Thesis (M.M.E.)--Boston University

Thesis (Ed.M.)--Boston University

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Human Ecology-Personal Financial Planning / Stuart Heckman / Maurice M. MacDonald / There were 19.8 million college students in the U.S. in the fall of 2017 (NCES, 2017). These students face many challenges and opportunities including new social networks, enhanced academic pressures, new living arrangement and new financial responsibilities. Many of these students have had positive role models who have socialized them through discussion and example (Shim, Barber, Card, Xiao, & Serido, 2010). These role models may have instilled positive self-efficacy in these students as well helping to prepare the students for the many challenges and opportunities in college. Some students have not had those role models. This research seeks to understand the impact of positive socialization and self-efficacy on students’ feelings of financial stress and then on their choices of how to cope with that stress. The financial challenges of paying for college are well publicized with 44.2 million Americans currently owing over $1.48 trillion in student loan debt (NCES, 2017). In this study, the impact of these financial challenges is viewed through the lens of the Transactional Model of Stress and Coping Theory which proposes that stress is an individual perception influenced by that individual’s sense of threat, vulnerability, and ability to cope (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984). There are two sets of empirical models; the first examines the influences in the appraisal process on perceptions of financial stress using OLS regression with the second empirical model examining the influences on their coping choices using logistic regression. Both models control for influences on stress and coping choices including demographic, socio-economic and academic factors. The results inform how financial self-efficacy and financial socialization influence financial stress as they suggest the importance of enabling financial self-efficacy by parents, educators and other leaders of children.

The Early College High School (ECHS) provides high school students with the opportunity to earn college credit while they are still in high school. The school in the study, the Metro East Web Academy, is one such school and currently has an ECHS population of 119 students. After close examination of the five aspects of the theoretical framework, the one area in need of closer scrutiny was the area of supports. Through this study, three main supports were examined: tutoring through Mt. Hood Community College, an advisory class that is not a required aspect of the ECHS program, and college information sessions. A survey was delivered to the 119 current students in the early college program and to 49 current graduates of the program. Various demographic groups did utilize supports to greater and lesser degrees: first year students did not access the tutoring center at the same rates as second or third year students; no students in any demographic groups chose the advisory or AVID and TRIO as the most helpful college support, and second language speakers did indicate that time management was a greater challenge to college success than did their non second language speaking peers.

Since the late 1990s, community colleges have changed strategies to enhance student success, moving from a traditional faculty-focused teaching model to a student-focused learning paradigm using O'Banion's 6 college learning principles to define and guide the learning college model. However, it is unclear how much the model is being used by community colleges or shared with stakeholders. The learning college model, supported by transformational language research on decision making and innovative thinking, provided a conceptual framework for this discourse analysis study. The purpose of this study was to discover the extent to which the language of the learning college model is present on publicly available community college webpages. The 17 website samples were drawn from colleges officially identified as elite learning colleges. Linguistic coding facilitated by applying the 27 discourse analysis questions developed by Gee to encompass O'Banion's 6 college learning principles provided evidence of student-focused learning as a goal at community colleges. Results indicated that learning college principles were presented by all 17 colleges in the study, represented on different pages of their websites. Determining transparent and accessible evidence of the learning college on community college websites provided colleges with a starting point to consider their procedures and the experiences of their students when determining which school is best for them to attend. Students at colleges with a clear learning college mission have the opportunity to collaborate in their learning experiences and to construct knowledge in ways that enhance student success and goal completion, so identifying the presence of such schools can change students' college outcomes.

Many colleges have faced the challenge of engaging faculty in teaching and learning professional development. The purpose of this project study was to investigate why full-time school of business faculty at a small community college in Canada do not complete college course design and student assessment training. Faculty members are urged to complete these trainings in order to implement their courses to successfully prepare students to graduate from college and launch professional careers. The research questions in this study focused on faculty perceptions regarding factors that have prevented their completion of this college's course design and student assessment professional development. The conceptual framework for this study was the Attention, Relevance, Confidence, and Satisfaction (ARCS) model of motivation developed by Keller. A bounded case study design using purposeful sampling was adopted and 12 faculty members from the department agreed to participate in the study. Data collection included interviews that were coded and analyzed for common themes. The key findings suggested that faculty would be interested in having input in mandated professional development so that sessions were more closely aligned with their learning needs and performance plans. The project, a white paper, included recommendations based on findings that may be used by the college to establish a faculty professional development policy that is connected to performance and refine the faculty professional development offerings to accommodate faculty learning needs. Student graduates of the college might benefit from this research as faculty, through professional development, become better able to address the knowledge and skills they require to be positioned to contribute effectively to their communities and the Canadian economy.

Prevalent literature about school counselors' professional development (PD) needs to prepare diverse learners for college is in short supply. Simultaneously, school counselors oftentimes encounter role confusion due to misperceptions of their job responsibilities by educational leaders. This discrepancy has led to the completion of noncounseling assignments, thus prohibiting counselors in this study from appropriate training and adhering to college readiness mandates for all students. This study explored high school counselors' attitudes about their PD needs to prepare diverse students for college in an urban populated school district located in southern Texas. The conceptual framework that guided this study defines school counselors' motivation to improve college access for diverse students when counselors learn information that is practical to their job activities. A qualitative case study was used to answer the question of how counselors perceive their PD needs to prepare diverse learners for college. Data were collected from 8 high school counselors through semistructured interviews and documents of counselors' PD profiles that were analyzed and coded to develop themes. Results established that participants had not received PD about college readiness, and they had not taken the initiative to advocate this need for themselves. Notably, counselors in the study indicated that developing a professional learning community with local colleges would be an effective approach to their professional growth. Although this study immediately benefits counselors in the participating school district, this study also provides information that may expand college enrollment for diverse students. Findings from this study not only will help close the gap between diverse students and their counterparts, but findings from this study may also help enhance PD for school counselors in surrounding school districts.

acase@tulane.edu / Alcohol and drug use to cope is a common phenomenon that is found in those who are of college age. Drinking and drug use to cope has negative short- and long-term outcomes including chronic disease and possibly death. Alcohol and drug use to cope may be more common when individuals are not able allocate other resources in order to cope with their strong uncomfortable feelings (specifically depression, anger, and anxiety) and stress. Women and people of color may be particularly vulnerable to these patterns of maladaptive coping. I hypothesize that increased negative affect, stress, and avoidant coping will be associated with more alcohol and drug use. I also predict that there will be increased alcohol and drug use behavior for women and people of color in the context of negative affect, stress, and avoidant coping. The AUDIT, Brief COPE, DASS, PROMIS Anger, PSS, Race-Related Stress Item, and AAQ-II were used in data collected cross-sectionally from 360 participants. Pearson’s correlations and multiple regressions were used to analyze the data. Men and women did not differ in their alcohol and drug use, though people of color did consume less alcohol then their white counterparts. Alcohol and drug use was highly correlated with negative affect and general stress. It also was found that men displayed more substance use behavior when faced with race-stress/perceived discrimination. Predicted relationships between race-related stress and alcohol and drug use and between avoidant coping and alcohol and drug use were not supported. In addition, none of the other hypothesized interactions were statistically significant predictors of alcohol and drug use. Implications for supporting college aged individuals are discussed. / 1 / Chinwendu Duru

Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 39-03, Section: A, page: 1280. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1978.

The purpose of this study was to develop a systematic approach for planning and implementing new educational programs and revise existing ones based on more and better information which could assist educational planners in decision making regarding curriculum planning. The Venezuelan Community College System served as a frame of reference for this study; the Caracas Community College within the system, as the pioneer of the community college movement in Venezuela, was used as the specific reference point. / The methodology used in this study was reported in four parts. First, the general framework for the study, the systems analysis approach, was discussed. Second, from extensive research of curriculum development models an eight-step model was developed. Third, the simulation technique was used as a device to assist planners in decision making regarding curriculum planning before implementation could take place. Fourth, sensitivity analysis was conducted to determine how sensitive the model was to changes introduced in some variables and how these changes might affect the final results. / The computer program--SAMPIC--designed for this study was useful in first, creating a model (Model C) from which a number of reports were generated for decision-making purposes; second, in conducting the sensitivity analysis in which changes in job opportunities were made for five selected industries and several jobs within those industries. / The reports provided by this model should be useful to planners in determining (1) the educational programs and courses that should be offered or eliminated, (2) the adequate number of students to be enrolled in each educational program given demand and supply in order to avoid subemployment and unemployment among the graduates, (3) the necessary number of faculty, (4) the total cost per educational program regarding instructional and non-instructional cost, and (5) the effect on the total educational program or part of it when some conditions are changed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 43-08, Section: A, page: 2537. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1982.