Doctor of Philosophy / Department of Curriculum and Instruction / Gail Shroyer / Research regarding dispositions dates back seven decades; but because of challenges in measuring, identifying and monitoring dispositions, teacher education programs have only recently developed procedures to document and assess candidates’ dispositions (Albee, & Piveral, 2003). The question remains, are teacher educators prepared for this challenge? Dispositions can be difficult to identify and measure and teacher educators are not necessarily trained in the development of assessments. By using data gathered at an NCATE accredited teacher education institution, the researcher hoped to examine one institution’s approach to assessing dispositions as part of an overall system to assess successful teaching. The purpose of this study was to determine if there was a relationship between the results of disposition assessments completed by university supervisors at the end of Block 2 and the results of final student teacher assessments completed by university supervisors at the end of Block 3. Scores from the Block 2 Coordinator’s Evaluation of Intern form and the final University Supervisor Assessment of Student Teacher/Intern form were collected and correlated using the Spearman’s Rho. The resulting scores were analyzed to determine if there was a statistically significant relationship. It was concluded that there was no significant relationship between the Block 2 Coordinator’s Evaluation of Intern form score and the final University Supervisor Assessment of Student Teacher/Intern form score. This study underscores the difficulty of assessing dispositions, and shows that teacher education programs need to establish reliability and validity on forms used to assess candidates’ dispositions.

Raman spectroscopy based activities were developed and implemented into the first year chemistry undergraduate curriculum. The implementation of these experiences and experiments and the utility of Raman spectroscopy as a teaching tool to convey anchoring chemistry concepts using a hands-on Raman spectroscopy based approach are discussed. Fundamental principles of chemistry, such as the interaction of light with matter, molecular bonding, equilibrium, and acid base reactions are facilitated through use of these Raman spectroscopy based experiments and experiences. An assessment of student learning gains as a result of participation in a Raman spectroscopy experience was also conducted and is discussed. / Includes bibliography. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2018. / FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection

This thesis examines the social mediation of a transnational educational programme, namely the University of London’s International (External) Undergraduate Laws Programme. The thesis explores the lived experiences of a variety of stakeholders – university academics, frontline teaching staff and students - in the context of historical legacy and current development. The University of London’s International (External) programmes is one of the oldest forms of distance education, and the Undergraduate Laws Programme is the second largest subscribed programme and represent the fundamental academic legal education for the legal profession in numerous countries. With the separation of teaching, assessment and award as the distinguishing feature consequential to the origins of the University of London its legacy results in multitude stakeholders with vested interests in each aspect. The thesis seeks to understand the motivations behind and implications resulting from the various stakeholders’ experiences through an analysis of their narratives gleaned from interviews and data recorded from observations. Is there a distinct identity and culture within each group of stakeholders which has developed through the evolution of the programme? Can a pattern or theory of teaching and learning unique to the programme be identified and if so, what kind of impact has that had on legal education? The possibility of identifying existing and/or emerging communities of practice within and across each group of stakeholders is a recurring theme discussed on the basis that the theory of situated learning within a community of practice is a form of active learning; an objective which the University of London has sought to actively achieve since 2005. By building an ethnography of the various stakeholders, the thesis explores a formerly under researched aspect of undergraduate legal education and acts as a prompt for future areas of research in the areas of legal and distance education.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD (Library and Information Studies) / The study investigated the information behaviour of Nigerian undergraduates with a focus on online media, especially Web 2.0. Nigeria has a laudable vision tagged Nigeria Vision 20:2020 (NV 20:2020), which is to be one of the top 20 knowledge economies by the year 2020. To achieve this grand feat, the nation requires a skilled population with 21st century graduate attributes who are information literate. That is, graduates who possess the competencies and high capabilities to effectively use and disseminate information for optimum service delivery in this epoch of information proliferation and technologies that are yet evolving. To ascertain the preparedness of Nigeria for the laudable Vision 20:2020, the research work investigated the information behaviour of Nigerian undergraduates using a specialized university, the Federal University of Petroleum Resources, Effurun, as the case study site. The university was established in 2007 to meet the demands of the petroleum industry which is the largest in Nigerian in terms of Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The global use of mobile devices, and their connectivity capacity, integrated with the affordances of social media networks, provides a resource-rich platform for innovative student-directed learning experiences. Technology has become embedded in the daily lives of students, who become more approachable when technology is used within the higher education context. In 2014 the Educause Centre for Analysis and Research partnered with 213 higher education institutions across the United States of America. It was established that 86 percent of undergraduate information technology students owned a smartphone and half of that percentage owned a tablet. A systematic review on mobile learning in higher education focusing on the African Perspective in 2017 concluded that there was an increase in the use of mobile learning in higher education. Higher education institutions continue to move away from traditional, lecture-based lessons towards new, innovative teaching and learning methodologies to facilitate emerging pedagogies and strategies, thereby enhancing student learning. The adoption of technological innovation could promote the unfolding of a social process that over time could enhance social connectedness among young students and their older adult educators. Mobile learning is fundamentally defined as “learning with mobile devices” and it has the potential to extend the philosophies of learning through innovation It was identified that research in the field of m-learning can be divided into four areas, namely: pedagogy; administrative issues and technological challenges; ensuring sustainable development in education using m-learning; and the impact of new applications. With the increased need for nursing professionals, promoting the quality and effectiveness of nursing education has become crucial. It is thus important to establish learning environments in which personalised guidance and feedback to students regarding their practical skills and the application of their theoretical knowledge within clinical learning environments is provided.

Tremendous growth in the biomedical science workforce has increased the need for trained scientists. The current workforce is severely underrepresented by minority groups, particularly Native Americans. To address this issue, the federal government funded programs that encouraged Native American students to participate in undergraduate biomedical science courses and research. One such program, funded by the National Institutes of Health, is the Minority Student Development Program at Northern Arizona University. Little research has been done on educational programs for minority populations. The purpose of this study was to identify and describe qualities and characteristics of the undergraduate research component of the federally funded Minority Student Development program from the perspective of Native American student participants. Qualitative case study methods were used to: (a) determine program qualities and characteristics, (b) develop a knowledge base about the experiences of Native American undergraduate student participants, ( c) identify career goals of students to determine if program participation influenced career choices, (d) understand the degree to which a student's cultural background influences career goals, and (e) evaluate the effectiveness of the program. Data were collected through interviews, observations, focus group discussions, informal discussions, questionnaire responses, meeting attendance, and document analysis. In all, 15 students, two program staff members, and eight faculty participated in the study. Findings from this study include a description of the background and experiences of three subjects: Leroy, Samantha, and Jeremy. While the three were selected for their Native American ethnicity, differences were discovered in their cultural experiences. The three subjects were positive about their program experiences. Career goals of students were greatly influenced by program participation. Findings related to program qualities and characteristics were identified and found to be closely aligned with stated program goals. Suggestions for program improvement included: (a) formalizing the application process, (b) matching student researchers with faculty mentors based on common research interests and personality, (c) faculty mentors closely supervising students to provide support and encouragement, and (d) communicating program expectations for students regarding conference attendance, presenting, and publishing research results.

American anthropology has focused on issues related to race from the start of the discipline. From past work designed to categorize humans into phenotype-based categories to current work to undo those categorizations, many anthropologists consider race to be one of the most important topics for students to learn. In this dissertation, I use in-depth ethnographic case studies consisting of interviews, observations, and focus groups, to learn about the way in which anthropologists at four institutions of higher education teach the topic to students in their introductory, four-field general anthropology class. I found that anthropologists are committed to sharing anthropological perspectives with the public through teaching, while their students look for engaging and interesting teaching. I discuss the general acceptance by instructors of introductory courses of the idea that race does not have a biological basis in humans but is in fact a social construction; that in general, professors find this topic to be a critical one for students to learn; that there are a variety of successful strategies that can be employed to teach race to students; and that while students grasp the basic message, they remain confused about the social context of race and racism. Additionally, I conducted interviews with experts on the topic of race to provide context for the current anthropological perspective. I conclude that there is more research to be done on the teaching of anthropology, that the anthropological message about race must be stated in a more nuanced way, that the four-field introductory course is valuable and should be preserved, and that anthropology needs to further incorporate racism (the systematic mistreatment of minorities that is built into the social structure of the United States) into the discussion on race. Future research directions include scaling the research up to observe teaching practices across the country, conducting survey research to understand teaching practices and attitudes, further exploring the generalizability of these findings, and testing the effectiveness of teaching methods described herein using pre- and post- tests. Two potential study limitations include the majority White sample and that the study was confined to the American South.

This study endeavoured to establish what influences students to undertake library and information studies. Are prospective students of library and information studies choosing their course and future occupation for the same sorts of reasons as in the past? Are prospective students well informed about their future occupation when they choose a course of study? What is the relative importance of some of the factors influencing their choice? Do metropolitan, regional and isolated students have the same understanding and expectations of their course and future occupation? A study of first year undergraduate students of library and information studies at three universities sought to provide answers to these questions. A quantitative and qualitative comparison of first year undergraduate students of Library and Information Studies at the University of Canberra and a random group from the same University was also undertaken in order to provide some comparative data. The findings showed that reasons for choosing library and information studies have generally not changed as much as one might expect. An interest in books and reading still ranks as a relatively important factor in students' choice, though there is some evidence of an increased interest in career and employment issues. Library and information studies students without an occupational background in the discipline generally have a hazy picture of what is involved in their future occupation and this lack of knowledge is compounded where students are located in regional or isolated areas. Generally most library and information studies respondents expressed a desire to enter 'traditional' workplaces in libraries rather than entering the broader information management field.

Once considered the "heart of the university," many academic libraries are facing heightened pressures to prove their relevance and value to administrators, faculty, and students, especially during these times of constrained resources and greater calls for accountability and productivity in higher education. At the same time, colleges and universities are continually striving to understand how their institutional environments affect undergraduate engagement, persistence and, ultimately, degree attainment. As a fundamental co-curricular resource, it is time for academic libraries to start systematically assessing how they affect, either directly or indirectly, their parent institutions' goals of student engagement and persistence. This quantitative study investigated the relationship between the use of an academic library, its physical resources and spaces, and student engagement and persistence at a large, public, research university. This unique study combined institutional and library data sources for analysis, including the results from a large-scale student experience survey with over 13,000 respondents, data from the student information system, and library use data from a variety of library data systems. Descriptive statistics as well as correlations, linear regressions, and logistic regressions were conducted to investigate the relationship between the library-use variables and variables representing sense of belonging and satisfaction, academic engagement, academic disengagement, and persistence. The study found many practically significant, as well as statistically significant, correlations and predictive relationships between the library-use variables and the student outcome variables for engagement and persistence, although most of the effect sizes were small. The small to medium effect sizes re-presented in the results suggest that there a complex relationships between the variables and indicate the need for further research. This study contributes to an area of the literature that has received little attention from previous researchers and demonstrates one approach to creating a unique student-level dataset by combining student experience survey data with institutional data and library use data in order to investigate how the use of library resources and spaces may affect student success outcomes. / text

Women and members of underrepresented populations remain a relatively small proportion of the engineering faculty and students on university campuses. The lack of diversity potentially reduces the number of innovative and diverse perspectives contributing to these fields. One critical area missing in the research literature concerns faculty mentoring of engineering undergraduate women students. This qualitative study explores the narratives of six engineering faculty member mentors, two student affairs practitioners, and three undergraduate women student mentees and their mentoring experiences in a large public research university. Drawing on relevant frameworks from best practices in mentoring and pedagogy, this study will reframe the conversations surrounding faculty mentoring of undergraduate students by utilizing a feminist lens, which seeks to explicitly address the need to create and sustain an inclusive and engaging classroom environment and mentoring relationships. The following research questions guided the study: 1) how do mentors and mentees make meaning and conceptualize the act of mentoring, 2) how are these mentoring relationships situated within the context of the institution in which they are embedded, and 3) what implications emerge for retention and representation of underrepresented students for faculty mentors and student mentees? With this in mind, a feminist lens was useful for expanding the ways in which mentoring is conceptualized and explored because traditional approaches did not effectively explore or capture the benefits received by the participants. The engineering faculty mentor and undergraduate student mentee participants largely formed mentoring relationships informally, often through a connection established in a classroom. Faculty members were purposeful and thoughtful in their pedagogical choices, fostering an engaging and supportive classroom environment. Unlike the research literature, these faculty mentors perceived real benefits from mentoring undergraduate students. In addition, the faculty mentors participating in this study were particularly aware of the challenges and opportunities facing women and underrepresented undergraduate students, graduate students, and faculty in engineering. / text