Retention of students at undergraduate institutions, especially in liberal arts colleges has become increasingly important. Liberal arts colleges are distinct because unlike universities they have small enrollments, serve undergraduates students, are residential and its primary goal is to provide a liberal arts education to its students. Students who typically attend liberal arts colleges come from academically prepared and from privileged backgrounds, however, these students are often not enough to sustain enrollment assumptions. Therefore, students who are less prepared and come from low socio-economic backgrounds are accepted to into these colleges to compensate for the difference. This situation leads institutions to be strategic about creating programs to enhance these student's academic and social skills and help them persist. Thus, it is in the best interest of these colleges to have retention strategies in place to help these students persist and graduate. It is also in the best interest of these students and of society that they be given equitable chances to succeed in higher education. This study assesses the James Baldwin Scholars Program, a program for academically under prepared and economically disadvantaged students, by incorporating a combination of existing retention/persistence models and examines the impact the Program had on student's satisfaction and persistence. Using interviews and surveys of current Baldwin Scholars, alums of the Program, and associated faculty/staff as a method of triangulation to examine the student's persistence, I compared and contrasted the expectations and experiences, and discussed the sources of support and challenges of the Scholars with those of the Baldwin alums, faculty and staff at Hampshire College. As a result, the findings from this study suggest that these students experience a journey filled with programmatic, academic and social supportive bridges and challenging barriers that define their experience. Findings from this study demonstrate that students are most likely to succeed in this type of program when expectations are clear and when the students’ experiences match the expectations---a situation that is more likely to help students find, build and maintain bridges to success while navigating barriers to persistence.

This dissertation combines research in neuroscience, psychology, inter-cultural communication, and teaching with technology to envision a more balanced approach to teaching writing. Many composition scholars have proposed theories about the cognitive processes that support writing, and have suggested pedagogies based in these theories, but too often this work has evolved in isolation from the research carried out in other fields. I hope that by taking this interdisciplinary approach, I can rough out some avenues for fruitful future exploration and lay to rest some misperceptions that currently hinder our teaching. I introduce this study by sharing a brief literacy narrative, and then in Chapter One lay out the range of theories held in the composition community about writing, learning, and thinking processes. In Chapter Two, I examine how Multiple Intelligence (MI) Theory can add to our understanding these processes, and consider recent attention to cultural context. China stands out as a particularly useful example by demonstrating very a different but effective pedagogy. Recent neuroscience research supports MI Theory, and I consider how it explains the existence of multiple intelligences in Chapter Three. In Chapter Four I shift to more practical concerns; the media required by non-verbal intelligences are hard to bring into classrooms, but computer technology offers solutions to some of these difficulties. I discuss my own experiences designing an on-line writing tutorial as an example of how neuroscience can be applied to teaching with technology, then describe an introductory literature class in which I used technology to address multiple intelligences. I suggest paths of further inquiry, identifying gaps in current research on teaching with technology. When discussing computer technology, we must ensure that students can cross the “digital divide.” I look at recent studies of access to computers and the internet; analysis of these results gives a clearer picture of how we might ensure that technology serves our students, rather than acting as another stumbling block. To close, this study looks forward, suggesting questions to be addressed in the future, as well as practical steps teachers can take now, to begin addressing multiple intelligences in their college writing classrooms.

This study investigated the institutional development of the critical perspective in academia. The purpose was to determine the extent to which the perspective has grown in the field of communication. The literature published before this study claimed, without presenting convincing evidence, that the perspective bloomed in the field during the late 1970s and early 1980s. Four questions guided the study: What was the particular development of the "critical" perspective in US communication scholarship? How has it been appropriated and construed by communication scholars? What were the historical circumstances and the intellectual context which framed its development? What is its current status in academia? In order to answer these questions the study traces the perspective's development using a content analysis of three mainstream journals, a survey of academic programs, and a citations analysis. Additional support came from interviews with critical scholars and journal editors, as well as from historical accounts of the period. The results of the study show that the critical perspective found a space for its development in the field of communication, especially in professional journals and citation practices. However, its presence was limited and, by 1987, there were no clear trends about its future development. It seems that the institutional environment did not allow for a vigorous development of the perspective in the field of communication. Utilitarianism, philosophical positivism, and the lack of economic support from government, industry, and funding agencies hindered its growth. The results also show that critical work's central features have been misrepresented by traditional social scientists. In general terms, then, the critical perspective earned a small but permanent place in the field of communication and enjoys the status of a legitimate academic endeavor in the field of communication. Today critical scholars can publish in professional journals and have access to academic appointments and other institutional resources.

In this dissertation, I explore this question: why are students silent? My interest was sparked by the stories most teachers have heard and told—that “quiet students” are shy, resistant, hostile. While discourses focusing on the politics of silencing are critical, we also need to consider how students see their own silences. This study provides alternate visions of silence as imagined by students. The project draws on many sources to explore silence, including the dominant critical perspectives represented in teaching narratives and feminist and cultural theories, as well as my own experiences that shape my teaching and this research. In addition to my own autoethnography and the thinking of scholars in various fields, the study focuses on the perspectives of students. Drawing on written reflections and interviews with five students, I examine students' vision of the influence of teachers and pedagogies on the decisions to speak or be silent. Often, practices designed to invite students' speaking (requirements, etc.) are experienced as silencing. Students suggest they are more encouraged to speak by “smaller gestures”—the cultivation of teacher-student relationships, a teacher's presentation of “self,” and focused attention to how questions are asked and responded to. Such efforts positively alter the dynamics of power, knowledge, and authority. I examine the intersections of identity and community and their impact on a student's speaking or silence. Many cite the “openness” of the community and how speaking invites evaluation of one's response, intelligence, identity. This is troubling, but not because they fear conflict. Rather, they perceive such interactions as demanding risky self-revelation in anonymous communities; they are conscious of the lessons about voice and audience we try to teach in writing classes. Finally, I investigates the alternate constructions these students use to understand classroom silence, including the communal sense that silence is not necessarily problematic. Instead it can provide space for intellectual work through internal dialogue. This research suggests possibilities for moving students “beyond silence.” But it also leads me to conclude that we should work to foster generative silences as well as dialogue in our classes.

A study of 174 applicants to the University of Rhode Island's Graduate School was conducted to identify factors in student choice of graduate schools and to determine if enrollment intent could be predicted. A 20-item survey based on the motivational and cognitive decision making theory of Janis and Mann (1977) was constructed. Applicants were surveyed on two scales regarding: (a) the importance of factors represented in the 20-item survey; and (b) which graduate school better matched those factors. Respondents to the survey were sorted into four groups: (a) accepted; (b) denied; (c) accepted, intending to enroll at URI; and (d) accepted, not intending to enroll at URI. These respondents chose nine of the 20 items as important factors in deciding which graduate school to attend. From these ratings three strong, psychologically interpretable factors matched the Janis and Mann constructs used to develop the survey: (a) Self Approval; (b) Utilitarian Costs; and (c) Concern for Others. A one way analysis discriminated between the "Will Enroll" and the "Will Not Enroll" respondents as the "Will Enroll" group assigned higher ratings of importance to three factors at the.05 level of significance: (a) affordability; (b) closeness to home; and (c) being able to better support family upon graduation. Of eight factors identified by chi-square statistics, only one, "better academic program", differed between the two groups in terms of school choice. Through discriminant analysis, responses to the 20 item survey were classified into "Will Enroll" and "Will Not Enroll" with 78 percent accuracy. (Discriminant analysis results may be inflated, on account of a single sample of respondents. The research results have (a) identified factors salient to a group of graduate school applicants in their decision to attend one graduate school as opposed to another; (b) measured the degree of importance these factors had in that decision; (c) identified significant differences between the "Will Enroll" and "Will Not Enroll" groups; and (d) predicted group membership. In addition, a base for determining the applicability of Janis and Mann's decision making constructs appears to have been established. (Abstract shortened with permission of author.)

The purpose of this study was to describe through a series of in-depth phenomenological interviews the nature and quality of physical education teacher educators' work experiences, and to understand the meaning they make of their professional lives. In one of the most important reviews on teacher education of this decade, Lanier and Little (1986) emphasized that we know very little about teacher educators. As pressures are generated by current reform proposals for teaching and teacher education, it seems appropriate to try to understand as much as we can about the people who educate teachers. Phenomenological interviewing was used to collect material about the experiences of 15 teacher educators in physical education. Eight women and seven men in early and late career stages, from both university and college settings (primarily in the northeastern states), were interviewed on three different occasions for 60 to 90 minutes each time. The audio taped interviews were transcribed verbatim, producing approximately 100 pages of material for each participant. Pseudonyms were used as an attempt to protect the identity of the participants and their institutions. From transcripts, eight to twelve page profiles were constructed using the participants' own words. The researcher also identified themes which connected the experiences among the participants. Thematic descriptions included how participants perceived their work tasks, how they associated with other faculty, how they related to school-based colleagues, and how they interacted with their students. Major themes from these interviews include participants' emphasis on teaching and interacting with students as the most rewarding aspect of their work; differences between junior and senior faculty members' views about research; perceptions about the low status of physical education; and clear gender differences in attitudes toward work roles and salary.

The purpose of this study is to identify some issues encroaching upon the efficiency and relevance of Guinea-Bissau's educational system. The study has attempted to answer the following questions: (1) What approaches have dominated educational reform in Africa? (2) What factors are behind Guinea-Bissau's educational problems? (3) What are the alternatives, including language policies, that would help Guinea-Bissau break with neo-colonialism and intellectual dependency? The study was divided into five areas: The first area presented an overview of Africa's educational problems. The next area of emphasis examined traditional education in pre-colonial Africa, including its philosophy, the curriculum and methodologies of teaching and learning. It also examined African educational development during independence. Educational policies were seen as primarily determined by the imperatives of resource constraints, manpower needs, and by pressures from both national and international interest groups. The third area explored the special educational problems and requirements of Guinea-Bissau's educational system. Guinea-Bissau's educational problems were seen as determined by lack of financial resources. Other categories of problems were the result of planning and coordination inefficiencies and lack of the necessary indigenous skills to redirect the development of educational system after independence. It is assumed that none of the borrowed educational traditions, be it Portugese, French or English, are adequate to the solution of Guinea-Bissau's problems. The fourth section presents an interdisciplinary framework to the analysis of issues considered essential in designing an autochthonous educational system for Guinea-Bissau. The last area of emphasis explored alternative techniques and methods which could accelerate educational development in Guinea-Bissau. The results of a research study on the relevance and efficiency of Guinea-Bissau primary education suggests that the structures and values of both the modern and the traditional African society, would have to be incorporated. The proposed reforms recognize the existence of degrees of interdependence between traditional and modern values. It is a proposition that sees latitude for compromise and synthesis. An educational system designed with this in mind might be able to cater to the particular learning needs and circumstances of Guinea-Bissau.

Thesis (Ed.D.)--Boston University / This exploratory qualitative study investigated the college choice processes of 25 African American college students. Individual interviews that asked the students to look back on their college choice processes during high school provided the data for the study. The goals of the study were to (1) identify the difficulties that these students encountered when searching for and applying to colleges, (2) identify the factors that helped them succeed in gaining acceptance to college, and (3) develop a model of the college choice process based on the identified factors. The findings provide understandings of the positive and negative factors that African American students may encounter in the college choice process and provide a model of the optimal process. This model is designed to help counselors in high schools and colleges change organizational arrangements and procedures, both within and between institutions, to better assist African American high school students in the transition to higher education. Other wider societal and political changes that may assist students in the transition to higher education are identified and discussed.

No description available.

An Institutional Research for the Purpose of Measuring the Effectiveness of Instructional, Curricular, and Personnel Services to the Transfer Students at Olney Central College was conducted in 1971-72. The population of the study consisted of thirty-five students, twenty-two males and thirteen females, for the pilot study, and 259 students, 159 males and one hundred females, for the final study. The students were graduates of Olney Central College·during the years 1968, 1969, and 1970, who had transferred to four-year colleges or universities as indicated by their personnel records. All of the students were selected by random sampling. An open-end type of questionnaire consisting of eight questions was employed for the pilot study. A final instrument of thirty-eight statements employing a. rating scale was developed from students' responses to the questions used in the pilot study. The statements on the final instrument were grouped into three different categories-- instructional, curricular, and personnel services. The Likert-type rating scale had f'ive choices--strongly disagree, disagree, undecided, agree, and strongly agree. Tables were employed for each statement rated in order to present an analysis of the number and percentage of students, both male and female, responding. For each statement and table, a summary with implicati.ons was employed to describe the analysis. The transfer students as a group reported they were satisfied with the services at oec. They rated highly the quality of the OCC faculty, the personnel services, and the courses offered as preparation for senior college work. The transfer students gave less favorable ratings to the academic advisement at OCC than they did to various aspects of the instructional program. They gave their most favorable ratings to their instructors' knowledge of subject, their ability to teach and their deep interest in their students.