Category Archives: Uncategorized

Eric Bailey II Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Eric Bailey II

for the degree of Doctor of Education

August 9, 2017 at 10:00 am in 301 Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeffery Wilson, PhD

Play the game, don’t let it play you: A case study of African American male student-athletes’ experiences at a Division II historically Black college

ABSTRACT: The media’s overrepresentation of Black men in entertainment often portrays that the only Black males who are successful are those who are either professional athletes or entertainers. Therefore, at an early age, many Black boys aspire to capitalize on what society speculates to be their best attributes—physical ability. African American male athletes spend countless hours practicing, exerting a great deal of energy, and enduring physical pain and injuries while competing, all for the slim hope of securing a roster spot on a professional sports team. While college is intended to be a place to acquire the necessary skills or credentials needed to gain entrance into a career, many student-athletes at major Division I institutions view college as simply an audition for professional leagues. The purpose of this case study was to understand the experiences that influence African American male student-athletes’ college choice, career goals, and academic persistence at a Division II Historically Black College. The findings showed that sports played a significant role in providing the participants an opportunity to attend college, and revealed that the HBCU culture was influential in their self-efficacy to secure non-sports related careers. It is anticipated that this study will help to understand the ongoing relevancy of HBCUs and how it prepares African American male student-athletes for life after sports.

Lori Spencer Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Lori Spencer

for the degree of Doctor of Education

August 7, 2017 at 1:00 pm in 301 Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeffery Wilson, PhD

Exploring Persistence Factors of Latino Graduates of a Two-Year, Private, Career College

ABSTRACT: Latino college students face factors in their lives on a daily basis that affect their persistence in college. While the nation is seeing an increase in Latino enrollment in higher education institutions, the persistence rates of Latino students are not higher than other students, regardless of ethnicity. Several theorists such as Astin, Tinto, Pascarella and Terenzini have studied specific variables affecting Latino college student persistence; however, Terenzini and Reason (2005) developed a model that combined the multiple forces affecting Latino college student persistence. This qualitative case study was guided by two questions that intended to explore the phenomenon of college student persistence factors: (1) How do college experiences affect Latino persistence to graduation? (2) How do cultural factors promote or hinder Latino college persistence? Findings produced six key themes: (1) Campus Influences, (2) Out of Class Experiences, (3) Curricular Experiences, (4) Teachers’ Influences, (5) Influential People, and (6) Pre-college Preparation. The themes identify key components of student experiences before they begin college and while they are attending. These components work together as a force developing each student with skills that promote persistence in college such as student engagement, admission’s criteria, cultural capital, and family support.

Megan McCormick Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Megan McCormick

for the degree of Doctor of Education

August 7, 2017 at 2:00 pm in 301 Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeffery Wilson, PhD

WORKING-CLASS STUDENTS’ SOCIAL CAPITAL AND FINANCIAL AID AWARDS: A STUDY OF THESE FACTORS’ EFFECT ON RETENTION FOR STUDENTS AT A LARGE PUBLIC COMMUNITY COLLEGE

ABSTRACT: Working-class students face many struggles in attempting to complete a college degree. Two of the most prominent struggles faced by these students are the deficiency of financial aid available for those in the working-class and the lack of these students’ social capital. Social capital, which is often passed down through families, may be particularly lacking for working- class students because students from these families may be first-generation and a student’s family may not possess the knowledge about the higher education process to help these students apply for financial aid. Additionally, college students who lack social capital may not have family emotional support and may face jealousy or criticism from family members who have not had the same post-secondary educational opportunities. In order to explore the role that a lack of social capital plays in working-class students’ ability to obtain financial aid and be retained in college, this study was designed to assess whether working-class students attending a large urban public community college in Pennsylvania who possessed strong family social capital were more likely to be retained into their second semester of studies than those with poor social capital, and whether family social capital impacted participants’ financial aid awards. Using the Whitney-Mann U and Fisher’s Exact Tests, participants’ survey results were analyzed to determine whether working-class students experienced difficulties in their retention due to a lack of financial aid or a lack of family and community support. The researcher found a significant difference in the number of participants retained who possessed strong family emotional support versus those students who possessed poor family emotional support. The findings indicated no statistically significant difference in all other areas.

Brittany Lee Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Brittany Lee

for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy

June 30, 2017 at 1:00 pm in 103 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Douglas Strohmer, PhD

Exploring the Relationship Between Stereotype Threat, Racial Centrality, Grit, and Academic Achievement and Retention in African American Male First Generation College Students

ABSTRACT: The educational gap for African American males has been widely researched prior to the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s. Many of these male college students have suffered at the hands of stereotype threat: a self-evaluative risk, influenced by widely held prejudices of the dominant or majority cultural group that have deleterious effects. Although stereotype threat has been widely researched, few studies have examined positive factors that have the potential to buffer the relationship that exists between stereotype threat and achievement. This study explored the relationship between dimensions of stereotype threat, racial centrality, grit, and both academic achievement and retention in 127 African American male first generation college students. Specifically, racial centrality and grit were hypothesized to separately buffer the relationship between stereotype threat and both academic achievement and retention. Analysis revealed racial centrality significantly moderated the relationship between one dimension of stereotype threat (internalization) and retention: At higher levels of racial centrality, the inverse relationship between internalization and retention was weakened and indeed reversed such that higher racial centrality was associated with greater retention. Contrary to hypotheses, grit did not buffer the relationship between the two dimensions of stereotype threat within the study (internalization and academic effort) and academic achievement or retention. However, in hierarchical multiple regression, the block containing racial centrality and grit accounted for 8.5% of the variance in academic achievement; only grit was significant, with more grit predicting higher GPA. The full multiple regression analysis accounted for 35.5% of the variance in academic achievement.

Shane Pruitt Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Shane Pruitt

for the degree of Doctor of Education

June 30, 2017 at 10:00 am in Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeff Wilson, PhD

This Importance of Ritual According to Alumni at a Southern Liberal Arts University

ABSTRACT: This study sought to understand how alumni members from a small, private university in the southern region of the United States experienced campus rituals during their college career as well as currently engage with the institution via rituals post-graduation. The following central research question guided the inquiry in an effort to describe the essence of alumni participation at Southern Liberal Arts University (SLAU): in what ways do alumni perceive the importance of campus rituals in both the student and alumni experience? This study utilized a social constructivist lens adopting a phenomenological approach to qualitative analysis including the use of interviews, artifact analysis, and non-participant observations to address the research questions. Themes emerged from this inquiry include three ways in which rituals explain the SLAU community: a) characterization through rituals, b) attachments due to rituals, and c) values shown through rituals. This research lends verification to the idea that rituals are a viable way to more strongly encourage alumni activity.

Taurus Hines Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Taurus Hines

for the degree of Doctor of Education

July 10, 2017 at 11:00 am in 123 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Reginald Green, EdD

ARTISTIC LEADERSHIP: AN EXAMINATION OF LEADERSHIP APPROACHES USED BY PRINCIPALS WITH A BACKGROUND IN THE ARTS TO PROVIDE INSTRUCTIONAL LEADERSHIP

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study was to gather an understanding of the leadership approaches used by principals who have a background in the arts. Eight principals who shared a similar interest in music, described their experiences. Using phenomenological methodology to collect and analyze data, each participant partook in a semi-structured interview to create a visual painting of the life an artistic leader. Six themes emerged from the data analysis. The findings from this study clarified that artistic leadership exists. Principals with a background in the arts identified themselves as artists, and shared the following leadership styles: transformational, servant, instructional, and situational. The principals believed that the arts made an impact on their leadership styles and personal lives. Principals with a background in the arts also believed that including artistic programs in the curriculum, field experiences, community service projects, and professional development would enhance the learning environment and experiences of the students and teachers. They designed programs and practices that expanded the aesthetic preparation of his/her students, teachers, and community. They also emphasized the importance of including everyone in making decisions related to the instructional practices.

Aaron Jordan Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Aaron Jordan

for the degree of Doctor of Education

July 7, 2017 at 11:00 am in 301 Browning Hall

Major Advisor: Jeff Wilson, PhD

A PHENOMENOLOGICAL STUDY ON THE EXPERIENCES OF SECONDARY EDUCATION COUNSELORS

ABSTRACT: The counseling profession within the context of secondary education stands at a crossroads in terms of understand how the field is able to effectively prepare students for college and career readiness (Bain 2012). Research questions were developed for this study with the micro and macro perspectives of the school counselor and operational space of their job in mind. Respondents in this study were asked a series of in-depth, phenomenologically founded, interview questions focused on how they develop college readiness programming, their intrinsic understanding of how effective they feel they are in preparing students for college and ultimately how they find meaning within their own position. Additionally, there were multiple opportunities within to observe programming at each school site to conduct non-participant observations and take extensive field notes. From their responses and the acquired field notes – four major themes developed which describe the lived and shared experiences of the rural secondary education counselor. Keywords: college preparedness, time management, phenomenology, secondary education counseling, non-participant observation, in-depth interviews, secondary education counseling

Nicco Bray Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Nicco Bray

for the degree of Doctor of Education

June 27, 2017 at 9:00 am in 320 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Trey Martindale, EdD

Faculty Perceptions of Implementing Adaptive Learning: A Case Study

ABSTRACT: Faculty perceptions of adaptive learning can potentially influence their use of that technology in their courses, with implications for student outcomes. Creation of better professional development to support faculty implementation of adaptive learning requires understanding the relationship between faculty perceptions, behavior, and course outcomes. This case study investigated the concerns faculty have about implementing adaptive learning into their courses, how those concerns impacted a professor’s levels of use of adaptive learning, and ultimately student course outcomes. The research design used to address the research questions was a mixed methods case study. The study examined quantitative data collected using SEDL’s Stages of Concern Questionnaire (SoCQ) and qualitative data using SEDL’s Levels of Use (LoU) interview protocol. Additionally, quantitative data on student’s levels of activity from the Realizeit adaptive learning platform was used to analyze the relationship between the professor’s LoU and course outcomes. The findings resulting from this study indicate that the lower the concerns, the greater the use, and the greater the use, the more student outcomes improve. While the analyses of the data were found to be statistically significant, only a small amount of the variance was explained. Other, potentially stronger factors appear to impact the relationship between student use and course outcomes.

Laquetta Jones-Taylor Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Laquetta Jones-Taylor

for the degree of Doctor of Education

May 8, 2017 at 10:00 am in 123 Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Charisse Gulosino, EdD

Competing Values Framework and its impact on teacher satisfaction: Evidence from Tennessee schools

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the level at which educators’ express satisfaction with their schools as “a good place to work and learn” and the manner in which their schools resolve the tensions and tradeoffs illuminated by the Competing Values Framework (CVF). To answer the study’s five research questions, a secondary analysis that applies hierarchical multiple regression to an existing dataset is undertaken. The dataset in question combines information from the 2013 administration of the Teaching, Empowering Leading, and Learning (TELL) survey in 1425 Tennessee schools with concurrent school demographic and student achievement data archived on the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) website. As the CVF would predict, the “balance” profile is very strongly linked to the level of respondent satisfaction at the school but without that outcome’s ambiguous association with the percent of students on free and reduced lunch. Controlling for seven other confounding variables in a hierarchical multiple regression, CVF “balance” is the one most strongly associated with the outcome and by itself explains roughly 12 percent of the variability in the outcome. Although the level of respondent satisfaction is also associated with CVF profiles that privilege the flexible over the stable, the internal over the external, and the confluence of the two in the “human relations” quadrant, the connection between an emphasis on these CVF orientations and student achievement—particularly student achievement at “high poverty” schools—is less than straightforward. Further study of these relationships is recommended.

Portia Hardman Dissertation Final Defense

The College of Education announces the final Dissertation of

Portia Hardman

for the degree of Doctor of Education

May 9, 2017 at 1:00 pm in Ball Hall

Major Advisor: Charisse Gulosino, EdD

The Impact of Organizational Profiles Within the Competing Values Framework (CVF) on Teachers’ Intention to Stay in Their Schools

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this study is to explore the relationship between the rates at which teachers intend to “stay” at their schools and the manner in which their schools resolve the tensions and tradeoffs illuminated by the Competing Values Framework (CVF). To answer the study’s five research questions, a secondary analysis that applies hierarchical multiple regression to an existing dataset is undertaken. The dataset in question combines information from the 2013 administration of the Teaching, Empowering Leading, and Learning (TELL) survey in 1425 Tennessee schools with concurrent school demographic and student achievement data archived on the Tennessee Department of Education (TDOE) website. As the CVF would predict, the “balance” profile is very strongly linked to the percentage of school “stayers”, but without that outcome’s ambiguous association with the percent of students on free and reduced lunch. Controlling for seven other confounding variables in a hierarchical multiple regression, CVF “balance” is the one most strongly associated with the outcome and by itself explains roughly 10 percent of the variability in the outcome. The percent of school “stayers” is also associated with CVF profiles that privilege the flexible over the stable, the internal over the external, and their confluence in the “human relations” quadrant. However, the connection between an emphasis on these CVF orientations and student achievement—particularly student achievement at “high poverty” schools—is complex and further study of these relationships is recommended.