Typescript. / Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Hawaii at Manoa, 1983. / Bibliography: leaves 153-160. / xvi, 176 leaves, bound ill. 29 cm

Although it may not seem possible that a student could graduate from an Ivy League institution without basic writing skills, a 2003 Chronicle of Higher Education article concluded that it is not only possible, but that it does happen. Some students are actually suing colleges and universities because they do not believe they have been taught the skills necessary to succeed in the area of written communication. This deficiency reflects poorly on universities, and even small liberal arts colleges are not exempt from this problem. This dissertation was driven by a desire to learn how professors at one small liberal arts college viewed the use of writing in their courses. The professors were interviewed to determine how they viewed writing, how they viewed their students" writing, how familiar they were with writing-across-the-curriculum practices, and how much writing was assigned in their courses. The study results indicated that many professors use writing extensively in their courses, and that they considered their assignments appropriate and successful in achieving their goals. The study also revealed that some professors use little or no writing, and their reasons for doing so were varied. The most common explanation was a lack of time to create assignments and to read and assess written assignments. Some professors also concurred that they felt uncomfortable using writing because their own writing skills were lacking. Other professors were discouraged by poor student writing and had given up on using additional writing assignments. The most surprising result from this study was the professors" lack of knowledge concerning the use of writing as a learning and thinking tool. Most were comfortable with the standard research paper, case study type of writing assignments, but few used writing-across-the-curriculum methods or practices. Writing prompts, journals, and non-graded pieces were not part of their teaching repertoire. Even professors in the field of education reported that they have not adopted the newer teaching strategies. The concluding chapter addressed faculty concerns and provided suggestions for overcoming these concerns. / Ph. D.

With the ever-evolving advancements in technology, public not-for profit higher educational institutions have experienced a significant increase in the demand for distance learning. As a result, with the changing needs of students and institutions’ ambition to remain competitive and relevant in the industry of higher education, public not-for profit higher education institutions are continuously thriving to ensure that they are offering the best quality of education that can be provided for purposes of distance learning. When considering faculty, faculty play a significant role in making certain that the quality of education is maintained and reflected throughout curriculums and programs despite the instructional method selected. Therefore, understanding their thoughts and perceptions of distance learning is paramount to uncover areas for improvement since they are the ones that experience the impact of distance learning first hand. Therefore, the results of this qualitative case study of a college within a major four-year public not-for profit higher education institution were used to determine the attitudes, perceptions, and concerns of faculty members who teach in a distance learning environment. Uncovering and bringing clarification to underlying perspectives that faculty grapple with is imperative for institutions to improve organizationally. As a result, removing obstacles that can hinder change can assist institutions’ administration to discover innovative approaches that foster an atmosphere where distance learning can thrive and increase a greater embrace by faculty. / Includes bibliography. / Dissertation (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2019. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

The subject of this study was academic cheating among college students. Academic cheating has been described as both epidemic and endemic. It is considered a significant problem because it is occurring on all college campuses with high frequency and because it undermines the foundation of the college as a learning institution. A review of the literature on cheating behaviors revealed percentages of self-reported cheating ranging from 23.7% to 98%.The present study explored the relationship between academic dishonesty and student backgrounds, along with student attitudes. A replication of the research previously done by Melody Graham, Jennifer Monday, Kimberly O'Brien, and Stacey Steffen, (1994) was conducted at Indiana Institute of Technology (IIT). The faculty and the students were included in the research study. Three main areas explored in the present study concerned the relationship of student background variables, perceptual differences between faculty and students, and faculty background variables to attitudes of cheating. More lenient attitudes toward cheating were found with the variables of race, religiosity, coming from urban areas, living in dorms or college apartments, majoring in business, and playing sports.The findings of the present study indicated that 94.81% of the student respondents had engaged in one of the seventeen cheating behaviors that were identified in the Graham et al. study. However, these seventeen cheating behaviors included some acts that were less serious than others. Also, it should be noted that many students engage is such behaviors infrequently. The seventeen behaviors along with an explanation of the tabulations for the 94.81% statistic, were included on pages 221-222 of the study. The severity rating of each behavior was listed in Table 7, page 134.A Synthesis Model of Cheating Decision Making was developed as an implication of the research conducted for the present study. This Model can assist faculty in understanding the cheating decision process of students. Also, students can use the Model to facilitate a self evaluation of their decisions. / Department of Educational Leadership

This study was an investigation of attitudes toward perceived values of physical activity among students and faculty within the Department of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation at North Texas State University. The specific purposes of this study were to determine if a significant difference in attitudes toward each of six values of physical activity exist (1) among men at four educational levels, (2) among women at four educational levels, (3) among undergraduate men who chose to major or minor in either health, physical education or recreation. (4) among undergraduate women who chose to major or minor in either health, physical education, or recreation, (5) between part-time and full-time faculty men, (6) between part-time and full-time faculty women, (7) among graduate men who work in either elementary, secondary, college, or recreation programs, and (8) among graduate women who work in either elementary, secondary, college, or recreation programs. Finally, the study was to determine if significant differences in attitudes toward perceived values of physical activity among subjects within each of twenty-six selected groups within the professional preparation program.

Southern Baptist-Related college faculty attitudes and opinions on areas of higher education most important to the professoriate as identified by the Carnegie Foundation in its 1989 National Survey of Faculty are described in this study and compared with the data from the survey reported by the Carnegie Foundation in The Condition of the Professoriate: Attitudes and Trends, 1989 and Scholarship Reconsidered: Priorities of the Professoriate. The data were compared in the eight areas: goals of collegiate education, academic standards, attitudes about student life, teaching, research, and service, status of the profession, views of the institution, participation in decision-making, and general observations of higher education.

Twenty-first century learners have bought into a cafeteria-style mentality for obtaining higher education that learning should be available at the student's convenience. Institutions that ignore this postmodern trend will likely find their applicant pools dwindling along with significant reductions in entering class sizes. Students will simply choose other schools able to provide respected, accredited, and useful learning which fits their busy lifestyles. Since 1987, Dallas Theological Seminary (Texas), a 76-year-old graduate school of theology in the conservative, evangelical, free-church movement, has offered distance learning classes in both extension and print-based delivery models. Because the faculty plays a pivotal role in the successful or unsuccessful implementation of online courses (McKenzie, Mims, Bennett, & Waugh, 2000), the present study uncovered the attitudes of full-time, graduate theological faculty at Dallas Theological Seminary (DTS) regarding distance learning and the likelihood of faculty to adopt this delivery innovation. Bruce Manning's (1976) Trouble-Shooting Checklist (TSC) for Higher Education Institutions was the instrument used in the study. The TSC is a nonparametric test designed to uncover differences between the observed and expected levels of acceptance that a department, program, or institution possesses regarding change toward distance learning in contrast to residential learning. The checklist's two major purposes are to provide an overall norm-referenced, predictive score estimating the organization's likelihood of adopting and implementing an innovation and to profile the strengths and weaknesses of an organization's environment (culture) relative to the adoption and implementation of innovations. Five scales provide a comprehensive understanding of the organizational climate, personality and leadership characteristics of participants, communication pathways within the organization, the degree of sophistication or expertise within the organization, and the receptivity of the students. An official administration of the instrument was conducted involving all full-time faculty at DTS. Frequency counts, percentage distributions, and the chi-square goodness-of-fit statistic were used to analyze the data at the .05 alpha level. A summary of findings from the questionnaire was prepared indicating that significant change must take place within the faculty culture of DTS before distance learning innovations can be implemented.

The primary goal of undergraduate nursing programs is to prepare students for nursing practice. Achievement of this goal may be hindered by reliance on the scientific method in nursing education. Nursing practice often requires the ability to make judgments in situations of ambiguity without the benefit of objective data. The ability to rapidly "read" a situation and respond appropriately is critical to safe nursing care. This requires education in the intuitive way of knowing. Intuitive development may be impeded when students are taught to rely on the rational, scientific way of knowing. The end result may be that students are unprepared to meet the demands of nursing practice. Research on intuition in nursing has focused on nursing practice. To date, no study has explored intuition in nursing education. This study provides data on intuition in undergraduate nursing curricula. A descriptive research study was done on faculty members of the National League for Nursing (NLN). An intuition survey was developed and pilot tested on 10 undergraduate nursing faculty. The survey was sent to a random sample of 676 NLN faculty members nationally. A 51% $(N = 330)$ response rate was achieved. The survey included: (a) intuition attitudes, (b) attitudes toward including intuition in the undergraduate nursing curriculum, (c) intuition in the current curricula, (d) practices related to development and teaching of intuition, and (e) preparation for teaching about intuition. The major findings are: (1) Faculty expressed attitudes of value for intuition. (2) Faculty expressed attitudes that support the importance and appropriateness of including intuition but had concerns about including intuition. (3) Intuition is currently included in the undergraduate nursing curriculum on a limited bases. (4) Faculty use many strategies to develop their own intuition and to help students develop intuition. The majority of faculty rate the strategies as effective. (5) A limited number of respondents had preparation to teach about intuition and the majority expressed interest in learning more about intuition. (6) Program type, years in nursing education, and highest degree in nursing made a difference on intuition attitudes.

High faculty morale and job satisfaction are vital for optimum performance and important to the quality and vitality of the academic enterprise. However, research on faculty morale and job satisfaction has historically been limited to faculty at traditional comprehensive institutions and specific professional programs. Faculty who conduct biomedical research at academic health centers experience substantial differences in employment expectations and how they are funded than other faculty. The purpose of this study was to explore how personal and professional factors contribute toward positive morale and job satisfaction for faculty in biomedical research programs at one academic health center. This qualitative study used individual semi-structured interviews to explore work-life aspects associated with self-reported levels of morale and job satisfaction. Results from this study indicated that biomedical research faculty enjoy their work and highly value collaborating with their colleagues. The persistent need to fund at least half of their salaries through soft money, the loss of valued colleagues due to turnover, and a lack of identity with their institution decreases job satisfaction. It was also found that job satisfaction is expressed differently by gender and length of employment at one's current institution. Female faculty expressed feelings of limited support for those raising families while faculty employed longer expressed lower satisfaction than those recently hired. Better understanding of what influences job satisfaction and morale for this population will help academic health centers further support their research faculty as well as increase positive faculty identification with the institution.

Nurse educators are tasked with preparing safe, competent nurses but are faced with unique challenges in helping students with disabilities. Students with learning disabilities require accommodations which are alterations or adjustments within the learning environment and are developed by the instructor. The purpose of this 3-manuscript dissertation, guided by the universal design for instruction (UDI), was to explore the attitudes and instructional methods used among nursing faculty related to teaching students with learning disabilities. Three research questions were framed as parallel studies to address the gap in understanding how faculty view nursing students with disabilities, how clinical specialty influences faculty's teaching methods, and what UDI teaching methods faculty use. Nursing faculty who teach in the classroom for prelicensure nursing programs were recruited to complete the Instructional Methods and Attitudes Faculty Survey. Data from 102 participants were analyzed using a Wilcoxon-Mann-Whitney test, which indicated significant differences between the use of inclusive teaching methods (hands-on or interactive and problem solving, communication and interaction among students brainstorming, and providing class outlines or lecture slides before class). There were no differences when comparing faculty attitudes toward UDI familiarity, disability familiarity, and clinical specialty. The implementation of UDI promotes social change by creating an inclusive learning environment that increases the likelihood of success for students with learning disabilities. Future research should focus on best practices to educate faculty about inclusive teaching paradigms, such as UDI and explore faculty and student perspectives about the use and implementation of UDI.