How do educational opportunities influence students' academic achievement in the Dominican Republic? How do students grow, in knowledge and skills, as a result of their passage through the elementary grades? This study aims to explore and understand the differences between the implemented curriculum in public and private schools in 4th, 5th, and…

Schools are constantly engaged in implementing reform strategies to prepare students for post-secondary education leading to their career choices. Challenges here involve education initiatives addressing programs not strategically planned, educators not prepared for transition, and no follow-up support beyond initial implementation stages. This…

The purpose of this exploratory, phenomenological study was to understand developmental mathematics in community college by examining the beliefs and worldviews of developmental mathematics instructors. This study interviewed 11 instructors in 4 demographically different community colleges within a single state with decentralized developmental…

While research in academic and professional information technology (IT) journals address the need for strategic alignment and defined IT processes, there is little research about what factors should be considered when implementing specific IT hardware standards in an organization. The purpose of this study was to develop a set of factors for…

The purpose of this heuristic study was to explore the ways in which spirituality informed and impacted educators' own experience of learning as a transformative inner encounter. It inquired into the experience of learning from a spiritual perspective in order to determine the extent to which transformative learning could be described as a…

Test anxiety creates problems for many students, and can have a negative impact on the academic performance of many who suffer from it (Jones & Petruzzi, 1995). Typical treatment components for test anxiety involve psychoeducation, relaxation training, gradual exposure, cognitive restructuring, study skills training, and relapse prevention.…

"Learning Reconsidered" (Keeling, 2004) and "Learning Reconsidered 2" (Keeling, 2006) called upon institutions of higher education to measure learning outcomes, and to facilitate transformative learning in college students. "Learning Reconsidered 2" defined transformative learning with Mezirow's description of the constructivist process of…

In 2001 the Counsel for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) approved the use of triadic supervision as an adjunct or alternative to individual supervision in the clinical training of counselors-in-training. In so doing they sanctioned triadic supervision as equal to individual supervision without the benefit…

Fluctuations in tuition setting, vacillating state appropriations, and small state financial aid programs were incapable of providing enough consistency for Virginian undergraduates to make a reliable decision to enroll. Similarly, this inconsistency created unpredictability for students to access to higher education in Virginia. Therefore, the…

Professionally developed and freely accessible through the Internet, scientific data maps have great potential for teaching and learning with data in the science classroom. Solving problems or developing ideas while using data maps of Earth phenomena in the science classroom may help students to understand the nature and process of science. Little…

This study explores the disconnections introductory college mathematics students experience with mathematics. The experiences of six former mathematics students from their earliest memories forward to present day were explored. The study employed an interpretive case study and an action research methodology to present a detailed, historical record…

While the literature on college access is extensive, little attention has been given to examining how charter high schools shape the college-going aspirations of students. The purpose of this study was to examine how students at one charter high school develop college-going aspirations, including what role the culture of the charter school plays…

This dissertation was written in partial fulfillment of the doctoral degree requirements in Counseling Psychology at Capella University. This study was interested in exploring the growing population of nontraditionally aged college students. The purpose of this study was to identify factors that correlated with the academic success of this group…

There are two dimensions of positioning: self-identity (reflexive) and, events and interaction between people (discursive). Positioning may become socially restrictive when disruptive discursive episodes have a negative impact on individual self-identity. An interpretive biographical study of 11 participants in a transitional residency (temporary…

The purpose of this study was to explore how women attending graduate degree programs in public universities in Virginia were affected by such issues as stress and lack of marital/social support. Utilizing a mixed method approach for data collection, 23 participants completed demographic data, an essay response, and the PSS-10 Stress Scale; 8 were…