Dissertations (Ed. D.)--Rowan University, 2009. / Typescript. "UMI Number: 3379866"--T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2005. / Supervisor: William Moore. Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Transition from secondary to tertiary education presents unique challenges for first-year nursing students, similar to those experienced by other first-year students at any other tertiary education institution. Nursing students’ experiences are further complicated by the fact that nursing education incorporates almost equal amounts of time for class attendance and clinical practice placement. As a facilitator of learning for first-year nursing students, the researcher had observed how some new students were apprehensive and uncertain in their first year of study at the college. These and other observations, including those of the researcher’s colleagues, prompted the researcher to conduct a study to obtain information on how the first-year students at her college experience their first year of the nursing programme. This study, therefore, examined the experiences of first-year nursing students at a public college in the Eastern Cape Province enrolled in the four-year diploma programme that leads to registration as a nurse and midwife with the South African Nursing Council (SANC). Insights into these experiences were used to develop guidelines for nurse educators to optimise the teaching-learning environment of these students.Kotzé’s (1998) nursing accompaniment theory was used as a theoretical grounding for the study. The study followed a qualitative, explorative, descriptive and contextual design. Two of the college’s campuses were sampled for the study. One campus was in a more rural area and the other in a more urban area. Data was collected using purposive sampling of second-year students who were requested to think back to their first year of the nursing programme. Semi-structured, in-depth, face-to-face, individual interviews were conducted. Interview sessions were digitally recorded and then transcribed verbatim by the researcher. The researcher and an independent coder analysed the transcriptions using Tesch’s method of data analysis. The study’s trustworthiness was demonstrated through the criteria of credibility, transferability, dependability, confirmability and authenticity. The results indicated that students had positive and negative experiences in their first year of the nursing programme. Literature control placed the study’s findings within the existing body of knowledge with regard to students’ experiences of their first year. The students’ suggestions on how to enhance first-year nursing students’ experiences were incorporated into the guidelines that were developed for nurse educators to optimise the teaching-learning environment of first-year nursing students at this college.

No description available.

Academic advising plays an important role in the education and retention of college students. Developmental advising is concerned with the development of the whole student throughout his or her academic career. As students develop and mature, it is expected that the topics they present to advisors will change. It is also expected that advisors will vary the topics they raise with different students as the students progress through their academic careers. This study was designed to determine if the advising topics that traditional-age undergraduate students present to advisors vary by academic level. Further, the study looked at whether these topics differ by gender or race. Topics raised by advisors were also examined to determine if the topics raised by advisors varied by academic level, gender, or race of the student. Examining the topics raised by advisors is one way to assess whether advisors are utilizing a prescriptive or developmental model of advising. Data were collected over a two-month period during the spring semester, 2000 at a research university in the Southeast. Eleven professional advisors agreed to participate in the study from six different departments. Students were asked if they would be willing to participate in the study when they came to see one of the participating advisors. Eighty undergraduate students agreed to participate in the study. Prior to meeting with the advisor, students were asked to provide demographic information and answer an interview question to determine the topics they planned to raise during the advising session. Advisors completed surveys following the advising sessions providing information on topics raised by the students and topics that the advisors themselves raised. No significant differences were found in the types of topics raised by students or advisors by academic level, gender, or race. The majority of the topics discussed dealt with academic issues such as academic progress, course selection, and major selection. On average, students raised 3.99 topics per session and advisors raised an additional 1.41 topics per session for a total of 5.50 topics per advising session. Most advising sessions were 15 to 20 minutes in length. Non-White students raised on average more topics than did White students. Because of the number of topics raised in a relatively short period of time, as well as the narrow range of topics covered, the results of this study indicate that a traditional, information giving model of advising is largely being utilized by advisors in the study. The results of this study suggest that advisors have little time in advising sessions to do little other than provide information on a limited range of topics. This study highlights the amount of time advisors spend answering routine academic questions during advising sessions. With this awareness, advisors can begin to provide some of this academic information using different means. This would provide more time in advising sessions to practice a developmental approach to advising that spans academic, career, and life issues. / Master of Arts

The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure the sense of competence of traditional age college students across the dimensions that define the construct. The Sense of Competence Scale-Revised (SCS-R) was developed to provide a measure of Chickering’s (1969) first vector, an important psychosocial construct. Administrators can use data from the instrument to modify an institution’s academic and social environment to enhance the development of the intellectual, physical, and interpersonal competencies of college students. During the development and validation, various aspects of the SCS-R were examined in accordance with the validity framework outlined by Messick (1995). According to Messick (1995), the validity of measures can be examined in terms of six forms of evidence; content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external and consequential. The six forms of evidence function as general standards for all educational measurement (Messick, 1995). During the study the content aspect of validity was addressed through the creation of concept maps and test blueprints. In addition, the content aspect of validity was addressed by creating and selecting items by reviewing the literature and hosting brainstorming sessions, items were then reviewed by student development theory experts, pilot tested, field tested and then items with high technical quality were selected for the final instrument. The substantive aspect of validity was addressed through an analysis of item rating scale functioning, person fit to the measurement scales, and item difficulty. The structural aspect of validity was addressed by evidence of the instrument’s dimensionality. The generalizability aspect of validity was addressed through an analysis of item/person reliability. The evidence generated from the study suggested that the chosen items for the SCS-R provide reliable and valid estimates of a student’ s personal assessment of their intellectual, physical and interpersonal abilities. / Ph. D.

The purpose of this study is to investigate student leadership development. This study will investigate if there are any differences in the estimate of gains from attending college between students who participated in a Leadership Community and a sample of non-participants. In this study, estimate of gains is defined as students' progress toward educational goals, as reflected in the College Student Experiences Questionnaire (CSEQ). The estimate of gains represents a measure of growth in college. The participants in this study were recipients of a first-year $1000 merit-based scholarship. Recipients of this scholarship earned a 3.75 grade point average and were ranked in the top 10 percent of his or her high school graduating class. One hundred and seventy-two students received these scholarships in the 1998-1999 academic year. Seventy-nine of these students chose to live in a Leadership Community their first-year in college. Ninety-three of these students chose to live else where on campus. Specifically, the study is designed to examine the following hypotheses: Null Hypothesis: There will be no difference in the mean scores of the CSEQ scales (a) Estimate of gains; (b) Student acquaintances; (c) Experiences with faculty; (d) Clubs and organizations; and (e) Course learning, for LC students as compared to NLC students. Research Hypothesis: The LC students will have higher mean scores on the CSEQ scales (a) Estimate of gains; (b) Student acquaintances; (c) Experiences with faculty; (d) Clubs and organizations; and (e) Course learning, than the NLC students. This quantitative study uses the College Student Experiences Questionnaire. The participants of this study will be in their fourth semester of college. The researcher will collect data from sections of the CSEQ that correspond with the hypotheses. This study isolates the variables that are associated with student leadership development to explore student leadership development within a specific population of students. The researcher will analyze the data using descriptive statistics, as the study measures the characteristics of a population at one point in time. The researcher will determine if there are differences between scores from students who participated in the leadership community and those who did not. The researcher anticipates this study will benefit educators in evaluating the leadership development efforts on their own campuses. / Master of Arts

The purpose of this study was to explore behaviors and characteristics of college women within the context of their relationships with their female friends, peers, and colleagues. Specifically, the study addressed unacknowledged feelings and covert behaviors directed toward women. In opposition to the frequently commended characteristics of women such as collaborating and nurturing, experiences reported by the subjects of this study describe their female peers, and sometimes themselves, as covertly malicious. Rivalry, unlike competition, surrounds women and has the potential to penetrate every relationship women have with other women regardless of the context of the relationship. By collecting data from college women at a large, research, state-affiliated university, this exploratory study employed grounded research methodology (Glaser & Straus, 1967) to develop a theoretical image of the rivalrous woman. / Master of Arts

Dissertation submitted in compliance with the requirements for the Master's Degree in Technology: Education at Technikon Natal, 1999. / TOPIC: An investigation of the role of practical laboratory work in bridging programmes forchemical technicians in technikons in South Africa, with particular reference to Mangosuthu Technikon. This research considers the role of introductory practical laboratory work, in a bridging course, in the success or otherwise of vocationally orientated students at technikons in South Africa. Mangosuthu Technikon, on which the study focuses, provides mainlyfor students whose educational background has ill-prepared them for the demands of tertiary studies. Besides the disadvantage of studying through the medium of English, students in the Engineering Schools are further hampered in their studies by having inadequate practical skills for laboratory work. The need to redress the problem of access to tertiary education has resulted in the introduction and continued use of bridging courses for educationally disadvantaged students. Since the secondary education system does not appear to be improving substantially, it would appear that the bridging courses will remain a necessity for some time. InitiallyMangosuthu Technikon offered a school/discipline bridging programme (Pre- Technican Course) for aspirant Engineering students, which allowed disadvantaged applicants a second chance to access tertiary education. It was an intensive six months' course, comprising experiential learning in the integrated components of Mathematics, Communication, Physics and Chemistry. The latter two subjects incorporated a substantial practical component. In the interests of rationalisation, a general Access Course replaced the former course in 1994. The emphasis became largely focussed on theoretical rather than practical work. After initial research indicated that the role of practical laboratorywork inthe trainingof chemicaltechniciansintechnikonsin South Africawas of consequence, a practically orientated bridging course was reintroduced in 1995. This dissertation shows that an educationally disadvantaged student who aspires to becoming a chemical technician requires an holistic education, at the Mangosuthu Technikon bridging course level, which incorporates relevant theoretical and practical components, in order to procure, and succeed in, tertiary education. Such practical work is a prerequisite for aspirant chemical technicians ifthey are to satisfy the needs of tertiary programmes and the demands of their future employers. Findings throughout the dissertation show that practical work is of consequence. Technikon and Industry representatives confirm their commitment to the inclusion of practical work in bridging courses. The implementation and administration of practical bridging courses also play important roles in ensuring that disadvantaged students gain access to tertiary education. This study evaluates Mangosuthu Technikon's original Pre-Technician Course, its 1994 general Access Course and its subsequent Pre-Technician Courses, and finds that Pre-Technician Course (1989/1990) students performed well and that the majority of them were able to access tertiary education and cope with its demands reasonably well. The Access Course (1994) students, by comparison, performed dismally. Years subsequent to 1994 have seen an improvement in the pass rates, but not to the levelofl989/1990. The study, thus, concludes that practically orientated bridging courses impact significantly on successful performance in formal courses for technicians. / M

M.Ed. (Adult Education) / This study focused on tutors’ roles in the formation of learning communities during an educational excursion (EE) and explored how tutors enable the transfer of the social and academic cohesion formed during the EE to the formal university environment. This research inquiry is a subsection of a larger NRF, Thuthuka research project. The general focus of the larger study is the investigation of the EE as a precursor to the development of learning communities at the University of Johannesburg (UJ). Higher education in South Africa and worldwide is being tasked with improving student retention, especially in the first year of study, as this is when the highest attrition takes place. One of the initiatives that had good success rates in other countries is the introduction of First Year Experience (FYE) programmes that address first year students’ academic and social transition into the formal learning environment. This study focuses on the Education Faculty at the UJ and the EE that forms part of their FYE programme. Tutors as more senior peers accompany staff on a directed intervention namely, a three day field trip, aimed at accelerating first year students’ enculturation into university life. The tutors’ roles in the formation of learning communities fall within the fields of teacher education and development and higher and adult education. Within the field of tutoring, the roles the tutors play in the formation of learning communities during an EE is relatively unexplored, especially from the viewpoint of the tutors and staff who accompany the students on the excursion in a higher education context. This study used a generic qualitative research design and employed qualitative methods of data collection (interviews) with academic staff, support staff, a facilitator and students as peer tutors. Qualitative content analysis and specifically the constant comparative method were utilised. The study found that tutors facilitated the development of social cohesion during the EE between students, students and staff and tutors and staff. The tutors played an important role in promoting learning by scaffolding student interaction during activities, and by aiding interaction through facilitating activities in small groups since they are closer to the student experience. The social and academic cohesion was transferred to the formal learning environment by scaffolding students’ learning, linking theory and practise and supporting students socially. Tutors’ experiences with students’ struggles during the EE allow them to support students more effectively at university