.e. USA led) order. Current international changes, rather than creating order, are creating a disorder that is painful and difficult to articulate in "normal" group interactions in the context of unquestioned institutional practices. It is suggested that by paying attention to the meaning of silences in its discourse, the institution can discover ways of using language to counteract the silencing of alternative worlds, and can learn how to design participatory peer learning events that allow for a medley of voices and silences in international and intercultural contexts.

This study aims at building dialogue among culturally diverse groups by examining people's perceptions of social reality through the application of projective techniques. In this study the projective techniques consist of a set of original pictures drawn by the author based on participants' accounts of their living situations. The set of pictures combined with the process of inquiry applied in this study comprise the FotoDialogo Method. This study conforms to the following objectives: (1) developing and testing an original model of inquiry and education which promotes dialogue and self-discovery; (2) fostering dialogue skills and reflective thinking among disadvantaged Latino women; (3) promoting effective intergroup communication between health and human service providers and their client population; and (4) developing guidelines for the production of research and training materials that encourage effective intergroup communication, and empowerment of traditionally disadvantaged groups. The research methodology is grounded in qualitative and participatory research principles. The research design stems from Paulo Freire's Thematic Investigation Model, and Henry Murray's Thematic Apperception Test. This study was carried out within a community-based organization serving the Latino population in Massachusetts. The author took a leadership role in all phases of the study, as moderator of the Latina Women's Dialog Group (LWDG), and of a series of FotoDialogo Workshops addressed to health and human service providers. The LWDG sessions were conducted entirely in Spanish—the participants' native language—and recorded by audio tape. These sessions were later transcribed and translated by the author. Throughout this study pseudonyms for actual persons are used to protect participants identities and to maintain confidentiality. Accounts are based on actual interviews, and transcriptions of dialogue sessions. The results of this study revealed that the FotoDialogo Method can be a powerful strategy for Latinas to break silence about their particular experiences of oppression. The LWDG participants began a process of self-discovery which enabled them to analyze and value their experiences, and to fully participate in their community's social change. The FotoDialogo Workshops were also effective in raising awareness among practitioners regarding intercultural communication, and in reflecting upon the sociocultural context in which the Latino community is immersed.