Thesis (Ed. D.)--Illinois State University, 1987. / Title from title page screen, viewed August 26, 2005. Dissertation Committee: Edward R. Hines, John L. Brickell (co-chairs), Mary Ann Lynn, Franklin G. Matsler, Oliver J. Williams. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 157-164) and abstract. Also available in print.

Dissertations (Ed. D.)--Rowan University, 2009. / Typescript. "UMI Number: 3359935"--T.p. verso. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2007. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on September 25, 2007) Vita. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.C.S.)--Northwest Baptist Theological Seminary, 1985. / Abstract. Includes bibliographical references (leaves [166]-172).

Thesis (Ph. D.) University of Missouri-Columbia, 2006. / The entire dissertation/thesis text is included in the research.pdf file; the official abstract appears in the short.pdf file (which also appears in the research.pdf); a non-technical general description, or public abstract, appears in the public.pdf file. Title from title screen of research.pdf file (viewed on July 31, 2007) Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Washington State University, August 2007. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 81-85).

The problem with which this study is concerned is an investigation of the feasibility of using a questionnaire for determining perceived needs of students to improve the planning and programming process in student development in higher education. The study was designed to accomplish two purposes: to examine the feasibility of such an approach and to present an example of how such a study can be accomplished. The study concludes: a perceived needs survey can be accomplished with minimal difficulty and is effective in improving planning; documented student need should provide the bias for determining service philosophy and for planning student development programs for all students and for student subgroups; documented student need and preference should provide the basis for determining times of service offerings and staff utilization and deciding on methods of publicizing programs; the use of the perceived needs survey should reduce planning time.

M.Ed. / Making a career choice is most probably one of the most important decisions any person, or school leaver, has to make. Research has shown that a large percentage of learners are not equipped to make the right career choice (Stead & Watson, 1999:169). It is, therefore, of the utmost importance that, as an Educational Psychologist, career guidance should be seen as a very sensitive process that should be handled with the utmost respect to ensure that the client’s needs are addressed through the process. Because we live in such a dynamic world that is constantly changing, it is important to make sure that the career guidance process keeps up with the latest trends. As the Trait-and-Factor Approach is being relied on very heavily, in the South African context, one must ask if this theory still fulfills all the career guidance needs in the modern age. Although Frank Parsons, the founder of this specific theory, was responsible for a great number of reforms in a modernist era, should we not look for a theory that leads us into a postmodernist era? When talking about a postmodernist time frame, it should be seen in its totality, not just in the information era, but also on a personal level for each individual as to recognise personal differences. Clients present more challenging needs and have greater expectations of a career in a very competitive market. It is, therefore, important for a counsellor, in a postmodernist era, to address these additional needs and to allow the client, not just to be a part of the process, but to make the process more beneficial, in all regards, to the client’s needs. This research study was aimed to describe students’ experiences of a career guidance and development programme. The students attended a bridging college for underprivileged students who had passed matric and were given the opportunity of increasing their mathematics and science marks. The students with the highest mark would then qualify for a bursary to attend a tertiary institute to further their studies in electronic engineering and information technology. The students were from the local area living in the townships and attending the local schools in the townships. There are two college campuses, one in Alberton and one in Boksburg, with fifteen students attending each campus. The students that are successful at the tertiary institute will be offered a position at the company supporting the college as a social upliftment programme for equal opportunity. It was decided to give the students who were attending the college the opportunity to go through a career guidance and development programme as they indicated that they had very little exposure to career guidance programmes while still at school. The programme that was used with the students was based on a constructivist approach using narratives. The programme consisted of a number of different tasks that the students had to do, in order to help them identify their own personal characteristics, and to identify their own values and interests. The knowledge they gained through these tasks helped them to construct a personal narrative. The clients themselves, at the end of the process, edited this narrative after having gone through and completed the process. Focus group interviews, as well as the students’ personal journals, where the different tasks were recorded and deliberated upon, were used as data collection methods. From the data that was collected, it was established that the students’ experience of the career guidance process, was very positive. The students also indicated that they had certain preconceived ideas of a career guidance process, but that they experienced this intervention programme as very insightful on a personal level, and it also made them more aware of their needs with regards to career guidance. The main themes that emerged during the research study were mainly on the students experience with regards to the career guidance processes and the process of self-discovery that was one of the aims of a constructivist approach using narratives. The students indicated that they enjoyed the programme, and that they had gained personally from the process.

Thesis advisor: Rebecca Schendel / The number of international students has risen in the United States for the past twenty years. In order to better understand the role of this population in the U.S. higher education system, many studies have explored the cultural integration of international students, seeking to establish a comprehensive understanding of this commonly identified issue. However, integration difficulties remain integral to many international students’ college life in the U.S. and impact both their in-college experience as well as their post-graduation transitions. Previous studies of international students’ experience in the U.S. context have rarely focused on the endpoint of international students' learning process at college, which encompasses the graduation and post-graduation period. The significant and probably influential outcomes of the long journey international students went through in American Higher Education Institutions have been largely neglected, especially for the international population who attended mission-driven institutions whose educational purpose and focus are individual formation. Therefore, this study used college student development theories and a specific college influential model to understand the potential influence that a mission based American institution has exerted upon international students' perspectives and values and individual future planning. The study surveyed 27 international students and interviewed 11 international students at Boston College with the aim of gaining a solid understanding of the graduating international students’ college experience in an effort to validate and interpret their development during college life. The study result indicates that most participants have developed a better understanding of themselves. This consolidated self-perception has become a basis in forming their future plans and facilitating their decision-making after graduation. However, the relationship between institutional influence and individual changes are difficult to determine due to lack of persuasive evidence. / Thesis (MA) — Boston College, 2020. / Submitted to: Boston College. Lynch School of Education. / Discipline: Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Since the mid-1970s, researchers in student development theory, research, and practice have examined the experiences of first-year university students with the aim of improving quality of educational life and student motivation to stay in school (Greenfield et al., 2013). First-year students are viewed as vulnerable to attrition as most leavers depart during or immediately following year one (van der Zanden et al., 2018). This is the first doctoral study to explore first-year experience with university Dance majors.The purpose of this study is to illuminate first-year experience in a postsecondary Dance setting through students’ first-person accounts. Research methodology was guided by the applied phenomenology of education scholar and philosopher Max van Manen (1990/2014) and involved my direct participation and observation in two Dance classrooms along with in-depth interviewing of six self-selected students over the entire academic year. Data gathered through these procedures were analyzed for collective and individual meanings. Students’ first-person perspectives are presented in four chapters representing four macro-categories of student experience found in the data: curriculum, faculty, peers, and individual practice. Findings are then discussed in relation to extant literature in student development in higher education, combining sociological, behavioral, and epistemological perspectives from the foundational theories of Vincent Tinto (1975/1993), Alexander Astin (1984/1999), and William G. Perry, Jr. (1968/1999). Students’ first-person experiential accounts extend concepts from these theories, as well as offering insights unique to dance education. From their lived experiences in university Dance, first-year students shared the educational experiences that were significant and meaningful to their learning and growth. These include the affective, cognitive, somatic, and social meanings they made from their experiences of curriculum, faculty, peers, and self. Within a web of academic and social supports, personal self-reflection, and individual meaning-making, first-year students deepened their understandings of their dance practices and of themselves as dance artists and learners. / Dance