The purpose of this study was to understand undergraduate students’ attitudes about search data privacy in academic libraries and their preferences for how librarians should handle information about what students search for, borrow, and download. This is an important area of study due to the increasingly data-driven nature of evaluation, accountability, and improvement in higher education, along with libraries’ professional commitment to privacy, which has historically limited the amount of data collected about student use. Using a qualitative approach through the lens of interpretive description, I used the constant comparative method of data collection and analysis to conduct semi-structured interviews with 27 undergraduate students at a large, urban public research institution. Through inductive coding, I organized the data into interpretive themes and subthemes to describe students’ attitudes, and developed a conceptual/thematic description that illustrates how they are formed. Students revealed that a variety of life experiences and influences shaped their views on search data privacy in academic libraries. They viewed academic library search data as less personally revealing than internet search data. As a result, students were generally comfortable with libraries collecting search data so long as it is used for their benefit. They were comfortable with data being used to improve library collections and services, but were more ambivalent about use of search data for personalized search results and for learning analytics-based assessment. Most students expressed a desire for de-identification and user control of data. Some students expressed concern about search data being used in ways that reflect bias or favoritism. Participants had moderate concern about their library search data privacy being used by government agencies to protect public safety. Although some disagreed with the practice in concept, most did not feel that the search data would be useful, nor would it reveal much about their personal interests or selves. Students who were not comfortable with the idea of search data collection in academic libraries often held their convictions more strongly than peers who found the practice acceptable. The results of this study suggest that academic libraries should further explore student perspectives about search data collection in academic libraries to consider how and if they might adjust their data collection practices to be respectful of student preferences for privacy, while still meeting evaluation and improvement objectives. This study achieved the intended purpose of contributing a foundational body of knowledge about student attitudes regarding search data privacy in academic libraries. It positions librarian-researchers to develop studies that further this line of inquiry in an area that has significant implications for both user privacy and libraries’ practices for assessment and evaluation. Limitations of this study include its limited generalizability as a result of the qualitative research design, and the fact that it relied primarily on a convenience sampling method.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / As an official and second language in Ghana, English is used as a medium of instruction in the Ghanaian educational setting, especially at the university level. Therefore, for Ghanaian students to go through their university education successfully, they should be able to demonstrate competence in the usage of English. However, time and again, there have been series of complaints from most English language teachers about the Ghanaian students’ lack of dexterity in writing cohesive and coherent texts. The present study, therefore, has as its aim to explore texture in first-year Ghanaian undergraduate students' essays (GUSEs). This focus is achieved through four main specific objectives. Thus, the study accounts for (1) the types of cohesive devices (2) the cohesive errors (3) the disciplinary variation in the type of cohesive devices and cohesive errors and (4) the thematic progression patterns in the essays of these first-year Ghanaian undergraduate students. To achieve these objectives, I use the Systemic Functional Linguistics perspective to text analysis, specifically the metafunction of texture as projected by Halliday (1967, 1970, 1985, 1994, and 2004), Halliday and Hasan (1976), Martin and Rose (2003) and Martin (2015). / 2023

<p><a>This</a> study aimed to investigate how the satisfaction and frustration of 776 undergraduate STEM majors’ basic psychological needs were related to their help seeking in a difficult course. It also identified the factor structures of adapted measures of academic help seeking and basic psychological needs. Factor analyses indicated that academic help seeking showed a 4-factor structure (adaptive, expedient, avoidant), with adaptive help seeking further distinguished based on the two sources (from the instructor/TA and from peers). Basic psychological needs exhibited an 8-factor structure, differentiated by whether each need (autonomy, competence, and relatedness) was satisfied or frustrated; relatedness satisfaction and frustration were also each differentiated by source (instructor/TA and peers). Psychological need satisfaction explained the data better than need frustration did in terms of both main effects and interaction effects. Interaction effects demonstrated that one psychological need was associated with academic help seeking through being moderated by another need or moderating a relation between another need and academic help seeking. Particularly, psychological need satisfaction showed some synergistic effects in that associations between one need satisfaction and academic help seeking were stronger when another need satisfaction was met. Implications for university educators, limitations, and directions for the future study were discussed. </p>

Magister Bibliothecologiae - MBibl / The purpose of this study was to investigate plagiarism among undergraduate students at a higher education institution in South Africa. There is evidence from previous studies that plagiarism is increasing world wide among higher education students. The emergence of the Internet has made plagiarizing worse as students can easily copy and paste information from the World Wide Web. This study investigated the occurrence, causes and trends of plagiarism among students in the Faculty of Applied Science at a higher education institution. It also examines student awareness of institutional policies and guidelines regarding plagiarism. The methodology used to achieve the desired outcomes of this study was a quantitative research method. It involved the distribution of questionnaires to undergraduate students to gain information about certain aspects of student plagiarism. The participants were first, second and third year students of the departments of Chemistry and Mathematical Technology within the Faculty of Applied Science. The results of the study confirm that student plagiarism is fairly common within the departments of Chemistry and Mathematical Technology. The study shows that 41% of undergraduate students think that plagiarism is very serious, but plagiarism is still being practiced within these departments. It was also found that 73% of students admit to using the Internet to compile their assignments. This implies that the Internet is the most possible source of plagiarism. Students also used books and journal articles as possible sources to plagiarise. The study made recommendations regarding how a higher education institution can reduce incidences of plagiarism and make students more aware of the implications and penalties involved. Immediate responses that this higher education institution can do to prevent plagiarism, includes teaching students to be information literate, teaching referencing techniques and academic writing. Students must be assisted in understanding plagiarism by being made aware of the different forms of plagiarism and how to avoid being accused thereof. The institution must also fight technology with technology by investing in plagiarism detection software that will help academic staff to identify copied pieces of information. It is the responsibility of any higher education institution to create policies and guidelines regarding plagiarism and to ensure students are aware of their existence. Students should be informed about the procedures that will be implemented when dealing with cases of plagiarism

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Background & Purpose: University students have lower levels of mental health compared to the general population (Twenge et al., 2019). Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, a further decline in university student mental health has been reported, emphasizing the growing concern for this population (Chen & Lucock, 2022). Positive education (i.e. courses grounded in positive psychology) could provide undergraduate students with techniques to cope with life, academic, and pandemic stress as growing research has shown its effectiveness in improving well-being (Smith et al., 2021; Yurayat & Seechaliao, 2021). However, to our knowledge, no studies have qualitatively investigated the long-term impact of a semester-long positive education course on university students mental health. Further, no studies have been found that examine the long-term impact of positive education on student mental health during the COVID-19 pandemic. Therefore, the first purpose of the thesis is to explore the perspectives of students who took a Quality of Living course on if and how they believe the course influenced their mental health a) 1-year after taking the course and b) during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (RQ1). Additionally, physical activity is a well-researched predictor of mental health and is a first-line treatment for depression (Fortier et al., 2020; Ravindran et al., 2016). There are studies that suggest a bi-directional relationship between physical activity and mental health may exist (Da Silva et al., 2012; Kim et al., 2017). Yet the influence of mental health on physical activity is just emerging. To our knowledge, no studies have used a mixed methods approach to investigate the potential bi-directional relationship between physical activity and mental health in university students and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Thus, a secondary aim of this thesis is to use a mixed-methods approach to explore the bi-directional relationship between physical activity and mental health over time amongst the students who took the QOL course during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic (RQ2). It was hypothesized that there would be a bi-directional relationship between physical activity and mental health (Kim et al., 2017). Methods: RQ1: The sample consisted of 10 university students who took the course in the Winter 2020 semester. Participants were chosen using purposive sampling from those who indicated interest and were interviewed. Semi-structured interviews were conducted 1-year after the class ended using an interview guide and a pre-interview package was sent prior to the interview. Thematic analysis of the transcripts was performed to generate common themes once data saturation occurred. RQ2: As part of a larger study investigating the Quality of Living course, quantitative data was collected (n=57). Physical activity and mental health were measured before (baseline) and after (endpoint) the course through validated self-report questionnaires and was analyzed using cross-lagged correlational analysis. For the qualitative component, during the semi-structured interviews additional questions were asked to address RQ2. Abductive thematic analysis was used to analyze the transcripts and generate common themes. Results: RQ1: Overall, there were three primary themes identified in the data including The Influence of the Course on Mental Health, Helpful Course Components, and Transferring the Course Topics to One’s Personal Life During the COVID-19 Pandemic. RQ2: The quantitative data were non-significant and did not support the hypothesis. However, the qualitative data supported the presence of a bi-directional relationship and the students agreed that physical activity influences mental health and vice versa. Conclusions: These results suggest that positive education courses like the one investigated in this study could play a valuable role in improving undergraduate students' mental health long-term. These results can be used to inform the development and implementation of future positive psychology courses. Finally, a bi-directional relationship was qualitatively shown to exist and should be further investigated as understanding this relationship can help inform wellness interventions. Future research is recommended on these topics.

The problems with which this dissertation is concerned are undergraduate student attrition and ways to reduce it. This study describes the problem of undergraduate student attrition by presenting an overview of the extent of such attrition. As a result of this study, the following conclusions, among others, are advanced: 1) Approximately 50 per cent of those who undertake a baccalaureate degree program complete their programs within four years. 2) Attrition data provide a measure of efficiency of higher education. 3) Undergraduates who do not complete course or degree requirements in either attendance or academic performance contribute to and constitute a measure of waste in the economic sense of (a) the labor of teachers, (b) the use of classrooms, laboratories, and equipment, (c) the failure of colleges and universities to achieve educational objectives, and (d) the competent individuals who never enter college. 4) Attrition is a distinct, interactive process. 5) Institutions of higher learning are responsible for changing their characteristics and environments when such variables adversely affect congruence of otherwise qualified and competent students. 6) Texas' senior college presidents who were surveyed believe that an extremely important variable in reducing attrition is the establishment of a relationship between the student and the institution through a competent, concerned faculty or staff member or peer.

First-generation students are frequently underrepresented minoritized (URM), low-income students (Douglas, 2019; Postsecondary National Policy Institute [PNPI], 2021). They are often highly motivated (Haney, 2020) but frequently experience unique or exacerbated challenges in post-secondary education (Moore et al., 2018; Soria et al., 2020). These challenges may continue into online spaces. In the first paper of this dissertation, we performed a scoping literature review and uniquely identified and categorized the challenges of these students in the online environment. We placed these challenges within the model of student engagement by Borup et al. (2020) to offer theoretical perspective for potentially better student support. In the second paper of this dissertation, we captured the experience of a partnership between a university and nonprofit organization, formed to improve the support of first-generation and URM undergraduate student success. Through semistructured interviews of eight university and nonprofit representatives, we found a reflection of best practices and student needs, as well as perspectives on how partnerships can collaboratively support student success. In the third paper of this dissertation, through semistructured interviews, we explored the perspectives of 12 first-generation and URM undergraduate students experiencing a unique set of supportive interventions. These student perspectives are essential to ensure not only that student support programs are optimal, but also to make certain that institutions avoid no-impact, low-impact, or even negative-impact interventions.

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United States breastfeeding rates are below Healthy People 2020 national goals, with African American women at the lowest rates. According to the theory of planned behavior, intention is a strong determinant of actual behavior. The purpose of this review is to uncover how researchers can best measure attributes that influence the intention to breast feed in the African American college aged population of nulliparous women. Tools to measure breastfeeding knowledge, attitudes, beliefs, cultural and social norms will be identified. Searches of health databases and Google Scholar located peer-reviewed journals using keywords such as Black, African American, instrument, female and student. The literature was searched and this review found that there are no published sources that specifically study the Black female college student population. However, numerous tools that have been used in research with other modern, Western university students groups may also be used with this population. Factors determined to be important to intention included exposure, knowledge, individual attitudes toward breastfeeding, with a focus on psychosocial embarrassment and social norms. The findingssupport researchers by suggesting future interventions, and development of tools that can be used to measure effectiveness.