Doctor of Education, University of Akron, 2018, Educational Leadership

Veterans are enrolling in higher education in increasing numbers. Many institutions are positioning themselves to receive these students by providing support services and personnel. Despite these efforts, the success rates of this student population have been called into question, and they report poor goodness of fit within the classroom. Professional development initiatives which specifically explore the needs of student veterans within the classroom environment have been limited, or not readily accessible to faculty. This study took place at a community college in the Midwest United States. The purpose of this qualitative study was to invite feedback from both student veterans and faculty who are veterans by asking them to provide context for, and direct input into, a proposed faculty professional development product. An interpretivist epistemology was used so as to capture the social reality of these stakeholders. This feedback served to validate and enhance critical content for three online training modules entitled The VET RESPECT CHECK. Each word within The VET RESPECT CHECK is an acronym for the content of three topic areas: first module: the veteran as student; second module: the classroom environment; and third module: resources. The development of these three modules was guided by Lawler and King's Adult Learning Model for Faculty Development, as well as Allen's CCAF best practice model for online learning. Both groups independently voted and agreed that content regarding the physical, emotional, and behavioral environment was the most important information for faculty to understand. Despite the fact that the topic of suicide was not directly brought forth within the program outline, both groups expressed clear concerns for the safety of veteran students. Furthermore, these groups believe that there is a need for faculty to be sensitive to the issue of veteran suicide and understand their role in facilitating access to resources.

Committee: Renee Mudrey-Camino Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Gary Holliday Ph.D. (Committee Member); Robert C. Schwartz Ph.D. (Committee Member); Nasser Razek Ed.D. (Committee Member); Wondimu Ahmed Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Educational Leadership

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Leadership

This study was conducted to expand and contribute to the corpus of trauma-informed pedagogical knowledge and research. With the high prevalence of trauma in college student populations, it is critical for institutions to understand the experiences of faculty members who engage daily with traumatized students. Using an Interpretive Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) approach, this qualitative inquiry explored the lived experiences of faculty members who teach traumatized students in higher education and the impacts those experiences have had. Eight faculty members from various institutions of higher education across the United States took part in hour-long, semi-structured interviews regarding their experiences of teaching traumatized students. The transcribed and coded data, viewed through the lenses of secondary trauma and crossover theoretical frameworks, revealed that teaching traumatized students, in combination with an absence of trauma-informed professional preparation, has impacted the wellbeing of faculty, negatively influenced their teaching self-efficacy beliefs, and resulted in negative perceptions toward employing institutions. The glaring need for trauma-informed pedagogical training for faculty members in higher education is successfully established in this study.

Committee: Thomas Lasley (Committee Chair); Cassie Barlow (Committee Member); Steven Hinshaw (Committee Member); Mary Ziskin (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Organizational Behavior; Psychology

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2006, Education : Curriculum and Instruction

This study examines the effectiveness of faculty learning communities in one institution of higher education. Specifically, the study examined the changes in teaching methodology, epistemology, scholarship and service made by faculty members who participated in a year-long faculty learning community initiative. It also examined the role of the faculty learning community as a structure that helps to facilitate those changes. The study used survey research and qualitative techniques. All thirty-nine members of the faculty learning community initiative were surveyed to determine their perspective on the role of the learning community in their academic career. Ninety-two percent of the respondents report the learning community experience was moderately to highly useful in their academic careers. Seventy-nine percent reported a great to moderate amount of change in their teaching methods. Eighty-seven percent reported a change in their epistemological beliefs. Seventy-nine percent reported scholarship and 62 % reported service activities directly linked to the faculty learning community experience. Seven faculty members were followed to determine the extent of changes that were made in teaching, service, and scholarship. The participants were interviewed, were observed in their classrooms, and had their syllabi examined for evidence of change. Six of the seven participants made changes in their teaching methods that paralleled the pedagogy studied in their learning community. Six of the seven participants also showed increases in service and scholarship directly related to their faculty learning community experience. In all cases, the scholarship was the scholarship of teaching and learning rather than disciplinary scholarship. All seven participants reported the learning community was vital to making changes. The learning community provided moral support and shared ideas and procedures. None of the seven participants appeared to have changed their epistemological belief (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Dr. Glenn Markle (Advisor) Subjects:

Doctor of Education (Ed.D.), University of Findlay, 2024, Education

This mixed-methods study explored the relationship between teacher academic optimism and personalized professional learning in a rural Appalachian elementary school in southeastern Ohio. Twenty K-5 educators participated, with pre/post-surveys utilizing the Teacher Academic Optimism Scale-Elementary (TAOS-E) yielding quantitative data. Six teachers engaged in personalized professional learning (treatment group), while fourteen formed the control group. One-on-one interviews with the treatment group added a qualitative dimension, enhancing overall validity and reliability through data triangulation. Results indicated positive changes in self-efficacy, trust, academic emphasis, and overall academic optimism for both groups. Unexpectedly, the control group experienced statistically significant gains in self-efficacy, trust, and overall academic optimism, prompting further investigation into external variables. As a practitioner in the elementary school, the researcher explores these influences in the discussion section. Qualitative analysis highlighted themes of personalized learning's value, appreciation for meaningful experiences, and varied learning format preferences. The study underscores the positive impact of a four-week personalized professional learning experience. Emphasis on job- embedded learning and collaboration enabled teachers to apply new skills in real-world situations. Interviews with the treatment group revealed positive changes in mindset and practices, emphasizing themes of positivity, reflection, engagement, relationship building, trust, effective communication, and a language shift. Overall, the teachers in the treatment group perceived the personalized professional learning approach as meaningful and positive even though the quantitative results were not significant and did not indicate a relationship between their overall levels of academic optimism.

Committee: Mary Heather Munger Dr. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Education; Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Elementary Education

Ph.D., Antioch University, 2024, Antioch Seattle: Counselor Education & Supervision

This multilevel mixed methods investigation examines the experiences of developing self-evaluation skills for simulation fellows in an interprofessional simulation fellowship program. Interprofessional fellows (N = 12) and faculty (N = 4) engaged in a three-phase study using video-assisted learning tools to explore the differences in self-evaluation (perceived performance) and faculty evaluation (actual performance) in developing debriefing skills. For the quantitative component, fellows and faculty completed the DASH© tool to evaluate the quality of debriefing to help close the gaps between fellow self-evaluation and faculty evaluation. For the qualitative component, video-stimulated think-aloud and video-assisted debriefing the debriefer were utilized to understand how video-assisted learning tools contribute to self-evaluation skills from each level separately. A combined focus group and thematic analysis were utilized to identify facilitators and barriers to self-evaluation. Integrative case examples of developing self-evaluation skills are restoried for mixed analysis and data integration. Through which, meta-inferences are drawn out to understand the experiences, interactions, and mechanisms of the multilevel phenomenon. The results indicated that fellows generally overestimate their skills performance, and video-assisted learning tools support in the development of more realistic self-perception eliminating underestimation and closing the gap between perceived and actual performance. A model for interprofessional collaboration is proposed for scaffolded feedback practices to promote self-evaluation of skills and performance. Implications for counselor education, healthcare simulation, and health professions education are presented.

Committee: Stephanie Thorson-Olesen (Committee Chair); Michael Meguerdichian (Committee Member); Katherine Fort (Committee Member) Subjects: Adult Education; Continuing Education; Counseling Education; Curriculum Development; Educational Evaluation; Educational Psychology; Educational Theory; Health Care; Health Education; Instructional Design; Medicine; Mental Health; Nursing; Pedagogy; Social Work; Teacher Education

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2022, English

This project studies graduate writing support and graduate faculty development, considering the role writing across the curriculum (WAC) programming plays in enabling faculty as change agents to make long-term, structural change in systems of graduate writing. Scholarship on graduate writing support typically treats graduate students as the subjects and receivers of support, but in this dissertation, I pose faculty members as (also) subjects of graduate writing support. Drawing on cultural historical activity theory (CHAT), learning theory, and theories of institutional change, this project employs mixed methods of participant-observer case studies, a national survey, and secondary research on histories of graduate writing and its support to examine how graduate writing mediates graduate education, how faculty have historically supported graduate writers, how faculty are prepared to teach and mentor graduate-level writing, and how faculty can create changes to systems of graduate writing. Chapter 1 situates high-stakes writing like comprehensive exams and dissertations as mediating graduate education, overviewing how they are outdated and were designed in response to external stressors around gatekeeping. Chapter 2 highlights how the kinds of writing support we've developed in graduate programs and across writing support programs largely focus on ushering students through these outdated systems and not on critically re-examining and changing structures. Chapter 3 interrogates faculty expertise and preparation for mentoring graduate writing, highlighting how faculty are not always trained or fully-equipped to provide such structured and scaffolded support. Chapter 4 turns to faculty case examples to illustrate the contradictions inherent in the activity of graduate writing support and how WAC programming can help faculty navigate the messiness of these contradictions in order to make local and sustainable changes. Finally, Chapter 5 addresses implications of my r (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Wardle (Committee Chair); Jason Palmeri (Committee Member); Jay Smart (Committee Member); Sara Webb-Sunderhaus (Committee Member); Elizabeth Hutton (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2022, Curriculum and Instruction (Education)

Professional identity impacts the career choices, professional development, and wellbeing of the clinician educators (CEs) who are foundational to the evolving medical education and health care system. Physicians, who fulfill educator roles in an academic health center, can develop clinician educator identity (CEID) as they participate in longitudinal faculty development programs (LFDPs). It has also been demonstrated that after the program ends, professional identity salience depends on a participants' individual agency and ability to connect to supportive resources in the larger local context including regional and national educational societies. However, how CEID forms and what factors impact its salience remain unexplored. The central research question is, “How is an CEID formed and transformed in physicians?” In order to explore CEID formation, a collective case study was conducted of physicians with formal educational leadership roles. Data collection strategies included collecting documentary evidence, identity maps and curriculum vitae, as well as two interviews. Interview questions explored interpretations of experiences that influenced the formation of the participants' CEID as well as factors that influence CEID salience. The data were analyzed using qualitative methods informed by professional identity formation theory and literature. Participants in this collective 1) described their CEID as a profession, leveraging specialized competencies to serve others, 2) explored a unique career path in multiple communities of practice outside their local clinical departments, with guidance from mentors, role models and sponsors, and 3) associated the importance of their roles as a CE with its contribution to patient care as well as felt affirmed by recognition from import individuals in the medical education community. This study has implications for how professional developers imagine, implement, and evaluate the initiatives designed to encourage the developm (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Danielle Dani (Advisor); Beam Pamela (Committee Member); Harrison Lisa (Committee Member); Machtmes Krisanna (Committee Member) Subjects: Education; Educational Leadership; Medicine

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2021, English

In this project, I set out to understand the impact that writing-related faculty development programs can have on institutional cultures of writing, teaching, and learning. Scholarship in writing across the curriculum (WAC) has historically illustrated pedagogical and curricular changes that support student writers in higher education. Cultural change is necessary to do this work because institutional cultures are often influenced by persistent misconceptions of writing as a general, transferable skill that can be taught in one course and applied in another. In the 1960s and 1970s, the birth of WAC as both an institutional practice and as a disciplinary movement offered opportunities for individuals to share these ideas with higher education faculty from diverse fields. While many WAC leaders want to change institutional cultures of writing, little research illustrates how this transformation can occur or what role writing-related faculty development might play. Drawing on scholarship in writing studies, higher education change, and cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT), this dissertation begins to address this gap. I argue for using a local|disciplinary methodology to understand what writing-related faculty development programs do and what changes result as faculty adopt principles and conceptions from these programs. Through my multi-institutional study, I found that changing faculty conceptions of writing is a key goal of writing-related faculty development work, but this goal is not always made explicit in program practices. Research at three case institutions illustrates how institutional history and location can influence program goals, practices, and leadership. In Chapter 1, I overview the cultural-historical prevalence of misconceptions of writing. In Chapter 2, I outline the local|disciplinary methodology that informs this research. Chapter 3 provides results from a national study that illustrates writing-related faculty development programs aim t (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Elizabeth Wardle (Committee Chair); Elizabeth Hutton (Committee Member); Jason Palmeri (Committee Member); Thomas Poetter (Committee Member); John Tassoni (Committee Member) Subjects: Composition

Doctor of Philosophy, Miami University, 2017, Educational Leadership

Literature suggests many graduate students receive inadequate, little, or no formal preparation for teaching in higher education. Most extant research on this topic shows preparation has positive outcomes for graduate students, yet few studies examine the process of graduate students' teaching preparation, which could lend important insights that yield better preparation. This study addresses this process, inquiring into how graduate students experience teaching preparation, and how interactions with peers and an instructor shape preparation, in a one-credit hour graduate pedagogy seminar. Situating graduate students taking the seminar as a collegiate subculture called prospective college teachers (PCTs), this 15-month study employed an ethnographic methodology grounded in an interpretivist paradigm. A symbolic interactionist theoretical perspective and framework guided approaches to both data collection and analysis. Data collection yielded fieldnotes from 21 seminar sessions, 18 interviews between seven graduate students (and the seminar instructor) hailing from various academic disciplines, and documents for review. Results showed the 60-minute seminar contained three sections: part one, transitional periods, and part two. Through interactions with peers and the instructor, PCTs generally experienced part one as stable, predictable, and transactional, as it primarily featured instructor lectures and notetaking by PCTs. Transitional periods, short periods of time bridging the gap between parts one and two, were less predictable and varied in terms of eventfulness. Regardless, PCTs' peer interactions in transitional periods were usually brief or planned by the instructor, making interactions somewhat rigid and scripted. PCTs' interactions with the instructor mostly related to adhering to the instructor's requests, creating a general PCT experience of compliance. In part two, PCTs had more opportunities for in-depth interactions with peers and the instructor (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Mahauganee Shaw (Committee Chair) Subjects: Educational Leadership; Higher Education; Higher Education Administration; Pedagogy

EdD, University of Cincinnati, 2016, Education, Criminal Justice, and Human Services: Curriculum and Instruction

Over the past decade higher education has undergone a pivotal transformation as enrollment in online class offerings has increased at a pace that has exceeded growth in traditional face-to-face offerings. The number of institutions offering online classes and degrees grows annually and will require more faculty to teach in this modality. Institutions that offer extensive online learning, struggle to provide faculty with the support and training necessary for them to be successful online instructors. This study examined an institution of higher education's plan and progress in supporting faculty who teach online. A qualitative embedded case study design was used to investigate four units (central eLearning offices and three colleges) professional development offerings within a single university. This research design permitted a holistic look inside the institution's infrastructure, processes, and professional development offerings in an effort to confirm alignment. Galbraith's (1995) Star Model of Organization Design framed the study and an investigation of the five key tenets - strategy, structure, processes, rewards, and people practices were explored. A total of eleven academic leaders participated in semi-structured interviews offering insight to the operational practices regarding faculty professional development within their respective units. The participants revealed that the institution was going through a transition in leadership, both at the central and college levels, and that faculty representation in online governance needed to expand. Evidence of orientation and ongoing professional development for faculty transitioning to online instruction was prevalent in all units. However, the design, development, and delivery of professional development were not strategically collaborative or universally implemented. In essence, the units operated in silos. Participants also expressed the need to offer a scaffolded approach to faculty development throug (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Holly Johnson Ph.D. (Committee Chair); Jonathan M Breiner Ph.D. (Committee Member); Carlee Escue Ph.D. (Committee Member); Carla Johnson Ed.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Higher Education Administration

Specialist in Education (Ed.S.), University of Dayton, 2013, School Psychology

Proposals for school reform and improvement almost always include a faculty professional development component that requires evaluation of effectiveness. Often these evaluations are of poor quality because they rely on questions related to participants' enjoyment or satisfaction and how a person feels about something does not necessarily translate to how they behave. The Learning Teaching Center (LTC) at the University of Dayton provides faculty professional development as one of its services. The LTC's mission is not just to provide participants with information or a "good time", but to transform or change participants through what they learn. The purpose of this study was to pilot a measure that addressed reported "levels of use" (how much they applied new knowledge and skills) from faculty and staff after attending faculty development programs at the LTC. Data were also used to gain a better understanding of which program types, duration, and demographic characteristics were associated with higher usage levels among participants at the LTC. Data analysis indicated no significant relationships between the demographics of participants (college affiliation, rank, gender, or years employed) and their reported change in level of use. There were also no significant differences between those who attended a single session professional development program and those who attended a program that consisted of multiple sessions in terms of amount of change; however, those who attended multiple sessions, on average, reported higher levels of use. In general, the majority of respondents reported an increase in their level of use after attending professional development at the LTC. Limitations of this mode of assessment and implications for future research are presented.

Committee: Sawyer Hunley Ph.D (Committee Chair) Subjects: Education; Educational Evaluation

Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Ohio University, 2023, Industrial/Organizational Psychology (Arts and Sciences)

Over the past several decades, there has been a gradual increase in the number of faculty of color in the academy. However, no data on LGBT+ identity among faculty are widely available. While research exists on occupational stressors among faculty (e.g., pressures to publish, student course evaluations), less quantitative work has investigated stressors for faculty who hold identities where discrimination exists at the intersection of their race, sexual orientation, and/or gender identity (i.e., intersectional stressors). Therefore, the primary aim of this research was to develop the Faculty Intersectionality Stressors Scale (FISS), which measures the frequency and perceived intensity of stressors among LGBT+ faculty of color. Additional aims were to determine if FISS could differentiate between stressors in the two data collection groups: a target group of LGBT+ faculty of color and a comparison group of cisgender heterosexual White faculty. Next, two aims centered the use of contextual variables to understand, for example, how FISS scores varied across institution types, geographic regions of the United States, and tenure status. Data were collected, using an online survey, from 208 participants in the target group and 95 participants in the comparison group. It was hypothesized that a 5-factor structure would exist when measuring disrespect displayed by students, research discredit by colleagues, identity-based service commitments and mentorship responsibilities, and bullying across three levels of the positional hierarchy (students, colleagues, administrators). Exploratory factor analysis revealed a 7-factor solution that was closely aligned to the hypothesized factors, whereby academic disrespect was split into identity and non-identity stressors and academic bullying was split into stressors based on the positionality of the bully (i.e., student versus colleagues/administrators). The remaining three factors aligned with the hypothesized structure: research (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Peggy Zoccola Ph.D. (Advisor) Subjects: Psychology

Doctor of Education , University of Dayton, 2023, Educational Administration

A potential strategy for mitigating opportunity gaps in higher education is to increase the implementation of inclusive teaching practices (ITPs) by faculty. Inclusive teaching includes a combination instructional strategies, curricular choices, and mindsets that promote equitable learning outcomes for students. of This action research study examines the student and faculty perceptions of ITPs at Midwest Community College (MCC), focusing on instructional strategies and curricular choices. Students were surveyed to understand their perceptions of ITPs. Faculty were surveyed to understand both their perceptions of ITPs and potential barriers for implementation. Qualitative analysis of semi-structured interviews with faculty highlighted barriers faced in implementing ITPs and identified strategies for increasing the use of ITPs in the classroom. Results suggest that students do respond positively to ITPs and that faculty desire to implement ITPs but face a number of barriers including time and examples of inclusive teaching in practice. Furthermore, faculty are on a spectrum of readiness to implement ITPs. The proposed action plan includes development of an Equity-Oriented Teaching Team that aims to support faculty in enhancing their use of ITPs. Analyzing the landscape of ITPs through an activity system framework helped identify contradictions that must be addressed in order to move towards more equitable learning outcomes in the college classroom.

Committee: Elizabeth Essex (Committee Chair) Subjects: Community Colleges; Higher Education; Pedagogy

PhD, University of Cincinnati, 2022, Engineering and Applied Science: Engineering Education

While the need for more STEM professionals continues to increase in the United States, retention and persistence in undergraduate engineering programs remain low. Scholars have attributed inadequate teaching of college instructors as one of the major reasons behind student attrition. Teaching self-efficacy has been identified as a significant characteristic of educators that affects student performance. To make progress towards improving the teaching self-efficacy of college instructors in engineering, it is important to understand how teaching self-efficacy is shaped by the experiences in graduate school where socialization to an academic career first happens. This study aimed to investigate the teaching self-efficacy of engineering graduate students across the United States and the factors they perceived contributed to it, using a convergent mixed methods approach. Bandura's model of sources of self-efficacy was used as a central theoretical framework. Quantitative data was collected from 512 graduate students using the Graduate Teaching Assistant Teaching Self-Efficacy Scale (GTA-TSES) instrument and their engagement in teaching and training experiences. Confirmatory factor analysis and structured equation modeling provided inferences on significant predictors of teaching self-efficacy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 24 graduate students to understand their perceptions of the experiences that contributed to their teaching self-efficacy. Joint displays were used to integrate the findings from quantitative and qualitative analyses. Quantitative findings showed evidence that graduate student training, race, and gender were significant predictors of teaching self-efficacy while teaching experience was not significant. Qualitative findings suggested graduate students perceive teaching experience important to their self-efficacy in addition to getting feedback in various ways, observing others teaching, and their personality. Integrating the findings fr (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Gregory Bucks Ph.D. (Committee Member); Karen Davis Ph.D. (Committee Member); Vicki Plano Clark Ph.D. (Committee Member); T.J. Murphy Ph.D. (Committee Member); P.K. Imbrie Ph.D. (Committee Member) Subjects: Engineering

Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.), University of Dayton, 2022, Higher Education Administration

This study investigated the lived experiences of tenure-line academic mothers using a narrative methodology and interpretivist and feminist frameworks. Employing a semi-structured protocol, the researcher interviewed twelve tenure-line academic mothers at five midwestern institutions of higher education: one private four-year, one public four-year, one community college, one private Historically Black College or University (HBCU), and one private HBCU. After interviewing the academic mothers, the researcher composed narratives based on the transcripts. She also included her own narrative for analysis. After the narratives were member checked by the participants, the researcher conducted data analysis on the transcripts using low-inference coding. The coding allowed the researcher to focus on emerging themes as part of her plot analysis (Daiute, 2014). Through the use of plot analysis, the researcher uncovered the most prevalent characters, settings, initiating actions, complicating actions, and resolutions across the participants' narratives. The significant characters that emerged were: the mothers themselves, husbands, children, supervisors, and mentors. The salient settings were universities and departments. The initiating actions for academic mothers consisted of the job search/interviews and pregnancy/giving birth. Pregnancy loss and the Covid-19 constituted the most significant complicating actions. Finally, mothers turned to boundary setting and “inscribing motherhood” (Pillay, 2009) as means of resolution.

Committee: Thomas Lasley (Advisor) Subjects: Education Policy; Educational Leadership; Families and Family Life

Doctor of Philosophy, The Ohio State University, 2021, Kinesiology

Higher education has been historically dominated by men (Hunnum et al., 2015). To that end, recent scholarship has shed light on how sport management faculty programs, similar to the sport industry itself, is dominated by men (Baker et al., 2019). Despite this imbalance in gender representation, a dearth of information on the sport management faculty perspective exists. This is cause for concern as faculty members impact students, the academic discipline, and the sport industry (Taylor et al., 2020). Therefore, in order to illuminate the stories of women who are underrepresented in these programs, this study explored the career experiences, navigation of demands, supports, and barriers of women sport management professors. To this end, narrative inquiry (Clandinin & Connelly, 2000) was used in the current study to explore the stories of 10 women sport management professors. During zoom interviews along with reflection journals, participants described their various career experiences, how they navigate career demands, and differing career supports and barriers they have encountered throughout their careers. Themes that emerged through a thematic analysis (Braun & Clark, 2006) of these stories include: (a) culture of academia, (b) individualistic purpose and passion, (c) socialization, (d) career evolution, (e) eliminating systems of inequity, (f) value of mentorship and sponsorship, (g) developing systems of support, (h) gendered systems, (i) lack of support and resources, and (j) being a women professor during a pandemic. Based on the emergent themes, implications are offered for further investigation of career development theory. Furthermore, implications and recommendations are provided for sport management programs and institutions of higher education to address gendered structures and other systemic structures that disadvantage marginalized groups. These recommendations and implications are a starting point to aid programs in their efforts to retain, support, (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Brian Turner (Advisor); Donna Pastore (Committee Member); Susan Sutherland (Committee Member) Subjects: Sports Management

PHD, Kent State University, 2020, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Lifespan Development and Educational Sciences

The purpose of this Q study was to create a standard of practice for training and evaluation of online teachers in higher education. Chickering and Gamson's 1989 study on seven principles for effective teaching was used as a categorical baseline for this research. Research questions included To what extent do emerging Q factors align with Chickering and Gamson's seven principles for effective teaching? and Do the emergent factors provide evidence for new principles exclusive to online teaching? Years of competency research was examined and competencies were recorded and grouped by likeness into 12 categories. Data were collected from a diverse group of students and faculty members who were asked to sort 48 competency statements using a forced-distribution grid. Participants were interviewed immediately afterward. Q methodology was chosen to quantify the subjective responses. Data were analyzed using principal component analysis. Findings showed that although Chickering and Gamson's seven principles are relevant as a standard for categorizing competencies for effective online teaching, five additional categories are needed to train and evaluate online teachers. This research has important implications for stakeholders. The outcome provided for the development of a two-tiered student evaluation form separating the design of an online course from the teaching elements. Further, it allowed for the preliminary outline of a proposal for several units of training and development for new and existing online teachers as well as a voluntary mentor program. New research opportunities surfaced including studies of the relationship between categories, teaching philosophies, learning theories, and online learning.

Committee: Albert Ingram (Advisor) Subjects: Education; Educational Evaluation; Educational Technology; Higher Education; Instructional Design; Teacher Education; Teaching; Technology

Doctor of Professional Studies (D.P.S.) in Instructional Design Leadership, Franklin University, 2020, International Institute for Innovative Instruction

There is evidence on the agreement of educators, scholars, and employers concerning the importance of teaching critical thinking skills to undergraduate students (Brookfield, 2015; Gose, 2009; Lennon, 2014; Tsui, 2002). Asking Critical Thinking faculty and STEM faculty about their definition of critical thinking and their use of critical thinking tools may help shed light on newer and better ways to improve STEM education by incorporating more opportunities for developing and honing critical thinking in instructional design for these courses. The practical application of critical thinking pedagogy to STEM courses is warranted, hence the need for faculty development in this area. Other research has identified a paradox where science faculty are required to hold a terminal degree but are not required to have formal training in pedagogy to teach (Lynd-Balta, Erklenz-Watts, Freeman, & Westbay, 2006). One way to ensure the suggested faculty development courses are appropriate is to query faculty directly on this topic. This research used a qualitative research methodology. A critical thinking faculty focus group and STEM faculty interviews were conducted. Faculty participants in the focus group and interviews provided all of the data for this research as these faculty members are the closest to the situation. The data collected was recorded, transcribed, coded, and developed into emergent themes. The research took place at a University in Columbus, OH. The University is a private four-year or more university. Ninety-three percent of the faculty at the University are part-time not tenure track and the faculty to student ratio is thirteen students to one faculty member. The timeframe within which this research was completed spans across one trimester at that university. A total of six questions were asked of focus group members and personal interviewees. The research indicates that a simple and shared definition of critical thinking is needed. There was no clear d (open full item for complete abstract)

Committee: Lewis Chongwony (Committee Chair); Joel Gardner (Committee Member); Yi Yang (Committee Member) Subjects: Curriculum Development; Education; Higher Education; Instructional Design; Mathematics Education; Pedagogy; Science Education

PHD, Kent State University, 2019, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Teaching, Learning and Curriculum Studies

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore nursing faculty's understanding of higher order thinking test questions and practices with test preparation for undergraduate baccalaureate nursing students. Data were collected from eight full time classroom, undergraduate nursing faculty participants. The main findings from this study include higher order thinking uses critical thinking with foundational knowledge, application and analysis principles; faculty need continuing education and peer collaboration with testing preparation; and the use of a clinical care, reality focus is necessary with higher order testing. These findings are significant due to the increasing demand for complex thinking required of nurses now and in the future. Additionally, as the nursing faculty shortage continues, teachers often come into education with inadequate training to prepare higher order thinking test questions. Implications for nursing education include preparing undergraduate nursing faculty with continuing educational programs for testing practices, recognizing and creating opportunities for faculty collaboration with testing, reviewing foundational knowledge expectations of student entering nursing programs and enriching student's transition to practice using reality, clinical based NCLEX style test questions.

Committee: Todd Hawley Dr. (Committee Chair) Subjects: Nursing

PHD, Kent State University, 2018, College of Education, Health and Human Services / School of Foundations, Leadership and Administration

Adjunct instructors teach a significant number of the college courses offered across the country. Many adjuncts have no prior teaching experience, but bring valuable professional and practical knowledge to students, particularly those enrolled in pre-professional degree programs. The studio course format presents unique challenges to new instructors, too. This qualitative study focused the experience of adjunct instructors at the onset of teaching design studio courses. Twelve design professionals at different institutions were interviewed about how they prepared to teach, the training and support provided by the institution, and their perceptions of that support. The data seems to indicate that dissonance pervades the adjunct instructors' experience of teaching design studio courses. They approach their teaching job as they do a design job, and experience dissonance when that does not work. They are motivated to be effective teachers, and have an overarching purpose for teaching that is connected to their experience as students and design professionals. Focused and timely teaching support is inconsistent and rare, but highly valued. When teaching support was missing, participants relied on their memory of being a design student to inform their teaching practice. Design professionals seem to prefer having mentors and a community of practice within their area of instruction for teaching support.

Committee: Mark Kretovics PHD (Advisor) Subjects: Design; Higher Education Administration