abstract: There has been a growing emphasis on the education of future generations of engineers who will have to tackle complex, global issues that are sociotechnical in nature. The National Science Foundation invests millions of dollars in interdisciplinary engineering education research (EER) to create an innovative and inclusive culture aimed at radical change in the engineering education system. This exploratory research sought to better understand ways of thinking to address complex educational challenges, specifically, in the context of engineering-social sciences collaborations. The mixed methods inquiry drew on the ways of thinking perspectives from sustainability education to adapt futures, values, systems, and strategic thinking to the context of EER. Using the adapted framework, nine engineer-social scientist dyads were interviewed to empirically understand conceptualizations and applications of futures, values, systems, and strategic thinking. The qualitative results informed an original survey instrument, which was distributed to a sample of 310 researchers nationwide. Valid responses (n = 111) were analyzed to uncover the number and nature of factors underlying the scales of futures, values, systems, and strategic thinking. Findings illustrate the correlated, multidimensional nature of ways of thinking. Results from the qualitative and quantitative phases were also analyzed together to make recommendations for policy, teaching, research, and future collaborations. The current research suggested that ways of thinking, while perceived as a concept in theory, can and should be used in practice. Futures, values, systems, and strategic thinking, when used in conjunction could be an important tool for researchers to frame decisions regarding engineering education problem/solution constellations. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Learning, Literacies and Technologies 2019

La thèse interroge les transformations du capitalisme français à partir d’une technique d’acquisition de sociétés par endettement nommée Leveraged Buy­Out (LBO). Grâce au recueil de matériaux quantitatifs et qualitatifs, la thèse examine les conditions dans lesquelles les banquiers, les investisseurs et les dirigeants d’entreprise mobilisent cette « arme organisationnelle » et elle pénètre jusque dans l’entreprise pour en évaluer les effets. Le LBO révèle une transformation à la fois étendue et limitée du capitalisme français durant les dernières décennies. L’étendue du changement peut se mesurer à la croissance spectaculaire de ces opérations et à la diversité des acteurs qui participent au champ. Elles produisent de la valeur disponible qui permet aux investisseurs et aux dirigeants de constituer des fortunes considérables. Elles accélèrent le processus de destruction créatrice, le processus de rationalisation productive et recomposent le pouvoir dans l’entreprise. Mais l’arme organisationnelle a fait l’objet d’une traduction dans le langage du capitalisme français et a due être appropriée par les banquiers et les dirigeants. Le LBO est en quelque sorte auto­limité : sa mécanique comporte une fragilité intrinsèque qui peut déboucher sur des faillites d’entreprise et sur des bulles de crédit. Enfin, les plans de création de valeur peuvent manquer leur objectif car ils s’affrontent à la déstabilisation de l’ordre social d’entreprise due au changement de propriétaire et à l’incertitude sur son attitude future. Au final, le LBO tient son pouvoir paradoxal du fait qu’il contribue à faire bifurquer le capitalisme français loin du « compromis d’après­guerre » tout en conservant les aspects traditionnels de sa structure institutionnelle. / This dissertation deals with the transformations of contemporary French capitalism by analyzing the case of a take­over technique called the Leveraged Buy­Out (LBO). Based on both quantitative and qualitative materials, it examines the conditions under which investors, bankers and managers mobilize this “organizational weapon” and penetrates within companies to asses its effects. As an organizational weapon the LBO reveals both the extent and the limits of the transformation of French capitalism during the last decades. The extent of this transformation can be measured by the impressive growth of LBOs in France and the diversity of actors involved. They produce value to be captured to build enormous fortunes for shareholders and managers. They accelerate the process of creative destruction and the rationalization of production. By emphasizing the efficiency criterion of profitability, they reconfigure power relations within the firm. But change also contains significant limits. This organizational weapon had to be translated into the language of French capitalism and had to be appropriated by cautious bankers and suspicious managers. The LBO is somewhat self­limited: its mechanics contains an inherent fragility that can lead to company bankruptcies and credit bubbles. Finally, value creation plans have to survive the destabilization of the corporate order to be effective and create considerable uncertainty towards the future. In the end, the LBO derives its paradoxical power from it contributing to the bifurcation of French capitalism away from the « post­war compromise » while maintaining its underlying institutional structure.

This study explores learners’ online peer review practices during a four-week second language writing project. The project was developed at the college level, in a multi-section upper-level Spanish writing course. Using theories relevant to second language acquisition and second language writing the goals of the study were multiple: (1) to identify the types of comments students used and explore peer review in terms of the givers’ and receivers’ roles, (2) to examine students’ attitudes and self-perceptions about peer review, and (3) to develop an understanding of how students’ attitudes and self-perceptions may influence their feedback-giving procedures. The three goals were addressed using different methods of inquiry, and the findings obtained in the first phase guided the analysis that took place during the second phase. In the quantitative phase, the analyses of data sources (e.g., feedback comments given and received and students’ written drafts) show that giving feedback is a better predictor of final performance than receiving feedback. This principle of learning by reviewing is most evident when students offer feedback that identifies problems, gives a justification, or explains positive elements in the peers’ text. The qualitative phase builds on the quantitative results: it zooms in to the role of the feedback giver to further explore participants’ attitudes and perceptions towards peer review. The analyses of data sources (e.g., pre-study questionnaire, participants’ interviews and peer review simulation activity, and the teacher-researcher reflective journal) show that students do self-position themselves into a specific feedback-giving role. Moreover, the study also confirms that students’ perceptions regarding their attitudes and the comments they give to peers accurately corroborate their actual peer review performance. By combining both methods of inquiry, quantitative and qualitative methods, this study further examines the specific procedures that two case study students follow when offering feedback to a peer. In particular, the procedures for offering problem identification, suggestion, and explanation of the praise comments are analyzed in detail. The results are further interpreted through the lenses of the feedback-giving roles assumed by each of the case study students. Based on the overall findings, the study suggests broadening the notion of feedback: from a unilateral perspective in which comments are addressed from feedback givers to receivers, to a multilateral perspective in which the comments offered are meant to benefit both feedback givers and feedback receivers. The study ends with pedagogical implications for second language learning, implications for the field of second language acquisition, and perspectives for future research.

As the use of technology for personal, professional, and learning purposes increases, more and more assessments are transitioning from a traditional paper-based testing format to a computer-based one. During this transition, some assessments are being offered in both paper and computer formats in order to accommodate examinees and testing center capabilities. Scores on the paper-based test are often intended to be directly comparable to the computer-based scores, but such claims of comparability are often unsupported by research specific to that assessment. Not only should the scores be examined for differences, but the thought processes used by raters while scoring those assessments should also be studied to better understand why raters might score response modes differently. Previous comparability literature can be informative, but more contemporary, test-specific research is needed in order to completely support the direct comparability of scores. The goal of this thesis was to form a more complete understanding of why analytic scores on a writing assessment might differ, if at all, between handwritten and typed responses. A representative sample of responses to the writing composition portion of a large-scale high school equivalency assessment were used. Six trained raters analytically scored approximately six-hundred examinee responses each. Half of those responses were typed, and the other half were the transcribed handwritten duplicates. Multiple methods were used to examine why differences between response modes might exist. A MANOVA framework was applied to examine score differences between response modes, and the systematic analyses of think-alouds and interviews were used to explore differences in rater cognition. The results of these analyses indicated that response mode was of no practical significance, meaning that domain scores were not notably dependent on whether or not a response was presented as typed or handwritten. Raters, on the other hand, had a more substantial effect on scores. Comments from the think-alouds and interviews suggest that, while the scores were not affected by response mode, raters tended to consider certain aspects of typed responses differently than handwritten responses. For example, raters treated typographical errors differently from other conventional errors when scoring typed responses, but not while scoring the handwritten duplicates. Raters also indicated that they preferred scoring typed responses over handwritten ones, but felt they could overcome their personal preferences to score both response modes similarly. Empirical investigations on the comparability of scores, combined with the analysis of raters’ thought processes, helped to provide a more evidence-based answer to the question of why scores might differ between response modes. Such information could be useful for test developers when making decisions regarding what mode options to offer and how to best train raters to score such assessments. The design of this study itself could be useful for testing organizations and future research endeavors, as it could be used as a guide for exploring score differences and the human-based reasons behind them.

The goal of this study was to understand how a secondary principal uses a distributed perspective of leadership to support informal teacher leaders (ITLs) to improve classroom technology integration. Using a phenomenological lens, I employed a multi-site case study to inform the research goals. A conceptual framework based on Bandura’s (1977) social learning theory and Wenger’s (1998) communities of practice theory was used to guide the study’s methods and data collection. Data were collected in three phases. At each site, the first phase consisted of a digital survey with only closed-ended questions that was administered to all classroom teachers. The survey was analyzed using social network analysis to identify the ITLs at each school. During the second phase, individual interviews with the ITLs and the principal as well as a follow-up focus group interview with ITLs at each school were conducted. During the final phase of data collection, I observed the ITLs at work to understand how they embodied informal teacher leadership. Analyses of diverse data revealed how a principal influences the nature of informal teacher leadership in a school. Findings revealed that principals establish cultural expectations using teacher voice in leadership decisions, modeling the effective use of education technology, providing in-school and out-of-school leadership opportunities for ITLs, and establishing expectations for all teachers to assume roles of instructional leadership. It was clear in this study that although principals are not directly connected to the informal leading and learning network that occurs in a school, they indirectly influence the informal network by establishing school-wide cultural expectations for informal teacher leadership and by personally interacting with the ITLs.

Health care providers’ (N = 421) implicit perceptions of pregnant women based on age, race or ethnicity, marital status, and socioeconomic status are assessed through a true-experiment design. Ordinal and binary regression analyses revealed that respondents felt more pity for an unmarried than married pregnant woman and more anger toward an unemployed pregnant woman without health insurance compared to a pregnant woman who was employed with health insurance. Male, Asian, and Hispanic respondents were less likely to help the pregnant woman, Black and protestant respondents were more likely to express some degree of anger toward the pregnant woman, and male and protestant respondents assigned more responsibility to the woman for her pregnancy. Additionally, respondents’ open-ended suggestions varied based on the pregnant woman’s characteristics. Implications and future directions are discussed.

Despite conditions that would work against a small rural school in an impoverish area of rural Kentucky, Fairway Elementary School has managed to excel in its accountability measures. This study used a mixed-methods approach with data collected through interviews and MAP student growth scores in reading and mathematics. Five themes emerged from the qualitative data regarding school success: (1) a well-organized intervention system, (2) a focus on and overall enjoyment of the discipline of mathematics, (3) involvement of parents in school functions, (4) transparency of needs and organization of resources, and (5) an overall school culture that is competitive, impactful, and student-centered. Quantitative data revealed large improvements in student growth in reading and mathematics after the adoption of standard-aligned curricular programs in both subjects. Fairway Elementary continues to succeed in their efforts to improve not only student achievement, but the culture of their school within an impoverished community.

The prevalence of adults 65 years of age and older with significant pain is 25% to 50%, with many experiencing pain on a daily basis. The financial toll due to chronic pain is staggering; American's spend nearly $635 billion annually on health care. The purpose of this mixed methods study was to better understand the relationship between resilience, general health, and chronic pain in older adults. The quantitative question pertained to the relationship between resilience and both levels of chronic pain and general health in elderly chronic pain patients, and the qualitative question addressed participants' lived experiences of chronic pain. Resilience theory, which suggests that individual strengths enable people to rise above adversity, grounded the study. Participants were between ages 65 and 75 and were recruited from 3 pain centers and through the Survey Monkey participant pool; they included 55 older adults with chronic pain who responded to surveys (including Resilience scale, the Pain Impact Questionnaire-Revised (PIQ-R) Pain scale, and the Short Form 12 item (version 2) (SF-12v2) Health Survey, and 10 of them also participated in interviews. Regression analyses found no statistical relationships between resilience and either chronic pain or general health. Interview participants noted that to cope with pain they used personal strength, a positive outlook, religion, spirituality, pain management, physical activity, rest/sleep, managing their life, and religion and spirituality. Resilient behavior was inherent across various pain diagnoses, and participants appeared to place a great value in the social networks formed throughout life. These findings may help medical practitioners have a better understanding of the relationship between chronic pain and resilience in an aging, at-risk population.

Honors programs (HP) play an important role in defining the organizational culture of colleges and universities. In the college selected for this study, 30% of its honors students attrite to nonhonors programs, usually due to subpar grade point averages (GPAs). Using Sternberg's augmented theory of successful intelligence, a mixed-methods approach was employed to better understand how selection metrics related to HP student success. The ex post facto design included a 5-year (2009-2014) census sample of 375 HP students. Correlation and regression analyses were used to examine the relationship between college GPA and HP admissions metrics such as standardized test scores and measures of high school quality, schedule strength, rank, and GPA. The quantitative results indicated that only ACT test scores and high school GPA were weakly predictive of college GPA. The qualitative component focused on Sternberg's creative and practical intelligences to guide an exploration of HP admissions criteria with 2 admissions officers and 5 HP faculty members who were chosen for participation because of their direct involvement with selecting and teaching HP students. The qualitative results indicated the participants were interested in adding 3 components to the HP admissions criteria: art and music grades from high school, advanced epistemological thinking, and the ability to connect to faculty and resources. A white paper is included at the end of this study to help guide the process of revisiting admissions criteria to improve HP student completion. Positive social change is achieved, and both students and colleges benefit, when colleges more accurately enroll students into the academic programs they are most likely to complete.

Mentoring is defined as a reciprocal relationship between a less experienced individual (protégé) and a more experienced individual (mentor) that has consistent, regular contact over a period of time and is intended to promote mutual growth, learning, and development within the career context (Haggard, Dougherty, Turban & Wilbanks, 2011; Kram, 1985; Ragins & Kram, 2007). Inherent in this definition of mentoring is that individuals learn, develop, and grow from their mentoring interactions. Despite this, limited research explores the learning that occurs from mentoring relationships. The purpose of this study is to examine what mentors learn from mentoring experiences and how these experiences relate to mentor outcomes. The outcomes include mentoring self-efficacy, mentor behavioral change intentions, and mentor learning. I draw on the relational mentoring perspective (Ragins, 2012) and social learning theory (Bandura, 1971, 1977) to ground my hypotheses. My hypothesized model addresses three broad research questions: 1) What do mentors learn from their experiences with their protégés? 2) How do mentoring experiences relate to learning? and 3) Under what conditions do mentoring experiences relate to learning? I conducted a mixed methods study in an academic setting. My population included professors in North American doctoral granting universities and the PhD students they mentored. After identifying interested professors (mentors), I asked mentors to send study information to their PhD students (protégés). Both quantitative and qualitative data were collected via electronic survey. Surveys were time-lagged with three waves over a four month period. I found that mentors gained mentoring-specific, occupational-specific, and relational knowledge from mentoring their protégés. Additionally, mentors identified specific changes they wished to make to their mentoring behavior from their experiences with their protégés. I found that protégé positive role behavior and mentor positive psychosocial behavior were directly and positively related to career mentoring self-efficacy. Mentor positive career behavior was positively related to behavioral change intentions and protégé positive role behavior was positively related to relationship quality. I found that relationship quality did not mediate the relationship between role behaviors and mentor learning outcomes. Finally, I did not find support for the moderating effects of internal attribution for relationship quality, growth mindset, and feedback seeking. This study makes four specific contributions to the management field. First, research in mentoring often confounds relationship quality with behavior (e.g., Eby, Butts, Lockwood, & Simon, 2004; Eby, Durley, Evans, & Ragins, 2008) and outcomes (e.g., Eby, Butts, Durley, & Ragins, 2010; Ragins, 2012). By studying role behaviors, relationship quality, and mentor learning outcomes as distinct constructs, I provide clarity and an avenue for future mentoring research. Second, this study contributes to the mentoring literature by demonstrating what and how mentors learn from mentoring experiences. A significant contribution of this study is the identification of three types of mentor learning and behavioral change intentions. Third, I examined the theoretical explanation for mentoring role behaviors and mentor learning outcomes. Whereas I found that relationship quality did not explain the relationship between role behaviors and mentor learning, leader-member exchange provides a promising avenue for future research. Finally, I introduced mentoring self-efficacy as an important outcome of positive mentoring relationships, with mentors experiencing increased self-efficacy through positive experiences with their protégés.