Dissertations

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Browsing Dissertations by Discipline "Adult and Higher Education"

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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Best of Both Worlds: Do Hybrid Courses Have Better Outcomes than Distance Only Courses in the North Carolina Community College System?
    (2007-08-17) Davis, Donna Elizabeth; J. Conrad Glass, Jr., Committee Chair; Darryl McGraw, Committee Member; John Pettitt, Committee Member; Rachel Stevens, Committee Member
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    Do Work Relationships Matter? Instrumental Case Study on Characteristics of Workplace Interactions that Enhance or Detract From Employee Perceptions of Well-Being & Health Behaviors.
    (2012-03-14) Mastroianni, Karen; Julia Storberg-Walker, Chair; James Bartlett, Member; Samuel Pond, Member; Diane Chapman, Member
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    Leadership as Exhibited by a Private Sector Learning Executive; A Descriptive Case Study of Leadership
    (2009-02-23) Prafka, David William; Dr. Timothy Hatcher, Committee Chair
    The purpose of this dissertation is to describe the role and leadership of a learning executive [Chief Knowledge Officer, Chief Learning Officer] within a publicly traded corporation. My description depicts a unique learning executive within a leading multinational medical technology corporation. My discovery pursued three researchable questions (a) How does a learning executive contribute to their organization? (b) What contextual factors affect a learning executive’s ability to exhibit leadership? (c) What type of leadership does a learning executive exhibit within their organization? My research focused on leadership as a key job competency for a learning executive. Additional outcomes from my research include a narrative description of contextual factors that influence leadership, a thorough portrayal of the job as viewed by research participants, and a how-to guide for Human Resource Development (HRD) and Human Resource Management (HRM) professionals. Reviewed literature incorporated theory from the following topical areas, leadership, upper echelon leadership, human and social capital, organizational learning, knowledge management, organizational context, and existing portrayals of the role. The dissertation relied on descriptive qualitative case study research technique to make sense of observed phenomena. I relied on in-depth participant interviews, extant organizational, and public data to further my observations. The findings of the dissertation suggest that the researched learning executive was able to influence the prosperity of this corporation as an outcome of his leadership. His leadership can be described as situation-ally dependent, behaviorally complex, and integrative. Two vetted leadership theories are utilized to portray his leadership, TRC and Transformational leadership theories. The results of the research contribute to existing literature in the areas of leadership theory, human and social capital theory, knowledge management, human resource development, qualitative business research, and literature on the role of learning executives.
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    Predicting faculty involvement in service-learning pedagogy at research institutions
    (2008-04-25) Parkins, Leslie Carol; Audrey Jaeger, Committee Chair; Duane Akroyd, Committee Member; Patti Clayton, Committee Member; Rachel Willis, Committee Member
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    Understanding the Experiences of Underprepared Adult English as a Second Language Instructors: A Case Study.
    (2010-03-25) Dorman, Marni Alexandra; Dr. Susan Bracken, Committee Member; Dr. Duane Akroyd, Committee Member; Dr. Carol Kasworm, Committee Co-Chair; Dr. Leila Gonzalez Sullivan, Committee Co-Chair
    Positioned within the social constructivist view of learning that individuals make meaning from their experiences and through their social actions and interactions, this qualitative study explores the ways in which nine instructors of underprepared adult English as a Second Language students made meaning of their classroom experiences. Through semi-structured interviews and a constant comparative interpretation of data, the researcher provides insight into how these instructors, who were not adequately prepared to teach adult ESL when they began their careers, made meaning of, and coped with, their experiences in order to become confident professionals in their field. This investigation into the experiences of nine underprepared adult ESL instructors resulted in two distinct conclusions. First, the findings suggested that the adult ESL instructors appeared to move through stages of development similar to Frances Fuller’s (1969) model of teacher development. Fuller’s model indicated that teachers develop their educational behaviors in an orderly manner that forms a predictable pattern as they gain experience. This model was based on an analysis of teachers’ concerns and posits three stages of development that begin with (1) concerns about self, then (2) concerns about tasks, and, finally, (3) concerns about students and the impact of teaching. The instructors began with concerns heavily focused on themselves while they were novice, underprepared instructors. Through their experiences, their focus shifted from themselves to being concerned about the challenges and the tasks they faced. Ultimately, as their relationships with their students grew, their concerns shifted to the impact they had on their students. The instructors began in the field with beliefs and practices that they based on their own prior educational experiences to guide them. Through their experiences, the instructors learned that their initial beliefs and practices were ineffective, so they sought learning activities on their own to help themselves cope with the challenges they faced. Once they were successful in overcoming challenges and saw their students succeeding, they began to view themselves as professionals who have a positive impact in the lives of their students. The second conclusion of this study is that the adult ESL instructors developed a sense of self efficacy, and their beliefs and practices were transformed through their activities as learners. The instructors took the initiative to plan their own learning activities once they realized they were underprepared and that there was little or no support from their employers. As the instructors began to critically reflect upon their situations and engage in learning activities, they began to redefine the way they constructed their meanings about teaching, their students, and the field of Adult ESL. During this process, they also began to believe in themselves and evolved from scared, timid teachers into beliefs of themselves as confident, self-assured instructors.
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    Using Personality Type to Predict Student Success in a Technology-rich Classroom Environment.
    (2006-08-01) Brown, Lauren Hadley; Dr. Raymond Ting, Committee Member; Dr. Deb Luckadoo, Committee Member
    The purpose of the research has been to determine whether personality type has predictive ability in student success in a high-technology classroom. Previous research in this area has focused on professor personality type and their teaching method, how student personality type matches their comfort levels with technology, or the affect of a high technology environment on personality type. The current study looks at the predictability of personality type on student success in a high-technology academic environment. The Myers-Briggs Type Inventory (MBTI) was used to assess student personality type while end-of-course grade in Chemistry 101, a technology-rich course, was used to measure success. Controlling variables were gender and SAT total score. Regression analyses showed that students who possessed the Sensing (S) personality type over the Intuiting (N) personality type performed significantly better in the high-technology classroom. Similarly, students who were Thinking (T) as opposed to Feeling (F) also did significantly better in a high-technology environment. Analyses also showed significant differences in the means for groups participating in this research. Males had significantly lower grades than females in Chemistry 101 but scored significantly higher than females on SAT total. Males were significantly more likely to be T than F and also were significantly more T than females. Gender differences on the MBTI, specifically the Thinking vs. Feeling scale, that are prevalent in the literature and nationwide data were also found in this study. Implications for the use of this study are numerous. The most important application of this prediction would be for advisers to assist their students in choosing the best academic path and future career options. College departments who give the MBTI have a use for the results beyond the normal personality type descriptions.