Thesis--University of Tennessee. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--PlanB (Ed. Spec.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2001. / Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis--PlanB (M.S.)--University of Wisconsin--Stout, 2003. / Includes bibliographical references.

<p> The purpose of this study was to compare the athletic participation rate of males and females within the high school of study. Freshmen and senior students were surveyed to gather data on the reasons students chose to participate or not participate in athletics. Focus groups were conducted at a local university to further explore why students participated in athletics and why some of these students discontinued their participation in athletics. Focus groups also explored challenges facing athletes and student perceptions of female participation in athletics. Athletic participation data from the high school of study were also taken into consideration. </p><p> This study also touched on the history of females as they journeyed throughout history from the Theory of Separate Spheres to Title IX. The impact of Title IX on female athletics is also touched upon. Special attention was paid to the struggle female athletes have as they compete in athletics, why athletics are good for all participants, and health risks specific to females. Based on all of the data gathered, recommendations were made to the high school of study, to parents of female athletes, and for future studies to increase female athletic participation. Results of this study will assist administrators as they look for ways to increase female athletic participation within the high school of study.</p>

The issue of boarding education at secondary level has been one of controversy in Nigeria at least throughout the period since Independence. From 1960 onwards the various authorities charged with the provision of secondary schooling have had to relate the educational legacies of colonialism, including the English boarding school model, to the needs and demands of a newly emerging and economically diversifying country. This thesis is therefore concerned inter alia to identify the influences, characteristics and problems of secondary boarding schools in Nigeria, and especially in the Eastern States of that country. It attempts first to identify significant formative influences through an historical/ documentary study, and then to ascertain empirically contemporary attitudes and perceptions of the various parties to the provision and operation of such schools today. In so doing, aspects such as organisation, administration, management, discipline, values, routine, facilities and infrastructure are described and discussed. The thesis has twelve chapters, organised in three parts: Part A comprises six chapters dealing with the identification of the problem and contributing factors. Chapters One and 2 Two outline the environmental and educational context. Chapter Three illustrates the history and nature of the problem, whilst Chapter Four provides an explanation of the research context. Chapter Five reviews some previous research on boarding and Chapter Six is a consideration of the nature and development of the most influential model, the English Public School. Part B, the development and nature of boarding in the study area deals mainly with aspects of the history and character of boarding schools in Nigeria and especially in the Eastern States. So Chapter Seven is concerned with the long period up to and including the Nigerian civil war, which ended in 1970. Chapter Eight reviews the post-war situation which is given a more detailed focus by Chapter Nine, an account of a preliminary field survey carried out by the writer in 1981. Part C of the thesis is concerned with the current attitudes of the various parties as ascertained by the writer's main empirical exercise, that is to say staff, students and parents. Chapter Ten describes the empirical methods selected and used, and is followed by Chapter Eleven which is a detailed account of the findings. Chapter Twelve 1S a discussion of the results obtained. The thesis concludes with a summary, and recommendations for improving provision in this sector, e~ecially in respect of the quality of facilities and staffing. 3 The Study confirmed what was generally assumed and suspected: that boarding school arrangements in the Eastern States of Nigeria continue to be in very high demand more than 25 years after Independence. The main conclusion was that parents, school authorities, members of the public and students, in general prefer bo~rding to day schools at this level despite the severe problems of plant and staff quality that are very evident. The thesis concludes with a number of alternative strategies, recommendations and comments aimed at improving the condition and provision in this sector of schooling. It is clearly not just a matter of improving physical facilities, there is urgent need for a clarification of the objectives of such provision in modern Nigeria as well as for suitable staff development programmes that will assist their realisation.

<p> The Alabama Vocal Association (AVA) is the choral division of the Alabama Music Educators Association (AMEA), the state chapter of the National Association for Music Education (NAfME). This mixed methods study examined non-participation in AVA All-State Choral Festival and AVA State Choral Performance Assessment (SCPA) among Alabama public high schools (N = 355). Quantitative data were event choral program participation lists for 2012 &ndash; 2013 provided by the state AVA office and demographic statistics found on the Alabama State Department of Education website including ethnicity (percentage of White students), FRL (percentage of students qualifying for free and reduced lunch), and school size (total enrollment) for all Alabama public high schools. Qualitative data were transcripts and field notes (N = 56 pages) from interviews (N = 26), a focus session at the 2014 AVA Fall Workshop with AVA members (N = 35), and follow-up personal communications (N = 39) with choral teachers representing all AVA districts (N = 7). An Analysis of Variance revealed two significant indicators for AVA participation: (a) FRL, F(1,353) = 169.5, p &lt; .001 (non-participating schools M = 63.74 FRL; participating schools M = 49.05 FRL) and (b) school size, F(1,353) = 48.39, p &lt; .001 (non-participating schools M = 414.99 students; participating schools M = 983.03 students). Ethnicity, F(1, 352) = .458, p = .499, was not found to be a significant indicator of AVA participation. Qualitative findings suggested administrative support, financial limitations, teaching classes other than choral music, and lack of communication between AVA and some choral teachers accounted for non-participation in AVA events.</p>

<p> This dissertation seeks to investigate the term <i>joyful learning </i> as it applies to the learning process. Using methods of narrative inquiry, the collected stories of students serve as the nucleus around which the understanding of joyful learning is built. This inquiry is grounded in the literature of joy in the learning process, whole child learning theory, deep learning, agency in learning, and educational wounds. In this narrative inquiry, 15 students ranging from kindergarten to twelfth grade were asked to tell the story of their experience with learning. A domain analysis was completed on the stories of wounds and celebrations in the interviewees&rsquo; varied learning experiences and the identification of commonalities served as a catalyst for an enhancement of education theory and laid the foundation for future research on the importance of joy in the learning process of human beings. The themes emerging in this narrative inquiry were joy, engagement and disengagement in learning, connected learning, motivators and de-motivators, peer influence, positioning, relationship between the student and the teacher, agency, forced learning, standardized assessment and meaningful assessment, educational wounds, and the significance of education. Evidence of educational wounding surfaced in all 15 stories, illuminating a connection between the wounding and the replacement of student-centered learning practices with compulsory, standardized reforms.</p>

<p> Basic nursing education is no longer sufficient to meet the escalating demands of today&rsquo;s complex healthcare environment. Recognizing the need for the advanced cognitive skills incurred by these demands, increasing numbers of registered nurses (RNs) have been enrolling in online Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) programs. The problem identified in the RN to BSN degree completion program at a large Midwestern university was the lack of information as to how online teaching and learning strategies were experienced by students. Research has demonstrated that the online community of inquiry (CoI) model facilitates higher order thinking through collaborative learning strategies and the interaction of teaching, social, and cognitive presence. The purpose of this sequential explanatory mixed methods study was to investigate the perceptions of RNs enrolled in the program about a recently completed course utilizing a 34-item CoI survey and semi-structured interviews. The data from 109 completed survey responses were analyzed via descriptive statistics and indicated that student perceptions of social and teaching presence were lower than perceptions of cognitive presence, meaning that the perceived establishment of online relationships and instructor engagement were not as high as were the perceived experiences of higher order thinking. Interviews with 15 purposefully selected students were analyzed for emergent themes and suggested limited online collaboration, which is considered to be fundamental to higher order learning. Based on these findings, a faculty development workshop was designed using the CoI model to encourage collaboration. A potential increase in RN proficiency in higher order thinking fostered by the CoI model will optimize the quality of patient-related decisions, minimize medical errors, and provide the impetus to challenge the status quo in health care.</p>

No description available.

<p> Due to the logistics of guided-inquiry lesson, students learn to problem solve and develop critical thinking skills. This mixed-methods study analyzed the students&rsquo; attitudes towards science during inquiry lessons. My quantitative results from a repeated measures survey showed no significant difference between student attitudes when taught with either structured-inquiry or guided-inquiry lessons. The qualitative results analyzed through a constant-comparative method did show that students generate positive interest, critical thinking and low level stress during guided-inquiry lessons. The qualitative research also gave insight into a teacher&rsquo;s transition to guided-inquiry. This study showed that with my students, their attitudes did not change during this transition according to the qualitative data however, the qualitative data did how high levels of excitement. The results imply that students like guided-inquiry laboratories, even though they require more work, just as much as they like traditional laboratories with less work and less opportunity for creativity.</p>