Daily Archives: October 5, 2017

Matthew Binion Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Matthew Binion

for the degree of Doctor of Education

August 7, 2017 at 3:30 pm in 301 Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeffery Wilson, PhD

Students Affairs Administrators’ Understanding of Motivations to Attain a Doctorate in Higher Education Administration

ABSTRACT: Students are motivated to pursue education for various reasons and understanding those motivations can help administrators and faculty better serve graduate students who choose to participate in doctoral studies. This study analyzed qualitative data in an effort to better understand how student affairs administrators perceived their motivations while discerning doctoral study in the field of Higher Education Administration (HEA). This study used Self Determination Theory (SDT) as a framework for understanding how motivational factors influence students to participate in doctoral education. The results showed that there existed three major themes that described the participants experience with considering pursuing a doctorate in HEA; Motivational Orientations, Discernment Processes and Environmental Factors. Implications and recommendations for action and future study are presented. As a result, the findings suggest that changes in how doctoral education is promoted and encouraged, the importance of the doctorate as a credential as well as creating communities of support can help to increase doctorate representation in the area of Higher Education Administration.

Melanie Austin Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Melanie Austin

for the degree of Doctor of Education

August 3, 2017 at 11:00 am in Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeffery Wilson, PhD

Influence of Community Ties on Rural Single Mothers’ Participation in Community College: A Qualitative Cross Case Study

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to understand how resources in the community impact rural single mothers’ access, participation, and success in higher education. In particular, this study focused on how rural single mothers’ community ties impact their social capital resources and perception of agency and achievement in pursuing higher education. The theoretical framework for this study included a critical feminist social capital theory and utilized a community cultural wealth model, focusing on social capital, to highlight how rural single mothers navigate and develop social capital in rural communities to open up opportunities and provide them with social mobility. Research questions that guided the study included: 1. How do the communities influence the decision of the rural single mothers to access an Associate’s Degree program in community college? 2. In what ways do communities influence the opportunities of the rural single mothers to successfully participate in an Associate’s Degree program in community college in terms of social capital resources? 3. In what ways do communities influence the opportunities of the rural single mothers to successfully complete a community college Associates Degree program in terms of social capital resources? In this qualitative cross-case analysis there were three rural counties in Tennessee that each represented a bounded case. The counties in this study included Haywood, Franklin and Lake Counties. Interviews with rural single mothers were transcribed and analyzed for emergent themes from each county. Further, the emergent themes from each county were analyzed to determine themes that emerged across all of the cases. Results indicated four emergent themes: role strain, social capital needs, disenfranchisement and identity formation. The impact of the emergent themes differed between the counties and was dependent on how rural the county was and what social capital was available. Participants described creating alternate social capital through informal networks; as well as, expanding the definition of mothering to include activism to address gaps in social capital needs, especially social capital needs that impact their children.

Jimmy Love Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Jimmy Love

for the degree of Doctor of Education

August 7, 2017 at 12:00 pm in Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeffery Wilson, PhD

A JOURNEY THROUGH LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMS: A QUALITATIVE CASE STUDY

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this qualitative case study was to understand the journey that leaders, specifically supervisors, experience in leadership development programs within a particular organization that specializes in distribution within the southeastern United States. The participants in this study were interviewed and observed in their working environment; during the interviews and observations, the researcher attempted to explore how the participants obtained and applied leadership skills learned within the training and development program that was provided by the organization. Data was obtained from the participants and four themes emerged: (1) training is not applicable, (2) lack of knowledge on implementation, (3) lack of follow up, and (4) the lack of context to train. From the data, it appears that this particular organization needs to improve upon the structure and delivery of its leadership development programs and ensuring that information provided from these programs are applicable to the participants’ working environment.

Keywords: leadership development, training, knowledge, application

Mallory Garrett Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Mallory Garrett

for the degree of Doctor of Education

October 23, 2017 at 1:00 pm in 405 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Neal Miller, PhD

THE EFFECTS OF DELAYED TIME-OUT, DELAYED TIME-OUT WITH RULE, AND IMMEDIATE TIME-OUT ON SHAPE CHOOSING BEHAVIORS

ABSTRACT: The possibility of using a delayed consequence has great potential for anyone looking for effective methods to reduce problem behavior. In some situations, it may be difficult or even impossible for caregivers to administer time-out immediately following an instance of problem behavior due to practical constraints (e.g., being in a public place or not having sufficient staffing). In such cases, a delayed time-out procedure could have some advantages. However, very little research has been done previously on this procedure, and the concept remains largely untested with human subjects.  One concern about delayed consequences is that rather than reducing the intended behavior, it may unintentionally reduce behaviors that occur in closer temporal contiguity to the time-out. This might be addressed by the addition of rules along with the delayed consequence, which state the nature of the contingency. Research has yet to explicitly examine the question of how to arrange time-out to optimize its efficiency and effectiveness when the delivery is delayed. This study focused on the effects of delayed time-out, delayed time-out with a rule, and immediate time-out on an arbitrary behavior of adults. Due to the novelty of this procedure and the translational nature of the question being asked, an analog situation with adults was used to study the parameters of the procedure instead of implementing it with children in a classroom or home. This way of studying delayed consequences is consistent with prior research on the topic, and is intended to extend our conceptual understanding of how this type of learning occurs, in hopes of informing future applied work. The effects of the procedures on the target behavior differed across participants, though in general the delayed time-out plus rule appeared to be the most effective of the three. The implications of these results were discussed along with directions for future research on the topic.

Adrain Christopher Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Adrain Christopher

for the degree of Doctor of Education

October 10, 2017 at 12:00 pm in 405 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: William Hunter, EdD

Examining the effects of Numbered Heads Together upon On-Task Behavior and Quiz Scores on Employability Skills content of Students Identified with Intellectual Disabilities in a Post-Secondary Education Program

ABSTRACT: Enrollment in post-secondary education (PSE) programs is vital for individuals with intellectual disabilities (ID) in order to decrease the unemployment and underemployment of this population. Traditional teaching methods (e.g., lecture and note-taking) are often used during instruction in PSE classrooms despite the challenges these methods present for students with ID. Researchers suggest that there are positive correlations between increased active student engagement and percentage of time on-task, as well as academic performance. To date, strategies like Number Heads Together (NHT), a peer- mediated instructional strategy (PMI), has shown to be a more effective strategy than the commonly used method of traditional instruction (i.e., lecture and note-taking). The current study compared the effects of NHT to lecture with Guided Notes (GN) during an employability skills content lesson in a segregated post-secondary education (PSE) classroom. Three students diagnosed with ID participated in the study. An alternating treatment design was used to determine the effectiveness of NHT and/or lecture with GN upon on-task behavior and the scores of teacher-created quizzes on employability skills content. The current study extended the previous literature by investigating a new population (students with ID), a new setting (post-secondary education program), and a new content area (employability skills). Results of this study suggest that Number Heads Together was a more effective strategy than lecture with GN in regard to increasing percentage of time on-task and percentage correct on teacher-created quizzes on employability skills content, which verifies and extends the findings of previous studies. Social validity surveys and treatment integrity checklists for the participating teacher and students are included with the results. A discussion of the study limitations, implications, and future research is also included.

Domeniek Harris Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Domeniek Harris

for the degree of Doctor of Education

October 9, 2017 at 10:00 am in 123 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Reginald Green, EdD

Servant Leadership Among Senior Pastor’s Wives, Minister’s Wives and Women in Ministry

ABSTRACT: This study consisted of 180 participants comprised of senior pastor’s wives, minister’s wives and women in ministry. The Servant Leadership Questionnaire developed by Barbuto and Wheeler (2006) was used to determine to what extent the survey population exhibited the five factors of servant leadership: altruistic calling, organizational stewardship, emotional healing and persuasive mapping. This research utilized a quantitative methodological approach and convenience sampling to answer five research questions. The following tests were employed to gather the data: The R-ANOVA, MANCOVA, and correlation. This study answers the problem of the void in the literature regarding the extent to which pastor’s wives, minister’s wives and women in ministry function as servant leaders. This research design was used to determine a significant relationship between specific role, educational attainment, tenure in ministry, and race. Servant Leadership is the theoretical philosophy that servant leaders should ascribe to. Servant Leadership proposes that leaders must be a servant before ascribing to leadership. This theoretical approach to leadership is not a new leadership philosophy. Servant Leadership (SL) can be traced back to Biblical times. Robert Greenleaf coined the term servant leadership in 1970. Servant leadership is the essential leadership philosophy that spiritual and religious leaders should ascribe to. Servant leadership places direct intentional on the well-being of the follower’s over the needs of the leaders. The data revealed that the survey participants exhibited three of five servant leadership factors. Statistical significance was found relative to organizational stewardship, persuasive mapping, and altruistic calling. The participants reported that there were six major characteristics that all leaders must possess: integrity, servanthood, vision, compassion and humility. Participants reported that to be more effective servant leaders that needs the following supports: mentorship, training, community of clergy wives and women in ministry, human and financial support, resources such as books, classes and materials, and rest. For the most part senior pastor’s wives, minister’s wives, and women in ministry are servant leaders, they exhibit three of the five servant leadership factors, however coaching, training, and mentorship is needed for them to acquire the other two factors of servant leadership.

Emily Shannon Hughes Dissertation Defense Announcement

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Emily Shannon Hughes

for the degree of Doctor of Education

October 30, 2017 at 1:00 pm in Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Donna Menke, PhD

CRITICAL AND HIGHER ORDER THINKING SKILLS REQUIRED FOR ADMISSION TO PHYSICAL THERAPIST EDUCATION PROGRAMS: A MODIFIED E-DELPHI STUDY

ABSTRACT: Physical therapy has changed from its humble beginnings as informal classes for reconstruction aides (RAs) educated in gymnasiums to the professional education programs for students graduating with an entry-level Doctor of Physical Therapy. The occupation, now a profession, complete with autonomy, direct access and great responsibility for decision-making for those we care for has changed; however, the need for physical therapists to care for those with physical disabilities has not changed. In order for physical therapists to manage care, responsibility, and autonomy in the ever-changing economic and healthcare environment, physical therapist education programs need, as part of the admission process, some standardization to help them select the best and students who have the potential to succeed academically as well as pass the national licensure examination. Therefore, the purpose of this study is to determine which critical thinking skills and higher order constructs would be essential to assess on an admission examination for entrance into physical therapist education programs. A modified E-Delphi was used to answer this question by surveying a group of experts determined by the criteria of being a licensed physical therapist who have been published for their research on critical thinking and higher order thinking as well as program directors of physical therapist education programs. The critical thinking skills of clarifying meaning, assessing claims, assessing arguments, stating results, self-examination, and self-correction and the higher order thinking constructs of critical thinking and logical thinking emerged as the consensus items to be assessed in a discipline-specific examination prior to entrance into a physical therapist education program.