This study measured the current characteristics of faculty development in public two-year colleges in Texas. Current characteristics were determined by an electronic questionnaire completed by the responding staff or faculty member designated by each Texas two-year college as the person most responsible for faculty development. In the case when faculty development responsibility was divided by technical and academic faculty, both designees at the college were sent electronic questionnaires. Of the 78 colleges, 6 colleges, or 8 percent, divided faculty development responsibilities between two individuals at the college. Those six identified colleges were sent two questionnaires each for the two selected representatives. Of those 6 colleges, 4 responded or 67 per cent. Overall, of the 78 colleges sent electronic questionnaires, 57 responded, yielding a 73 percent return. The major results of the study indicate: 1. The majority of colleges studied do not designate a faculty development space at the college.2. A large percentage of two-year public colleges in Texas, 49.2 percent of the total respondents, had no staff member responsible for faculty development who spent more than 51 percent of the time on faculty development duties. 3. Two-year public colleges budget relatively few funds for faculty development. 4. Of all respondents 42.6 percent report that they did not perform a needs assessment. 5. Most Texas two-year public colleges, 92.7 percent of respondents, claimed that their colleges evaluated faculty development activities. However, almost 25 percent of those respondents did not use an evaluation instrument. Of those respondents using an instrument, the most selected area of measurement was participant satisfaction. Performance outcomes measure was the least selected category at 5.8 percent.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Kent State University, 2008. / Title from PDF t.p. (viewed Jan. 4, 2010). Advisor: Richard Ambrose. Keywords: entry-year teachers, professional development, teacher perception. Includes bibliographical references (p. 226-242).

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-153). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ed. D.)--University of Missouri-Columbia, 2001. / Typescript. Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 149-153). Also available on the Internet.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Virginia Commonwealth University, 2009. / Prepared for: Dept. of Educational Studies. Title from title-page of electronic thesis. Bibliography: leaves 217-231.

Increasing national emphasis on college completion and affordability has prompted institutional efforts to focus on increasing efficient degree attainment within four-years. Traditional predictors of four-year graduation, Scholastic Achievement Test (SAT) scores and high school grade point average (GPA) may disproportionately negatively impact the enrollment of African American and Latino students who are more likely to receive lower scores on these metrics. This study sought to identify quantifiable non-academic metrics that can assist to predict bachelor's degree attainment in four years for African Americans and Latinos who do not meet typical standardized testing and scoring predictors. A regression analysis was performed on CIRP Freshmen Survey data for University of Texas at Austin students first enrolled in fall 2008 to assess the strength of Freshmen Survey constructs and student-level financial aid to predict graduation within a four-year timeframe. The results showed that the combined consideration of select variables increased the accuracy of prediction by over seven percentage points; moreover, two factors, holding a positive self-concept and likelihood of college involvement, demonstrated statistical significance within the model. While there are several study limitations, the findings offer support for further exploration of a model for predicting four-year graduation that considers non-academic data elements. / text

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Southwest University, a pseudonym for a Tier One 4-year public institution in the Southwest United States, introduced major curricular reforms in 2005. The most prominent of these reforms was a course required of all first-year students with the goal of transforming them from high-school students to college students. Research for this dissertation asked a group of first-year students about their experience in all of their courses but focused on the perceptions of this new first-year course. Currently, universities are devoting a great deal of resources and energy to curricular reform, but students are not often asked how they experience those curricular changes. First-year students discussed the role this course played in their first-year college experience. In order to assess student perceptions and reactions to the course, first-year students were interviewed twice. Additional qualitative data in the form of surveys and journals were also analyzed with an inductive analytic approach to provide supportive evidence for the themes that emerged in the interviews. The findings suggest that student perceptions of the course were positive and that the course had helped them achieve their first-year goals. However, the findings also suggest that additional research or a cost-benefit analysis of the program needs to be conducted to determine if the high cost of the program is worth the outcomes it is achieving. / text

The use of technology has become increasingly popular in mathematics education. Instructors have implemented technology into classroom lessons, as well as various applications outside of the classroom. This thesis outlines technology developed for use in a first-year calculus classroom and investigates the relationship between the use of weekly formative online Maple T.A. quizzes and student performance on the final exam. The data analysis of the online quizzes focuses on two years of a five-year study. Linear regression techniques are employed to investigate the relationship between final exam grades and both how a student interacts with and performs on the online quizzes. A set of interactive class notes and a library of computer demonstrations designed to be used in and out of a calculus classroom are presented. The demonstrations are coded in Maple and designed to give geometric understanding to challenging calculus concepts.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the challenges faced by first-year students as they negotiated the transition from the wrting environment of high school to the writing environment of university. The research for the dissertation was undertaken using a mixed-method explanatory design. This yielded a description of students' perceptions of the differences between their high school writing and first-year university writing environments. The research questions were as follows: what are high school students' perceptions of their writing environment; and what differences, if any, do students perceive as different in the writing environment between high school and first-year university? A total of one hundred and forty-four Grade 12 students completed a quantitative survey asking for their perceptions of the high school writing environment, and twenty students took part either in qualitative focus groups or individual interviews. A follow-up interview was conducted with fourteen of the original twenty participants while they were in the process of completing their first term at university. The results indicated that students' perceptions were very much influenced by individual teachers and instructors and by their own expectations. Recommendations, implications for further research, and implications for program development are offered as a way to extend the knowledge in this area.