Author Archives: shutsell

Anna Flynt Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Anna Flynt

for the degree of Doctor of Education

February 22, 2018 at 2:00 pm  / Virtual Defense

Major Advisor: Clif Mims, PhD

Tennessee ESL Teachers’ Self-Efficacy: A Predictive Correlational Study

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this quantitative, predictive correlational study was to examine variables that are correlated with Tennessee K-12 English as a second language teachers’ self-efficacy. With the changes stipulated by the Every Student Succeeds Act recently approved by the Tennessee Department of Education, there is a need to examine possible factors associated with ESL teachers’ self-efficacy because teacher self-efficacy has been linked to teacher effectiveness and, in turn, student learning. Using social cognitive theory as a framework, predictor variables were identified and included route to licensure, practicum hours, presence of mentor, years of teaching experience prior to ESL, years of experience of ESL teaching, and number of ESL teachers at participants’ schools. A self-report survey including the validated Teachers’ Sense of Efficacy Scale was sent to the participants using the Tennessee Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages membership listserv. The data collected from the convenience sample was analyzed using standard multiple regression. The six predictor variables were found not to be predictive of Tennessee ESL teachers’ self-efficacy and the overall standard multiple regression indicated negligible predictive value. The conclusion drawn from this study is that Tennessee, and perhaps other ESL teachers in the United States, are a unique population of teachers who have other factors specific to their field of teaching that can be predictive of their self-efficacy. Among the possibilities for future research, the author especially recommends the investigation of American ESL teachers’ self-efficacy through qualitative methods so data can be collected to identify possible self-efficacy factors directly from the population.

Eric Suedmeyer Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Eric Suedmeyer

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

February 19, 2018 at 10:30 am in 103 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Douglas Strohmer, PhD

Development of the Career Resilience Scale for Adults with Disabilities

ABSTRACT: Adults with disabilities face multiple internal, social, and systemic barriers that hamper efforts to attain and maintain meaningful employment. In order to achieve success in vocational pursuits, individuals with disabilities must demonstrate perseverance in the face of probable adversity; this construct is career resilience. Unfortunately, no scale has been developed to measure a person’s career resilience that is specifically tailored to assess one’s ability to rebound from career stressors related to one’s disability. The purpose of this study is to develop an instrument to measure the career resilience of adults with disabilities. After creating the Career Resilience for Adults with Disabilities Scale (CRADS) the author used two samples of 169 and 129 adults with disabilities to examine its psychometric characteristics and finalize the scale’s structure and content. Results indicated the CRADS is a reliable measure with a three-subscale factor structure. Differences in CRADS scores were found between adults with disabilities who were currently employed and those unemployed and not actively looking for work.

Amy Hall Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Amy Hall

for the degree of Doctor of Education

February 22, 2018 at 10:30 am in 320 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw, EdD

Effect of a case-based online discussion forum on resident professionalism knowledge and skills

ABSTRACT: Teaching professionalism in graduate medical education is required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education. Program directors face several challenges in developing and implementing methods to effectively teach professionalism. However, the benefits of implementing an effective method can lead to improved resident performance and knowledge, patient care outcomes, and teamwork interactions. A research proposal was developed to investigate the effects of a professionalism traditional lecture versus a professionalism traditional lecture and a case-based online discussion forum on residents’ professionalism skills as measured by the Professionalism Mini-Evaluation Exercise (P-MEX) and professionalism knowledge as measured by a posttest, while controlling for postgraduate year level and program. Residents from ACGME accredited Diagnostic Radiology and Family Medicine residency programs at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center served as participants in a posttest only control group experiment. Participants will be randomly assigned to a control (e.g. traditional lecture) and experimental group (e.g. traditional lecture and a case-based, online discussion forum). After the lecture, the experimental group will participate in a four-week case-based, online discussion forum. Weekly discussions will be centered around case-based scenarios that highlight unprofessional behavior and encourage reflective discourse amongst the participants. Afterwards, professionalism skills will be assessed via the P-MEX and knowledge base will be assessed via a posttest. An analysis of variance (ANOVA) was identified to determine the level of difference between the control and experimental groups’ professionalism skills and knowledge assessment results. The results for both the P-MEX and the posttest were not normally distributed as assessed by the Shapiro Wilks test. Since the ANOVA is robust when minor deviations to the normality assumption, it was used to assess the results along with the Kruskal-Wallis H Test acting in a supporting role. Both statistical tests revealed no statistically significant differences between the control and experimental groups P-MEX and posttest scores. The results indicate that the case-based online discussion forum had little to no effect on residents’ professionalism knowledge or skill levels.

Sandra Smith Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Sandra Smith

for the degree of Doctor of Education

February 14, 2018 at 10:00 am in Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Reginald Green, EdD

An Analysis of the Relationship between Teacher Perception of Community Support and Involvement at Their School and Student Rates of Attendance, Graduation, and Academic Proficiency

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between educators’ perceptions of the quality of community support and involvement at their high schools and five longitudinally measured indices of school effectiveness. Given a sample of 248 Tennessee high schools, secondary data derived from the “Community Support and Involvement” subsection of the Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning (TELL) Questionnaire Survey administered in 2013 were merged with concurrent student attendance, student graduation, and student achievement outcomes archived and made publicly available on the Tennessee Department of Education website. After controlling for the impact of student and faculty demographic variables, hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated the perceived influence of parent and community support and involvement to be both systematically statistically significant and uniformly positive with respect to the study’s five outcomes of interest, all of which were averaged over three years. More specifically, perceived levels of community support and involvement were observed to explain some 3.5% of the variance in schools’ attendance rate ( = 0.22, t = 3.65, p < 001) and about 1.8% of the variance in schools’ graduation rate (b = 0.15, t = 2.78, p = 006). As regards student achievement, perceived levels of community support and involvement were observed to explain 2.0% of the variance in schools’ ACT Composite scores (b = 0.16, t = 4.67, p < .001); 5.2% of the variance in schools’ percentage of students proficient in Algebra I (b = 0.21, t = 3.62, p < .001); and 1.5% of the variance in English II (b = 0.14, t = 4.19, p < .000).

Michelle Rudolph Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Michelle Rudolph

for the degree of Doctor of Education

December 11, 2017 at 12:30 pm / Virtual via BlueJeans

Major Advisor: Amanda Rockinson-Szapkiw, EdD

EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF VIDEO FORMATS HAVE ON TEACHING, SOCIAL, AND COGNITIVE PRESENCE IN ASYNCHRONOUS ONLINE DISCUSSIONS

ABSTRACT: Since student retention in online courses is related to the students’ community, this dissertation explores the effect of discussion board prompt format on students’ sense of community of inquiry (CoI). The quasi-experimental study design examined the participation levels, sense of CoI (i.e., social, teaching, and cognitive presence), and final grade of nontraditional, fully online undergraduate students in an entry-level graphic design course in the Graphic Arts Department at a fully online college. The study involved 90 undergraduate students in the Graphic Arts Department at a fully online college. The study consisted of four groups: one control group who experienced the text-based discussion prompts and three experimental groups who experienced one of the asynchronous video discussion prompts (i.e., voice-over-presentation, picture-in-picture, or overlay mode). A one-way ANOVA was used to examine if the number of discussion posts made by students was significant different across groups. The same analysis was used to examine whether there was a significant difference in student’s final grade among the groups. A one-way multivariate analysis of covariance (MANCOVA) was used to determine if the format of facilitation for weekly discussion prompts in the online courses influenced online, nontraditional undergraduate students’ sense of Community of Inquiry (CoI) (i.e., social, teaching, and cognitive presence) while controlling for the CoI pretest. All results were non-significant.

Cammesha Sims Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Cammesha Sims

for the degree of Doctor of Education

November 13, 2017 at 10:00 am in Ball Hall 123

Major Advisor: Charisse Gulosino, PhD

Holistic Approach to Professional Development Using Competing Values Framework and the Impact on Job Satisfaction, Teacher Turnover, and School Performance

ABSTRACT: Abstract Holistic Approach to Professional Development Using Competing Values Framework and the Impact on Job Satisfaction, Teacher Turnover, and School Performance The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between educators’ perceptions of the quality of professional development to which they have been exposed and three outcomes related to school productivity: specifically, teacher retention, teacher satisfaction, and student proficiency in basic skills. For that purpose, secondary data extracted from the 2013 administration of the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning Questionnaire (TELL) were merged with pertinent school demographic information archived on the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) website. Once combined, these data were subsequently used to identify some 1425 schools with complete information on all variables of interest. Representing the independent variable was the scale mean computed across the thirteen items constituting the professional development subsection of the TELL. Serving as dependent variables were the percentage of respondents who intended to return to their present schools the following year, the mean level of respondents who agreed that their school was “a good place to work and learn,” and separate elementary and secondary indices of student achievement. The results of a hierarchical multiple regression indicated that the teacher-perceived quality of professional development appears to make a substantial contribution to teachers’ “staying” on the job, increasing the proportion of variance explained in the percent of returning teachers by roughly 12%. Similarly, a second hierarchical multiple regression showed that the teacher-perceived quality of professional development was linked to teachers’ finding their school overall “a good place to work and learn,” amounting to a 13% increase in the proportion of variance explained in satisfaction. Finally, after controlling for student demographic characteristics, a statistically significant association between the teacher-perceived quality of professional development and students’ basic skills proficiency was also observed, but proved to be only slight regardless of school level, albeit larger at elementary than secondary institutions.

Darren Walker Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Darren  Walker

for the degree of Doctor of Education

November 09, 2017 at 10:00 am in Ball Hall 123

Major Advisor: Charisse Gulosino, EdD

The Effect of the Four Quadrants of the Competing Values Framework on Elementary School Student Achievement

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to explore the relationships between longitudinal assessments of student achievement at 1187 elementary schools and educators’ perceptions of the manner in which their school resolves the “organizational tensions, trade-offs, and conflicts” (Cameron, Quinn, DeGraff, & Thakor, 2006, p. 50) embodied in the Competing Values Framework (CVF). With this end in view, some 24 items were selected from the 2013 state-wide administration of the Teaching, Empowering, Leading, and Learning survey in Tennessee (TELL Tennessee) and used to represent the eight organizational functions residing in the four quadrants of the CVF. After aggregating person-level observations to that of the institution, the result was merged with information pertinent to student and faculty demographic characteristics and with archived Tennessee Department of Education student achievement data in reading and in mathematics, averaged over three years. In the five sets of multiple regression analyses subsequently conducted, student demographic characteristics proved to be the most important factors in explaining variation in student achievement, whether measured as three-year averages of students’ NCE scores in reading and mathematics or as three-year averages of the percent of students proficient in reading and mathematics. Although higher levels of faculty tenure regularly emerged as a statistically significant, if only slight, influence on student outcomes, no such influence was observed with respect to higher levels of faculty experience. Over and above these background variables, the Competing Values Framework (CVF) profiles concerning ‘balance,” “stability,” an “external” orientation, and a disposition towards “rational goals” were all associated with higher NCE scores, but only the CVF “balance” profile was statistically significantly linked to student proficiency scores. While the findings concerning “balance” were consistent with standard CVF expectations and prescriptions, those concerning a disposition towards higher NCE scores and “rational goals” were seen to resonate with the educational reformist literature on magnet schools, charter schools, and the adoption of comprehensive school reform models. Common to all of these strategies is the intent to leverage school improvement by endowing schools with a visible focus and lending their instructional programs a greater coherence.

Benjamin Brett Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Benjamin Brett

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

November 17, 2017 at 1:00 pm in Ball Hall 103

Major Advisor: Suzanne Lease, PhD

Neurocognitive Impairment in Parkinson’s Disease Patients: Assessing the Unique Contributions of Depression and Fatigue While Controlling for Disease Severity

ABSTRACT: Background: While individuals diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease (PD) often experience cognitive deficits, depression, and fatigue, the relationships among these nonmotor sequelae throughout the progression of the disease are unclear. Objective: To examine the relationships among disease severity, depression, and fatigue and investigate the independent contributions of depression and fatigue to a composite measure of cognitive impairment, when controlling for disease severity in PD patients. Methods: A mixed retrospective and prospective sample of PD patients completed a comprehensive neuropsychological battery, as well as self-report measures of depression and fatigue. Cognitive impairment was represented by a summary statistic, or cognitive impairment index (CII). A hierarchal linear regression model, controlling for disease severity, examined the unique contributions of depression and fatigue on cognitive impairment. A Pearson correlation examined the relationship between depression and fatigue. Results: At step one, disease severity significantly contributed to the model, F(1, 41) = 48.06, p < .001, accounting for 52.8% of the variance in cognitive impairment. Introduction of depression and fatigue explained an additional 7.2% of the variance and this change in R2 was significant F(2,39) = 4.68, p < 0.05. Both depression, t = 2.751, B = 0.30, p < 0.01, and fatigue, t = -2.03, B = -0.21, p = 0.049 significantly contributed to the model in addition to variance accounted for by disease severity. Conclusions: Findings suggest that depression is uniquely associated with cognitive impairment observed in PD patients independent of disease severity or level of fatigue. Interventions targeted towards depression may improve cognitive functioning.

Chantal Taylor Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Chantal Taylor

for the degree of Doctor of Education

November 10, 2017 at 10:00 am in Ball Hall 123

Major Advisor: Charisse Gulosino, EdD

Examining Teachers’ Perceptions of Climate in the Areas of Teachers’ Use of Time, Resources, and the Quality of Participation at Schools with Very Low and Very High Percentages of Learning Disabled Populations

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to determine whether there are differences in how educators view the use of instructional time, the availability of instructional resources, and the quality of parent/community relations at schools with very low and very high percentages of students categorized as learning disabled (LD). Secondary data extracted from the 2013 administration of the Teaching, Empowering, Leading and Learning Questionnaire (TELL) were merged with pertinent school demographic information archived on the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) website. Once combined, these data were subsequently used to identify some 1425 schools with complete information on all variables of interest, including concurrent percentages of LD students. Analysis of the frequency distribution of these 1425 percentages enabled the location of the cut-points marking the lowest and highest deciles and the subsequent categorization of “very low” schools as those with proportions of LD students at or below 9.38% (n = 143) and “very high” schools as those with proportions of LD students or above 20.91% (n = 142). For these 285 schools, means were then obtained on the TELL subsections pertinent to instructional time (seven items), instructional resources (nine items), and parent/community relations (eight items). After controlling for the effects of two covariates, multivariate differences were observed apropos all three outcomes. With respect to time, five of seven item means favored “low” LD schools. Conversely, eight of the nine item means concerning resources favored the “high” LD schools. The most consistent and largest between-group differences were observed with respect to parent/community relations, however, Of the nine means in this set of items, all but one favored the “high” LD group, with the strongest effects observed for item comparisons involving clear, two-way communication (g = .59) and providing parents/guardians with useful information about student learning (g = .59).

Laura Alderson Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Laura Alderson

for the degree of Doctor of Education

November 7, 2017 at 1:00 pm / Virtual via Google Hangouts

Major Advisor: Deborah Lowther, PhD

Using Digital Tools to Achieve Connectedness in Higher Education Online Courses: Faculty Perceptions and Practices

ABSTRACT: This research examined higher education faculty perceptions and practices regarding the role of digital tools, specifically, social media and communication tools to achieve connectedness between the faculty member and students and among students in fully online courses. The study was guided by three research questions: 1) What are faculty perceptions of connectedness and its importance with regard to achieving connectedness? 2) In what ways do faculty use social media and/or communication tools in online courses to achieve connectedness? and 3) What do faculty report as key benefits and challenges to achieving connectedness in online courses? A qualitative, intrinsic case study approach and purposeful sampling were used to ensure relevant information would be obtained from five business college faculty who teach fully online courses and potentially used social media and communication tools in these courses. Data were collected using face-to-face semi-structured interviews, which were recorded and transcribed. Constant comparative analysis of data involved categorizing and sequencing of data to discover emerging themes as associated with the research questions. The findings suggest that to achieve connectedness in fully online courses, faculty must be available, responsive, sensitive to student needs, and create an online environment of connectedness. Additionally, connectedness among students is often more important than between faculty and students. Faculty used social media and communication tools for student encouragement, course support, and sharing her/his personality with students, while students used these tools for peer teaching, mentoring, and community building. Connectedness was thought to benefit students by helping them feel less isolated, more engaged, and achieve greater course success and a sense of relatedness. Faculty reported challenges related to the difficulty of achieving early semester student engagement, cheating, lack of resources/support, and work environment constraints that inhibit achievability of connectedness in fully online courses. This study has implications for designing online courses that incorporate the use of social media and communication tools to foster connectedness between faculty and students and among students. Future research is needed to examine student perceptions of connectedness in fully online courses and possible influences of connectedness on course completion and retention.