In an effort to better prepare students to become productive members of the work force, educators must grant students the opportunities to become critical thinkers. Students need to be able to learn to inquire, create, and think critically in order to obtain meaningful information from the abundance of knowledge that is accessible to them through the Internet and the World Wide Web. This quasi-experimental study examined the effects of online collaborative problem solving processes during a multimedia case study. Sixty-one students in two undergraduate management information systems classes agreed to participate. The experimental class, section 01, was required to use the online collaboration forum to discuss the multimedia Powertel Case Study with their group members, while the control class, section 02, was not. Analyses were run to determine any differences in the two sections on actual learning, perceived learning, and attitudes toward MIS. This study also investigated the problem solving process in the online discussion forum and the relationships of that process with actual and perceived learning, as well as attitudes toward MIS. Results of the study indicate that there were no significant differences in the media used to communicate with each other in collaborative groups, but instead the difference resulted from the depth and breadth of the contributions. For those students who participated in the online collaboration forum, it was clear that the better the students were at participating in the discussion forum, the more positive their attitude toward MIS became and the more confident they became in their own abilities concerning MIS. This research indicates that the students increased their actual learning and reported positive evaluations of the Powertel Case Study. Students reported that the case study was useful in improving higher order thinking skills. Multimedia case studies used in the MIS classes, therefore, can provide a venue for students to improve the teamwork and higher order thinking skills needed upon entering the workforce.

The notion of the self in Western literature has overwhelmingly focused on separation and individuality, and has conflated knowing with being. This work proposes to retell the story of the modern Western individual through the themes of birth, time, and silence (as they represent the lifecycle), in an effort to locate the self as one who is called forth by the other, as discussed in the works of Emmanuel Levinas. By re-theorizing the moments of birth, time, and silence as moments of living for the other, rather than as moments in which selves become more autonomous, the self can be understood as an ever-changing entity whose primary responsibility is to respond to the other. Each theme is discussed in its historical context and contemporary function in education, and is subsequently analyzed as a moment of living for the other. Birth is discussed through the works of Friedrich Nietzsche, and the author argues that the metaphor of giving birth to the other and letting students give birth is appropriate for teaching. Time is addressed through the works of Henri Bergson and Michel Serres. In this chapter, time is likened to poetry, and the notion of modern time is criticized for its insistence on linearity, for which Bergson and Serres offer alternate possibilities. The work returns to Serres to discuss the possibility of experiencing silence as an opportunity for meeting the other, rather than signaling an end. Through this approach, knowledge is removed as the foundation of the self, and meaning, as created with the other through an ethical relation, is posited as an alternative to knowledge. Ultimately, the retelling of the story of life through birth, time, and silence offers new ways to imagine existing ethically in the world. The conclusion asks the reader to reconsider creativity and peace in terms of rethinking the self through the other.

Through the advancement of mobile technology and their increasing affordability, mobile devices have transformed from a means of communication to tools for socialization, entertainment, work, and learning. The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to investigate how undergraduate students are using mobile devices for learning both inside and outside the classroom and how actual student use compares to faculty perceptions of student use. Faculty and student perceptions regarding the impact that the use of mobile devices would have on student learning, participation and engagement were also examined. Finally, the study explored the potential for adoption of mobile device use in the classroom. Data were collected through a survey administered to university faculty and undergraduate students and through interviews conducted with representative samples from both groups. Results suggest that faculty perceptions about student use do not match actual student use of mobile devices. While faculty believe students are primarily using mobile devices to socialize, students report that they are performing a wide variety of educational tasks. Although some instructors ban the use of mobile devices in the classroom and prefer mobile learning to remain outside the classroom, students believe that a more formal use both inside and outside the classroom could be beneficial. Students seem more ready to adopt the use of mobile devices for learning while faculty are concerned that devices may be distracting and limiting.

Inspired by the researchers work with five displaced New Orleans teenagers in the months after Hurricane Katrina, this research examined twelve young adult novels in which characters face a loss of or damage to home in the wake of a natural or humanly-caused disaster. The study sought ways in which home is represented in young adult literature of disaster by analyzing passages in which characters discuss, remember, imagine, and rebuild or reestablish home after its damage or loss. A phenomenological approach was used to examine these fictional experiences of home in order to discern their contribution to an understanding of the concept of home itself. Findings indicated that the novels represented home as a complex concept brought to light in its absence. Characters experiences of home included elements of the social (relationship with others in home places); the personal (identity and ownership); the physical/geographical (locations that are home); the instinctual (an innate drive to seek a place of safety and shelter); the emotional (emotional connections to home and the emotional upheaval of displacement); and the temporal/historical (time spent in home places). With disaster continuing to strike across the globeearthquakes, tsunamis, hurricanes, tornadosa deeper understanding of the nature of displacement and the ways in which home is conceptualized and rebuilt is of value for both the teens who read young adult literature and the adults who work with them. By attending to the ways in which characters grapple with notions of home in the face of disaster, teachers, librarians, and researchers can gain insight into the needs of those displaced from home. Readers, both teens and adults, can gain empathy regarding the experience of homes loss, and those who find themselves struggling with recreating a sense of home can find comfort and insight in characters experiences.

Student veterans are flooding colleges and universities in numbers not seen since the end of World War II. Little is known about how these contemporary student veterans navigate the transition from military life to campus life. Few studies have documented the transition experiences of these student veterans by institution type or cultural region of the country. In Louisiana, nearly 7,000 students receive military benefits for higher education with this number steadily increasing (U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, 2009, June). This study explores the transition experience of student veterans from military life to university life at four institutions of higher education in Louisiana. Transition experiences are compared by institution type. The notion of the southern military tradition and its impact on the transition experiences of Louisiana student veterans is considered. The researcher uses case study methodology to address the research questions. Schlossberg, Waters, and Goodmans (1995) theory of adult transition aids in developing an understanding of how male combat veterans of the Global War on Terror transition from military life to college life. Findings and implications from this research will deepen the awareness of how institution type and regional culture influence transition resulting in a richer understanding of contemporary student veterans transition experiences and needs that influence student veteran persistence.

Reflecting on my past two unsettling journeys of teaching in China and America produces questions about the teaching of truth in chapter one. The question of truth as it relates to the teachers role in the classroom raises not only issues of what and how we should teach, but challenges the very purpose of teaching. When I explored Martin Heideggers phenomenological perspective on (un)truth for insights into taken-for-granted assumptions about education and the purposes of teaching and learning, I noticed a strong resonance between his notion of clearing and the essential spirit of Taoism, the Tao of inaction. This led me to coin the word, en-teaching to express my idea of how teachers can teach through paradoxically non-teaching, without implying a binary opposition between teaching and non-teaching. In reviewing selected literature critical of the teaching-as-telling in America and China, I suggest in chapter two that the traditional direct teaching of truth has been entrenched in the public school systems in both countries as not only a teaching method but an implicit educational culture. The essence of this teaching-as-telling in both countries is the same the will to control. What alternatives might there be to the method of teaching-as-telling? How can we teach otherwise? Or can we? Since I struggle with the question of truth related to teaching and this question assumes the greatest urgency in Heideggers thought (Sallis, 20), chapter three focuses on Heideggers complex explorations of (un)truth in clearings between brightness and darkness along with his concept of let learn through always-being-in-the-world. In chapter four, I go further to explore my notion of en-teaching based upon Heideggers thoughts of teaching and learning with insights from Lao Tzu and Dewey. In the last chapter, I try to not only reflect upon all previous chapters but respond to the practical question, What does en-teaching mean to me as I face my class on Monday morning?

International students on American college and university campuses represent important under-recognized complex non-homogeneous minority presence commonplace at institutions of higher education in the early twenty-first century. The impact of international students on institutions of higher education is generally recognized from four primary perspectives including academic, cultural, political and economic characteristics (Funk, 2001). International students represent 3.5 percent (671,616 of 19,103,000) of all students attending institutions of higher education in the United States in the 2008-09 academic year(Institute of International Education, 2011). International students were estimated to generate $17.66 billion to the US economy and $118.9 million to the State of Louisiana economy with the inclusion of educational and living expenses in the 2008-09 academic year(NAFSA: National Association of Foreign Student Advisors, 2011). Previous research determined these estimates based on secondary data underestimated true economic return when compared to analysis based on primary data (Funk, 2001). Accurate economic estimation may positively affect state-level funding policy to institutions of higher education campuses. The problem addressed by this study is the determination of the economic impact of international students to the study campus and regional economy. The research questions addressed included determination of the international student economic impact to the study campus, Louisiana State University, and the community, Baton Rouge, Louisiana. Cost and benefit economic impact assessment provided economic return with data summarization calculated using SPSS analysis. Data collection occurred at the study campus, Louisiana State University and A & M College, and included secondary data from university records, state budget and planning documents and primary data gathered from students. Stratified proportional random sampling of the sub-population of international students at Louisiana State University provided a proportional representation of the student population. The study provides a determination of the economic impact of the international student population of LSU on the university and community through exploratory and confirmatory examination of new primary student data compared with previous research and generally accepted models that made use of secondary data to generate reported results.

Research describes faculty of color as a key to an equitable future for higher education. However, this approach problematically places the responsibility for multiculturalism on the shoulders of these individuals. This embedded, critical case study explored the racial climate of an academic unit in a southern, predominantly white institution. Through the lens of critical race theory I examined how the racial climate of the unit impacted the perceptions, roles, and relationships differently for faculty of color, doctoral students of color, white faculty, and white doctoral students and how the case in question exemplified Rankin and Reasons (2008) six dimensions of campus climate within the Transformational Tapestry Model (TTM). <br><br> Data collection included twenty one-hour individual interviews with doctoral students, faculty, and administrators. This interview data was supplemented with a participant observation of a focus group interview, participant observation in a Diversity Team meeting, document analysis of the units five-year diversity plan, course syllabi, learning outcomes, and publications of the unit. <br><br> The perceptions, roles and relationships within the unit were found to vary distinctly between white faculty, faculty of color as well as white students, and students of color. Specifically, the coalescence between the academic and social experiences within the unit exacerbated the formation of an in-groups and out-groups. This in turn impacted the academic experiences of the participants. <br><br> When compared to the TTM, findings from this study supported the existence of the six dimensions of climate within the unit but suggests that 1) these dimensions were expressed differently by the academic unit than they at the campus-wide level and 2) the relationships between the six dimensions in the academic unit diverged from those found in the original TTM. Findings from this study have implications for the symbolic, fiscal, educational and administrative actions of academic units seeking to improve their racial climate. Future areas of research should consider further adapting the TTM to fit an academic unit, the impact of structural diversity within tenure and promotion committees on the tenure and promotion of faculty of color, the potential link between social identity and racial identity within a unit.

I use Marimba Anis Asili concept as defined in Yurugu to examine the school accountability model. By school accountability model, I mean the school model that consists of privately managed public schools regulated by state testing programs. I argue that school accountability is essentially oppressive and its success depends on the falsification of African and African American history. Ani explains that Asili is a Kiswalhili term meaning beginning, origin, source, nature (in the sense of the nature of a person or thing), essence, or fundamental principle. Furthermore, Ani writes that seed is an ubiquitous African analogical symbol in African philosophical and cosmological explanations and that a cultures asili reveals its nature during times of ambivalence and conflict. I focus on Louisianas 1954 school laws and resolutions passed in reaction to the U.S. Supreme Courts 1954 Brown decision and the White Citizens councils 1950s Social Studies reform movement. I demonstrate that this is the time when we witness the major elements of the present accountability model suddenly unfold. For instance, Louisianas state testing program (for students and teachers), standardized social studies curriculum guides and tests, charter schools, and vouchers can all be traced to the resolutions passed during the weeks following the Brown decision. I examine the thoughts and activities of those who engineered the school accountability seed and thereby reveal its power seeking essence. Too, I trace the seeds unfolding into a plant and its development to the present time, and I demonstrate its instinctual hostility toward African schools, African educators, African students, and liberating African thought. To the best of my knowledge this is the first major study that examines school accountability from an Afrocentric perspective.

ABSTRACT This exploratory study was conducted at four childrens gardens in major botanical gardens across the United States to determine if children became more aware and knowledgeable of plants while visiting these gardens. This was determined through the childrens garden stakeholders perspectives; the stakeholders of this study were the children and parents who visited the gardens. Their views were acquired through on-site observations and interviews. The purposive sample comprised 64 participants including 40 children (19 girls and 21 boys, ages 2- 12 years). There were 18 mothers, 3 fathers, 3 grandmothers, and 1 grandfather. The 40 children were observed and 30 children were interviewed. A total of 25 parents or guardians were interviewed. This study determined that the childrens learning was contextual; i.e., influenced by the garden and participatory garden features they visited. For example, the children who visited the facilitated (by a trained volunteer) features that taught plant concepts were able to repeat and explain the lesson. However, in gardens that provided opportunities for independent exploration with natural components such as water, children made some very advanced observations about plants. This study also found that childrens previous experiences with plants heightened their awareness of plants in the childrens garden. Especially on their walks through the regular botanical garden areas to the childrens garden, many children noticed and asked questions about plants.