This study addressed the need to enhance returning adult students' (RAS) educational experience by improving their relationship with traditional students. The purpose of this study was to examine, based upon Schlossberg's transition theory, the interpersonal relationship between RAS and traditional students at a community college that…

About 1 million children encounter reading problems during the first 3 years in school. Numerous teaching methods and various strategies are employed to teach children how to read. Reading provides the foundation for all school-based learning. When one of these foundation skills is missing or deficient, the child may have difficulty learning to…

A major educational crisis has been transpiring among fourth and fifth grade boys over the last twenty years (Eliot, 2009; Whitmire, 2010). On average, fourth and fifth grade boys, regardless of racial background or socioeconomic class, are performing below girls, both academically in reading and writing. The Center on Educational Policy reports…

Despite a Presidential Order in 2004 that launched national incentives for the use of health information technology, specifically the Electronic Health Record (EHR), adoption of the EHR has been slow. This study attempts to quantify factors associated with adoption of the EHR and Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE) by combining multiple…

This research explored the experiences of student-athletes in online education. Interviews were conducted with scholarship student-athletes enrolled at a Bowl Championship Series level, Division I institution. Participants had completed at least one online course while actively participating in their sport. A conceptual framework was developed to…

This dissertation investigates code-switching (CS), the concurrent use of more than one language in conversation, commonly observed in bilingual speech. Assuming that code-switching is subject to universal principles, just like monolingual grammar, the dissertation provides a principled account of code-switching, with particular emphasis on OV~VO…

Humanity has entered an era where computing technology is virtually ubiquitous. From websites and mobile devices to computers embedded in appliances on our kitchen counters and automobiles parked in our driveways, information and communication technologies (ICTs) and IT artifacts are fundamentally changing the ways we interact with our world.…

Complex systems are an important topic in science education today, but they are usually difficult for secondary-level students to learn. Although graphic simulations have many advantages in teaching complex systems, scaffolding is a critical factor for effective learning. This dissertation study was conducted around two complementary research…

Although service-learning is considered to be a fairly new pedagogy in U.S. institutions of higher education, its origins can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century philosopher John Dewey and his "learn by doing" approach to education. Service-learning has gained popularity as a form of applied learning that helps increase…

Electronic Health Record (EHR) systems could make healthcare delivery safer by providing benefits such as timely access to accurate and complete patient information, advances in diagnosis and coordination of care, and enhancements for monitoring patient vitals. This study explored the nature of EHR adoption in U.S. hospitals and their patient…

This dissertation study examined how teachers in four newcomer schools conceptualized and implemented social studies education for newcomer Latino/a youth. I designed this multi-site, collective case study to examine the perspectives and decision making of four social studies teachers' enacted pedagogy for Latino/a newcomer students. I…

Numerous organizations collect and distribute non-aggregate personal data for a variety of different purposes, including demographic and public health research. In these situations, the data distributor is responsible with the protection of the anonymity and personal information of individuals. Microaggregation is one of the most commonly used…

This dissertation examines, through the lenses of three second generation Vietnamese-American men, the socio-cultural contexts within which the Asian-American identity is constructed, knowledge is constructed, and the critical awareness of power dynamics are shaped. These are the contexts and structures within which Asian Americans participate in…

Impaired social functioning in individuals with ADHD has been well-documented as early as the preschool years and often persists into adulthood. Existing treatments for ADHD are effective for improving the inattention, impulsivity and overactivity characteristic of the disorder, but they have limited effectiveness at improving social skills. This…

Research on school leadership speaks to the importance of evaluating school administrators. Evidence suggests that involving school leaders in the design of the evaluation process as well as including feedback from stakeholders in the school community as part of the evaluation process can positively impact administrators' professional…