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Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of students majoring in vocal music and theatre, regarding the instruction they received in their undergraduate curriculum on vocal health education. Research questions focused on perceptions of: (a) vocal hygiene strategies, (b) the connection between the speaking and singing voice, (c) vocal rehabilitation and the professionals to contact and (d) students’ level of trust for their voice teacher. Methods: A descriptive research design with qualitative analysis was used to explore the research questions. A survey was developed by adapting questions from a similar study by Beeman (2016). Permission was granted for the adaption by the author. The survey went through two stages of review and revision by an expert panel of professionals across vocal music and theatre, followed by a pilot study of 13 undergraduate vocal music majors. The final survey contained 57 items, incorporating two forms of questions, a 6-point Likert scale and multiple choice. It was disseminated to undergraduate vocal music and theatre majors across the United States via Survey Monkey TM. Results: Students reported receiving knowledge on vocal health from their voice teachers and implementing it. However, they indicated low levels of compliance for specific vocal hygiene parameters. Additionally, students recognized the connection between the singing and speaking voice, they were unclear of the role of the speech-language pathologist in voice care, and they indicated trust in their voice teacher as it pertained to their voice and personal life. Conclusions: A new approach to promote understanding and compliance of voice care strategies needs to be implemented in the undergraduate setting. Connecting both performance majors and speech-language pathology majors in an interprofessional education collaboration may prove to be mutually beneficial to both the clinician and the performer

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This dissertation examines the strategies that students use for navigating their way through college and the steps they take in preparation for college graduation. I wrote this dissertation because I wanted to understand how students go from being freshmen not long out of high school to young adults prepared (or not prepared) to enter the workforce or attend graduate or professional school. Past research has found that as high school students, many young people are generally directionless when it comes to learning about different career paths (Schneider and Stevenson 2006). Moreover, in the U.S., there is very little structural support for helping students navigate the transition from student to worker. While universities may offer programs that can aid students in finding jobs or applying to graduate schools, it is largely up to students to seek these programs out. This dissertation therefore investigates the question, "How much do college students plan for their post-college lives?" To accomplish my research goals, I focus on two areas in which students may demonstrate planfulness: choosing a college major and planning for post-graduation careers or schooling. I seek to answer three general questions. First, what reasons do students give for attending college? Second, how planful are students when selecting their college majors? Third, how planful are students in preparing for their future educational and occupational goals? To answer these questions, I collected my own data using a mixed methodology research design that included in-depth interviews with 31 students and a survey of nearly 500 college seniors at a large, northeastern university. This study adds to the literature on the transition to adulthood by studying the school-to-work transition. It also contributes to the sociology of education literature by shedding light on how college students make decisions about college majors. The survey shows that many students simultaneously hold both utilitarian and liberal arts philosophies toward higher education. The majority of survey respondents reported that they were motivated to attend college because of both the extrinsic and intrinsic rewards that a college education offers. Meanwhile, the in-depth interviews suggest that parental expectations, which were also commonly cited by survey respondents as reasons for attending college, are very powerful influences in students' decisions to attend college. Regarding college major choices, the survey results suggest that students find school experience more influential than the prospects of a potential career. In total, about two-thirds of respondents gave "present-oriented" rather than "future-oriented" reasons for choosing their majors. When looking at individual reasons for selecting a major, I found that passion for or interest in a subject was by far the reason cited most often as most important. The in-depth interview data provide further insight into the relationship between college majors and post-graduation plans. These interviews show that it is common for students to set post-graduation goals after they have chosen a college major. This was true regardless of whether students were present or future-oriented when making their initial college major decision. It was not unusual for students to select a major because of an interest in a particular occupation, but later decide that they no longer wanted to pursue that profession. Thus, I find that students can be future-oriented when selecting a major as freshmen or sophomores yet uncertain about their short-term post-graduation goals during their senior year. I also look at other ways that students can demonstrate planfulness, including seeking advice from others and participating in "development activities", which are activities that allow students to explore their interests. The survey shows that students vary in how often they seek advice from professors, advisors, and parents. On the other hand, most survey respondents participated in at least one development activity. The survey shows that social class was associated with these planfulness indicators. Both household income and parental education predicted the frequency with which students sought advice from their parents about choosing majors and making post-graduation plans. Family background was also associated with participating in activities that might help students explore their interests. Respondents from families with higher household incomes participated in more career-related activities than respondents from families with lower household incomes. Meanwhile, respondents with college-educated parents participated in more academic research activities than their classmates without college-educated parents. In my last analysis, I return to my qualitative research and introduce a typology of student planfulness that can be used to describe the different approaches students use in preparing for life after college graduation. In my conclusion, I suggest future areas of research that could extend our knowledge of student planfulness. I also provide policy recommendations that address how universities could help students make well-informed decisions about college majors, career goals, and plans for graduate study. / Sociology

It is the purpose of this study to contribute to the information essential to sound guidance by determining whether the aptitudes of college students in Home Economics, as measured by the Differential Aptitude Test, are reflected in the actual achievement grades of these students.

The problem with which this study is concerned is the association between systematic exposure to information about computers and attitude changes to computers among students who are non-computer majors. The experimental design includes a semester length course in introduction to computers at a small community college in Texas. The study has a twofold purpose. The first is to determine the pre-instruction direction and valence of attitudes of non-computer majors towards computers. The second is to determine the post-instruction direction and valence of attitudes of non-computer majors towards computers. A questionnaire was used to measure attitudes of students towards computers as a pre-test and post-test. The test results were encoded for computer statistical analysis. To determine the valence of changes in attitudes, chi-square tests were applied for each statement of the questionnaire with combinations between pre-test and post-test and each of the variables: gender, age, student performance, and instructor. To determine changes of direction in attitudes, a phi coefficient was applied for each statement of the questionnaire. The following conclusions may be drawn from the data collected for this study. 1. Based upon gender, age, student performance, and the variable of instructor, there was a significant difference in the valence of changes in attitudes towards computers. 2. Based upon gender, age, student performance, and the variable of instructor, there was no difference in the direction of change in attitudes towards computers.

A college degree is not a homogenous investment across fields of study (Arcidiacono, 2004; Zhang & Thomas, 2005). Even after accounting for selection, STEM degrees pay substantially more than other fields (Altonji et al., 2012) and earnings disparities across majors have increased substantially over time (Altonji et al., 2014). Even though STEM degrees yield greater labor market returns, the number of STEM graduates and professionals remains low and the disparities in STEM attrition are alarming. As a result, STEM education has been elevated as a national priority in the U.S. and considered to be in high demand in the global economy. Yet, there is a lack of consensus on how to boost STEM graduation. My dissertation is motivated by the need to improve the number and composition of STEM graduates and to evaluate policies that can mitigate STEM attrition. In my dissertation I focus on the effect of college grades and grading policies on STEM graduation. College grades are important determinants of course and major choices and research suggests that grades have differing effects for STEM minorities and non-minorities. Moreover, disparities in grades between STEM (low-grading departments) and non-STEM (high-grading departments) due to grade inflation and compression of grades near the top affect sorting into majors, making grades less informative and distorting major choices (Bar et al. 2012). In my first essay, I examine the possible differential effect of college grades on STEM attrition gap by gender and race. Non-grade explanations such as pre-college factors, instructor gender and race and peer effects are also examined as potential determinants of STEM attrition gaps. However, I focus on grades because there is evidence that grades affect sorting into majors, and grades may have differing effects for minorities and non-minorities. This review uncovers evidence supporting the importance of institutional grading policies to shape student’s major and course choices. Despite the fact that institutional grading policies have been studied at some extent, none of these studies have addressed the differential effect of these policies on those who might be more sensitive to grades (i.e., women and racial minorities). In the second essay, I explore what factors explain the gender and race disparities in STEM attrition. This study utilize Florida’s Education Data Warehouse to conduct a reweighted Oaxaca decomposition of racial and gender differences in STEM attrition, with a particular focus on how STEM- intending students respond to college grades in introductory courses. The decomposition results show that women mainly leave STEM by switching into non-STEM fields, particularly due to non-STEM college factors such as grades and credits attempted in lower-division courses. In contrast, racial minorities mainly leave STEM by dropping out of college towards graduation, and they differentially leave STEM due to their lower high school preparation in STEM and consequently lower grades in lower-division STEM courses during their first two years of enrollment. In the third essay (which is also my job market paper) I examine the effect of changing the grading scale from whole-letter grades to plus/minus grades on STEM graduation/major choice. In this study, I examine the effect of changing the grading scale from whole-letter grades to plus/minus grades on STEM graduation/major choice. I use administrative data from the Florida Department of Education that combines students’ pre-college characteristics with students’ enrollment and transcript records. I rely on a difference in differences framework that compares STEM graduation/major choice rates during the early 2000s versus the late 1990s for students whose grading differentials between STEM and non-STEM courses were reduced versus students whose grades were not differentially affected. I find significant effects of changing the grading scale on reducing grading differentials and improving STEM graduation/major choice. These results represent the first direct, quasi-experimental evidence regarding the effect of changing the grading scale.

Advisors use placement test scores as a means of predicting students' proficiency in mathematics; however, there is a debate about how accurately these scores predict students' success. This nonexperimental quantitative study focused on one test, the Texas Success Initiative (TSI). The purpose of the study was to determine whether the test is an accurate predictor of students' success in college algebra for students in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) majors, and whether students who took the test continued pursuing a STEM major. The theoretical framework for this study was Tinto's theory of retention. Statistical Package for the Social Sciences software was used to generate 500 random cases from 2,339 students ranging from 18 to 50 years of age who enrolled in Math 1414 during the Spring 2015 to Spring 2017 semesters at the Texas community college setting. Hierarchical multiple and logistic regression were performed to test whether the TSI scores significantly predicted students' math grade and retention. The hierarchical multiple regression revealed that the TSI score explained only 13% of the variance in math grades (R2 = .13). The logistic regression showed that the TSI score explained a variance of only 7% (Nagelkerke R2 = .07) and yielded a higher number of false positives in predicting retention in a STEM mathematics track after controlling for high school GPA, gender, ethnicity, and age. Findings revealed no significant relationship between TSI scores and students' academic success and retention. The results from this study may contribute to positive social change by providing academic advisors with additional knowledge of the best practice for placing students to achieve success in college math courses.

In prior research focusing on teaching and learning science, a definitive trend toward a new approach for undergraduate non-major science courses has emerged. Instruction should be refocused from information-transfer to giving students experiences that allow them to explore and engage in their new knowledge and find ways to integrate it into their everyday lives. One technique is to focus class material on real issues of interest and relevance. Course development that allows for civic engagement and self discovery connects learning to the lives of students and their communities. This study used a quasi-experimental design to see if students who engaged in their learning had improved learning gains, increased motivation, and ability to relate it to their lives. The results showed that students were more motivated to connect the subject to their lives when they engaged through civic engagement projects. Techniques used in this research can be used in the future to develop science courses that focus on the needs of 21st century learners.

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