<p> The low employment rates of individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) are a major concern. In 2011 only 34% of adults with ID were employed compared to 76% of adults without disabilities (Siperstein, Parker, &amp; Drascher, 2013). Higher educational attainment is associated with higher employment rates for students with ID (Smith, Grigal, &amp; Sulewski, 2013). postsecondary education has been shown to increase employment (Carnevale, Rose, &amp; Cheah, 2013). Increasingly postsecondary education is becoming an option for individuals with ID. </p><p> This study examines the effect of postsecondary education on employment and earnings for individuals with ID and the effect of state variation on those outcomes. Research hypotheses were developed from Human Capital and Social Capital Theories. </p><p> This dissertation employed secondary data analysis of the Rehabilitation Services Administration&rsquo;s RSA 911 from 2008 through 2013 to examine the effect of postsecondary education on employment for individuals served by state Vocational Rehabilitation Service Agencies. The RSA 911 includes variables on attendance of postsecondary education, employment outcomes, earnings, as well as individual and demographic information. Additional economic and state level demographic and policy variables were added to the dataset. Multi-level modeling techniques were used to understand state variation, such as various economic and programmatic features that influence outcomes. Those outcomes for those individuals with ID who had postsecondary education were compared to those who did not. </p><p> This study found postsecondary education improves odds of employment, increases weekly earnings, and decreases reliance on SSI benefits for individuals with ID. In addition, postsecondary education increases their odds of obtaining employment in positions not typically held by individuals with ID. Gender, race, cost of services, and the receipt of Medicaid moderate these results, but when all these factors are included the results are that postsecondary education increases the odds of employment more than twice that of an individual with ID without postsecondary education. </p><p> This research provides greater understanding of the effects of postsecondary education for individuals with ID and its effect on employment and earnings. This research informs policy makers by examining ways to increase employment and earnings for individuals with ID through postsecondary education.</p>

<p> Gambling disorder is a behavioral addiction that disproportionally affects college students as a population group and can disrupt college careers. While gambling disorder has not traditionally been one that institutions of higher education have addressed, the rapid growth of legalized gambling in the United States and the resulting widespread availability and acceptability of gambling in general have led to calls for policies and programs to prevent the negative consequences that even mild to moderate gambling disorder can cause. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to determine the stage of readiness of a university campus community to address the issue of students&rsquo; disordered gambling, to identify the barriers and needs of the community prior to the implementation of disordered gambling prevention on campus, and to explore the reliability of using the Community Readiness Tool (Oetting, 2014) as a repeated measure tool over time to appraise changes in levels of community readiness, particularly when re-interviewing the same key informants. </p><p> Eleven mid-level university administrators participated in the study. Each participant was interviewed using an adapted version of the CRT. All interviews were audio recorded, transcribed, and scored according to the standard scoring procedures. Grounded theory analysis was used for the purpose of identifying barriers and needs of the community not fully captured by the CRT. The results indicated an overall lack of awareness of problem gambling as a higher education issue. Eight barriers and nine needs emerged from the qualitative analysis. To examine the use of the CRT as a repeated measure, four participants were re-interviewed one year after their initial interview, and scores were compared to both their own original scores and the scores of a second cohort of participants who were interviewed only once but at the same time. There were no significant differences in overall CRT scores from time 1 to time 2, or between the two cohorts of participants. Implications for appropriate prevention programming and future research are discussed.</p>

<p> Certain coaches seem to have a basic blueprint for success that consistently puts them at the forefront of their respective industries. Within this blueprint are various components of leadership. The purpose of this study was to identify how successful NCAA Division I baseball coaches understand their roles and responsibilities as leaders in a higher education context. Eight NCAA Division I college baseball coaches were interviewed. Each guided his respective program to at least three regional playoffs over an 11 year span (2005&ndash;2015). A qualitative analysis indicated two major themes, and one minor theme. The two major themes were Winning and Coach as CEO, and the minor theme was Need for Personal Life. First, the coaches recognized that their main responsibility was to win. Before the team can win collectively, each member of the program had to win individually. Second, as the CEO of the organization, coaches understood that it was their responsibility to create a culture of winning throughout their program. This was done by setting high expectations for assistant coaches, and focusing on the overall development of student-athletes. One of the main challenges in strengthening a culture of winning was the entitled beliefs and behaviors of student-athletes. Third, coaches realized that in order to truly be a successful leader, they had to balance their personal and professional responsibilities.</p>

<p> The purpose of this descriptive research was to create awareness and an understanding of how participation in campus recreation contributes to students&rsquo; wellness, and how students can create healthy lifestyles throughout and after their college experience. This study was designed to examine the benefits of participation in campus recreation for undergraduate and graduate students at the University of South Florida. This study investigates the dimensions of wellness in campus recreation and explains how the wellness components of campus recreation have the ability to benefit a student&rsquo;s quality of life during their college years. Both quantitative and qualitative data were gathered and used to help determine the benefits of participating in campus recreation facilities, programs, and services. A random sample of students was chosen to participate in the NASPA Recreation and Wellness Benchmark used to gather data about campus recreation users and their attitudes and opinions on campus recreation at the University of South Florida. A purposeful, convenience sample of students participated in focus groups providing qualitative data. The data showed that students at USF receive benefits from participating in campus recreation; several questions stand out to show students attitudes, opinions, and beliefs about how and why participation in campus recreation is benefiting their wellness and quality of life. This study may leave a footprint for other growing universities in evaluating the importance for students and the benefits of campus recreation departments.</p>

<p> Changes in the field of education require teachers&rsquo; acquisition of specific knowledge of technology and the skills of its effective use in the classroom. With the expansion of the traditional classroom to include virtual learning environments, concern still exists regarding characteristics necessary for quality teaching and learning.</p><p> This research is an examination of pre-service teachers&rsquo; needs relevant to integrating technology in an online learning environment. It is a first step toward acknowledging the responsibility teacher preparation programs have in the formation of educators equipped to instruct in dual learning environments, thus providing pre-service teachers with opportunities and experiences to become fluent in the technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) required for online learning environments as well as the traditional face-to-face instruction. </p><p> The purpose of this study was to determine if active engagement with content of an online instruction module would affect the attitudes, knowledge and skills, and instructional centeredness of pre-service teachers&rsquo; towards technology integration in an online learning environment. A mixed-methods concurrent triangulation design procedure was utilized to measure characteristics of pre-service teachers in a teacher preparation program. A two-way within-subjects analysis of variance was conducted to evaluate the effect of engagement with the content of the online instruction module for all three domains. Participants began the intervention with limited knowledge and skills of technology integration and online learning environments; however, they made statistically significant gains upon completion of the intervention. The implementation of an intervention such as this online instruction module may support other teacher preparation programs in identifying strengths and weaknesses of their pre-service teachers and provide valuable information necessary to guide program goals.</p>

<p> The purpose of this case study was to investigate the experiences of first-year African American males who participated in a Living Learning Community (LLC) while attending a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), to understand how, if at all, the program had any impact on the participants&rsquo; retention. The conceptual framework for this study was derived from the student integration model (Tinto, 1993). </p><p> Research was conducted on the campus of a mid-sized HBCU located in the southeastern region of the United States. Over a period of four weeks, data were collected from students participating in the LLC. Data collection methods included 12 in-depth interviews, 12 residence hall observations, 4 classroom observations, and information from reports obtained from the institution. Themes and subject categories from the interviews and observations were determined using a combination of In Vivo (Creswell, 2013; Saldana, 2013) and open coding (Corbin &amp; Strauss, 2007). </p><p> Findings from the case study showed students in the LLC perceived they experienced and/or received several academic benefits associated with their participation, such as knowledge and use of academic support services including academic advising, tutorial services, and supplemental instruction. The students also perceived they experienced more social connectivity with their fellow LLC members and participated in more social events compared to those not in the LLC. Additionally, the participants commented the program made it easier for them to make friends, which facilitated a smoother transition to college. Students also directly associated their LLC participation with increasing their likelihood of being retained. </p><p> Based on these findings, a foundation for understanding how LLCs on HBCU campuses can positively impact first-year African American males will be established. The conclusions drawn from the study will advise higher education practitioners on methods to enhance outcomes for African American male students on HBCU campuses using LLC programming.</p>

<p> The purpose of this study was to increase the understanding of the factors that contribute to or detract from the educational preparation of graduates between associate (AD) and baccalaureate degree (BD) respiratory therapy programs through the use of graduate and employer survey ratings, Registered Respiratory Therapist (RRT) credentialing success, and document analysis of various institutional and program mission, course content, and goals.</p><p> This study employed quantitative analyses to compare the perceptions of AD graduates and their employers with the perceptions of BD graduates and their employers regarding the educational program&rsquo;s ability to prepare graduates for entry into the profession. Graduate and employer ratings of cognitive, psychomotor, and affective competencies obtained from the follow-up surveys from 16 BD and 88 AD respiratory therapy programs were analyzed to determine whether there were perceived differences in preparation of associate and baccalaureate degree graduates. Credentialing success data for graduates of 361 AD and 57 BD respiratory therapy programs were also analyzed to determine whether differences in program type had an effect on RRT credentialing success. Multivariate analyses of variance, Welch&rsquo;s F tests and Mann-Whitney two-sample test were used to analyze the data. Additional information obtained from 22 AD and 22 BD institutions were also analyzed to explore similarities and differences in mission, vision, learning outcomes and coursework.</p><p> The three most significant findings in this study were that (1) Employers rated BD graduates higher than AD graduates in the cognitive (mean ratings 4.442 and 4.256 respectively) psychomotor (mean ratings 4.508 and 4.308 respectively) and affective domain (mean ratings 4.642 and 4.496 respectively); (2) BD employer survey ratings were also higher than AD employer ratings (mean ratings 4.49 and 4.21 respectively) on the mean rating for the single item that asked graduates to rate the overall quality of their preparation for entry into the profession and (3) Findings from the document analysis revealed that BD programs required courses beyond the minimum general education, prerequisite and RT course requirements. Thus, the results of this study support the &ldquo;2015 and Beyond&rdquo; recommendation that the BD be the minimum entry-level education required for entry into the profession.</p>

The growth in numbers of Kenyans seeking study opportunities in international settings has increased in the last ten years. Despite this growth, there is a clear and growing epistemological gap on student’s expectations and their experience, practice by host institutions and countries and how this impacts on students experience and study outcomes. To gain knowledge in this grey area, a case study design using a cross-sectional and a mixed data collection method was adopted. Data was collected in three stages beginning with a survey where questionnaires (N=300) were administered to Kenyan students pursuing higher education in the UK. In stage two, interviews were conducted with Kenyan students, Kenyan education policy makers and staff from UK universities. Stage three involved analysis of policy documents. Findings showed that many of the students had a positive study and living experience while for others it was negative characterised by study extension, leaving without an award, dropped out or did not socially adapt owing to practical challenges associated with living abroad. Government systems to support students during the pre-departure phase were lacking and those that provided information to potential students had an economic interest in their recruitment. Evidently, studying abroad for some was based on uniformed decision making. On arrival in the UK, some of the students did not use the university’s and Kenya Government support services as they were not aware that they were available. The main implication of this study is the need for a comprehensive policy and a code of conduct to guide the activities of various stakeholders involved in international education in Kenya, provision of support systems that meet the needs of international students’ and sensitisation of students to their use and availability. Key recommendations that aim to enhance the quality of experience of Kenyan students are made. This is to ensure the realisation of the potential benefits of an international education to the Kenya Government, UK institutions and the students. The recommendations relate to induction in Kenya and the UK, sensitisation, monitoring and information dissemination prior and during the study period. A department to coordinate and manage international education in Kenya is proposed with more stakeholder involvement.

The concept of uncertainty plays a significant role in higher education in the 21st century. However; the pedagogy of uncertainty tends to focus on ontology and the feelings of uncertainty experienced by teachers and students, as opposed to treating it as an epistemological concept. This research considers the epistemology of uncertainty in the context of climate change and investigates how it is conceptualised and taught by academics working in the subject area. The theoretical frameworks of troublesome knowledge and threshold concepts are employed to aid the characterisation of uncertainty as a concept in higher education. Following a methodology based on grounded theory, interviews were undertaken with 10 academics involved in teaching climate change. The interview data was analysed and categorised according to the interview participants' conceptions of uncertainty and the implications for teaching uncertainty. The research found that uncertainty in the context of climate change is a complex and multivariate concept and this was reflected in the interview data, with many of the participants holding several different conceptions of uncertainty simultaneously. In terms of teaching uncertainty, the concept also aligns with the theoretical frameworks, in that it is troublesome knowledge and a threshold concept in the context of climate change, with broader implications as an interdisciplinary threshold concept arising from the difficulty encountered when attempting to integrate diverse conceptions of uncertainty. Maturity and personal development were also found to play a role in teaching uncertainty. Several strategies and approaches to teaching uncertainty are discussed, and a critical reflection on the pedagogy of uncertainty is offered. The critical reflection proposes a pedagogy for teaching uncertainty whereby the concept is situated centrally in the higher education curriculum and taught explicitly through student-centred approaches that take into account issues of personal development and variation.

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