The purpose of this study was to illuminate characteristics of the pedagogical learning environment in three contemporary MFA Visual Arts programs in the United States and to investigate effective pedagogical practice for graduate art students in preparation for teaching in higher education. According to the College Art Association (CAA), the MFA is considered the terminal degree in the visual arts, unlike other related fields such as art history and art education, where the doctorate is the highest degree. While MFA students can pursue a professional practice of creating and exhibiting their artwork after graduation, many students also enter the MFA with the aim of becoming college art educators. However, there has been a lack of research that specifically examines the degree to which MFA visual arts students are being prepared for teaching. How are students preparing to become college art faculty, and what professional development programs are provided to graduate art students to help them teach art at the college level? These are questions that were the background context of this dissertation study. This study took the form of a cross-case analysis that employed qualitative and descriptive case study traditions. Data were collected from multiple sources: primary documents and semi-structured interviews with nine MFA students, six studio art faculty members, and three administrators at three MFA programs. This study presented findings of: (a) the pedagogical preparation offered to graduate students by the selected art schools; (b) the perceptions of graduate art students, studio art faculty, and administrators regarding the quality of current academic career preparation, specifically for teaching, in their MFA programs; (c) the insights of those participants into the most important characteristics of college teaching preparation; and (d) suggestions by the participants for the best practices that lead students to become successful college art educators. Based on the findings through an analysis of the learning and practical experiences of MFA students and the perspectives of faculty and administrators, I hope that the study will extend the field’s understanding of the state of college teaching preparation in higher art education.

The purpose of this study was to determine whether differences exist between characteristics and attitudes of graduates and those of non-graduates of doctoral programs in education. The subjects were the 256 students who had successfully completed the qualifying examinations in the College of Education at North Texas State University during the years of 1978 through 1980. Although the data findings from this study are too numerous to list within the restrictions of this abstract, the most notable findings include that (1) 74.2 per cent had graduated; (2) graduates were more likely to have selected the dissertation topic before the qualifying examinations; (3) graduates rated personal motivation higher than did non-graduates; and (4) there were no significant differences in Graduate Record Examination scores (verbal, quantitative, or total) between graduates and non-graduates. Among the conclusions drawn from this study are that (1) the process of going through a doctoral program discourages the less serious students before they reach the qualifying examinations and (2) graduates have high personal motivation and receive high support for dissertation efforts from many segments of life (spouse, family, friends, major professor, and doctoral committee). The recommendations drawn from this study are for (1) further research into the personal motivation of the candidate, (2) further research as to the effect of the candidate's attitudes toward and grades for courses in research and statistics, (3) universities to maintain records that allow for determination of completion rates of doctoral students and to consider these rates in the evaluation of doctoral programs, and (4) graduate faculty to encourage doctoral students to give serious consideration to possible dissertation topics early in their graduate programs.

Past research has explored the factors involved in successful partnerships between higher education, government and industry; but little attention has been given to perceptions of students, program administrators, and instructors themselves regarding the philosophy, values, attitudes, and behaviors of the effective instructor, now and for the future. This study examined the perceptions of the role of the effective instructor in graduate engineering education in the work place. A qualitative case study was conducted of the perceptions of effective instruction in the masters-level engineering education program offered by Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University (Virginia Tech) at the Naval Surface Warfare Center (NSWC) in Dahlgren, Virginia. Open-ended interviews were conducted with five students, five instructors, five NSWC administrators and four Virginia Tech administrators. Analysis of interview data resulted in four categories of perceptions: (a) the teaching role, (b) the students, (c) the subject, and (d) off-campus conditions. The four categories were used to organize the nineteen case histories and to compare perceptions within and across case groups. Respondents who were more experienced with off-campus adult learners and also perceived few differences between education and training viewed the instructor's main responsibility as one of meeting student needs. Instructors and Virginia Tech administrators believed that teaching, research and obtaining a degree were most important while students and NSWC administrators believed that teaching, learning, and organizational productivity were most important. All respondents recognized that NSWC students faced more demands, and were more motivated and professionally experienced than their counterparts on campus. Instructors with off-campus experience, NSWC administrators, and students believed that work place applications should be incorporated into NSWC graduate education, while Blacksburg-based faculty and administrators did not. All groups agreed that graduate engineering education must incorporate state-of-the art technologies. It was concluded that work place engineering education requires more than the transmission of knowledge. A student-centered approach to the role of the engineering instructor takes into account the professional experiences of the students and the unclear, complex nature of problems encountered in engineering practice. This implies an emerging form of graduate/continuing professional engineering education, consisting of four elements: (a) the subject matter, (b) adult learning processes, (c) the life situation of the learner, and (d) work place objectives. Implications for college teaching, strategic planning, program administrators and individual students are discussed. / Ed. D.

Public school teachers have, with few exceptions, invested four or more years in higher education to prepare themselves for the teaching profession. These four years of college education can be viewed as an investment when one realizes that the teacher had to pay for that education and could have otherwise been earning an income during that time. Some teachers make an additional investment in education by earning a master's degree or a doctorate. This study looked at the practice of teachers in Virginia who decide to make the additional investment in graduate education at selected Virginia institutions of higher education. This study used econometric methods to analyze this investment in graduate education. Social benefits and costs of education were not included in the study. Private costs included both direct and indirect acquisition costs. The salary supplements paid by school divisions to teachers who hold an advanced degree were used as the private benefits. Non-pecuniary benefits were not included in the study. Net present valuation, discounted benefits and costs, benefit-cost ratio, and internal rate of return calculations were made. Data from similar studies done in other areas of graduate study and in other areas of the nation and world were reviewed. The purpose of the study was to review the practice of all school divisions in Virginia which provide a salary supplement to teachers who hold a master's degree or a doctorate, and also to analyze the costs involved in the acquisition of such degrees. The cost-benefit analysis of the teachers' investment in graduate education provides information which can be used by teachers who are considering such an investment. The analysis can also be used by those school divisions which are currently spending considerable amounts of money for such salary supplements. The cost-benefit analysis of acquiring a master's degree with a subsequent change from the classroom to an administrative position has implications for school divisions and state level policy makers. / Ed. D.

The research problem reflected a lower number of female postgraduate students and academics as compared to their male counterparts within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. A descriptive survey was disseminated to a stratified sample of undergraduate final year students in the disciplines of Chemical, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Bioresources Engineering. An online survey was also sent to the nine female academics within the Faculty. The study indicates that the social and academic environment within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal was not a deterrent to female graduates studying further and entering academia. The exam performance of both male and female students was similar and neither the drop-out rate nor failure was due to gender but rather to the choice of degree. An issue of concern to both the student and the academic group was the low numbers of female academics. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

This study identified the admissions criteria for selected doctoral programs in vocational-technical education in Oklahoma and Texas and investigated the relationship of these criteria to success in the doctoral programs. Success in the doctoral programs was identified in terms of cumulative doctoral grade point average. Data were obtained through a questionnaire designed to ©licit both general information concerning admissions criteria for vocational-technical doctoral programs at the selected institutions and to collect specific information on a random sample of twenty doctoral candidates from each of the four selected institutions. Factors considered included birthdates, gender, scores on admissions tests, grade point average in the masters program, the year the latest masters was completed, number of colleges attended, and cumulative doctoral grade point average. A statistical analysis using nine separate one-way analyses of variance determined that four of the nine factors considered proved to be statistically significant at the .05 level or better when correlated with the criterion variable (cumulative doctoral grade point average). Those factors were gender, Graduate Record Examination verbal and composite scores, and masters grade point average. The results of the study basically parallel findings of research concerning admissions criteria and success in graduate programs in other areas. Additional research efforts should address the issue of determining the most appropriate decision logic model for making admissions decisions in programs at the graduate levels.

The research problem reflected a lower number of female postgraduate students and academics as compared to their male counterparts within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. A descriptive survey was disseminated to a stratified sample of undergraduate final year students in the disciplines of Chemical, Civil, Mechanical, Electrical, Electronic, Computer and Bioresources Engineering. An online survey was also sent to the nine female academics within the Faculty. The study indicates that the social and academic environment within the Faculty of Engineering at the University of KwaZulu-Natal was not a deterrent to female graduates studying further and entering academia. The exam performance of both male and female students was similar and neither the drop-out rate nor failure was due to gender but rather to the choice of degree. An issue of concern to both the student and the academic group was the low numbers of female academics. / Development Studies / M.A. (Development Studies)

The intent of this study was to establish and validate criteria for use to assess the quality of a library and information sciences (LIS) Ph.D. program. The Ph.D. student-centric topology for quality Ph.D. programs was developed from a 2001 position statement by the American Association of Colleges of Nursing (AACN) regarding the quality indicators in research-focused doctoral programs in nursing. Topology components were tested using a survey instrument to establish their importance to the community of practice and their potential use to assess a Ph.D. program. Survey participants were asked to rank terms or concepts in a balanced incomplete block (BIB) design then rate, on a Likert-type scale, statements about the applicability of these terms or concepts to assessing a quality LIS Ph.D. program. Survey participants were from the Association for Library and Information Science Education (ALISE) Open Lib/Info Sci Education Forum jESSE Listserv. Of 225 survey participants affiliated with universities or schools from North America who submitted usable surveys, slightly less than two-thirds (64.4 %) were female while 35.5 % were male. Ninety-eight participants (43.6 %) were faculty, 114 (50.7 %) were Ph.D. students or candidates, and 13 (5.8 %) were in other roles. Statistical analysis of survey responses showed consistent results between the different demographic groups. The topology was validated by the results of the statistical analysis of the research data. Every component of the topology was acknowledged as very important to assess the quality of a LIS Ph.D. program. Faculty was the highest ranked item in the BIB analysis with a statistically significant difference (p < .0001) in the mean rank order from the next highest ranked item, Ph.D. students. The rank order from the BIB analysis was as follows: faculty, Ph.D. students, programs (courses) of study, teaching, learning environment, resources, and evaluation. Faculty was also the highest rated item in the Likert-type statement analysis.

This study explored the effectiveness of a student question creation process engaging students actively in self, peer, and instructor interaction in development of affective, cognitive, and meta-cognitive skills. Employing a mixed-methods sequential explanatory design assigning both treatment and control activities sequentially in an alternating pattern over a six week period, students' performance on exams as well as their perceptions of various aspects of the student question creation process were used to evaluate the effectiveness of student-created questions (SCQs) activities as a cognitive strategy and to identify factors contributing to the effectiveness of question creation activities on students' learning. Subjects of this study were high performing and highly motivated graduate students in an 8-week online biomedical statistics course, part of a specialized master's program designed for medical school preparation. Survey findings and focus groups strongly supported the student question creation process as a facilitator of higher order thinking. However, the relatively short study duration, comparison of student question creation with another competing method for facilitating learning (discussion board) and not a pure control group, and availability of a common study guide course with student-created questions on all course topics may have muted assessment of the full impact of the strategy on learning. Although practically difficult in an education environment, further research to assess fully the impact of the student question creation strategy is desirable especially if these confounding factors can be greatly minimized, if not eliminated.

Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree in Master of Technology: Nursing, Durban University of Technology, 2012. / Background : Work Integrated Learning is an educational approach that aligns academic and workplace practices for the mutual benefit of students and workplaces. Work Integrated Learning like in any other nursing course is essential in primary health care as required by the South African Nursing Council. In the clinical setting, students develop clinical and diagnostic reasoning; they also learn how to make the appropriate clinical decisions which they need as qualified primary health care practitioners. This is achieved through instruction and guidance by lecturers, mentors and clinical staff. However it has been noted that the clinical learning environment confronts students with challenges that are absent from the classroom situation. So this study seeks to explore and describe the experiences of post basic nursing students in primary health care clinics so as to address the challenges that are faced within the clinical settings. Aim of the study The aim of the study was to explore and describe primary health care post basic nursing students’ experiences during clinical placements. Methodology : A descriptive exploratory qualitative approach was used to guide the study. In-depth interviews were conducted with ten primary health care post basic nursing students who were allocated for Work Integrated Learning at the clinics in District A and District B in 2011. The main research question for this study was asked: ‘What are the experiences of primary health care post basic nursing students regarding Work Integrated Learning?’ Results : The findings of this study revealed that Work Integrated Learning is vital for the development of clinical skills amongst primary health care post basic nursing students. However, shortage of staff, inadequate material/ non-human resources, lack of supervision in the clinical facilities, distant clinical facilities and insufficient practice in the clinical skills laboratory were identified as challenges that students experience during Work Integrated Learning placement.