Matching Items (14)
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- All Subjects: Educational leadership
- Creators: Ott, Molly
Description
Promoting student engagement is a critical performance indicator for undergraduate success and is, therefore, a priority for academic institutions as they seek to improve teaching and learning practices (Meyer, 2014). Educators need to improve their instructional pedagogy by developing unique methods for engaging students with educational opportunities. Instructors who facilitate courses online face an even greater challenge in engaging students. A virtual learning community is a potential solution for improving online engagement.
This mixed methods action research dissertation explores the implementation of an online learning community and how it influences the engagement of students in distance learning environments. The primary research question guiding this inquiry is: How and to what extent does the implementation of an online learning community influence undergraduate student engagement in online courses? A sequential triangulation design was used to analyze data collected from surveys and responses collected from study participants during a synchronous online focus group. The analysis of the results of the study provide interesting insight into the online engagement of students. Key findings from the study are: 1) the inclusion of diverse perspectives is important for students and they value having opportunities to share their knowledge with peers; 2) an online learning community is beneficial for student engagement and this type of model is one they would participate in the future; 3) students experience a disconnect with peers when engagement opportunities in online discussion platforms feel insincere.
This mixed methods action research dissertation explores the implementation of an online learning community and how it influences the engagement of students in distance learning environments. The primary research question guiding this inquiry is: How and to what extent does the implementation of an online learning community influence undergraduate student engagement in online courses? A sequential triangulation design was used to analyze data collected from surveys and responses collected from study participants during a synchronous online focus group. The analysis of the results of the study provide interesting insight into the online engagement of students. Key findings from the study are: 1) the inclusion of diverse perspectives is important for students and they value having opportunities to share their knowledge with peers; 2) an online learning community is beneficial for student engagement and this type of model is one they would participate in the future; 3) students experience a disconnect with peers when engagement opportunities in online discussion platforms feel insincere.
ContributorsSneed, Obiageli (Author) / Ott, Molly (Thesis advisor) / Crawford, Steven (Committee member) / Magruder, Olysha (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
ABSTRACT
This action research case study explored the ways participation in a teacher leader learning community contributed to the identity development of teacher leaders at the Canajoharie Central School District. The goal of the study was to identify how a teacher leader learning community supported the identity of teacher leaders in their work. This action research study used a case study methodology and included qualitative and quantitative data collection. Purposive sampling identified six participants for the study. The qualitative data collection included initial and final one-on-one semi-structured interviews, meeting observation notes, research journal entries and peer interaction logs. Quantitative data were gathered using pre- and post- innovation surveys. Participants completed a pre-innovation survey and initial interview prior to the start of the innovation. Structured teacher leader learning community meetings were conducted over a four-month period of time in the Fall of 2018. Study participants led the design of collaborative group norms and meeting protocols. Participants facilitated the teacher leader learning community meetings. At the conclusion of the study period participants completed a post-innovation survey and final interview. Meeting observation notes, research journal entries and peer interaction log data were collected during the study period.
Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data of this study suggests that teacher leader identity is supported by participation in a structured teacher leader learning community. Teacher leaders benefitted from a formal structure through which to share successes, problem-solve situations and continue growth as leaders. The findings also suggest that meeting norms and protocols benefit the work of the teacher leaders in the learning community. These findings are consistent with previous research studies which indicate that teacher leaders need opportunities to come together and network to sustain their work. The findings from this action research study may assist other school districts in supporting teacher leaders in their local context.
This action research case study explored the ways participation in a teacher leader learning community contributed to the identity development of teacher leaders at the Canajoharie Central School District. The goal of the study was to identify how a teacher leader learning community supported the identity of teacher leaders in their work. This action research study used a case study methodology and included qualitative and quantitative data collection. Purposive sampling identified six participants for the study. The qualitative data collection included initial and final one-on-one semi-structured interviews, meeting observation notes, research journal entries and peer interaction logs. Quantitative data were gathered using pre- and post- innovation surveys. Participants completed a pre-innovation survey and initial interview prior to the start of the innovation. Structured teacher leader learning community meetings were conducted over a four-month period of time in the Fall of 2018. Study participants led the design of collaborative group norms and meeting protocols. Participants facilitated the teacher leader learning community meetings. At the conclusion of the study period participants completed a post-innovation survey and final interview. Meeting observation notes, research journal entries and peer interaction log data were collected during the study period.
Analysis of the quantitative and qualitative data of this study suggests that teacher leader identity is supported by participation in a structured teacher leader learning community. Teacher leaders benefitted from a formal structure through which to share successes, problem-solve situations and continue growth as leaders. The findings also suggest that meeting norms and protocols benefit the work of the teacher leaders in the learning community. These findings are consistent with previous research studies which indicate that teacher leaders need opportunities to come together and network to sustain their work. The findings from this action research study may assist other school districts in supporting teacher leaders in their local context.
ContributorsGrimshaw, Deborah P (Author) / Ott, Molly (Thesis advisor) / Smudde, Christopher (Committee member) / Ford, Leslie (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2016
Description
The purpose of this action research was to study the impact of managers’ roles in improving employee engagement through professional development programs and customized action plans among Merced College Student Services employees. Ultimately, the goal of the intervention was to increase levels of employee engagement among student services professionals to better thrive as a unit and for students to receive higher levels of customer service. The study was an action research study using a mixed-methods design. The participants for the qualitative one-on-one interviews were three managers, two classified professionals, and two faculty. The sampling was purposive. For the quantitative data collection, the participants of this action research study included the approximately 132 employees in the Student Services Division at Merced College.
Participants completed a pre-survey measuring their levels of employee engagement based on The Gallup Organization’s 12 dimensions of employee engagement. The survey instrument measured 12 constructs and included 36 total items. Based on the results of the pre-survey, managers within the Student Services Division participated in two professional development workshops on employee engagement. The results of the qualitative data analysis resulted in manager-developed action plans, based on the three lowest constructs from the pre-survey, for each of the departments within the Student Services Division. The customized action plans were implemented over an approximately four-month period. Upon completion of the intervention, participants completed a post-survey to assess the impact of the interventions.
The results indicated that managers who participate in employee engagement professional develop programs are able to effectively develop and implement action plans as employee engagement champions within the workplace. The post-survey scores for participants of this study did not result in improved levels of employee engagement during the four-month intervention cycle. The findings of the action research study will help develop and refine solutions to continue to improve employee engagement within higher education and other organizations.
Participants completed a pre-survey measuring their levels of employee engagement based on The Gallup Organization’s 12 dimensions of employee engagement. The survey instrument measured 12 constructs and included 36 total items. Based on the results of the pre-survey, managers within the Student Services Division participated in two professional development workshops on employee engagement. The results of the qualitative data analysis resulted in manager-developed action plans, based on the three lowest constructs from the pre-survey, for each of the departments within the Student Services Division. The customized action plans were implemented over an approximately four-month period. Upon completion of the intervention, participants completed a post-survey to assess the impact of the interventions.
The results indicated that managers who participate in employee engagement professional develop programs are able to effectively develop and implement action plans as employee engagement champions within the workplace. The post-survey scores for participants of this study did not result in improved levels of employee engagement during the four-month intervention cycle. The findings of the action research study will help develop and refine solutions to continue to improve employee engagement within higher education and other organizations.
ContributorsVitelli, Chris (Author) / Ott, Molly (Thesis advisor) / Albert, Louis (Committee member) / Duran, Benjamin (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2019
Description
Employing Queer Intersectionality, this study explored how undocuqueer activists made sense of, interacted and worked within the intersection of their LGBTQ and undocumented experience. Participants ascribed three overarching self-meanings: Vulnerability, Complexity, and Resilience. These self-meanings describe the ways participants perceived the interplay of their gender, sexuality and immigration status within the current sociopolitical context of the U.S. Recognizing their vulnerability within a state of illegibility, participants described a sense of exclusion within spaces of belonging, and wariness managing relationships with others; opting for more complex self-definitions, they resisted simplistic conceptions of identity that rendered their social locations invisible (e.g., homonormativity, heteronormativity, DREAMer); and describing themselves as resilient, they described surviving societal as well as familial rejection even when surviving seemed impossible to do so. Interacting and working within the intersection of gender, sexuality and immigration status, participants described identity negotiation and coming out as a form of resistance to institutionalized oppression, and resilience amidst simultaneous anti-immigrant, xenophobic and heterosexist power structures. Participants learned to live in multiple worlds at the same time, and embrace the multiplicity of their undocuqueer identity while seeking to bridge their communities through stories, activism and peer education. This study has implications for further understanding the way that queer politics and identity interact/ relate with various axes of inequality.
ContributorsCisneros, Jesus (Author) / Ott, Molly (Thesis advisor) / Fischman, Gustavo (Thesis advisor) / Anderson, Kate (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2015
Description
Assessments at the international, national, state, and local levels demonstrate that students’ reading scores in Arizona lack growth. Current trends in education encourage teachers to engage in close reading as a strategy to help improve reading efficacy. The close reading process helps students learn how to analyze complex text. A mixed method study examined the effect of ten weeks of instruction in close reading on the reading comprehension skills of fifth grade students. Also examined were any differential effects of close reading on literary versus informational texts. Students in an upper income public school community were taught the specifics of close reading procedures approximately four days per week for about 30 minutes daily. Research-based procedures for close reading strategies were followed. Students self-reported changes in their use of strategies prior to receiving close reading strategies and again post-instruction. Six students were interviewed and responded to journal questions concerning their use of the close reading strategies to ascertain how they made meaning from text. Results suggest that close reading was beneficial in helping students to make academic achievements in overall reading comprehension, as well as growth in literary content. Data also reflected that students used close reading strategies to make meaning out of the text and used it to influence their overall reading comprehension. The discussion focused on the triangulation of the quantitative and qualitative data and analyzed connections to current research. Also explored were implications for practice and future research, as well as limitations and the role of the researcher.
ContributorsVictor, Laura (Author) / Caterino, Linda C (Thesis advisor) / Koro-Ljungberg, Mirka (Committee member) / McNeil, David (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This study addresses the problem of high school graduates with learning disabilities who are unprepared for higher education and the workplace because of limited exposure to career professionals and perceived barriers. The purpose of this study is to examine how a career exploration model, entitled CaMPs (Career Model Professionals) influences students’ career decision-making self-efficacy. CaMPs incorporates exposure to career role models, as well as career research and self-reflection. CaMPs proivides students with learning disabilities first-hand accounts of successful career professionals, to assist them in setting academic and career goals that are aligned to their personal strengths. This mixed methods study develops and evaluates a career based innovation for high school students and reviews the relationship between the innovation and students’ self-efficacy. Students completed a self-efficacy survey (Career Decision Self-Efficacy - Short Form: CDSE) before and after the implementation of the CaMPs program. A t-test comparing pre- and post-survey scores indicated that there was a significant increase in self-efficacy after completion of the program. Qualitative data revealed changes in students’ career interests and new considerations to their career preparation process after participating in the CaMPs innovation. This study will be useful in the development of career programs for high school students, particularly those with learning disabilities, to assist them in choosing and preparing for their future careers.
ContributorsCook, Jeffrey (Author) / Caterino, Linda C (Thesis advisor) / Carlson, David L. (Committee member) / Dawes, Mary E (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
Parent involvement in their children’s education has been a frequently sought after and highly regarded component in education that has repeatedly been identified as a significant influence that contributes to children’s success in school. Historically, Latino parent involvement has been markedly low in the United States. Researchers’ interest in Latino parents’ involvement in their children’s education has been spurred by this low level of involvement coupled with reports of significant differences in educational achievement between Latino students and students of other ethnic backgrounds. Perceptions of self-efficacy and role construction have been identified as motivators for parent involvement. The purpose of this action research study was to examine the relationship between the Espacio Iluminado Parent Engagement Program as a nontraditional Latino parent involvement opportunity and parents’ perceptions of self-efficacy and role construction as it pertains to supporting the education of their children. The foundation of the program was developed utilizing Third Space Theory (Bhabha, 1994) to generate a framework that had the potential to serve as a model for future parent involvement programs that validated the knowledge of diverse cultures and discourses and encouraged a mediation of the two. Participants’ ratings of Role Construction and Self-Efficacy were significantly improved after their involvement in the parent program. Participants also felt strongly that the program was personally valuable and useful. Future direction might include a longitudinal study to track the academic progress of children of the participants.
ContributorsBrotherton, Kathleen Scheehl (Author) / Caterino, Linda C (Thesis advisor) / Buss, Ray R (Committee member) / Weber, Christina (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
This study explored the influence of how the development of self-determination skills affected college students with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). Five college students who qualified for a university-based disabilities resource program under the category of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) participated in a five session mentoring program over the course of the first 12 weeks of the fall semester. The mentoring program was designed to develop specific self-determination skills, including, self-awareness, self-advocacy, and confidence. Participants engaged in an interactive dialogue, discussing specific skills and experiences, relative to the development of self-determination skills. Pre- and post-surveys, and a post intervention interview indicated that the students reported positive results in describing that mentoring experience, and found the protocol useful in their development of self-determination skills. Implications identified for further application into practice, include (a) a deeper appreciation and review of the participants’ background and experience, (b) the development and implementation of peer-to-peer mentoring, (c) the need for more intentional collaboration with high school partners, (d) the need to expand the skills being developed, and (e), the need to expand the number of services and resources discussed. This study will be used in the exploration of a broader collegiate mentoring program geared towards students with ASD with the purpose of increasing self-determination skills.
ContributorsHarrop, Lance J (Author) / Caterino, Linda C (Thesis advisor) / Puckett, Kathleen (Committee member) / Montoya, Georgeana (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2017
Description
For decades, racial campus environments, campus climate, and sense of belonging research have discovered that Black, Indigenous, and people of color students experience inequitable and racist college experiences. These experiences impact college student outcomes such as retention, persistence to graduation, and post-college career opportunities. Researchers have recently explored these theoretical concepts based on students’ experiences in their academic disciplines. However, there is a lack of research within design and the arts (including, but not limited to, dance, design, digital culture, film, fine arts, music, and theatre). This research examined whether race-based differences in the sense of belonging between White and BIPOC students exist and how BIPOC students uniquely experience a sense of belonging. The culturally engaging campus environments model and its indicators of cultural relevance and cultural responsiveness, and sense of belonging provide the theoretical framework. Mixed methods of inquiry using surveys, focus groups, and photo-voice, a participatory action research method, shed light on this budding area of research. After examining the differences between BIPOC and White students and how BIPOC students uniquely experience culturally engaging campus environments, and a sense of belonging, this research determines that most BIPOC students experience lower cultural relevance, cultural responsiveness, and sense of belonging compared to their White peers. This study also found unique ways a design and the arts education can positively or negatively impact the campus environment and sense of belonging for BIPOC students. Adverse impacts on BIPOC students' cultural relevance, cultural responsiveness, and sense of belonging include a lack of people-based diversity in design and the arts, racial diversity within the curriculum, visible equity reforms, and faculty and staff hindering their experience. Conversely, student community and supportive faculty and staff increased these components.
ContributorsStachler, Brett (Author) / Ott, Molly (Thesis advisor) / McGuire, Keon (Committee member) / Belgrave, Melita (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2023
Description
Through the past quarter century, universities and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) have experienced increased participation from student-athletes, along with increasing academic and career advising needs. Student-athletes can find themselves getting lost within scheduling demands of their sport and identifying closer with their athletic identity. Without a universal model to address student-athlete career advising needs, assertions presented the opportunity for more examination into processes and resources provided to NCAA student-athletes. The purpose of this study was to share valuable information for stakeholders involved in the career advising dynamic. The study’s intervention provided the ability to bridge gaps in student-athletes’ athletic and academic careers, establish balance, and provide a foundation to build a successful career during and after-sport. Furthermore, facilitating collaborations between stakeholders provided increased engagement within the career advising process. To further explore outcomes within the study, participant data were analyzed separately and integrated into study findings. Participants included 10 student-athletes and 10 coach/faculty/staff, who completed surveys and post-focus groups. Participants were also provided the opportunity to engage in the intervention through career advising meetings, student-athlete success worksheets, a career advising directory, and the instruments listed. The study had three goals: to understand identified outcomes for student-athletes, to understand how and to what extent new processes and resources assisted them, and to understand perceptions regarding new processes and resources that were made available. The study and intervention were supported by the Self-Efficacy Theory, Self-Worth Theory, Attribution Theory, and Gordon’s 3-I Process. Results of the study indicated that a collaborative and inclusive career advising process for student-athletes promoted successful outcomes for participant groups. Results also revealed that participants were able to expand their support systems, enhance their knowledge/resource development, and build more relationships. Additionally, variations of engagement and understanding by participants within the study expanded on these three emerging themes, which collectively led participants to see the broader purpose encompassing the career advising process. Furthermore, an integration of quantitative and qualitative data was presented, along with connections to the existing literature and research questions. Additional discussion included lessons learned, limitations of the study, implications for practice, and implications for research.
ContributorsAnundson, Brock (Author) / Mertler, Craig (Thesis advisor) / Ott, Molly (Committee member) / Haugland, Sydney (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2022