Service-learning is the combination of traditional teaching methods with field-based learning and critical reflection (Hurd, 2008) and is popular in first-year composition (Deans, 2001). However, academic research on service-learning in first-year composition is relatively scarce and the most frequently-cited scholarship is at least a decade old (Adler-Kassner, Crooks & Watters, 1997; Deans, 2001; Haussamen, 1997). This study seeks to contribute to the scholarship on service-learning in first-year composition by exploring how stakeholders, including the instructor, the students, and the community partner, perceive the project's purposes and outcomes. To complete the service-learning requirement for the course in this study, students conduct a bystander intervention workshop for a small group of their peers that focuses on cultural humility and sexual assault prevention. In preparation for the service-learning project, students attend a bystander intervention training conducted by the [Women's Advocacy Program], a center on campus that specializes in violence prevention, LGBTQA rights advocacy, and promoting cultural humility on campus and in the surrounding community. In order to explore participants' experiences with the project, data was gathered through participant observation, semi-structured interviews, and relevant artifacts, such as student work and course materials. In total, the study includes twenty-one participants, including the instructor, the community partner, and 19 students. Of the 19 students enrolled in the course, this research focuses on the experiences of five key informants (Bogdan & Bilken, 1997), who are referred to as “focal students” throughout the study. The findings of this study have implications for first-year composition instructors who engage in service-learning. Echoing previous research, this study finds that the relationship between the community partner and the instructor is an important factor in service-learning. Specifically, in this study, the instructor and the community partner design, implement, and assess the service-learning project collaboratively and have adapted the project over five semesters to ensure that it meets both their needs. The instructor and the community partner cite their collaboration as one of the reasons the project is successful. This study also reflects previous findings that indicate service-learning is more successful when it is integrated into the course curriculum. Students in this study feel that the project seems somewhat “separate” from the course, and perceive this lack of integration between the project and the course as one of the project's biggest weakness. A key finding of this study is that stakeholders in a service-learning project may not need to recognize or understand one another's perspectives about the project's purposes or outcomes in order for the the project to be successful. Previous research has suggested that service-learning projects are more likely to be successful if stakeholders understand one another's expectations for the project (Bringle, Clayton, & Hatcher, 2012; Deans, 2001), but this study suggests that this understanding might not be as essential to a service-learning project's success as previously thought. This study finds that participants perceive the project's purposes differently and have varying expectations about its outcomes. They make different and occasionally contradicting claims about which aspects of the project are effective or ineffective and they often indicate that they don't fully understand one another's perspectives on the project. Participants perceptions of the project are consistently divergent with one exception: they believe the instructor should continue teaching the project in future courses because they believe that the project is beneficial to their community, which suggests that participants don't need to understand one another's perspectives in order for the project to be successful.

Students enter the realm of higher education with a wide variety of beliefs about the purposes of attending university, which often relate to or reveal their various motivations for pursuing a post-secondary education. Research demonstrates that some student motivations align more fully with intrinsic factors, such as the love of learning or quest for excellence, while other student motivations align with extrinsic factors, such as vocational preparedness and monetary incentives (Vallerand et al., 1989). Using a Bourdieusienne lens, this study sought to place these student motivations in the larger sociocultural context and argue for greater opportunities for democratic equity in post-secondary environments. Relying on Self-Determination Theory, the study investigated the relationship between student academic motivations and longitudinal academic performance at a four-year, research oriented university in the United States. More importantly, the study sought to determine if institutional interventions, specifically incoming student orientation and a first-year experience (FYE) course, were valuable in helping align student motivations with the central values of higher education. Using the Academic Motivation Scale for College (AMS-C) across two years, the study employed a Latent Profile Analysis (LPA) and Latent Transition Analysis (LTA) to extract several profiles or “types” of student motivation and examined developmental variability of these profiles across time. Students who shifted from a more controlled to a more autonomous motivational profile in connection with institutional intervention demonstrated the highest levels of first-year academic performance and retention. However, these results diminished during the second academic year. Implications for practice suggest the importance of providing students with a values-based intervention to enhance autonomy-oriented academic motivation and to do so in a manner that sustains this enhancement throughout the academic career.

This study used the narrative engagement framework from the communication discipline to explore first-year college students’ engagement in common reading program events and activities, engagement with the text’s narrative, and students’ affirmation of attitudes espoused in the text’s narrative. A total of 325 first-year students enrolled at Texas State University responded to a web-based survey of about their experiences with the 2016-2017 Common Reading Program book, What It Is Like to Go To War (Marlantes, 2011). The book, a memoir of Marlantes’ experiences as a Marine Lieutenant during the Vietnam War, features scholarly reflections on the nature of war and its consequences on a society and its soldiers. The results of this non-experimental, exploratory quantitative study indicated that students were moderately engaged with the narrative itself, and large variability existed among students’ engagement with the common reading program. In contrast, there was little variability in students’ prior experiences with the military and war; in fact, most students had only minor prior experiences. An orthogonal four-factor model, originally developed by Busselle and Bilandzic (2009), fit the data in this study and were explained by the higher order factor of narrative engagement. The multivariate analyses conducted for this study suggested the presence of differences between students’ prior experiences with the themes on the program engagement and narrative engagement variables, but not in the affirmation of story-consistent beliefs. No differences existed among students’ intended majors on narrative engagement, program engagement, or story-consistent beliefs. The analyses identified differences among gender identities on story-consistent beliefs, but not program engagement or narrative engagement. Finally, multiple regression found no relationship between students’ affirmation of story-consistent beliefs and their program and narrative experiences.

This qualitative exploratory study sought to explore and analyse the perceptions of first year nursing students aged 18-25 years toward older persons in aged care facilities. The expectations of first year nursing students in relation to performing nursing care on older persons was also examined. The students’ perceptions were explored using a photo-elicitation technique to evoke an emotive response. By challenging and confronting the participants with realistic photographs of nursing care, this technique encouraged the research participants to engage in anticipatory reflection prior to their first aged care clinical placement. Data were gathered through demographic questionnaires and semi-structured photo-elicitation interviews. Findings were analysed using thematic analysis. Themes included dissecting what it means to be a nurse, recognising dependence, and the re-visioning of therapeutic relationships including considering patient dignity and empathising with older persons. A youthful reflection on the differences between young and old included participants’ fearing for themselves in future, and this was another identified theme. The photo-elicitation technique challenged and confronted participants as they became aware of the responsibilities of performing nursing care and their belief that they lacked emotional preparedness. Experiencing sensitivity and awkwardness to nakedness of older person’s bodies was also highlighted by most of the participants’ responses. The findings suggest that it is essential in this time of demographic change and the growing ageing population that nursing education responds to the challenge of an evolving health care system by providing qualified, experienced aged care nurses who are familiar with the reality of older people. Therefore, first year nursing students’ transition to aged care nursing clinical placement and the adoption of positive attitudes is paramount. Despite a large number of research studies highlighting nursing students’ disinterest in caring for older persons, there have been few studies investigating educational interventions that could assist in overcoming this negative trend. The findings from this study have important implications for teaching strategies aimed at understanding undergraduate nursing students. Using photography to elicit emotional responses can also assist with reflective practice, which can be useful to enhance self awareness and an aesthetic and personal knowing. Encouraging anticipatory reflection can help socially prepare nursing students, increase their readiness for learning and foster more positive attitudes to caring for older people prior to the students’ initial aged care clinical placement.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Washington, 2006. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 166-189).

Separation anxiety disorder (SAD) is rarely considered in adults presenting with anxious symptomatology, but a growing body of evidence suggests that its symptoms are experienced by a significant number of adults. Early parent-child relationships are an especially important area of study for understanding SAD. Moreover, the attachment style that is formed through early parent-child interactions may serve as a mediator to later expression of symptoms of adult separation anxiety (ASA). Studying the early parent-child relationship and perceived parenting styles in conjunction with individual attachment styles will allow for a more systemic approach to understanding potential risk factors for the development of ASA. Young adult college students may be particularly vulnerable to ASA as they transition into college and away from primary caregivers. This study investigates a mediational model with individual attachment style serving as a mediator between perceived early parenting styles and symptoms of ASA in 170 first-year college students between the ages of 18-20. As anticipated a large percent of the sample endorsed clinically significant levels of symptoms of ASA (47%). In addition, results utilizing bootstrapping analyses demonstrated that a perceived indifferent parenting style had an indirect effect on symptoms of ASA, with the effect occurring through an anxious attachment style. Support for the mediation model was obtained when statistically controlling for perceived parenting styles of overcontrol and abuse as well as confounding variables including age, sex, number of different families lived with and emotionality domains of temperament (distress, anger, and fearfulness). Highlighting the role of perceived parenting styles and attachment styles in the development of symptoms of ASA will serve to establish potential family-based interventions and help in the development of prevention programs. Examining symptoms of ASA in young adult college students may result in the development of university-based psycho-educational programs to help these students master a challenging transitional period. This study is one of the first to explore a model that can help to explain the developmental trajectory of symptoms of ASA. Future studies are encouraged to consider symptoms of ASA when investigating anxious symptomatology in adult populations.

Sammanfattning Bakgrund: I Sverige utexamineras årligen drygt 4000 nya sjuksköterskor från en utbildning som kombinerar yrkesexamen och akademisk examen. Den första tiden i yrket kan upplevas påfrestande och stressig. Det är under denna tid som stöd är av stor vikt. Sjuksköterskans kliniska utövande och ansvars-område, omvårdnad, beskrivs som ett vitt begrepp med många dimensioner.Syfte: Att beskriva nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskors upplevelser av omvårdnad under det första året inom somatisk vård.Metod: En litteraturöversikt har genomförts där tolv vetenskapliga artiklar har analyserats med kvalitativ innehållsanalys. Patricia Benners modell har använts som teoretisk utgångspunkt.Resultat: Nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor kan ha både positiva och negativa upplevelser av omvårdnad under deras första år. Resultatet delas in i två teman med underliggande kategorier. Positiva upplevelser handlade bland annat om att kunna prioritera, lärande, klinisk kompetens, ett gott stöd samt fördelar med minskat stöd och tillfredsställande patientrelation. Negativa upplevelser handlade bland annat om svårigheter i prioritering, osäkerhet i patientrelationen och ett påfrestande ansvar men också brist på tid, stöd, kunskap och kliniska färdigheter.Diskussion: Trots många negativa upplevelser så visade resultaten på att nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor kan ha många positiva upplevelser under första året, som på ett passande sätt kan appliceras till Benners modell. Det visade sig dessutom att de nyutexaminerade uppvisade kompetenser som Benner beskriver i sina domäner. Resultatet visade på en mångfacetterad bild av nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskors upplevelser.Nyckelord: nyutexaminerade sjuksköterskor, omvårdnad, upplevelser, första året / Abstract Background: Every year nearly 4000 new nurses graduate in Sweden from an education that combines both a professional and an academic degree. The first time as a nurse can be experienced as testing and stressful. During this period support is of great importance. A nurse’s clinical exercise and responsibility, nursing, is described as a wide term with many dimensions.Aim: To describe new graduate nurses experiences of nursing during their first year in somatic care.                  Method: A literature review was carried out in which twelve scientific articles were analyzed with qualitative content analysis. Patricia Benner has been used as theoretical basis.Results: New graduate nurses can have both positive and negative experiences of nursing during their first year. The result can be divided into two themes with underlying categories. Positive experiences included being able to prioritize, learning, clinical competence, support and advantages with less support and satisfying patient-relation. Negative experiences included difficulties in prioritizing, uncertainty in the patient-relation and a trying responsibility but also lack of time, support, knowledge and clinical skills.Discussion: Although many negative experiences, the results showed that new graduate nurses can have many positive experiences during their first year, which can be applied to Benners model. It was found that the graduates had the skills that Benner describes in her domains. The results revealed a multifaceted picture of new graduate nurse’s experiences. Keywords: new graduate nurses, nursing, experiences, first year

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Oregon, 2001. / Typescript. Includes vita and abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 181-190). Also available for download via the World Wide Web; free to University of Oregon users.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Curriculum & Instruction. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Mississippi State University. Department of Curriculum and Instruction. / Title from title screen. Includes bibliographical references.