The problem with which this study is concerned is the identification of selected factors, prior to a student's admission into the nursing sequence, that may be related to the student's success in completing a baccalaureate nursing education. The purposes of the study were (1) to determine if there is a relationship between the reading ability of baccalaureate nursing students and their grades in their initial nursing course, (2) to determine if there are statistically significant differences in reading abilities among traditional groups and identified nontraditional nursing student subgroups (men, older students, blacks Hispanics, and others) of the population, and (3) to determine if prior educational experience (junior college, senior college, or a previous baccalaureate degree) is related to students' grades in the initial clinical course.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Economics / William F. Blankenau / This dissertation consists of three essays on how health and education affect the labor market outcomes of workers. Health and education issues have been key determinants of labor demand and supply. In light of increasing incidence of health problems and the rapid growth of post-baccalaureate certificates in the US, this dissertation seeks to answer questions about labor market outcomes of workers with poor health history and with post-baccalaureate certificates. The first essay which I co-authored with Dr. William Blankenau and Dr. Benjamin Schwab uses a résumé-based correspondence test to compare the employment consequences of an illness-related employment gap to those of an unexplained employment gap. The results of the experiment show that while the callback rate of applicants with an illness-related employment gap is lower than that of the newly unemployed, applicants with illness-related employment gaps are 2.3 percentage points more likely to receive a callback than identical applicants who provide no explanation for the gap. Our research provides evidence that employers use information on employment gaps as additional signals about workers' unobserved productivity. Co-authored with Dr. Amanda Gaulke and Dr. Hugh Cassidy, the second essay tests how employers perceive the value of post-baccalaureate certificates using the same methodology in the first essay. We randomly assign a post-baccalaureate certificate credential to fictitious résumés and apply to real vacancy postings for managerial, administrative and accounting assistant positions on a large online job board. We find that post-baccalaureate certificates are 2.4 percentage points less likely to receive a callback than those without this credential. However, this result is driven by San Francisco, and there is no effect in Los Angeles or New York. By occupation, we also find that there is only significant negative effect in administrative assistant jobs, and there is none in managerial or accounting assistant jobs. A typographical error made in the résumés of certificate holders regarding the expected year of completion of the certificate may also contribute to negative effects of a certificate. Using NLSY79 data, the third essay tests whether the source of health insurance creates incentives for newly-diagnosed workers to remain sufficiently employed to maintain access to health insurance coverage. I compare labor supply responses to new diagnoses of workers dependent on their own employment for health insurance with the responses of workers who are dependent on their spouse's employer for health insurance coverage. I find that workers who depend on their own job for health insurance are 1.5-5.5 percentage points more likely to remain employed and for those employed, are 1.3-5.4 percentage points less likely to reduce their labor hours and are 2.1-6.1 percentage points more likely to remain full-time workers.

The purpose of this ex post facto study was to describe completers and non-completers of associate’s degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies and determine whether and to what extent completion in these programs is a function of selected student-related variables and institutional variables. Data from the 2004/2009 Beginning Postsecondary Students Longitudinal Study (BPS: 04/09) of associate’s degree completers and non-completers in engineering and engineering technologies were accessed and analyzed through PowerStats, a web-based data analysis tool from National Center for Education Statistics (NCES). Descriptive data indicated that, proportionally, engineering and engineering technologies completers were mostly White, married, middle income, employed part-time, enrolled full-time, did not hold a high school diploma or certificate, completed Trigonometry/Algebra II, had a father who’s highest education level was an associate’s degree, but did not know their mother’s highest level of education, completed remedial coursework, and started college with the goal of earning an associate’s degree. While more males enrolled in the programs, males and females demonstrated similar completion rates, proportionally- with females showing a slightly higher percentage of completion. Results from the logistic regression further indicated that the variables significant to completion in associate’s degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies were gender and enrollment size. Findings suggested that female students were more likely to earn the degree, and that the larger the institution, the more likely the student would become a completer. However, since a major limitation of the study was the small weighted sample size, the results of the study are inconclusive in terms of the extent to which the findings can be generalized to the population of students in associate’s degree programs in engineering and engineering technologies. This study fills a gap in the literature of what is known about engineering and engineering technician students. It also contributes to the body of research on an understudied STEM educational and professional pathway, the associate’s degree in engineering and engineering technologies.

Students in accelerated curricula tend to have greater stress when compared to students in general education (Suldo, Shaunessy, & Hardesty, 2008). It is important for stakeholders to be able to help these students reach their goals and attain happiness. One potential method to help these students is to attend to their character strengths. People who effectively utilize their character strengths have achieved numerous positive outcomes including greater levels of well-being, self-esteem, and positive affect (Proctor, Malby, & Linley, 2011; Quinlan, Swain, Cameron, & Vella-Brodrick, 2014; Wood, Linley, Maltby, Kashan, & Hurling, 2011). Unfortunately, there is a lack of research on students’ strengths, and there is no research looking specifically at the strengths of students in accelerated curricula. This study addressed this gap in the literature by examining the character strengths of students in accelerated curricula. Participants included 253 ninth-grade students in accelerated curricula, specifically enrolled in Advanced Placement (AP) classes or a pre-International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma program. A mixed-method design was utilized. For the quantitative part of the study, the researcher looked at the most frequent self-identified character strengths of all the participants and examined if the endorsed strengths differed for subgroups of students based on ethnicity, academic program, academic risk, or emotional risk. The most prevalent strength was humor, followed by love, creativity, kindness and curiosity. More Asian students identified with love of learning compared to students from other ethnic groups, and more White students identified with social intelligence. Across program, more AP students identified with creativity and fairness, and more IB students identified with self-regulation and kindness. In regard to risk status, more students without academic risk identified with persistence/perseverance. More students without emotional risk identified with creativity, persistence/perseverance, leadership, and teamwork, whereas more students with emotional risk identified with love, hope, and humor. For the qualitative part of the study, the researcher examined a subset of 121 participants who participated in a selective intervention because they were identified as demonstrating early signs of academic or emotional risk. The researcher examined how these students described their behaviors and actions in a way that illustrated their strengths. The qualitative analyses revealed three main themes: Manifestation, Importance, and Origination. This thesis can assist educators understand how high-achieving students describe and view their character strengths as meaningful. The rich descriptions of each character strength can be useful for educators in targeting character strengths in students and creating strengths-based interventions to increase students’ happiness and overall flourishing, according to the PERMA framework (which is made up of positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, and accomplishment). Further research should be conducted on why strengths differ between AP and IB students, as those findings may have implications for those who participate and ultimately succeed in these rigorous programs.

The ability to think critically is considered an essential skill of nursing graduates and competent nursing practice. Yet, the literature reports that teachers are having difficulty teaching for critical thinking and that critical thinking is lacking in new nursing graduates. This research study sought to identify barriers to the implementation of critical thinking teaching strategies by nursing faculty currently teaching in generic baccalaureate programs in Tennessee. Surveys were mailed to 262 nursing faculty; 194 were returned, and 175 were usable. Students' attitudes and expectations represented the single greatest barrier to the implementation of critical thinking teaching strategies, followed by time constraints and the perceived need to teach for content coverage. Recommendations to support and encourage faculty to teach for critical thinking are outlined.

Integrating evidence-based practice into healthcare education has been a recommendation for the past 16 years. Despite this, barriers still exist with the utilization of evidence-based practice. The purpose of this study was to describe the current state of EBP scholarship in the curriculum of baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing programs. Essential Competencies for Evidence-Based Practice in Nursing (Stevens, 2009) was utilized to measure the state of EBP scholarship. The research question stated: how is evidence-based practice scholarship addressed within baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing programs? The research design was guided by Rogers’ diffusion of innovations theoretical framework and the star model of knowledge transformation ©. The study was a non-experimental descriptive design, and a convenience sample of n=96 surveys from program leaders was evaluated. The findings from this study fill an identified gap in nursing literature and show that EBP is addressed within baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing programs, described by the leaders in the programs. Keywords: evidence-based practice competencies, baccalaureate pre-licensure nursing programs

Experts have called for greater diversity in the nursing workforce; however, men remain underrepresented in the nursing profession. The presence of cultural dissonance among male nursing students has been documented in prior research but little is known about their values that are culturally influenced. The purpose of this study was to understand and interpret the meaning of core professional nursing values to male baccalaureate nursing students. The research question was: what is the meaning of core professional nursing values to nursing students who are men. The study setting was an undergraduate baccalaureate school of nursing in the Midwest. Using a purposive, convenience sampling method and van Manen's interpretive phenomenological method, ten semistructured interviews were conducted with nine participants. Documents and images were also analyzed. Data analysis followed the hermeneutic process. The overarching theme of this study was caring, illustrated by the metaphor of a puzzle. In the first theme, entering program with pieces of the puzzle of caring, participants' personal values aligned with those of the nursing profession and professional values began to form before the nursing education experience. The second theme, finding more pieces of caring, included subthemes of disconnect and change in professional nursing values during the nursing program. Caring as patient-centered relationships (theme three) involved patient interactions, honesty, teamwork, respect and dignity, and privacy/confidentiality. A fourth theme of caring as helping was described in subthemes of altruism, empathy/compassion, advocacy, and competency and safety. Solving the puzzle of caring was theme five, as participants described learning through clinical experiences, both recognizing values and failing to see them demonstrated in nursing practice. Implications for nurse educators include values clarification and development, experiential teaching strategies, cultural sensitivity, teamwork, and conflict management. Inclusive workplace environments, where nursing and organizational practices reflect professional values, may enhance nurse satisfaction, recruitment, retention, and patient care. Further research is needed; strategies to enhance professional values development and core professional nursing values in different cultures warrant further study. Theories of nursing values that are culturally appropriate could be developed and tested. Implications for public policy include academic-practice partnerships, inclusive admission and hiring practices that promote diversity, and identification of common values in the profession.

This study proposed to determine the reasons given by registered nurses for participation or nonparticipation in programs leading to a baccalaureate or higher degree. The purpose of this study was the following: identify the factors influencing registered nurses to return or not return to school for an advanced degree and to compare the needs (met or unmet) of the participants with the anticipated needs (met and unmet) of the nonparticipants.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Objective: To explore and compare the use of metacognitive, cognitive, and environmental resource management self regulatory learning (SRL) strategies used by a national sample of students enrolled in traditional and accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs. Background: Learner focused reforms in nursing education require students to assume more responsibility for learning. Nursing student responsibility for learning is reflected in their use of metacognitive, cognitive, and environmental resource SRL strategies. Learning strategy use promotes the development of clinical reasoning and lifelong learning skills requisite to meet the needs of complex patients in a dynamic healthcare environment. Method: Using Bandura’s social cognitive theory as a framework, the learning subscales of the Motivated Strategies for Learning Questionnaire were used to survey a national sample of 514 baccalaureate nursing students enrolled in their final semester of a traditional baccalaureate nursing program or a 12-month accelerated baccalaureate program. Delineation of student use of metacognitive, cognitive (rehearsal, organization, and elaboration), and environmental resource management (help seeking, peer learning, effort regulation, and time and study environment) SRL strategies was examined by program and in light of age, grade point average (GPA), weekly hours spent studying independently, and weekly hours spent in employment. Results: Differences in SRL strategy use were found between the program groups and between program groups divided by sample age. Older students in both the accelerated and traditional programs used more metacognition and elaboration SRL strategies than their younger traditional counterparts. Older traditional students used significantly more effort regulation SRL strategies than both groups of younger students. Both older groups of students studied significantly more, used significantly more time and study environment SRL strategies, and had significantly higher GPAs than the younger groups of students from both programs. Conclusions: This study provides a framework for learner focused nursing education by explicitly defining differences in SRL strategy use of students enrolled in traditional and accelerated baccalaureate nursing programs.

Denna kvalitativa fallstudie undersöker hur svenskämnet på IB-programmet regleras i styrdokumenten, hur styrdokumenten kan omsättas till undervisningspraktik samt vilka fördelar och nackdelar lärare som undervisar i både IB-svenskan och de nationella svenskkurserna Svenska A och Svenska B upplever med IB-svenskan. Fallstudiens metoder är en hermeneutisk styrdokumentsanalys av IB-svenskans styrdokument i relation till kursplanen för Svenska B, en halvstrukturerad observation av en lektion i IB-svenska och halvstrukturerade intervjuer med de två lärare som undervisar i IB-svenska på den undersökta gymnasieskolan. Som analysverktyg nyttjas ramfaktor- samt frirumsmodellen. De slutsatser som kan dras utifrån fallstudien är att de yttre ramarna för IB-svenskan i form av styrdokumenten är snävare än för kursen Svenska B. Kursplanen, betygssystemet, ”Prescribed Book List”, den tillgängliga tiden, elevunderlaget och gruppstorleken utgör alla ramfaktorer som inskränker lärarnas frirum, både det upplevda och reella, i utformningen av och undervisningen i IB-svenska. Detta ser lärarna både fördelar och nackdelar med. De tydligare uppgiftsspecifika betygskriterierna är ett exempel på en fördel med IB:s betygssystem, medan en nackdel med Prescribed Book List är att den gör det svårare att lyfta in dagsaktuell litteratur. Samtidigt uppmärksammar studien att det reella frirummet som ges i Svenska B-kursen inte alltid utnyttjas på grund av ramfaktorn tid. Vida yttre gränser innebär alltså inte per automatik ett stort upplevt frirum för lärarna.