This study expands on the current literature base that investigates the use of voice recognition software (VRS) as a compensatory strategy for written language difficulties often experienced by postsecondary education students receiving services under the category of learning disabled. The current literature base is limited to one study (Higgins & Raskind, 1995) which found that subjects' writing samples, completed with VRS, had higher holistic scores than the samples completed with a transcriber, and without assistance. While these findings are positive many questions remain unanswered. The research conducted in this dissertation investigated three such questions. The questions and corresponding findings follow. 1. After being trained on VRS will persons, in postsecondary education, receiving services under the category of learning disabled, continue to use it to complete their academic course work? Will they further use the software for purposes other than academic study? Two individuals continued to use the software. One of these two used the software for multiple purposes. 2. Does the ongoing use of VRS, by postsecondary education students receiving services under the category of learning disabled, improve their written performance when assessed with Fry's Readability Graph? Two subjects each submitted three writing samples: one completed without the use of VRS and two completed using VRS. One subject's grade level equivalency went from 4.5 (sample completed without using VRS) to 6.5 (samples completed using VRS). There was no change in the grade level equivalency of the writing samples for the second subject. 3. What are the contributing variables that influence the continued use, or non-use, of VRS by postsecondary education students receiving services under the category of learning disabled? Numerous variables emerged from the data including: time, access to a personal computer, ease of use, personal issues, use of standard English, the specific limitations associated with a persons disability, whether or not the subjects had other compensatory strategies in place, and the acquisition of the skills necessary to use the software. The findings contribute to the field by providing a framework from which to assess who mayor may not benefit from the use of VRS.

abstract: The purpose of this exploratory study was to determine which social-emotional skills may predict postsecondary enrollment for students with disabilities. Students with disabilities are less likely to enroll in any form of postsecondary education and in turn experience poorer post-education outcomes than their general education peers. Using data from the second National Longitudinal Transition Study (NLTS2), a classification tree analysis was conducted on teacher-rated social-emotional behaviors in an attempt to determine which social-emotional skills were the strongest predictors of postsecondary enrollment. Items assessing social-emotional skills were selected from the second wave of teacher surveys based on their alignment with the broad taxonomy of social-emotional skills created by Caldarella and Merrell. The results of the classification tree analysis showed that one of the selected social-emotional items, teacher rated ability to follow directions, was the most significant predictor of postsecondary enrollment for students with disabilities. In general, the results suggest that compliance and, to a lesser extent, peer-relations skills, in addition to family income, predict postsecondary enrollment for students with high-incidence disabilities. This finding suggests that social-emotional skills play an important role in postsecondary enrollment for SWD, providing support for the use of social-emotional skills interventions in improving postsecondary enrollment rates and potentially post-educational outcomes for SWD. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Educational Psychology 2011

abstract: This mixed methods action research study examined the effectiveness of an Education and Career Action Plan (ECAP) Advisory Program on students’ formation of postsecondary education and employment plans. The study took place at a public high school in northern Arizona. Participants included thirty-three 11th-Grade Advisory students, four 11th-grade advisors, and me, the action researcher. One quantitative data instrument and three qualitative data instruments were used for data collection. Each of the four data collection instruments provided insight about one of the study’s research questions. The quantitative data from this study addressed whether the intervention had an impact on the ECAP Advisory Program’s ability to enhance students’ postsecondary knowledge. Results from the quantitative data demonstrated significant positive change, indicating that, through their participation in an ECAP Advisory Program, students developed their postsecondary education and employment knowledge. The qualitative data from this study addressed how the participants experienced the intervention by providing a deeper understanding of their experiences with their ECAP Advisor and the ECAP Advisory Program. Results from the qualitative data indicated that students’ perceptions of postsecondary education and employment planning changed substantially during their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program. As the study progressed, student participants reported they could more appropriately visualize the postsecondary education and employment environments that aligned with their interests. Furthermore, because of the time allocated for lessons and activities in the ECAP Advisory Program, students participants also reported feeling more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities as the ECAP Advisory Program progressed. And perhaps most importantly, student participants reported that their advisor positively impacted their postsecondary education and employment planning. Overall, in association with their participation in the ECAP Advisory Program and relationship with their ECAP Advisor, students expanded their postsecondary education and employment knowledge levels, developed and modified their education and employment goals, and felt more prepared to pursue postsecondary education and employment opportunities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Leadership and Innovation 2018

Submitted in compliance with the requirement for Master’s Degree in Technology: Marketing, Retail, and Public Relations, Durban University of Technology, Durban, South Africa, 2016. / The South African Further Education and Training (FET) sector is facing the challenge of being rated and considered by many young school leavers and the community as a second choice institution, while universities are their first priority. This study aimed to investigate and explore student’s expectations and perceptions of Colleges in KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with respect to their choice of college. The main objective of this research was to identify students’ expectations and perceptions, and the factors that encourage enrolment at FET colleges, as well as to identify the different expectations and perceptions, according to demographic factors. The SERVQUAL model was employed to establish students’ expectations against perceptions of FET colleges in KZN. The study design was quantitative in nature, using a descriptive technique, cross sectional, and collected data through the application of non-probability sampling with census, quota and convenience sampling methods being utilized to obtain data from a sample of 301 respondents. Data collected from the respondents were analysed with SPSS version 20.0 and interpreted with the use of descriptive and inferential statistics. The questionnaire measured students’ expectations and perceptions in five dimensions of service, namely tangibles, reliability, assurance, responsiveness and empathy. The findings demonstrate that students had higher expectations of service quality with lower perceptions of the actual service received. The negative gaps within the five SERVQUAL service quality dimensions, implies that the students were dissatisfied with the level of service in their FET colleges. The gaps, from largest to smallest, were Reliability, Assurance, Tangible, Responsiveness, and Empathy. FET College management is advised to attend to these above-mentioned gaps and to ensure that the necessary strategies are immediately implemented, as these would improve the FET brand and ultimately position FET Colleges as the institution of first choice in KZN. / M

The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate and describe parenting practices that parents believe were effective in helping prepare their children with LD for college enrollment. Participants were chosen from among the parents of students interviewed by Cook (2010). Six parents (three couples) volunteered to be interviewed by phone. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and thematically analyzed using hermeneutic phenomenological methodology. Under the category of Parent Practices, themes emerged in the areas of early identification, self-advocacy training, and home accommodations, and under the category of Family Factors, themes emerged in the areas reading, expectation, and normalization. Findings are discussed concerning the study's implications to both parents and educators.

Institutions of higher education in the United States are becoming more and more diverse and nationwide efforts to provide educational access and equity to underrepresented groups of people will only help to increase that diversity. Increased diversity combined with the need for institutions to produce graduates who are capable of living and working in a global society, has created the need for students to possess a set of cognitive and behavioral skills to aide in successful intercultural interactions. Using the Developmental Model of Intercultural Sensitivity and the theory of Cultural Intelligence as frameworks, this research attempts to assess the effect of domestic experiences on intercultural competency and cultural intelligence of first year students at the University of the Pacific. Interview participants were chosen from a sample of eighty-seven students who took the Intercultural Development Inventory and were selected for displaying a great deal or lacked of intercultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence. From these interviews, key lines of thought and experiences were determined to have had positive or negative influences on competency. These results are presented in the form of biographical sketches and supplemented with a discussion of the skills essential to developing greater competency in intercultural sensitivity and cultural intelligence through the curriculum and co-curricular involvements.

Indigenous* college students in both Canada and the United States have the lowest rates of obtaining postsecondary degrees, and their postsecondary dropout rates are higher than for any other minority (Freeman & Fox, 2005; Mendelson, 2004; Reddy, 1993). There has been very little research done to uncover possible reasons for such low academic achievement and high dropout rates for Indigenous students. Some of the research that has been done indicates that one challenge for Indigenous students is the difficulty in navigating the cultural differences between higher education and their Indigenous cultures. Biculturalism is the ability of an individual to navigate two different cultures (Bell, 1990; Das & Kemp, 1997). Several scholars have suggested that biculturalism is an important construct in understanding academic persistence among Indigenous students (Jackson, Smith & Hill, 2003; Schiller, 1987). This study explored biculturalism among Indigenous college students and how it impacts their higher education experience. Indigenous college students (n=26) from the southwestern United States and central Canada participated in qualitative interviews for the study. The interviews were transcribed and interpreted using a synthesis of qualitative methods. Several themes related to the participants' experience of biculturalism emerged from the qualitative analysis: institutional support for transition to college, racism, types of relationships to native culture, career issues, and family issues. The findings suggested that more needs to be done in terms of providing Indigenous students centers at universities, implementing mentor programs for incoming students, and educating future Indigenous college students, families, and communities about biculturalism and the culture of higher education. *Author's note: The term Indigenous will be used to describe Native American/American Indian, First Nation and Métis student participants. Interviews were collected both in the United States and Canada. The terminology used to describe these populations differs across cultures; therefore, Indigenous will be used as a more general term, to describe the participants. The terminology used by cited authors was retained.

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