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This qualitative research study explored perceptions of academic resilience among teachers and twelfth grade adolescent girls. Specifically, how students and teachers believe teachers promote academic resilience in students, the characteristics of academically resilient students according to students and teachers, and the characteristics of academically non-resilient students according to teachers. The relationship between the general comments made during student focus group sessions and the students' responses on the Locus of Control (LOC) survey were analyzed. Qualitative data were collected including teacher interviews, student focus groups, Implicit Theories of Intelligence Scales for teachers and students as well as the Nowicki-Strickland Locus of Control Survey for students. Findings indicated that teachers and students both reported teachers who were flexible and provided extra help sessions for students promoted academic resilience. It also was reported by teachers and students that developing personal relationships with students helped to promote academic resilience. Teachers and students reported similar characteristics of academically resilient students. Characteristic behaviors of academic resilient students were identified as having ambition or being motivated to be successful. Having a positive attitude and having the ability to be reflective also were identified as characteristic of academic resilience. Finally, teachers and students agreed that having a strong internal locus of control is characteristic of academic resilience. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2015. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The purpose of this qualitative narrative research study was to interpret the meaning found throughout the formal educational experience stories of Native American, Asian American, and African American women born after 1944, who had earned an education doctorate degree after 1976, and were working with adults in an educational capacity within the community. Utilizing the snowball technique, 14 participants from across the United States volunteered to collaborate with the researcher. The study's conceptual framework included adult learning principles and practices, Nussbaum's 'narrative imagination,' which were used to examine the women's motivation to participate in an education doctorate program as well as the barriers, the enhancers, and the application of the degree in the community. Data collected included an in-depth, face-to-face interview, two reflective narrative guides, document analysis, and researcher journals and analytic memos. All data was coded and analyzed with Atlas -ti 5.0 software, and thematic analyses completed in order to triangulate the data. Six major themes for motivation to participate were found: self-awareness through placement in the family, family and community expectation in importance of education, personal strengths and weaknesses, perceived differences in the classroom and mainstream society, and knowledge of motivation to pursue doctorate. Five barriers emerged: racism, gender, advisers, institutional changes and problems, and juggling multiple roles in limited time. Five main enhancers arose: family and community foundation, financial, friends, and others which motivated participation. / The women applied their doctorates through leadership activities in community-based organizations such as role modeling, mentoring, and other scholarly activities which advocated "giving back culturally," which was the ultimate meaning or value of the degree; however, achievement and credibility were also valued a doctorate degree was "only step in the process." This study provided a space for rich descriptive storytelling about each woman's successful experience pursing and completing an education doctorate program. Adult learning discussion of the findings, contributions to the literature, and recommendations for graduate education and future research were included. / by Jo Ann Marie Bamdas. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2009. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2009. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

This research study analyzed the results of the Jesuit Universities Consortium in comparison with the results of the Catholic Colleges and Universities and the Council for Christian Colleges Consortia as measured by the 2005 National Survey of Student Engagement (NSSE) in order to determine and identify any statistically significant differences between the consortia. One-way ANOVA analyses and Tukey HSD post hoc comparisons were conducted on the data from freshmen/first year students and seniors/fourth year students on each of the five clusters of the NSSE to determine any statistically significant difference and, subsequently, the effect size of any found differences. The study found that there were statistically significant differences on the following: 1) freshmen/first year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the freshmen/first year students in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Consortium on the NSSE cluster of Academic Challenge, 2) freshmen/first year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the freshmen/first year students in the Catholic Colleges and Universities Consortium on the NSSE cluster of Enriching Educational Experiences, 3) freshmen/first year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the freshmen/first year students in the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Consortium on the NSSE cluster of Supportive Campus Environment, 4) seniors/fourth year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the seniors/fourth year students in the Catholic Colleges and Universities Consortium on the NSSE cluster of Active and Collaborative Learning, and 5) seniors/fourth year students in the Jesuit Universities Consortium and the seniors/fourth year students in both of the Catholic Colleges and Universities and the Council for Christian Colleges and Universities Consortia on the NSSE cluster of Supportive Campus Environment. While statistically significant differences were found in the aforementioned analyses, effect sizes were small for all. Future research studies, including longitudinal studies, are needed to fully investigate levels of student engagement within the three consortia.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / The nursing shortage has reached unprecedented levels in the United States. In a response to meet current educational needs and demands to recruit, retain, and expand enrollment of students in baccalaureate programs in nursing, the growth of online education has been dramatic. As growth continues, graduation rates and program retention are a concern. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between student motivation, academic context, cost-benefit appraisal, and intent to persist in RNBS completion online programs. The conceptual model used in this study was Student Online Academic Persistence a researcher developed model which is primarily based on the work of Tinto, Bean & Metzner, and Rosenbaum. Research questions: 1. Among students enrolled in RNBS completion online programs, do motivation and context predict cost-benefit appraisal? 2. Among students enrolled in RNBS completion online programs, what is the relationship between cost-benefit appraisal and intent to persist in the program? Data were collected via a Web-based self-report questionnaire and subjected to descriptive and inferential analyses which included the use of linear regression and correlations. From a population of 3606 students from three schools of nursing who were enrolled in an RNBS completion online program, 704 usable surveys were returned, with a response rate of 19%. Technology self-efficacy correlated positively with goal orientation, goal commitment, satisfaction with institution and faculty, cost-benefit appraisal and intent to persist. Goal commitment to the program and satisfaction with institution were found to be important in the persistence of students. A continual decision making process involving cost-benefit appraisal was also found to impact student intention to persist in the program of study. Recommendations for faculty include assuring student technology self-efficacy and developing an online transition course designed to normalize the experience of adults engaging in online education. Future research which further tests the Student Academic Online Persistence model and explores the lived experience of the online student is suggested.

The U.S. Marshallese population is one of the fastest growing Pacific Islander populations in the United States. The purpose of this study was to identify how U.S. Marshallese students could be empowered and engaged in their learning through clearly identified indicators that educators could apply within their classrooms and schools. The indicators have been established on a historical, cultural, and linked perceptions of student learning as identified by U.S. Marshallese students and teachers. Pacific Islanders consisted of a variety of populations with varying cultures and ethnic diversity. This study has been conducted using a postpositivism worldview, Marshallese migration is not a limited phenomenon of displacement, but a migratory change that must be embraced by communities and educators. Educators must understand how to empower and engage U.S. Marshallese students in their learning. This study was designed utilizing an interpretative descriptive naturalistic ethnography qualitative research design with middle school students and teachers to gather qualitative data from U.S. Marshallese students that will lead to a contextual understanding of empowering and engaging U.S. Marshallese students in their learning. The findings of this qualitative research study can be applied by educators to empower and engage U.S. Marshallese students in their learning on a daily basis in schools and classrooms. Culture understanding, positive relationship building, and the design of culturally connected intrinsically student motivated learning activities is the foundation and critical component of empowering and engaging U.S. Marshallese students in school and classrooms for improved student learning.