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Thesis advisor: Karen Arnold / Liberal education has long claimed moral education to be a chief aim of its educational format. Liberal education supporters regularly assert its unique ability to foster moral and ethical development in students, but data regarding higher education's efficacy in promoting moral development are limited. Additionally, the educational goal of moral development suffers important philosophical and epistemological critiques which bring into question its adequacy as a worthwhile aim of contemporary higher education. In order to discern whether higher education resources should be used to pursue this educational objective, liberal arts practitioners and supporters must identify clearly what moral education is, whether it is a facet of college student development worthy of our attention, and how to adequately measure it. This study offers a careful analysis of data related to student moral reasoning development gathered in an evaluation process of a liberal education course at a mid-sized research institution. The central research questions focus on aspects of student moral development and students' perceptions of the moral dimensions of coursework and highlight how these interact with students' abilities to receive and process course materials and activities. The research design employs a concurrent triangulation approach to quantitative and qualitative course assessment materials. James Rest's Defining Issues Test (DIT), a well-researched, neo-Kolhbergian measure of moral reasoning, and student writing were analyzed in pre- and post-course evaluations to investigate students' moral reasoning development as they entered, changed and left a year-long liberal arts course. Results reveal important features of student moral growth, illuminating how students at different levels of moral reasoning development and with varying degrees of change with respect to moral reasoning engaged with liberal education course materials and activities in quite distinct ways. This is an important step in uncovering the unique aspects of liberal education that may foster and sustain moral growth. / Thesis (PhD) — Boston College, 2015. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Title from first page of PDF document. Includes bibliographical references (p. 46-55).

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This research was conducted to better understand how first-year college students make sense of the role of trust in the development of the relationship with their academic advisors and how they characterize the conditions that enhance or hinder trust in this relationship. An extensive literature review was conducted, identifying relevant scholarship concerning trust and academic advising--the history, philosophy, and professionalization of the field. Also, a brief section on distrust was presented to offer balance in the trust literature and to support the Lewicki, McAllister, & Bies’ (1998) theoretical framework that guided this research endeavor. Moreover, a profile of the traditional, first-year college student was introduced, as this distinct population was asked to participate in this study and to share their unique lived experiences, detailing the relationships they have developed with their academic advisors. A phenomenological research design was employed, collecting participant data via in-depth interviews, an advisor/trust orientation exercise, and member checking. After these data were collected, the Moustakas (1994) four-step approach to data analysis was utilized as a means of data reduction. Eight traditional, first-year college students participated in this research endeavor, and all indicated that the role of trust was important in the development of the relationship with their academic advisors. Also, they isolated four trust characteristics that may enhance trust in their advising relationships: initiative, knowledge/expertise, kindness, and reliability. Likewise, the inverse of these named trust facets may hinder trust in their advising relationships. These new discoveries offer powerful insights for advancing the field of collegiate level academic advising. Keywords: academic advising, academic advisor(s), advising relationships, first-year college student(s), freshman, relationships, trust

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This study was conducted to examine the experiences of first-year, traditional aged Honors College students who were placed on academic probation at the conclusion of the first semester and how they perceive their current circumstances, reasons for their inability to meet the honors requirements, and future academic pursuits. A comprehensive literature review was performed, specifically in the areas of first-year college students, retention, Honors Colleges and Honors Programs, high achievers, honors students in trouble, help-seeking behaviors, and academic probation at the collegiate level. A phenomenological research design was employed where participants met with the investigator one-on-one for a semi-structured interview. Ten students participated in the study; six were first-year students on honors probation, and four were in academic good standing following the end of the first semester. Participants described several common experiences, including: difficulty with the high school to college transition, planning and organizational challenges, overconfidence in academic abilities, and poor attendance and class participation. Based on these findings, several recommendations are made.

<p>  </p> <p>Moving from high school to college is a major life transition leading to significant changes across many aspects of daily life. This time frame is often seen as the transition from a youth to a young adult, yet its impact on technology use and cybersecurity vulnerabilities remains relatively unstudied. This study investigated which factors associated with the first-year college transition are likely to increase vulnerability to cyberattacks in a sample of first-year college students attending a public university in the northeast United States, all of whom graduated from high school within the last 12 months. This study used a concurrent triangulation mixed methods design. A quantitative survey and qualitative semi-structured interviews were conducted concurrently, the methods were prioritized equally, and the results were interpreted together. Thematic analysis was used to analyze survey short answer responses and semi-structured interviews. A more descriptive analysis was completed to analyze survey responses from 38 respondents. The research found that an increase in the amount of time spent online, changing main internet activities, and lack of cybersecurity awareness training are factors which are likely to increase vulnerability to cyber threats during the transition from high school to college. </p>