This heuristic study of web credibility, considered education as a previously determined demographic to compare the user based data of this study to previous findings in the literature of web credibility and source credibility. By conducting focus groups of college undergraduates, graduate students, and faculty and using grounded theory analysis, 12 categories emerged from the data. These twelve factors were used in developing a process model of web credibility to explain the data in this study. After comparing this data and model to previous findings, several implications and suggestions for future research emerged. The most significant finding was that authority may be highly undervalued in the web credibility literature. Also the data in this study shows that undergraduates reacted much differently in terms of web credibility than did the more educated participants. The data furthermore implies that the disparity between groups hinges more on training in web development than education. / Department of Communication Studies

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Leadership

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Educational Studies

A cross-case approach was employed to examine early childhood teachers’ perspectives on quality of early childhood programs and how they embed those perspectives in their daily classroom practices. Questions explored teachers’ education levels, years of experience, and the ways in which their individual perspectives are manifested in the classroom. Three early childhood teachers were interviewed and observed, each with a different level of education: Child Development Associate (CDA)certification, associate’s degree in early childhood education, and bachelor’s degree in early childhood education. Each teacher worked in a licensed, nationally accredited program that is rated at the highest level of the Indiana quality rating system, Paths to QUALITY (Level 4). Qualitative methods were used, including analysis of teacher surveys and interview transcriptions, as well as CLASS observations. Results indicated that the three teachers held similar perspectives on the importance of professional development, but they differed on the preferable way to obtain professional development: college education versus in-service training. There was a clear divergence among the teachers regarding the importance of a college degree in relation to manifestations of quality in the classroom. While the three teacher agreed that there is a lack of respect associated with their profession, they did not agree on the reasons behind this lack of respect. Likewise, all three voiced a need for increased support in their roles, but they had varying ideas of what that support should entail. The three teachers also varied in their understanding of the global concept of quality, specifically in regard to the National Association for the Education of Young Children accreditation and the quality rating system. While the teachers holding associate’s and bachelor’s degrees displayed similar quality implementations, the teacher with a CDA was not observed to apply the same level of quality practices. This study has implications for practice and for future research. In order to meet professional development needs that can ensure quality practices, teacher education programs and non-formal training agencies need to provide early childhood teachers with professional development opportunities that help them advance their knowledge and link theories to application in the classroom. Opportunities should focus on personal factors and meet the individuality of the early childhood teacher. Policy makers and state administrators need to value the role of the early childhood teacher by providing a classification system that links qualifications to salaries and positions. Compensation initiatives for early childhood teachers should be brought into discussion and linked to the quality rating system’s children and dollars received per program. There is a necessity for future research into the perspectives of early childhood teachers in a cross-case study with teachers who hold an early childhood education/child development bachelor’s degree. Such future investigation may indicate additional similarities or differences in beliefs on quality in early childhood education and could illuminate potential methods for ensuring that teachers are able to provide the level of quality that is called for. / Department of Elementary Education

This qualitative, multisite case study, framed by a constructivist perspective, addresses a deficit in the literature regarding multicultural consciousness of culturally responsive novice teachers. Existing studies identify the importance of culturally responsive pedagogy and the impact of the field of multicultural education on pedagogy that considers teaching and learning of nonmainstream student populations. These studies are inadequate due to their: lack of specific strategies for gaining and sustaining multicultural consciousness in P-12 schools, quantitative nature, or emphasis on preservice teacher education as opposed to in-service teachers in contact with nonmainstream students in the school context. The significance emphasized was the impact of culturally responsive pedagogy and its impact for narrowing the achievement gap regarding nonmainstream students. The themes that emerged, dimensions of multicultural consciousness, led to implications for: education, an ethic of care, “Otherness,” intrinsic motivation, advocacy, and reflexivity. It was concluded that the sustainability of a multicultural consciousness in context is less persuasive than the case findings for gaining consciousness for culturally responsive pedagogues, yet, all dimensions should be expounded upon for further study and better understanding of the relevant and persisting concern for nonmainstream student achievement. / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this qualitative phenomenological study was to document the perceptions that faculty hold regarding changes made to their curricular, pedagogical, and personal practices in an introduction to education course during the implementation of a one-to-one laptop initiative at a medium-sized Midwestern university teacher’s college. Technology transforms the work of faculty in higher education. Faculty face changes that are revolutionizing their personal and professional teaching lives because of choices that universities have to make in order to meet the demands of the current student body as well as state and national standards. Institutional support including faculty driven, content-specific professional development, on-demand help, hands-on practice time, and individualized attention are paramount for faculty learning and continuing to engage in technology integration to meet the learning needs of today’s technology-savvy students. / Access to thesis and accompanying PDF permanently restricted to Ball State community only / Department of Educational Studies

The purpose of this study was to discover and compare perceptions of three different groups of Indiana elementary educators concerning the importance of areas of the principal’s literacy knowledge base, as well as responsibility for and use of this knowledge by principals to adequately support effective research-based literacy instruction. The educator groups selected to participate in the study included elementary principals, non-permanent teachers, and literacy curriculum specialists from all Indiana public elementary schools containing grades K – 4. Using a survey specifically designed for this study, data on participants’ perceptions connected to the purposes of the study were collected and analyzed. Twelve different areas of literacy knowledge were identified for investigation. The areas included: Literacy Research and Best Practice, Role of Change Agent in Literacy Curriculum and Instruction, Literacy Instructional Components, District Language Arts Curriculum, Language Arts State Standards and Assessments, School-Based Literacy Assessments, Literacy Data Collection and Analysis, Literacy Classroom Environments and Schedule, Literacy Instructional Resources, Quality Children’s Literature, Meeting Struggling Readers Needs, The School Literacy Curriculum Specialist. The study used quantitative methods of statistical analyses. Results showed a large percentage of participants perceived all twelve identified areas as absolutely essential for the principals’ literacy knowledge base. Some areas were statistically more important than others. The results were similar concerning the principals’ ability to use and share the areas of literacy knowledge. Perceptions of who the principal should be able to share areas of literacy knowledge revealed faculty as being most important when compared with parents and children. Sharing literacy knowledge with parents was considered more important than children. While it was perceived as critical for principals to have a broad literacy knowledge base and have the ability to use this knowledge with various school constituent groups, all literacy areas with a few exceptions were seen as the responsibility of both teacher and principal equally. Finally, a comparison between perceptions of participating principals, non-permanent teachers, and literacy curriculum specialists showed more similarities than differences between groups overall. / Department of Educational Leadership

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between principals’ social and emotional skills and the academic and social outcomes of their schools. The Social-Emotional Educational Leadership Factor (SELF) survey was completed by 27 Indiana public elementary school principals and 30 Indiana public elementary school teachers to analyze the perceptions of the principals’ social and emotional skills. Results showed that principals’ self perceptions of their social and emotional skills predicted 49% of the variability of how they perceived their skills affecting their school’s academic success (R = .70, p < .01). A larger 57% of the variability was predicted from teachers’ perceptions of how their principal’s social and emotional skills affected their school’s academic success (R = .76, p < .01), while principals’ self perceptions of their social and emotional skills predicted 33% of the variance in iv student attendance rates. Results also indicated that principals and their teachers differed on their perceptions of principals’ skills (Wilk’s λ = .33, p < .001), as principals’ self evaluations of social and emotional skills were consistently more positive than the teachers’ evaluations of their principal’s social and emotional skills. It was determined that teachers’ perceptions of their principal’s social and emotional skills predicted 82% of the variability of their assessment regarding their principals’ overall leadership abilities. An in-depth analysis of six participating schools indicated that academic and socially underperforming schools consistently had lower average social and emotional skill scores throughout the SELF survey when compared to academic and socially performing schools. Finally, teachers tended to believe at higher rates that principals’ social and emotional skills can affect the principals’ ability to lead when compared to the responses of the principals. / Department of Elementary Education

Syftet med studien är att undersöka och analysera pedagogers arbete med matematik på förskolans utegård. Studien genomfördes i form av intervjuer och observationer. Resultatet visar att pedagogers arbete med matematik på förkolans utegård främst sker genom att de benämner vad barnen gör med matematiska begrepp och utmanar dem genom att ställa frågor och på så sätt utveckla aktiviteterna. Vissa pedagoger nämner att de arbetar på ett undersökande sätt med problemlösning. Vissa pedagoger skapar även lärtillfällen inom matematik genom att förse barnen med material eller genom att arbeta med planerade aktiviteter på utegården som berör matematik. Pedagogerna ser bara fördelar med att arbeta med matematik på utegården och att det främst är deras eget förhållningssätt som påverkar hur detta arbete ser ut. Slutsatsen är att pedagoger har en viktig roll när det gäller hur arbetet med matematik på utegården ser ut. Detta gör att det är intressant att se att resultatet ändå visade att arbetet med matematik på utegården främst sker på barnens initiativ. / The aim of this study was to investigate and analyze how preschool teachers use preschool yard in their work with mathematics. The method that was selected to collect data was qualitative interviews and observations. The result shows that preschool teachers work with mathematics mainly occurs through use of mathematics concept to term what the children are doing and by challenging them by asking questions that can develop thechildren´s activities. Some preschool teachers mention that they work in an exploratory manner with problem solving.Some preschool teachers also create learning opportunities by providing the children with materials or by working with planned activities on the preschool yard involving mathematics. The result shows that the preschool teachers only see benefits with working with mathematics on the preschool yard and that their attitudes affect how this work is done. The conclusion is that preschool teachers have an important role in how work with mathematics on the preschool yard appears. This makes it interesting that the result still shows that the work with mathematics on the preschool yard occurs primarily on initiatives from the children.

The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of voice teachers regarding the degree to which they believe they teach and monitor healthy vocal behaviors among their students as they sing and speak. Participants for the study were college/university voice professors who were members of the College Music Society and listed in its Directory of Music Faculties in Colleges and Universities, U.S. and Canada, 2012-2013 Edition. Online, survey research procedures and a researcher-generated questionnaire were utilized for data collection purposes. Results indicated that an overwhelming majority of participants believed there to be a relationship between the health of one’s singing voice and the health of one’s speaking voice. Participants’ perception scores were the most positive for variable MBSi, or the degree to which they believe they monitor the vocal behaviors of students when singing. Participants’ perception scores for variable TVB, the degree to which they believe they teach healthy vocal behaviors to students, and variable MBSp, the degree to which they believe they monitor the vocal behaviors of students when speaking, ranked second and third respectively. Perception scores for variable TVB were primarily associated with participants’ familiarity with vocal rehabilitation techniques, gender, and participants’ familiarity with the McClosky Technique. Perception scores for variable MBSi were primarily associated with participants’ familiarity with vocal rehabilitation techniques, gender, type of student taught, and whether participants had instructed a student with a vocal disorder. Perception scores for variable MBSp were correlated with the greatest number of characteristics, including participants’ familiarity with vocal rehabilitation techniques, participants’ familiarity with the McClosky Technique, type of student taught, years of teaching experience, and whether participants had instructed a student with a vocal disorder. The researcher concluded that, while many voice teachers understand the relationship between the health of the speaking voice and the health of the singing voice and use various methods within their private studios to work with injured voices, voice teachers and students may not understand, nor be adequately prepared to prevent and intervene when it comes to issues of the speaking voice. In fact, the researcher concluded that there seems to be a disconnect among teachers and students alike when it comes to teaching and understanding healthy vocal behaviors and applying them to the speaking voice. Multiple resources exist, however, in the form of various certifications, symposiums, and workshops, through which voice teachers may avail themselves of the knowledge necessary to care for the overall health of their students’ speaking and singing voices. Indeed, the voice teacher is obligated to teach well-rounded, healthy vocal behaviors, applying them to both the singing voice and the speaking voice. As medical professionals more frequently reach out to voice teachers, voice teachers will have increased opportunity to assume a more active role on a voice care team. Because so many teachers already implement methods found within the McClosky Technique, if used with understanding and commitment, the Technique could be a means for habilitation, prevention, and intervention on behalf of students suffering from speaking voice disorders within the voice studio. / Access to thesis permanently restricted to Ball State community only. / School of Music