Several decades of research document a growing communication gap between older adults and younger generations, with retirees limiting the information they share with younger generations. This limitation is often due to older adults' low self-efficacy and technology as a communication distraction, a trend which has resulted in the loss of intellectual capital for younger generations. The purpose of the study was to understand and increase knowledge transfer between retirees and unrelated younger people in a rural Canadian community. Communication theory of identity and social cognitive theory provided the research frameworks. The research questions examined what knowledge retirees could pass down, retirees' reasons for sharing knowledge, and the community's influence on generational communication. A qualitative case study incorporated several data sources including in-depth semi-structured individual interviews and focus groups (N = 40), and an analysis of existing literature. Transcribed recordings and field note analysis using open coding and peer debrief review resulted in 5 emergent themes. Key findings indicated participants felt they had little or nothing to share despite a variety of life experiences, found communication success with nontechnology-based catalysts, and felt the community has closed social circles. Transferring identity during retirement was difficult for many participants, a finding which supported the resulting project: a retiree social transition workshop. These findings suggest that those approaching retirement may benefit from identity transition support from employment to retirement, resulting in increased well-being in retirement, increased self-efficacy and motivations, and improved knowledge transfer to younger generations.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of current education materials on changing maternal smoking attitudes. Children are affected by prenatal exposure to tobacco smoke. Although there are educational efforts to discourage pregnant women from smoking, the practice continues in a significant number of pregnancies. New materials, based on current research, were also evaluated for effectiveness. The theoretical framework for this study was adult learning theory presented by Knowles which makes the assumption that an individual is shaped by environmental systems, that adult learning is affected by previous knowledge they bring to the learning and that adults must have a motive for change. The study sought to determine if mothers are presented with the latest research-based information about the effects of smoking upon their unborn child what extent will it change the attitude of smoking while pregnant. The research design was a quantitative, one-group pretest-posttest design. The target individuals, mothers of young children in a large preschool program, were surveyed with direct questions that yielded measurable data. The surveys were validated by three early childhood experts. The data obtained through the participant surveys were analyzed using a paired an analysis of variance, comparing pretest-posttest responses and demographic variables. The results of the study showed the affect education had on changing the attitudes and that demographic characteristics did not influence that change. Through educating mothers on the long-term negative outcomes of smoking during pregnancy, this study's impact has changed attitudes and understanding and thereby changes their behavior. The result of this research provided educational information that may change the attitude towards mothers smoking during pregnancy.

The Job Corps program is designed to provide academic and vocational training to high school dropouts. It is assumed that in order for a young person to succeed in our society certain values, such as good health, education, job satisfaction, and desire to earn an acceptable pay, are required. Job Corps seeks to foster these values in the young men and women who enter this training program. To evaluate the effectiveness of this process a study was conducted regarding the effect of value clarification on male Job Corps enrollees. Over a ninety-day period an experimental group of twenty (20) enrollees received a treatment consisting of weekly individual and small group counseling sessions with a view to value clarification. A control group of twenty (20) was also established but without any treatment involved. These two groups were randomly selected from enrollees entering the Job Corps. Each participant was administered a pretest of three instruments purported to measure values: the F-Scale, the Willoughby Schedule, and the Ohio Work Values Inventory. At the end of the experimental period each participant remaining in the two groups was administered the same three instruments as a posttest. An analysis of the data revealed no statistical significance in the measurement of values by these instruments. It was determined that the sociological milieu of the participants created a high degree of hostility toward any form of testing. There were, however, certain trends in the posttest results of the experimental group that indicated a positive effect of the treatment in identifying values. At the conclusion of the study there were seventeen (17) participants remaining in the experimental group while only thirteen (13) participants remained in the control group. If one regards Job Corps enrollee length of stay as being increased by treatments in value clarification, this study seems to be significant. It is recommended that further study be done to identify and utilize in the Job Corps program those components in the treatment deemed to be most effective.

While the literature addressing the experiences of women in higher education is expanding, the experiences of single mothers in academia remains under-explored, despite single student mothers being the largest and fastest growing student demographic in higher education institutions. The role of single mothers who are pursuing degrees while raising children assumes crucial importance in helping forge means of support that are not government-dependent, as well as enabling single parent student mothers to role model educational pursuits and achievement of degrees as possibilities for dependents. Though college degrees can provide means of financial stability and immense social and professional benefits for sole provider single–parent homes, higher education can prove significantly detrimental to the quality of parenting single parent students provide dependent children, and can negatively impact personal health, financial and economic security, and interpersonal relationships from undertaking multiplicity of roles. This study seeks to understand the challenges, needs and experiences which occur at the intersection of parenthood and studenthood for single parent student mothers, as well as exploring ideologies of what it means to be a “good parent” or “good student.” It also inquires into student mothers’ perceptions of institutional support, which may impact matriculation or attrition and seeks to ascertain whether existing college policies need to be restructured to better support the degree-seeking endeavors of single parent student mothers. Study findings revealed key themes that emerged from the data: participant awareness of constrained and competing time demands; competing pressures to produce the identities of “good mom” and “good student”; guilt arising from missed event choices; outcomes of forced choice events; guilt over lower classroom performance and loss of class standing over missed choice events; participants’ perspectives of in-class support by teachers or professors; participants’ views regarding presence or absence of institutional support tailored to their specific needs as single parent student mothers; participants’ concerns regarding student debt; and categories of unmet need and support services that would assist single mothers to degree completion. Student parents’ discursive narratives indicated internal and external pressure to perform better as students and parents. Results revealed that nearly all respondents were forced on some occasions to choose between attendance at school and family events and being present at moments which would ensure optimal outcomes in both categories of competing identities. Conflict was experienced by respondents when student mothers were forced to shift into and out of various roles and identities which made it difficult for student parents to maximize performance in any central area of personal or professional achievement. Finally, student mothers’ discourses indicated they perceived others’ perceptions of their in-class performance, class standing, and professional trajectory of their achievement suffered when a forced choice situation resulted in their absence or tardy in a course, or inability to participate in a group class activity. Student mothers revealed through their narratives instructors who shamed them in front of classmates for having to bring a child to class, or castigated them for bringing a child to an inappropriate forum in which content was not perceived as child-suitable. Student mother narratives revealed resentment regarding being exhorted to choose between being a parent and being a student, when, in their opinions, they were forced to undertake both roles concurrently, without sufficient support to engage in either role. A key deficit identified in the narratives of student mothers was their perceived absence of institutional support which would enable them to achieve their educational goals and better provide for their families. Student parent narratives indicated struggles with concern about debt following graduation, and discourse revealed speculation regarding possible forced choices at some point in the future, if debt loads were too high to be supported by income, job insufficiency was experienced, or cost of living was too high to support both debt and living expenses.

This study explored the problem of student attrition in beginning courses of an Intensive English Program (IEP) that may affect the sustainability of the IEP. The purpose of the study was to understand the perceptions of continuing students and the factors that influenced their motivation and engagement to persist studying in the IEP. Constructivism and behavioral social learning theory guided this study. The research problem addressed the need for students to remain in IEPs and achieve second language acquisition. The research questions were designed to learn what instructional approaches motivated and engaged participants to persist in successive introductory courses. A qualitative case study design, guided by interpretive epistemology, was used to collect students' opinions, perceptions, and suggestions on their experiences in their first course. The target population was beginners in a second IEP course at a community college. A purposive sample of 16 participants took part in 2 focus groups, individual interviews, and open-ended surveys for data triangulation. Constant comparative analysis using open and axial coding was used to aggregate data themes for inquiry. The findings revealed that poor student engagement, lack of mentorship qualities in instructors, and little inclusion of technology have been persistent reasons for their dissatisfaction. The project, a collaborative professional development effort, was designed for IEP instructors to gain awareness on past and current research about the andragogical framework of student-centeredness which culminated with the cooperative elaboration of a set of best practices. The social impact of the study comes from benefits that sustainable IEP programs could offer to communities with large populations of immigrants and to international visitors to empower them to achieve immersion into English-speaking societies.

Current trends and research in education indicated that teacher learning is a crucial link to student achievement. There is a void in the research regarding teacher preferences for delivery models in professional development Determining teacher preferences is an important component in professional development planning and the driving inquiry for this research. The purpose of this exploratory case study was to determine teacher preferences in delivery models for professional development and whether delivery models influenced teacher behaviors in the classroom. The primary theory for this study was based on andragogy, and the research was conducted under the conceptual framework of constructivist principles. Data collection included interviews with 10 classroom teachers using open ended questions. Data analysis included the extraction of themes and subthemes emerging from the interviews. Findings indicated teachers' preference for hands on professional learning opportunities and technology use in delivery models. Teachers also expressed an interest in being given a choice in the delivery model of their professional learning opportunities. Implications for positive social change focus on professional development planners and facilitators, who are encouraged to seek preferences from teachers to best meet the needs and interests of educators in order to advance changes in teacher behavior and subsequent improvement to student achievement.

Researchers have connected student achievement to teacher collaboration; however, there is a paucity of studies conducted on how teachers use identified advantages and disadvantages of cross grade level collaboration to improve collegial interactions to achieve better student performance, professional development, teacher effectiveness, and job satisfaction. The purpose of this case study was to investigate how rural southeast Georgia elementary school teachers use identified advantages and disadvantages of cross grade level collaboration to improve collegial interactions. The theory of collegial coaching provided the conceptual framework for this study. The research questions focused on improving teacher effectiveness and student learning via collaborative dialogue. Data were collected via interviews, observations, and archival records from 14 teachers and administrators (maximum variation used) and analyzed for overarching emergent and dominant themes, patterns, issues, topics, ideas, relationships, cases, cross-cases, and concepts. Hatch's typological analysis was employed to decipher the data. Ethnograph v6.0 and QDA Miner 4.0 were used to code the data for triangulation. Quality control and validation were achieved through triangulation and member-checking. The findings illustrated the merits of ongoing collaboration and effective collegial interaction for teaching and learning. They also highlighted the potential of meaningful discussion in achieving effective collegial interaction. This study can lead to positive social change by providing teachers, administrators, and collaboration facilitators 2 models that can be used as guides for planning quality collegial interaction opportunities and in justifying time to collaborate across grades.

Evidence suggests that a disconnect is growing between the information provided in Christian sermons and the life challenges faced by those church attendees. To bridge that divide, the purpose of this study was to better understand the characteristics of a sermon that enhance learning for churchgoers in Christian churches. The guiding question focused on churchgoing adults' perception of the sermon. Additional sub questions explored the relationship of the principles of adult learning, communication theory, and ambient teaching with churchgoers' and preachers' experiences with sermons. A qualitative case study design included one-on-one interviews with 5 preachers, 5 focus groups with 9 churchgoing adults in each group, and observations of the physical characteristics of 5 worship centers. A constant comparative method was used to identify the key themes. The key themes that emerged were: (a) sermons should be applicable, challenging, and comprehendible and (b) the preacher must be perceived as authentic. The study contributes to positive social change by suggesting a model that preachers can use to improve the qualities and delivery of a sermon to affect listeners' lives in a positive way.

The relatively little amount of time that some college students spend reading their textbooks outside of lectures presents a significant threat to their academic success. One possible solution to this problem is the use of digital games as an alternative to outside-of-class textbook reading, but a review of previous research did not reveal much information on their efficacy when compared to traditional textbooks. Using Astin's theory of student engagement as a framework, the purpose of this quantitative causal-comparative study was to determine whether a significant difference in engagement, as indicated by mental effort and time on task, existed for college students who used a digital game-based textbook versus students who used a traditional print-based textbook. The 54 undergraduate college students in this convenience sample were randomly assigned to one of the two textbook types and completed an activity session at an individual workstation. Time on task was measured with a stopwatch and mental effort with the Mental Effort Scale. The results showed a statistically significant difference in engagement between participants in the digital game-based and traditional print-based textbook groups, Hotelling's T2(2, 52) = 25.11, p < .001, D 2=1.86. In the post hoc analyses, the digital game-based group had significantly higher time on task scores than the traditional print-based textbook group (t = 34.61, p < .001). The mental effort difference was not significant, although the mean mental effort score was higher for the digital game-based group. These results provide evidence of a digital game-based textbook's utility, and may inform college educators in their efforts to support a more diverse group of learners.

The purpose of this collected papers dissertation was to better understand the professionalization of academic advising. Advising can claim several features of widely-agreed upon professional components, but the question of whether academic advising constitutes a “profession” has caused much debate. Three primary obstacles stand in its way: advising is misunderstood and lacks a consistent unifying definition; there has not been a substantial literature to define the content and methodologies of the field; and there is insufficient empirical research demonstrating its effectiveness. Two studies were conducted. Study #1 was a structured literature review of higher education, student affairs, and academic advising to understand how these fields have conceptualized their professional status, especially with respect to clearly defining disciplinary boundaries given significant overlap with one another, and having insufficient knowledge bases. Findings were organized by field and revealed three themes in each. Obstacles for higher education concerned the diversity and rigor of its scholarship, the (mis)conception of being a singular field, and confounding the field with the industry of higher education. Themes that emerged from the student affairs literature were scholarship, professional preparation and development, and community. For academic advising, obstacles were scholarship, expansion of graduate programs, and community. Implications for the professionalization for these three fields are: loose boundaries separating the fields, interconnectedness between educational programs, practitioner’s credential lacks currency, inconsistent language used in fields, autonomy, and demonstrating effectiveness. Study #2, a phenomenological ethnography, sought to further clarify defining functions of academic advising and to elucidate how further definition of the scope of academic advising will help professionalize the field. To acquire a description of the essence of academic advising, approaches from phenomenological and ethnographic methodologies were used. The analysis revealed that through academic advising, students learn and develop, make meaning, and connect with a caring institutional representative. The findings from this dissertation will help inform NACADA: the Global Community for Academic Advising, to help move academic advising toward professionalization, further develop academic advisors and position them to be better scholars, to educate our constituents, and to add to the body of literature on professionalization in any field.