The ever-increasing pace of workplace change is well documented in the literature, yet little is known about how an individual adapts to significant change in the workplace. Continuous learning is key to successful adaptation; however, are employees' adaptation to change influenced by their approaches to learning? The purpose of this study was to…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the knowledge, skills, abilities and traits environmental engineers need. Two questions were asked: what skills are considered important, and where are they learned? Dreyfus and Dreyfus' novice-to-expert model, which describes a progressive, five-step process of skill development that occurs over time…

According to ethnographer Kristin Luker (1996) "most poignantly, in the vast majority of cases, giving birth while still a teenager is a pledge of hope, an acted-out wish that the lives of the next generation will be better than those of the current generation, that this young mother can give her child something that she never had." Unfortunately,…

The decades after WWII witnessed a substantial increase in the number of international students coming to the U.S. In the course of decades, international students and their families have become essential both to the economic and cultural life of campus communities throughout the country. Yet, academic institutions continue to overlook the needs…

In 1999, the United States Department of Education began its Small Learning Community Program in an effort to support the breakup of large schools into smaller learning communities. In an effort to improve the academic success rate of students, President George W. Bush signed into law the "No Child Left Behind Act of 2001" (NCLB). NCLB had as its…

Issues surrounding social class are often overlooked and rarely discussed in higher education; however, they affect students and institutions in critical ways. Although research has demonstrated that social class is a predictor of access to college, retention, academic performance, overall undergraduate and graduate experience, and college…

Children with learning disabilities (LD) makeup 50.5% of all children identified for special services in the schools. Research has found that children with LD have difficulties in areas of functioning related to social competence. This study is based on a risk and resilience model to explore external protective factors (friendships and social…

Social networking tools used in learning provides instructional design with tools for transformative change in education. This study focused on defining the meanings and essences of social networking through the lived common experiences of 7 college students. The problem of the study was a lack of learner voice in understanding the value of social…

This study examined indigenous infants, children, and youth in rural central Mexico for developmental delays by using a mixed methods approach. A two-person team consisting of a researcher and a translator completed this study. They conducted observations of 665 minors and interviews with their caregivers. A self-designed rubric was the guide to…

The research questions were: What sources of information do teachers use in their book-club discussions; and is there variability among teachers in which sources of information they use in book club discussions? Sources of information were described in four categories: (a) the Book-Club Text that is read and discussed by the book club…

This dissertation investigates the integration of two sources of non-conformity--exceptionality and variation - in a single phonological system. Exceptionality manifests itself as systematic non-conformity, and variation as partial or variable non-conformity. When both occur within the same phenomenon, this is particularly challenging for the…

The problem. This study investigated whether there were statistically significant differences in perceptions of high school students with specific learning disabilities with respect to reasons for either remaining in high school or leaving high school on their 18th birthday. Method. A quasi-experimental study was conducted. 30 students who were…

The purpose of the study was to examine categories of disabilities and disputes common to special education hearings in the State of Texas between 2006 and 2008, and to determine which party typically prevailed in these hearings. Special education disability was based on the 13 categories identified by the State of Texas. Chi square compared…

Using the conceptual model of social structure and personality framework (House, 1981) as a theoretical guide, this cross sectional mixed-method design examined how organizational structure and culture relate to practices for training direct care workers in 328 aging and disability network service provider organizations in Pennsylvania. To…

The qualitative phenomenological study focused on the exploration and identification of factors that might trigger the turnover of IT professional employees. The interview of 20 IT professional employees from the State of New York assisted in the collection of perceptions and lived turnover experiences of IT study participants. Five themes…