Debates over the promising change Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) might offer to traditional online learning now produce significant attention and discourse among the media and higher education. Ample articles discuss the potential benefits of MOOCs from the perspectives of faculty and administration. However, little is known about students’ perceptions of MOOCs. Given the lack of relevant literature and the reality that MOOCs are created to benefit students, it is important to elicit current college students’ perceptions of MOOCs since it is well documented learning mathematics online has its problems (Ashby, Sadera, & McNary, 2011; Frame, 2012; Ho et al., 2010; Hughes et al., 2005; Jameson & Fusco, 2014). In this descriptive exploratory case study, I explored the perceptions of eight adult college students enrolled in a developmental mathematical xMOOC. I utilized constant comparative methods (open, axial, and selective coding) to analyze the data and identified overarching themes related to student perceptions of learning developmental mathematics via an xMOOC. XMOOCs are structured like large online lecture courses, usually with auto grading features for tests and quizzes and video-recorded lectures. I also employed post structural tenets to scrutinize the data through different lenses. My goals were to explore college students’ perceptions of learning via developmental mathematical xMOOCs, the reasons students chose to learn developmental mathematics via an xMOOC, students’ beliefs of personal characteristics needed to successfully complete a developmental mathematical xMOOC and their ideas about how to improve developmental mathematical xMOOCs. The study provides insights about college students’ learning and success via developmental mathematical xMOOCs and adds needed information to the literature on higher education distance learning.

Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Special Education, Counseling and Student Affairs / Linda P. Thurston / Navigation and completion of a doctoral degree presents numerous challenges, including managing and understanding the faculty advisor/advisee relationship. Research shows faculty advisors are a critical aspect of the doctoral student experience; however faculty advisors and doctoral students do not always have the same perceptions of the advisor/advisee relationship. This study focused on measuring perceptions of faculty advisors and doctoral students in STEM and social science disciplines on various aspects of the advisor/advisee relationship. Likert-style survey items were used to measure perceptions of six constructs, advisor attributes and characteristics, roles and functions, relationship behaviors, and the faculty advisor role in student academic success, professional socialization, and engagement. Surveys were completed by 137 faculty advisors and 131 doctoral students. Analysis of data was conducted using various methods, including comparison of descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests, and a factorial analysis of variance. Results of the data analysis revealed some significant differences between the perceptions of faculty advisors and doctoral students on several constructs. The discussion of results focuses on connections to current literature, as well as implications for future research and practice.

abstract: In 2010, the Arizona Legislature established a performance-based diploma initiative known as Move On When Ready (MOWR). The policy relies on an education model designed to evaluate students' college and career readiness by measuring their academic ability to succeed in the first credit-bearing course in community college. Move On When Ready is a structurally oriented, qualification system that attempts to attain a relatively narrow goal: increase the number of students able to successfully perform at a college-level academic standard. By relying on a set of benchmarked assessments to measure success and failure, MOWR propagates a categorical binary. The binary establishes explicit performance criteria on a set of examinations students are required to meet in order to earn a high school qualification that, by design, certifies whether students are ready or not ready for college. This study sought to reveal how students’ perceptions of the policy and schooling in general affect their understanding of the concept of college readiness and the college readiness binary and to identify factors that help formulate those perceptions. This interpretivist, qualitative study relied on analysis of multiple face-to-face interviews with students to better understand how they think and act within the context of Move On When Ready, paying particular attention to students from historically vulnerable minority subgroups (e.g., the Latina (a)/Hispanic sub-population) enrolled in two schools deploying the MOWR strategy. Findings suggest that interviewed students understand little about MOWR's design, intent or implications for their future educational trajectories. Moreover, what they believe is generally misinformed, regardless of aspiration, socio-cultural background, or academic standing. School-based sources of messaging (e.g., teachers and administrators) supply the bulk of information to students about MOWR. However, in these two schools, the flow of information is constricted. In addition, the information conveyed is either distorted by message mediators or misinterpreted by the students. The data reveal that formal and informal mediators of policy messages influence students’ engagement with the policy and affect students’ capacity to play an active role in determining the policy’s effect on their educational outcomes. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2015

Although teachers and students are the primary actors in the classroom environment, they often have different perceptions of the instructional and relational aspects of the classroom. Despite these differences, research indicates perceptions of the quality of the classroom social environment have implications for both student and teacher outcomes. Additionally, research has indicated the differences in perceptions occur not only between students and teachers, but also among individual students within classrooms. The extent and the manner in which these perceptions converge may vary across different class and school contexts. School and class context, as well as individual characteristics and beliefs have shown to influence student and teacher perceptions of their environment. Thus, to further understand the relationship between perceptions and outcomes, it is important to understand the factors that influence perception. Therefore, the current study examined (1) the extent to which elementary school students’ and teachers’ perceptions of the classroom social environment differ from middle school students’ and teachers’ perceptions, (2) the extent to which teachers and students in elementary and middle school agree about the classroom social environment, (3) if the degree of convergence between teachers and students differs based on high or low levels of motivational and socio-emotional components of the classroom environment, (4) the extent to which school, classroom, and individual teacher factors help to explain teacher perceptions of their classroom environment, (5) and the extent to which school, classroom, and individual student factors help to explain student perceptions of their classroom environment. The sample comprised of fifth- and sixth-grade students and teachers from ethnically diverse elementary and middle schools. Exploratory factor analyses revealed differences in how teachers and students conceptualize the classroom environment. Results from multiple regression and design-model multi-level modeling indicated that school socio-economic status, classroom gender and ethnic composition, as well as teacher and student demographics and beliefs, influence both teacher and student perceptions of the Classroom Social Environment. Findings from the current study may guide researchers in developing effective instructional practices for specific teacher and student populations and may provide unique contributions to the literature regarding factors that may enhance early adolescences’ and teachers’ experiences in the classroom.

ABSTRACT Information literacy skills training should be utilised by libraries as a strategy for transforming non-library users into constant users by teaching them appropriate skills that can impact on their knowledge and attitudes towards the utilisation of library resources. Although libraries do provide training aimed at making students conscious of the range of library resources and services and how to use them in their studies and career development, it has regrettably been observed that the skills and services are not well utilised by many. Students in many institutions still rely heavily on the librarian even after receiving training. This has also been observed at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) library. This study titled, An assessment of the attitudes of undergraduate students towards information literacy training: Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) Library as case study, therefore addressed the following research problem: To what extent does the information literacy skills training offered at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University (SMU) Library affect students’ attitudes towards information literacy training and use of information retrieval systems? The study was aimed at offering 2015 first year students at the Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University and the librarian responsible for information literacy skills training an opportunity to express their perceptions and feelings about the library’s information literacy skills training programme and the use of information retrieval systems. The study also aimed at determining barriers that students experience in independently and effectively utilising library services and systems and identifying possible gaps in the training. The study also looked at aspects of the training that influenced students positively. A case study of first year students from the Schools of Medicine, Pathology and Pre-Clinical Sciences, Oral Health Sciences and Health Care Sciences at SMU was conducted using a mixed methods approach, collecting and analysing quantitative and qualitative data. It employed questionnaires (for quantitative data), focus group interviews (for qualitative data) and an interview with the librarian responsible for information literacy training (qualitative data). Data were collected from the 14th October to the 06th November 2015. A total of 394 questionnaires were distributed, 225 questionnaires were returned and 219 were sufficiently completed to be useful. Four focus group interviews were held with 18 first year students; all schools were represented. Students contributed ideas and voiced their opinions about the value of information literacy skills training for their studies, future career and their everyday life. They shared perceptions on their satisfaction with the skills learned and had the opportunity to rank the skills they have improved as a result of the training. Students confirmed that the training programme was indeed valuable and required for various aspects of their life, studies and career. They learned the skills needed when searching for information. Their effort and time for searching, locating, finding, accessing, evaluating and using information from the shelves, catalogue, internet and databases had also been decreased. Some of the gaps identified by students were that they struggled with acquiring new skills as they had no prior exposure to libraries and computers, the classes were overcrowded and uncontrollable, the scope covered was too wide for one session, the training was overwhelming and the timing of the year wrong. Students also made suggestions and recommendations, for example continuous or monthly training, online training sessions, small group sessions, facilitation training for the trainers and including basic computer training. The practical recommendations from the study, which include the student recommendations, can be utilised to improve information literacy skills training at Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University Library, and also hold value for other academic contexts. From a theoretical viewpoint, theories of self-efficacy and affordance theory can be explored in further work. / Mini Dissertation (MIT)--University of Pretoria, 2016. / Sefako Makgatho Health Sciences University / Carnegie Corporation of New York / Information Science / MIT / Unrestricted

Stemming from increased levels of participation and diversity of the student base (Biggs & Tang, 2011) and growing scrutiny on the quality of university degrees (Crowley, 2013; Marr, 2013), governments have begun putting in place mechanisms to monitor and support quality in higher education. Over the last few decades, a notion of quality that has gained traction in the scholarly community is that of quality in terms of enhancement and transformation (Cheng, 2017; Houston, 2008; Williams, 2016). Guided by the discourses of Transformative Learning Theory (Mezirow, 2000) and transformative conceptions of quality in higher education (Harvey & Green, 1993), this study examined graduate student learning experiences and perceptions of quality. Of further interest was the extent to which these learners were living the intended transformation that academic programs are seeking to foster. Using a multiple case-study design, Seidman’s (2013) three-stage interview protocol served as primary source of data from a sample of six PhD candidates across three faculties. Secondary data sources included collected documents, a reflexivity journal and field notes. A within-case analysis was performed for each case and compared via a cross-case analysis. Institutional characterizations of quality were examined across 25 artifacts via a document analysis. The four principal factors that characterized the PhD candidate learning experience emerged as the significance of intentional individualized guidance, becoming an independent scholar, the importance of social interactions and community, and the transformative nature of learning. Gaps were identified between institutional intent and the learner experience. However, complementarity between discourses of transformation appeared to offer bridges between the macro-level institutional orientation toward fostering student transformation and the micro-level transformative learning experiences lived by students. The dissertation makes conceptual, methodological and empirical contributions to the domains of postsecondary quality and transformative learning. Implications for policy related to quality assurance as well as practice in program development and doctoral supervision are equally shared.

Many Americans are pushing for legislation supporting increased gun control; however many critics argue that increasing gun control will limit Americans’ rights as defined in the Second Amendment. With Tennessee’s passing of the Constitutional Carry, the researcher found it relevant to build on past research and to evaluate East Tennessee State University students’ perceptions of current Tennessee gun legislation in the light of this new act. East Tennessee State University students were surveyed in-person about their perceptions and knowledge of the current Tennessee gun legislation and support for gun control. No significant relationship was found between major and knowledge of Tennessee’s gun legislation, support of gun control, or handgun carry permit respectively. However, a statistically significant relationship between completion of firearm saftey course and major was found; and a negative correlation between support for gun control and knowledge of gun legislation was found as well. Although there are no policy implications as a result of this study, Criminal Justice programs should evaluate their programs to ensure that their students are being informed and retaining their education on current firearm legislation.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Interprofessional education (IPE) is recommended by many as a means by which to prepare clinicians for collaborative practice and a mechanism by which to improve the overall quality of health care. The objective of this study was to determine the impact of an interprofessional medicine-pharmacy student home visit experience on students’ self-assessments of skills and abilities related to team-based care and identification of medication-related problems. METHODS: Third-year medical and fourth-year pharmacy students completed an interprofessional home visit centered on identification of medication-related problems. Students were surveyed before and after the IPE assignment to assess changes in self-assessed skills and abilities. Survey items consisted of Likert-type statements on a 5-point scale (1=strongly disagree, 5=strongly agree) and free-text responses. Students also completed reflection papers regarding their experiences. RESULTS: Twenty-two medical and 20 pharmacy students conducted medication-focused interviews of 22 patients at home as interprofessional teams. Medical and pharmacy student self-assessments of skills and abilities related to team-based care and identification of medication-related problems improved after completion of the assignment. Both groups of students perceived an improvement in confidence regarding communication skills, both with patients and with other health professions students. Changes were reported on 12 survey items. Student feedback on the IPE experience was positive. CONCLUSIONS: Students’ self-perception of skills and abilities related to interprofessional team-based care and identification of medication-related problems are improved after IPE medication-focused home visit assignment. Student feedback supports the value of interprofessional patient care clinical experiences.

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Objective: The purpose of this study was to identify the perceptions of students majoring in vocal music and theatre regarding the instruction they receive in their undergraduate curricula on voice health education. Methods: A survey was adapted from a previous study, Beeman (2016), with permission by the author. The survey was disseminated to undergraduate vocal music and theatre majors across the United States via SurveyMonkey®, an online survey tool. Results: Students perceived receiving knowledge on vocal health from their voice teachers, however they reported low levels of vocal hygiene compliance. Additionally, students recognized the connection between the singing and speaking voice, and they were unclear of the role of the speech-language pathologist in voice. Conclusion: The disconnect between vocal health knowledge and student compliance of vocal hygiene strategies, requires further investigation. Utilizing the voice care team, specifically the speech-language pathologist, to educate both the voice teachers and the students on best practices, is imperative.