Figures from the 2010 Census indicate that there are 50.5 million Latinos (16% of the total population) living in the United States (US) today. From 2000 to 2010, the Latino population experienced a very rapid growth rate of 43%, which accounted for over half the total population growth. More and more Latino students are entering our public schools and face the reality that 62 years after the Brown V. Board of Education ruling to integrate schools and equalize educational opportunities, schools are more racially and economically segregated and more unequal than they were more than half a century ago. As a group, Latinos continue to struggle academically and there is a large academic achievement gap between Latino students and White students. Using the lens of Latino Critical race theory, this narrative study was an attempt to understand the educational experience of five Latino students in a two-way immersion program within a racialized public education system in which negative stereotypes, such as lack of intellectual abilities, could create a threatening environment hindering their academic success. This narrative inquiry study sought to understand how, if at all, Latino students in a fifth grade two-way immersion program experienced anxiety about the ways they believe to be perceived in the classroom and school settings by their teachers and other classmates. Finding of this study confirmed the relative success of two-way immersion programs educating Latino students and highlighted the urgent need to conduct more research in bilingual settings trying to understand the role stereotype threat might play in the educational experience of Latino students. The fact that Latino students were still lagging behind their native English-speaking counterparts in the TWI program is a reality that must be researched further to understand the lived experiences of Latino students in bilingual programs.

Academic advising for online learners has been identified in prior research as an important student service. However, little research exists to assist advisers in knowing how best to serve this growing group. The purpose of this study is to close that research gap by determining if and how online and on-campus learners differ in how they rate the importance of various functions of academic advising as well as determining if their frequency of access to academic advising and source of advising information differed. Additionally, the research examines if the types and levels of learning for online learners varied by frequency of advising, source of advising information, and satisfaction with advising received. Participants in the non-experimental, survey-based, exploratory research study include 6,368 undergraduate students pursuing a bachelor's degree at three public institutions including two four-year institutions and one community college. Participants received a survey asking them about their experiences with and attitudes towards academic advising. Results indicate that online and on-campus learners differ in how they rate the relative importance of the different functions of academic advising and that those differences are uniquely related to learners' status as online learners. Additionally, online learners reported more of the types of learning expected from academic advising when they received their advising from an adviser as opposed to advising tools (e.g., web sites, advising guidelines) or their informal social networks, when they were advised more frequently, and when they were satisfied with the advising they received. Implications for practice and suggestions for future research are discussed.

The aims of the current research program were to examine the social-cognitive and sociological models of stigma in relation to student attitudes towards an individual experiencing a mood disorder. Two experiments (Studies 1 and 2) sought to empirically distinguish between controllability and responsibility, both constructs of the attribution model which is subsidiary to the social-cognitive model of stigma. Despite manipulating controllability, participants were reluctant to attribute controllability of cause to individuals experiencing depression or bipolar disorder. The stability of beliefs about the controllability of cause for condition onset was consistent with research suggesting that the Australian public increasingly conceptualise mental disorders in terms of biochemical and genetic causal factors. These findings, in combination with past research linking biogenetic beliefs to negative attitudes, resulted in a change in focus of investigation in Studies 3, 4, 5 and 6 to explain why, contrary to the prediction of the attribution model, biogenetic explanations of mental disorders are associated with the proliferation of stigma. To measure causal beliefs, the Causal Belief Inventory (CBI) was developed in Study 3 and refined in Study 4. The correlational results examined in Studies 4, 5 and 6 found that genetic and biochemical causal beliefs were associated with a number of positive attitudes towards individuals experiencing a mood disorder and that genetic cause was associated with a reduced implicit bias against major depression. Furthermore, each study pointed to the centrality of judgments of differentness in determining affective responses and direct and proxy measures of behaviour. In contrast, manipulation of genetic and psychosocial cause in Study 5 found that causal condition largely failed to impact upon student attitudes. Mediator analysis did, however, find that beliefs about the stability of the vignette actor's condition fully mediated the relationship between the negative influence of genetic cause on proxy helping behaviour. Manipulation of psychosocial, genetic and biochemical cause with the inclusion of a non-depressed control in Study 6 resulted in more ambiguous findings. The combination of findings from Studies 1 to 6 suggest that focusing on the impact of the controllability of cause of depression onset on student attitudes is unwarranted. Instead researchers and public health educators should be examining models which facilitate the examination of the cognitive factors that mediate these relationships. Two such models, namely the social-cognitive and sociological models of stigma, were found to adequately fit the data. Recommendations for integrating these two models of stigma are discussed.

Offshore programs have become increasingly popular in countries that are experiencing rapid economic growth and rising demand for higher education. There is no doubt that China is one of the largest markets for offshore programs. However, the offshore program market in China has become increasingly competitive. Currently, institutions from the USA, the UK, and Australia, to name just a few, are offering offshore programs ranging from the professional diploma level to higher degrees such as MA, MBA and PhD. Therefore, understanding how Chinese students select an offshore program is important for competing and surviving in this market place. This study examines the effects of image (i.e., country image and higher education image), attitude, subject norm and perceived behavior control (adopted from Ajzen's theory of planned behavior) in Chinese students' enrollment intentions towards offshore programs from Australia, the UK and the USA respectively. A total number of 1291 valid questionnaires were collected from China for this study. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method was used for data analyses and modeling. This PhD's several major findings have significant theoretical and practical implication. One of the major findings was that country image or its related higher education image doesn't have significant effect on an offshore program evaluation in China. This finding has contradicted most previous studies which suggested that country image had significant impact on whether a consumer purchases the products or brands from a foreign country. The difference between this study and the other country-image studies may be due to the fact that this study studied multiple factors besides country image, while the other studies looked at only the effect of country image on purchasing intention. Although country image or higher education image did not play any significant role in offshore program enrollments, this study found that the image of the partnering or local institution had a significant effect on enrollment intention. Because Chinese students are unfamiliar with a foreign country or their higher education system, they relied heavily on the local institution (e.g., its reputation and quality) to evaluate an offshore program. The findings with respective to image have challenged most previous studies on country image and open a new arena for looking at the effect of country image in behavioral intention. Practically speaking, these findings make universities rethink their offshore program strategies in foreign countries, particularly developing countries. Most university marketers from western countries emphasize on the characteristics of its own (such as the history of the university, the quality of research) when promoting its offshore program overseas. However, this study suggested that the focus should be placed on selecting a good and suitable local partner, as well as emphasizing the characteristics of the local partner. Other major findings were related to the Theory of Planned behavior. This study found that all three components of the TPB, namely, attitude towards the program, subject norm and perceived behavior control had significant effects on enrollment intention. This suggested that for predicting behavioral intention in educational program enrollment, the TPB is a very powerful model.

This study addressed the incidence of drug use by freshmen at Siuslaw High School in Florence, Oregon, and sought their opinions about effective drug and alcohol prevention programs. The purpose was to provide basic data which would ultimately assist in specific drug and alcohol programs for this population. In phase one, 83 students from four of seven freshmen Health Education randomly selected classes were given the Washington State Survey of Adolescent Health Behavior. This survey consisted of 81 questions about student demographics, students' drug use, and their opinions of drug prevention programs. During phase two, the students were asked open-ended questions about their suggestions for more effective drug prevention programs and curriculum. The survey revealed an average amount of drug use and that the students did not think the drug prevention program at Siuslaw was working. The survey also revealed that teenagers are influenced to drink and use drugs by the media, their friends, and by a lack of activities offered by the community. The study conclusions showed that Florence does have teenage drug use and the community should consider a variety of approaches. Data suggest that more youth support groups, more affordable counseling, and more recreational activities may help reduce drug use. The school needs to develop a more comprehensive drug prevention curriculum and implement it at the younger grade levels. The school combined with the community, should offer more drug-free alternatives and target those youths who are not using drugs and promote their positive behavior. / Graduation date: 1995

Graduation date: 2006 / Two decades of literature from national college student climate reports measuring student attitudes toward people who are lesbians, gays, bisexuals, and transgender (LGBT) indicate, “anti-GLBT intolerance and harassment has been prevalent” (Rankin, 2003). This study seeks to explore the determinants of such attitudes and explore the life contexts of students’ processes by which they came to hold such attitudes through a qualitative interview approach. The eight themes that emerged from the interviews reflect participants’ own voices and their worldviews about LGBT people. These themes inform a framework of general recommendations for student affairs programming efforts to reduce homophobia and resistance to LGBT people and lifestyles throughout campus.

published_or_final_version / Public Administration / Master / Master of Social Sciences

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education

published_or_final_version / Education / Master / Master of Education