Library: Education

Social indicators such as low socioeconomic status, minority status, battering, chronic illness, trauma, drug and alcohol addiction, and poor social environment are negative predictors of educational and social success. Why is it that some people, however, overcome adversity and succeed despite the odds? This study identifies and describes the context and factors involved for an ethnically diverse group of twenty adult women from low socioeconomic status being able to "succeed" despite the odds. Using qualitative in-depth oral history interviews, this study includes women whose voices ar...

This dissertation is an interpretive case study that examines alcohol use by a specific subculture of undergraduates, a college fraternity. Based on nearly three years of investigation using interviews, observation, and document analysis, this study takes a detailed look at the organization's indoctrination process and the ways that their practices are explained by its most astute observers, specifically high-status insiders. Various elements of the author's biography are integrated into the text and used to enhance understanding of the phenomenon under investigation. The multiple purposes of ...

Principals of middle-grade schools in port of entry communities along the Texas-Mexico border were surveyed to learn about the education and preparational experiences these principals believed novice teachers should have before coming to teach in their schools. Demographic data about themselves, teachers, students and middle-grade schools, along with suggestions for improving Texas teacher education programs were also obtained. Mexican Americans were the dominant ethnic group and culture in these schools for principals, teachers and students. Principals were mostly male, well educated, and ...

The purpose of this study was to describe, using the tools of ethnography and qualitative research, selected events in the history of a public special education school and its school culture. The year of the study, 1994-1995, the school served 125 students with cerebral palsy and other disabilities affecting some or all of their physical, sensory, and cognitive abilities. Study participants included faculty and staff, former students, parents, school administrators, and others identified with the school and in the Nashville community during the 1994-1995 school year. In-depth interviews...

Chemistry is a human endeavor that relies on basic human qualities like creativity, insights, reasoning, and skills. It depends on habits of the mind: skepticism, tolerance of ambiguity, openness to new ideas, intellectual honesty, curiosity, and communication. Young female students begin studying chemistry curiosity; however, when unconvinced, they become skeptical. Researches focused on gender studies have indicated that attitudes toward science education differ between males and females. A declining interest in chemistry and the under representation of females in the chemical science was fo...

The Kentucky Education Reform Act (KERA) of 1990 drastically changed the state’s entire educational system in ways of curriculum, governance, and finance. KERA has served as somewhat of a blueprint for reform legislation in a number of other states. A literature review revealed that traditionally the relationship between K-12 reform and higher education (teacher preparation) in the United States has not been very strong. Although the connections between the two were unclear early on in Kentucky’s reform efforts, much progress has been made in linking KERA to the teacher preparation programs ...

Adrienne von Speyr in her book "Confession" and throughout her writings speaks of the "confession" of Jesus Christ. This is a startling use of the term because Christ never sinned. The author examines all the writings of von Speyr in the light of Roman Catholic soteriology and sacramental theology and in view of the influences that existed between her and Hans Urs von Balthasar. The author then shows how the theme of confession is central to von Speyr's writing, aids in illuminating her theology of Holy Saturday and the Paschal Mystery, and serves as the basis for the renewal of th...

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of clarifying students' misperceptions regarding their peers' consumption of alcohol and feelings of comfort in drinking situations. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were used to determine if providing students with information would impact on their perceptions. A posttest-only control-group experimental design was employed to investigate the efficacy of clarifying students' misperceptions. The experimental group was provided with information gleaned from the literature regarding students' misperceptions. Participants were administe...

Recent national efforts to coordinate and promote higher education in the fire service led to this national survey of fire service degree programs. The main purpose of the study was to gather descriptive information concerning fire service degree programs offered at two-year and four-year accredited institutions. A second purpose of the study was to identify the perceptions fire service degree program coordinators/directors hold concerning current and future issues affecting their programs. The information collected as part of the study can be used in a variety of ways from benchmarking amo...

Little is known about student success in online learning environments, especially how the predisposing characteristics that the learner brings to the learning environment may differentially affect student outcomes. This study explored the question of whether a student's "readiness" to be a self-directed learner is a predictor of student success in an online community college curriculum. The specific goal of this investigation was to determine whether there was a significant relationship between self-directed learning readiness-as measured by Guglielmino's (1977) Self-Directed Learning Readin...