Book Summary: This title examines what our students need to know to be psychologically literate citizens of the contemporary world, caring family members, and productive workers who can meet today's challenges. It contains the expert opinions of a leading group on the topic, creates a powerful new model for educating psychologically literate citizens and provides a handbook of evidence-based practical pedagogy with substantive resource materials applicable to every campus and its faculty.

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Conceptual and theoretical advancements have been developed in recent years to break down the assumptions and traditional boundaries that establish seemingly independent disciplines, and the research outlined in this dissertation aspires to build on these advancements to provide innovative solutions to a broad array of modern problems in social-ecological. I used a variety of techniques to address challenges ranging from disconnections between theory and application, perceived versus realized roles of prescribed fire in resprouting shrublands, and the need for broader participation in research as part of undergraduate education. The chapters in this dissertation serve as a case-study approach across multiple scientific disciplines that overcome the traditions and assumptions that conflict with our ability to develop innovative solutions to modern social-ecological problems. First, I bridge theoretical and applied concepts by showing how recent theoretical advancements in resilience can be integrated into a predictive framework for environmental managers. Second, experimental data from multiple experiments were collected in two ecological regions of Texas to assess the potential for using extreme fire, in isolation and in combination with herbicide, as a novel intervention approach in resprouting shrublands of the southern Great Plains. The findings from these experiments demonstrate the importance of moving past traditional assumptions of when prescribed fire should be applied to demonstrate new patterns of woody plant responses to the applications of “more extreme” prescribed fires while not causing undesirable invasions by exotic grasses and exotic insects. Finally, I initiated a PhD instructed course on undergraduate research that sought to increase undergraduate participation while lowering the costs of conducting research. This chapter shows how traditional approaches of supporting undergraduate research are incapable of meeting the broader goals established by society and reveal a novel approach that can provide an additional pathway for supporting undergraduate student participation at large, research-based universities. Ultimately, this research suggests that our capacity to enhance services in social-ecological systems ultimately hinges upon the integration of theoretical and applied concepts that drive policy and governance and overcoming the assumptions and traditions that limit their integration.

abstract: This dissertation reports on an action research study that sought to discover how a new WiFi, tablet computing device, the Apple iPad, affected, enhanced, and impacted student engagement in an English Honors course at Scottsdale Community College. The researcher was also the instructor in the two semester, first-year, college composition sequence (English 101/102) in which all 18 students were provided the new Apple iPad tablet computing device. The researcher described how students adapted the Apple iPads to their academic lives, assessed iPad compatibility with current instructional technology systems, and interviewed participating students to document their beliefs about whether iPad activities enhanced the course. At the conclusion of the college composition sequence, 13 students agreed to participate in focus groups to describe how they made use of the iPad and to report on how the iPad influenced their engagement. Among other findings, students reported that there were compatibility problems with current SCC instructional technology systems, that the iPad increased their efficiency in completing informal educational tasks, but that the iPad was not useful for doing word processing and research. Recommendations for future use of the iPad in this course include reducing the number of iPads accessing the WiFi network at the same time, piloting the use of iPad word processing applications, researching more "mobile-friendly" web sites and documents, and developing innovative assignments that take advantage of iPad capabilities. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ed.D. Educational Leadership and Policy Studies 2011

Thesis (M.A.)--Boston University / The purpose ot this study was to analyse the four-year undergraduate mechanical-engineering curricula in the engineering schools in New England and New York State, with a view to discovering clues to possible improvement of a similar curriculum in Bradford Durfee Technical Institute in Fall River, Massachusetts.

Thesis (B.A.)--Boston University. University Professors Program Senior theses. / PLEASE NOTE: Boston University Libraries did not receive an Authorization To Manage form for this thesis. It is therefore not openly accessible, though it may be available by request. If you are the author or principal advisor of this work and would like to request open access for it, please contact us at open-help@bu.edu. Thank you. / 2031-01-01

abstract: Classical pianists have struggled to reconcile personal artistic growth with the economic and cultural realities of a career as a musician. This paper explores the existing structure of North American undergraduate piano education and its development alongside sociological and cultural changes in the twentieth century. Through document study and interviews, I look at three different models of undergraduate piano curricula. Chapters One and Two explore the issues and history surrounding the traditional piano curriculum. Chapters Three and Four draw on interviews to study two different North American undergraduate curricula: a piano curriculum within a liberal arts environment of an American Conservatory-College, and a piano curriculum within a Canadian University Faculty of Music. Chapter Five concludes with a summary of these findings and potential recommendations for implementation. In this study, I suggest that changes to piano curricula were made because of a differing approach, one in which music is seen as an entrepreneurial vocation. These changes point to a discrepancy between what is being provided in the curriculum, and the actual skills that are needed in order to thrive in today's economy. Awareness of the constant flux of the current professional climate is necessary in order for pianists to channel their skills into the world. I theorize that changes in curricula were made in order to provide a better bridge for students to meet realistic demands in their career and increase their ability to impact the community. / Dissertation/Thesis / D.M.A. Music 2013

The attitudes toward the treatment and knowledge about hormonal contraception among the final year pharmacy students Author: Veronika Pavlíková¹ Supervisor: PharmDr. Kateřina Ládová, Ph.D.¹ Consultant: PharmDr. Anna Oleárová, Ph.D., MPHš ¹Department of Social and Clinical Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy in Hradec Králové, Charles University, Czech Republic šDepartment of Organisation and Management of Pharmacy, Faculty of Pharmacy, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovak Republic Introduction: Hormonal contraception (HC) is ranked among the widespread birth control methods used in a broad age structure of women worldwide. Based on of the health status, lifestyle, user's preferences or non-contraceptive benefits, it is possible to choose from the wide spectrum of HC, which differs in dosage and composition. Aim: The aim of this thesis was to determine the attitudes toward the treatment and knowledge about the HC among the final-year pharmacy students upon the completion of the mandatory 6-month long practical training in the pharmacy and knowledge acquired during the studies. Methods: The on-line survey was the realized in students of faculties of pharmacy in the Czech Republic and in the Slovak Republic, who had already completed the mandatory 6-month long practical training or who have just been...

<p> A student’s education should be reflective of the innovative and progressive nature of the professional world. While innovation was previously viewed as an economic driver or technological concept in the 20th century, modern times have innovation permeating into all branches of society, intending to seek and develop new knowledge and ideas across any academic and professional disciplines. With this inclusion of innovation in all aspects of society, students should be provided educational opportunities to develop innovation capabilities, skills, and mindsets that can better prepare them for the professional world as well as for making both societal and personal impact. Innovation-focused education has been positioned to aid in 1) developing social responsibility in students, 2) fostering innovative behaviors that can benefit the organizations in which students become part of in their future, 3) empowering students to pursue their own personal ventures, and 4) enhancing the economy of a nation. And, using a transdisciplinary approach to teaching innovation, can be one approach to bridge, or even break down, the silos that exist within modern higher education—creating a more authentic community of practice to nourish student learning and their innovative ideas. Researchers have found that innovation capabilities are not typically a by-product of traditional comprehensive education and without specific curriculum to cultivate innovation practices among students across majors, many may be missing out on valuable knowledge and skillsets. Addressing this concern, an undergraduate model at Purdue University has been developed to provide students with the time, resources, and opportunities to enhance their innovation capabilities through co-teaching and co-learning from faculty and students from differing academic units/colleges. This model brings together the disciplinary lenses from three different colleges, including engineering technology, business management, and liberal arts. Engaging students in a transdisciplinary, authentic learning experience across these academic units can allow them to form a community of practice by working on innovation projects over multiple semesters within an engaged network of faculty, peers, and mentors from a variety of disciplines. However, as this model is implemented there is a need to better understand how this collaborative approach to teaching innovation influences undergraduate learning. Therefore, this study 1) examined student perceptions of this innovation education model related to its co-teaching and co-learning pedagogical approach as well as 2) analyzed the influence of this model on student innovation skills (i.e., <em>integrative learning</em>, <em>teamwork</em>, and <em>problem solving</em>). To do so, data was collected from Likert-style prompts and open-ended survey responses and semi-structured interviews and analyzed using thematic coding and a non-parametric Wilcoxon signed-rank test. The results of this analysis revealed 1) working in teams is a necessary evil for many students, 2) cross-college collaboration enhances brainstorming and ideation in general, 3) a collaborative, transdisciplinary setting for learning allows for the application of prior knowledge, and 4) multiple instructors allowed for a greater range of feedback throughout the design process, among other findings in regard to student perceptions of the collaborative teaching and learning model. In addition, the results indicated that there was a statistically significant difference in the students’ perceptions of their innovation capabilities related to all sub-constructs of both <em>integrative learning</em> and <em>problem solving</em>, while students’ perceptions of their abilities relating to <em>teamwork</em> were less consistent. Leveraging these results, discussions around best ways to implement a similar model of teaching in other contexts, the benefits students identified from working collaboratively with individuals outside of their academic unit, and optimal strategies for developing this model have been brought to life. Also, aligning to the data collected in this study, recommendations for educational practice, such as consistency between instructors, alternative strategies for using a similar model in a different time-span, and students identified issues and potential solutions have been provided as well as continued needs for future research. All of this information is positioned to help inform future innovation education research, identifying benefits and drawbacks of the collaborative form of teaching and learning, and analyzing students’ self-perceptions of the skills they developed. Hopefully, this information will be valuable as more institutions look toward transforming teaching and learning practices to provide more engaging, cross-college models that enhance the value of the learning experiences they provide to students on their campuses.  </p>

Improved metacognitive thinking can impact student’s success. A novel homework method called Solved Problem Analysis (SPA) was developed with the intent to foster metacognitive thinking. It was hypothesized that supporting metacognition would lead to increased performance on in-class exams and the ACS final exam. Results showed SPA was effective at increasing performance on both. In order to more directly measure student’s metacognitive thinking, a knowledge survey was implemented to measure the difference between student’s perceived understanding of the material and their actual performance. These knowledge surveys showed students were able to predict how much of the material they understood. Monitoring one’s thinking is an important part of metacognition. This cognitive monitoring can be mimicked in study group interactions. The effect of self-assembled study groups on student exam performance was also examined, where it was found that self-assembled study groups did not effectively increase exam performance.