Thesis (Ph. D.)--Syracuse University, 2005. / "Publication number AAT 3207090."

<p> The purpose of this research study was to assess levels of mindfulness-based skills in counselors-in-training at the masters and doctoral level. By examining mindfulness levels within the counselor-in-training population, a reference point was established among counseling students with predictors of mindfulness-based skill levels. The research design was a cross-sectional survey approach, using the <i>Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire</i> (Baer et al., 2006) paired with a researcher developed questionnaire. Results yielded significant differences among facets of mindfulness and independent variables of age, perceived multicultural competence, knowledge of mindfulness, hours of formal training, current practice of mindfulness, and frequency of practice. Length of mindfulness practice, hours of formal training, and age were significant predictors of total mindfulness scores for the counseling student sample. </p><p>

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University.

<p> As modern gender movements shift our cultural norms, the literature describing Title IX suggests possibly concerning trends in both hiring and policy. Many university administrations and recent legislation have promoted a defensive, legal-minded and objective approach to handling Title IX cases. Since the April 2011 Dear Colleague Letter, which delivered a mandated timeframe and eased the burden of evidence, the number of cases the Office for Civil Rights have grown significantly. The number of cases continues growing despite huge increases in labor hours and financial resources being diverted to Title IX enforcement. In contrast, research has demonstrated that education, such as bystander training is a proven deterrence to campus sexual assault. By prioritizing investigation and limiting compliance officers legally acceptable options, we have perhaps shifted officers time away from actions which might lead to more positive outcomes including reducing the overall campus-wide criminal incidence frequency. </p><p> This qualitative case study was designed to explore how higher education compliance officers learn to manage new requirements in a dynamic regulatory environment. The site for the study included private and public colleges and universities in the northeastern part of the U.S. The primary sources of data were in-depth interviews with nineteen Title IX compliance officers supplemented by an extensive review of relevant documents. </p><p> Key findings that emerged include: (1) A majority of compliance officers defined the need to interpret new regulations with general counsel before communicating resulting changes to stakeholders. (2) All regulators learn through informal learning means; dialogue and critical reflection were universally reported as the most frequent pathways by which regulators made meaning of new regulations. (3) Most compliance officers described sharing information with peers as most helpful to them in completing regulatory tasks. </p><p> Trends in Title IX compliance hiring and labor hour allocation appear to not address the growing frequency of OCR investigations. Real changes to campus policy, including budget priorities, training and the use of student activists may allow universities to better optimize the money and personal they invest toward Title IX.</p><p>

<p> The purpose of this mixed-method study was to explore employees&rsquo; perceptions of their relationships with their direct supervisor, and to determine why employees chose to remain at SSM Health. This study used a three-part research design comprised of quantitative Likert scale rating statements, Henschke&rsquo;s (2016) Modified Instructional Perspectives Inventory &mdash; Employees and Direct Supervisor (MIPI-EDS), and a qualitative open-ended survey-questionnaire to also explore how managers were perceived by their employees. By using Henschke&rsquo;s measurement tool in alignment with questions/statements from Parts I and II of the survey-questionnaire, relationships between the andragogical principles as measured by the MIPI-EDS and other components, such as job satisfaction and employee length of service, were able to be examined. Specifically, this research study used andragogy to explore whether the factors of the direct supervisors identified by their employees, as measured by MIPI-EDS, were predictors of the employees&rsquo; job satisfaction and their length of service.</p><p> This study invited 448 employees of SSM Health who worked in specific departments throughout the Patient Business Service division to participate. All eligible employees had the option to participate in Parts I and II, while only employees who had been with the organization longer than five years were eligible to participate in Part III. At the end of the study, 100 employees participated in Parts I and II, and 49 of those 100 employees participated in Part III.</p><p> The data revealed unexpected findings. In Parts I and II, there was no correlation found between the factors identified by the employees on the MIPI-EDS and the employees&rsquo; length of service with the organization. There was a significant correlation between the factors on the MIPI-EDS identified by the employees and the employees&rsquo; level of job satisfaction. In Part III, survey-questionnaires were analyzed using open coding methods and eight themes emerged as the reasons why participants chose to remain with SSM Health. Among the reasons, the top reasons that people chose to remain at SSM Health were: a) peer impact, b) relationship with direct supervisor, and c) genuine happiness/intrinsic motivation. Part III of the survey-questionnaire was also analyzed to potentially identify common themes that were related to the perceived level of job satisfaction of the employees who had been with the organization for longer than five years. After analyzing specific statements in Part III of the survey-questionnaire, two conclusions were identified: (a) the role of the supervisor impacted whether or not each employee liked his or her job and, (b) there were five main themes that supervisors needed to focus on in order for employees to like their actual jobs. Those themes were: (a) managerial appreciation and recognition of employees, (b) supervisor&rsquo;s providing of emotional, and mental support, (c) employee individualization, (d) clear two-way communication between the supervisor and each employee, and, (e) expectation of high performance. Lastly, this study aimed to determine trends that could be identified from the experiences of past employees. Due to unseen circumstances, this piece of information was severely limited to the secondary data received from SSM Health. From the secondary data provided, past employees identified that the top two reasons they had left SSM Health in the last five years was &lsquo;direct management,&rsquo; and &lsquo;normal retirement.&rsquo;</p><p>

The purpose of this thesis was to review the existing research on techniques for adult education and to develop a scheme by which such techniques could be classified in a logical construct. The research reviewed was restricted to that literature pertaining only to educational programmes designed and conducted with adults. The findings of the selected studies on each technique were summarized and the technique was placed in the classification scheme. Many of the existing research studies are not comparable with each other, because of poor research designs and the affect that they were not conceived under the same theoretical framework so that similar variables were not controlled. Research studies dealing with certain techniques were particularly scarce such as those concerned with Information techniques like the lecture, form, panel, debate, symposium and dialogue. The bulk of the research tended to be concerned with techniques involving learner participation, such as group discussion and skill practice. In the case of certain techniques no valid research was found. In addition to research pertaining to techniques, the literature dealing with the classification of techniques for adult education was also examined and the Newberry system was adopted as the most valid for purposes of this study. This system of classification produces a two dimensional scale which placed a technique in terms of the degree of learner Involvement on the one hand, and ascending measures of concreteness of subject matter on the other. On the basis of the research reviewed, each technique considered has been placed in a cell on the Newberry Scale. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

The discipline of adult education has been concerned with factors affecting participation, particularly those factors influencing either enrollment or dropping out. Little attention has been devoted to the examination of factors which affect an adult's decision not to return to a subsequent course at the institution which he had attended previously. The purpose of this study was to identify the major factors or combinations of factors which may be related to the failure of adults to re-enroll in Extension programs at the University of British Columbia. The analytical survey method with a structured interview schedule was used to conduct the study. A random sample of 100 subjects was drawn from a population of 650 participants in non-credit Extension classes in the fall of 1966 who had not returned for another non-credit program over a subsequent three year period. The sample group did not appear to differ markedly with respect to those characteristics studied, from participants at similar institutions or from those who participate and return for subsequent courses at the Extension Department studied. Those characteristics of the sample which were cross-tabulated and found to be significantly related appear to be typical of university non-credit extension course participants. The majority of the reasons given for not returning were personal in nature as opposed to institutional and the five most frequently mentioned reasons were all personal. Lack of time because of business commitments was evidently the most important single factor preventing re-enrollment, followed by lack of time because of family commitments, involvement in courses elsewhere, lack of time because of other clubs or groups, and the inability to schedule time on a regular basis. The other factors mentioned by the subjects did not indicate a consistent theme, rather they formed a haphazard mosaic of isolated reasons about which no single explanation was evident. With one exception, the categories of reasons given for failing to re enroll were not associated significantly with the characteristics of the sample. In that one case, there did. not appear to be a suitable explanation of the relationship found between occupational change and the reason given for not returning. There is evidently no single identifiable institutional adjustment which could have aided re-enrollment by a large number of the non-participants. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

Research into self-direction has been hampered by the absence of a consistent theoretical framework, and the indiscriminate application of the term 'self-direction' to different phenomena. The purposes of this study were: (a) to critically analyse the use of the term 'self-direction' in adult education and to ascertain whether there are differences among the phenomena subsumed under that label; (b) to critically survey the literature, and synthesise research findings; (c) to compare the significance of 'self-direction' in adult education with other sectors of education; (d) to identify and evaluate assumptions underlying past and present research traditions in 'self-direction'; and (e) to reconceptualise 'self-direction' from a constructivist perspective and to formulate themes for future research. It was shown that 'self-direction' has been used to refer to three different phenomena: (i) as a personal quality or attribute (personal autonomy); (ii) as the independent pursuit of learning outside formal instructional settings (autodidaxy); and (iii) as a way of organising instruction (learner-control). Two distinct approaches were used in undertaking the study. The first involved a critical analysis and review of literature in each of the three domains, the second was based on a form of conceptual analysis. Major paradigms in educational research were surveyed. It was asserted that assumptions underlying the interpretive paradigm were congruent with the phenomenon of self-direction and that, despite its limitations, there are advantages to adopting a constructivist perspective. Major findings were: (1) lack of internal consistency in the literature precludes the development of a coherent 'theory of self-direction' from within the literature; (2) autodidaxy can be usefully distinguished from learner-control; (3) autonomy in learning does not necessarily lead to personal autonomy, nor does personal autonomy always manifest itself in the learning situation; (4) autonomy has both personal and situational dimensions; (5) understanding the perspective of learners is vital to understanding strategies used and outcomes attained; (6) personal autonomy in learning comprises both cross-situational and situation-specific dimensions; (7) research into learning outcomes should stress qualitative rather than quantitative dimensions of knowledge acquisition; and (8) constructivism sanctions action-research and other naturalistic inquiry modes. The study incluuded an agenda for research into autodidaxy and learner-control from a constructivist perspective. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This study examines how adult education can facilitate learning towards the full realization of human potential. It synthesizes two theories of human development, and applies this to the practice of community-based adult education carried out by trained facilitators who do not have formal degrees in the field of mental health. The first part of the methodology used modified analytic induction to carry out a synthesis between the works of William Hatcher (1935–2005) and Roberto Assagioli (1888–1974). The second part of the methodology works with the goals, principles, and practices which emerged from the lens” provided by this synthesis, and applies these to an analysis of the Integrated and Systemic Community Therapy (CT) approach to community-based adult education, in Brazil. The impetus for this study was a desire to move beyond limitations of the humanistic orientation in adult education towards a more holistic theory, which draws on and combines both scientific and spiritual views of human reality. The study theorizes that learning which supports the full realization of human nature should actively seek to a) foster a person’s ability to take action in the ‘outer world’ of human social relations (interpersonal dimension) while b) aligning one’s ‘inner world’ (intrapersonal dimension) with an emerging implicate order, which is the origin of the structure of reality. Based on its relevance to the expanding Community Therapy approach the conclusion of the study is that the “lens” of a Hatcher-Assagioli synthesis deserves to be applied and explored further. Key words: community-based adult education; William Hatcher; Roberto Assagioli; Integrated and Systemic Community Therapy; spirituality in adult education.

Against the backdrop of a high level of personal over-indebtedness experienced by a large number of a Company's call-centre employees, a basic financial literacy workshop was conceptualised, implemented and offered to employees. However, while some participants found the learning helpful in alleviating their indebtedness to a lesser or greater degree, others did not. Drawing on qualitative data analysed through an interpretivist lens, this paper attempts to understand the extent to which the adult learners experienced transformative learning in the classroom. The paper's argument states that if transformative learning conditions are identified as being present in the workshop and adult learners experience a shift to a new worldview of their indebtedness situation, they will successfully implement positive changes towards alleviating their debt. The interview data for this small-group study comprised in-depth, face-to-face interviews with two participants, regarded as representative of the larger group of participants, triangulated with facilitator interview data and with workshop observation and note-taking. The thematic analysis method was used for identifying, coding and analysing the data. The themes identified related to the four main components of transformative learning theory namely, (1) triggering transformation; (2) critical reflection; (3) critical discourse and (4) willingness to act. The study showed that there were indeed components of transformative learning evident in the workshop facilitation and experienced by the study participants but that the nature of these components were embryonic. Further development of these emergent elements is required for true transformative learning to take place. Owing to the deep seated influence of a learner's worldview in prescribing how to spend his or her money, against the backdrop of the broader South African culture of indebtedness, it is only through experiencing true transformative learning that adult learners can identify and critically reflect on the belief systems that shape the way they think about and make positive changes towards their indebtedness.