<p> As if we live in two worlds, humans face a paradoxical situation. We have two fundamental and conflicting views of how to interpret and respond to reality. In the first and most dominant case we rely on objectively derived data describing the external world. In the second case, we have subjectively derived experience. The field of educational leadership has tended to polarize the two views giving preference to objectivity through strong advocacy of scientific methods, and short shrift to aesthetic methods with almost no effort to balance the two views. The purpose of this basic research is to seek a novel way of understanding the work of educational leadership using both objective and subjective orientations: leadership as both science and art. To observe the interactions between the objective and the subjective worlds, and to meaningfully communicate the findings the methodology needs to match data. The chosen methodology for this purpose is evocative narrative autoethnography, a method that focuses on the researcher (myself) as both instrument and site of study in order to investigate how I negotiate between my inner and outer world encounters. Putting this study in narrative form most closely matches the narrative structure of subjective experience, just as mathematical principals structure the material universe. Finally, I seek to produce a verisimilitude of experience so that the educational leader reading this study may have opportunity to vicariously experience the data and maintain the objective/subjective paradox in the reading. </p><p> Findings indicate clear evidence of the interplay of objective external conditions interacting with subjective internal conditions in a variety of circumstances. The truth of this condition is understood both intellectually as well as through embodied experience apprehended vicariously. The research has pointed to the value of seeing oneself within the context of the natural world. Balancing the external and internal worlds requires a recognition of the place of nature in our institutions and of the value of illusion as a way of understanding, coping with and enjoying reality.</p>

abstract: The purpose of this study was to investigate the impact of immersion on knowledge, cognitive load, and presence in a simulation designed to deliver a lesson on science lab safety training. 108 participants were randomly assigned to one of three conditions: high immersion (played an interactive simulation about lab safety in a VR headset), medium immersion (played the same interactive simulation on the computer), or low immersion (watched a video and read about lab safety procedures). Participants completed a pretest, a science lab safety training, a posttest (same as the pretest), a questionnaire with subjective presence questions, and a questionnaire with subjective cognitive load questions. Participants were again asked to complete a follow-up test (same as the pretest and posttest) a week later. The results revealed three significant findings: (a) Participants in the high and medium immersion conditions had significantly higher knowledge scores at posttest and follow-up than their peers in the low immersion condition, (b) Participants in the high and medium immersion conditions reported higher presence scores than participants in the low immersion conditions. (c) Correlation coefficients suggested that the higher the immersion and presence, the higher the knowledge scores are at posttest and follow-up. In addition, multiple hierarchical linear regression models were conducted out of which one was significant. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Technology 2018

This qualitative study examined the career progression of African American women mid-level administrators in student affairs. A conceptual framework that integrated Career Advancement Factors (Coleman, 2002) and Black Feminist Thought (Collins, 2000) was used analyze the narratives of nine participants. The major findings of this study are that African American women mid-level administrators in student affairs are negotiating their careers by developing mentoring relationships, developing a professional skill set, earning a doctoral degree and navigating institutional politics. They believe their career progression has been impacted by their race and gender albeit in varying degrees. Race was perceived to be a factor by all women whereas gender was perceived to be more of a factor based on their student affairs area. Not all women were actively trying to move up to a senior-level administrative role and were content with their current position. There was a notable difference between the new mid-level administrators (5-10 years in student affairs) and the seasoned mid-level administrators (11 years or more). Seasoned mid-level administrators had a greater level of self-awareness that was used to make important decisions about the future of their career. These findings have implications for practice and for considerations for future research.

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abstract: This action research project centered on a group of instructional technology professionals who provide support to instructors at a public university in the United States. The practical goal of this project was to increase collaboration within the team, and to encourage alignment of the team’s efforts in relation to the university’s proposed redesign of its general education curriculum. Using the communities of practice perspective as a model for the team’s development, participants engaged in a sixteen-week activity in which they studied and discussed aspects of the proposed curriculum, and then used that knowledge to observe classes and compare the extent to which classroom pedagogy at the time aligned with the aims of the proposed curriculum. This qualitative action research study then explored how the team used these experiences to construct knowledge and the extent to which the group came to resemble a community of practice. Additionally, this study explored the changes that took place in the group’s capacity to interpret instructional environments. The first major finding was that the group’s identity changed from being one characterized by relationship management with their clientele to one that aligned with the institution’s instructional priorities and could be projected into the future to devise coordinated plans in support of those priorities. A second major finding was that the team developed a group-specific language and a rudimentary capacity to interpret instructional environments as a group. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2019

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The professional duties of dental hygienists are broadening and with this expansion comes new responsibilities for patient care. The future role of the dental hygienist will include new opportunities as well as new obligations which will require proficiency in dental hygiene skills and judgment. It is incumbent upon dental hygiene educators, therefore, to provide the educational experiences necessary to prepare the professionals of the future for clinical as well as moral decision making. The conceptual framework upon which this dissertation was based was the cognitive-developmental theory developed by John Dewey, Jean Piaget and Lawrence Kohlberg. This investigation combined the cognitive developmental principle with the theories of group process to produce a teaching strategy designed to stimulate moral development.;The purpose of this study was to determine the relationship between in-class discussions of ethical dilemmas and the moral judgment of dental hygiene students. In addition, data were sought to determine which type of group interaction was more effective in stimulating moral development, open-ended or consensus seeking discussions.;In this investigation, the independent variable was moral judgment as measured by Rest's Defining Issues Test, an objective measure of moral judgment based upon Kohlberg's moral dilemmas. The dependent variables were (1) the dilemma discussion method and (2) the type of peer interaction or group discussion, open-ended or consensus seeking. The population studied consisted of two intact classes of first-year dental hygiene students. The experimental group was randomly assigned to the two treatments, open-ended or consensus seeking discussions. A nonequivalent control group was employed to control for the effects of history, maturation, testing and instrumentation. The experimental groups met for two hours a week during which they discussed ethical dilemmas which are relevant to dental hygiene practitioners. One of the treatment groups was required to seek consensus concerning the action to be taken in each dilemma while the other group's discussions remained open-ended. After six weeks of in-class discussions, the experimental and control groups were posttested. One month after the completion of the treatment, a follow-up test was conducted to detect long-term and delayed action effects. Statistical procedures used were one-way analyses of variance with a priori orthogonal contrasts.;The statistical results did not support the hypotheses that stated that (1) the treatment groups would have a higher score on the DIT than the control group and (2) the consensus seeking group's DIT score would exceed that of the open-ended group. General observation of the data did indicate, however, that these predictions could be true if tested under different circumstances.;The major conclusions drawn by this study were that while there were no statistical differences between groups, nonempirical observations suggested that (1) the dilemma discussion method could have a positive effect on moral judgment and (2) consensus seeking discussion might be more effective than open-ended discussion in stimulating the moral development of dental hygiene students.

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