Factors that differentiate persistence beyond the first session at a for-profit university

An increasing number of students are selecting for-profit universities to pursue their education (Snyder, Tan & Hoffman, 2006). Despite this trend, little empirical research attention has focused on these institutions, and the literature that exists has been classified as rudimentary in nature (Tierney & Hentschke, 2007). The purpose of this study was to investigate the factors that differentiated students who persisted beyond the first session at a for-profit university. A mixed methods research design consisting of three strands was utilized. Utilizing the College Student Inventory, student’s self-reported perceptions of what their college experience would be like was collected during strand 1. The second strand of the study utilized a survey design focusing on the beliefs that guided participants’ decisions to attend college. Discriminant analysis was utilized to determine what factors differentiated students who persisted from those who did not. A purposeful sample and semi-structured interview guide was used during the third strand. Data from this strand were analyzed thematically. Students’ self-reported dropout proneness, predicted academic difficulty, attitudes toward educators, sense of financial security, verbal confidence, gender and number of hours worked while enrolled in school differentiated students who persisted in their studies from those who dropped out. Several themes emerged from the interview data collected. Participants noted that financial concerns, how they would balance the demands of college with the demands of their lives, and a lack of knowledge about how colleges operate were barriers to persistence faced by students. College staff and faculty support were reported to be the most significant supports reported by those interviewed. Implications for future research studies and practice are included in this study.

Using Social Media to Build Your Academic Brand

This professional development session will review recent research on the use of social media by faculty and academic staff. The bulk of the presentation will focus on social media strategies and techniques that attendees can use to develop and build their academic brand. This session will be useful to various audiences including established faculty, new faculty and graduate students.

Differential outcomes of two -way and transitional programs on English language learners at different entry levels

This study investigated the effects of two types of bilingual education programs (two-way and transitional) on the academic performance, attitudes, and metacognitive awareness of 5th grade students who entered kindergarten or first grade with different levels of English proficiency. The multi-stage sample consisted of students who had participated in each program for a period of at least five years. A mixed model design allowed for the collection of quantitative and qualitative data that were analyzed accordingly and integrated. ^ The findings indicated no significant differences between the two groups on measures of academic achievement in English. Significant differences were found in the number of semesters required for the students to become proficient English speakers. An important conclusion, based on these findings, was that the students enrolled in the two-way bilingual education (TWBE) programs learned English faster. Moreover, they maintained a high level of proficiency in Spanish, scoring significantly higher than the transitional bilingual education group on measures of Spanish reading ability.^ Questionnaire and interview data indicated that the students in the two-way bilingual education programs tended to use more Spanish for recreational purposes and tended to rate themselves as more proficient Spanish speakers than their peers. Conversely, the students enrolled in the transitional bilingual education programs tended to rate themselves as more proficient in English than their peers. ^ The level of English language proficiency upon entering school (five years later) was found to make a difference in academic achievement, as measured by standardized tests. Five years of schooling did not fully eliminate the gap in academic performance between students with different ESOL entry levels at kindergarten. However, entry level did not have an effect on attitudes towards bilingualism. ^ It is concluded that, although there was no significant difference between the two groups on measures of academic achievement in English, TWBE and transitional programs have differential effects. Students in the TWBE programs acquired oral language at a faster rate, developed literacy skills in their native language, and acquired more positive attitudes towards bilingualism. Theoretical, methodological, and policy implications of the findings are discussed. ^

Effects of service-learning on student attitudes toward academic engagement and civic responsibility

This empirical study explored the impact of service-learning participation on high school students' attitudes toward academic engagement and civic responsibility. This study focused whether a group of high school students who participated in a service-learning project had more positive attitudes toward academic engagement and civic responsibility than their high school peers who did not participate in a service learning project. ^ Data were collected from 67 volunteer students as participants in grades 9–12. A service-learning treatment group of 34 high school students was examined relative to a comparison group of 33 high school students with similar demographic and academic characteristics. The investigator used questionnaires, an oral history/service-learning project, and interviews with the teacher-coordinators of the project to collect the data. The two surveys, one investigating high school students' attitudes about academic engagement, the other investigating high school students' attitudes toward civic responsibility, were administered in a pre-treatment/post-treatment design. There were 90 days between the pre-treatment and post-treatment administrations. A factor analysis of the civic responsibility instrument and multivariate analysis of gain scores were used to compare the means of the total aggregate scores of the treatment and comparison groups. Factor analysis was performed on the academic engagement instrument but it was determined that only the total scores could be used in subsequent analyses. Results were used to determine the efficacy of service-learning as interpreted in student attitudes toward academic engagement and student attitudes toward civic responsibility. ^ The study found no significant difference between the academic engagement and the civic responsibility attitudes of a high school service-learning project group and a high school comparison group with comparable school and similar demographic characteristics. One of the implications for educational practice and policy from the study results is a need to design and implement more powerful studies, studies implemented at many sites rather than just at two sites that were the basis of this study, and studies that investigate the research questions over longer time periods. Although it was not a focus of the study, the investigator concluded that service learning projects such as this might be more effective if they were better aligned with Dewey's principles. ^

Generational Differences in Work Attitudes: Evidence from the Hospitality Industry

Our understanding of employee attitudes and their impact on business outcomes has been further complicated in recent years by the newest cohort of service workers. Known as Generation Y (Gen Y), they appear to approach employment in a manner different to that of their predecessors. A review of the academic literature reveals little empirical evidence to support an appropriate understanding of the impact of such difference. This paper provides an overview of a large-scale study into generational differences in employee attitudes and reports on the preliminary data analysis of a survey of over 900 hospitality employees. The most important initial finding from the data analysis is that, on the whole, Gen Y employees have lower scores on those constructs that an organization should be attempting to maximize. Non-Gen Y employees are more satisfied with their jobs, more engaged and more affectively committed to the organization they work for than their Gen Y counterparts, amongst a range of other important constructs. Conversely, Gen Y employees display higher scores onthe constructs that an organization would want to minimize in its staff. Gen Y employees are more likely to be planning to quit their jobs, are more likely to perform poorly if their co-workers are doing so, and are also more likely to switch jobs for no particular reason. The discussion covers implications for management as well as directions for future research.

The relationship of attitudes toward science, cognitive style, and self-concept to achievement in chemistry at the secondary school level

There is currently a crisis in science education in the United States. This statement is based on the National Science Foundation's report stating that the nation's students, on average, still rank near the bottom in science and math achievement internationally. ^ This crisis is the background of the problem for this study. This investigation studied learner variables that were thought to play a role in teaching chemistry at the secondary school level, and related them to achievement in the chemistry classroom. Among these, cognitive style (field dependence/independence), attitudes toward science, and self-concept had been given considerable attention by researchers in recent years. These variables were related to different competencies that could be used to measure the various types of achievement in the chemistry classroom at the secondary school level. These different competencies were called academic, laboratory, and problem solving achievement. Each of these chemistry achievement components may be related to a different set of learner variables, and the main purpose of this study was to investigate the nature of these relationships. ^ Three instruments to determine attitudes toward science, cognitive style, and self-concept were used for data collection. Teacher grades were used to determine chemistry achievement for each student. ^ Research questions were analyzed using Pearson Product Moment Correlation Coefficients and t-tests. Results indicated that field independence was significantly correlated with problem solving, academic, and laboratory achievement. Educational researchers should therefore investigate how to teach students to be more field independent so they can achieve at higher levels in chemistry. ^ It was also true that better attitudes toward the social benefits and problems that accompany scientific progress were significantly correlated with higher achievement on all three academic measures in chemistry. This suggests that educational researchers should investigate how students might be guided to manifest more favorable attitudes toward science so they will achieve at higher levels in chemistry. ^ An overall theme that emerged from this study was that findings refuted the idea that female students believed that science was for males only and was an inappropriate and unfeminine activity. This was true because when the means of males and females were compared on the three measures of chemistry achievement, there was no statistically significant difference between them on problem solving or academic achievement. However, females were significantly better in laboratory achievement. ^

Academic achievement orientation of West Indian American parents and adolescents

Literature addressing academic achievement orientation of Black adolescents in the United States often depicts poor school related attitudes and adaptation patterns, low academic achievement, and deficient family backgrounds. However, some researchers maintained that certain Black immigrant groups possessed positive academic achievement orientations and exemplary academic achievements (Ogbu, 1991; Gibson, 1991; Vernez, & Abrahamse, 1996). In this study, I attempted to combine qualitative data from multiple sources (surveys, interviews, observations, literature, and document analysis), using standard case study methodology and the constant comparative method of analysis to understand the relationship that existed between the academic achievement orientation of a select group of West Indian American parents and adolescents in Broward County, Florida. The sub-sample of 11 families, comprising 15 adolescents and 13 parents, was selected through maximum variation sampling from a pool of 23 families. The findings were presented as a single composite case study. The participants possessed specific, longstanding educational and career goals for the children. The parents were deeply involved and were knowledgeable of their children's schools and academic progress. While mothers were the parents most actively involved in the schools, fathers were strong authoritative figures. Families evidenced a strong moral religious base with set rules of behavior, firm parenting practices, and established chains of authority. Family members emphasized education over material things; reading over audiovisual or social activities; family cohesion over individual wishes; and academics over extracurricular activities. The parents' strong positive academic achievement orientation was communicated to the children and reinforced by relatives, family friends, and others. In turn, the adolescents possessed positive school-related attitudes and attributional styles. While they admitted their parents were somewhat strict, they voluntarily complied with the rules and were highly motivated to succeed because they believed their parents deeply cared for them and that education leads to success and upward mobility. Each adolescent was pursuing an academic track and planning for college and specific profession. The findings support Ogbu's cultural ecological model (1991). I recommend these findings to teachers, counselors, administrators, parents, and others working with West Indian American families. ^

The academic orientation of first and second generation Nicaraguan immigrant adolescents

The rise in diversity and numbers of U.S. immigrants since 1965 has spawned a number of studies about the education of these immigrants and their children. Most of this research finds that school-age immigrants arriving in the last 20 years have the highest drop-out rates, lowest test scores, and are less likely than their native born peers to go to college. This dissertation examines the experiences of Nicaraguan immigrant youth living in Miami and the factors that make some of these adolescents feel positive about education, while others have negative attitudes about education. The method for this study combined structured and unstructured interviews, participant observation, focus groups, and data collected from a larger data set to understand the academic orientation of 25 Nicaraguan youths over a 4-year period. One of the independent variables is length of time in the United States. During the time of my initial contact with the subjects, 6 had been living in the United States for less than 3 years, 14 had been living in the United States between 6 and 12 years, and 6 had been living in the in the United States most or all of their lives (either they were born in the United States or had resided here for over 12 years). ^ Results are based on the students' particular experiences, which influence the dependent variable, academic orientation. Besides length of time, the independent variables also include ethnic self-identity, perceived discrimination, social capital in Miami, and peer influence. The study finds that those who are very recent arrivals have a “dual frame of reference,” that is, they directly compare their educational opportunities here in the United States, with their prior, often less favorable, situation in their homeland. Many of those who were born in Nicaragua, but have been residing in Miami most of their lives, have a less favorable view of education based on a higher degree of perceived discrimination. However, those who are second generation Nicaraguans deliberately take advantage of the strength inherent in their co-ethnic community unique to Miami. Recognition of this ethnic community prompts them to perceive education as worthwhile. ^

The impact of selected factors in nurses' attitudes toward bedside computers

The purpose of this study was to determine the impact of selected factors on nurses' attitudes toward bedside computers. Bedside computer systems, also referred to as point-of-care systems, are clinical information systems that allow documentation of patient care and retrieval of data at the patient's bedside, or in close proximity to where care is delivered. The adoption of bedside computer systems appears to be increasing among U.S. institutions. As healthcare institutions undertake automation projects, they face many challenges associated with implementing large-scale change. ^ The study explored four factors and their relationship to nurses' attitudes toward bedside computers. A pre-bedside implementation survey of 184 staff nurses did not demonstrate a relationship between previous computer experience and nurses' attitudes toward bedside computers (p > .05). The data did not indicate a relationship between nurses' formal education and their attitude toward bedside computers (p > .05). The data did support a relationship between nurses' previous computer experience and their comfort in the use of bedside computers (p < .0005). Using a quasi-experimental control group design, attitudes of nurses were studied over an 18 month period. The Pre versus Post Survey data indicated that nurses who used bedside computers, the experimental group, had more positive attitudes than the nurses who did not use bedside computers, the control group (p < .0005). ^ The findings are significant to institutions implementing bedside computers, to the human resource development staff overseeing bedside computer training, and to the practice of clinical nursing. ^

The Food Service Industry: Beliefs Held by Academics

In his study - The Food Service Industry: Beliefs Held by Academics - by Jack Ninemeier, Associate Professor, School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at Michigan State University, Associate Professor Ninemeier initially describes his study this way: “Those in the academic sector exert a great deal of influence on those they are training to enter the food service industry. One author surveyed educational institutions across the country to ascertain attitudes of teachers toward various segments of the industry.” Those essential segments of the industry serve as the underpinnings of this discussion and are four-fold. They are lodging, institutional, multi-unit, and single-unit properties. For each segment the analysis addressed factors relating to Marketing, management and operating concerns: Marketing, operations, fiscal management, innovation, future of the segment Employee-related concerns: quality of work life, training/education opportunities, career opportunities The study uses a survey of academicians as a guide; they point to segments of the food service industry students might be inclined to enter, or even ignore. The survey was done via a questionnaire sent from the campus of the School of Hotel, Restaurant and Institutional Management at Michigan State University to 1850 full-time faculty members in two and four-year hospitality programs in the United States. Through the survey, Ninemeier wishes to reasonably address specific problems now confronting the food service industry. Those problems include but are not limited to: reducing employee turnover, retaining staff, increasing productivity and revenue, and attracting new staff. “Teachers in these programs are, therefore, an important plank in industry's platform designed to recruit students with appropriate background knowledge and interest in their operations,” Ninemeier says. Your author actually illustrates the survey results, in table form. The importance to an employee, of tangibles and intangibles such as morale, ego/esteem, wages, and benefits are each explored through the survey. According to the study, an interesting dichotomy exists in the institutional property element. Although, beliefs the academics hold about the institutional element suggest that it offers low job stress, attractive working conditions, and non-demanding competitive pressures, the survey and Ninemeier also observe: “Academics do not believe that many of their graduates will enter the institutional segment.” “If academic beliefs are incorrect, an educational program to educate academics about management and employee opportunities in the segment may be in order,” Ninemeier waxes philosophically.

Toward an understanding of how individuals overcome challenges to development: A phenomenological study of an inner -city student's attitude toward academic orientation and life

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to gain an understanding of the phenomenon of academic orientation by seeking the insights into an inner-city Haitian-American middle school student's attitudes and world view toward education and life. A phenomenological approach was used in order to explore the way in which Cindy, a minority student, gives meaning to her lived-experiences in terms of her desire to meet academic expectations and her ability to overcome social adversity and/or other risk factors.^ The study attempted to answer the following two research questions: (1) What provides the focus for Cindy's (the subject's) approach to her school work and/or life? (2) What are the processes that give meaning and direction to academic orientation and life for Cindy? In-depth interviewing was the primary method of data collection. In addition, journal and sketchbook entries and school district records were used and classroom observations made.^ The nature of the study to understand lived-experience facilitated the use of the case study method and a phenomenological method of description. Data analysis was conducted by means of an adapted form of the constant comparative approach. Patterns in the data which emerged were coded and categorized according to underlying generative themes. Phenomenological reflection and analysis were used to grasp the experiential structures of Cindy's experience. The following textural themes were identified and confirmed to be essential themes to Cindy's experience: personal challenge to do her best, personal challenge to want to learn, having a sense of determination, being able to think for self, having a disposition to like self, achieving self-respect through performance, seeing a need to help others, being intrinsically motivated, being an independent learner, attending more to academic pressure and less to peer pressure, having motivational catalysts in her life, learning and support opportunities, and having a self-culture. Using Mahrer's humanistic theory of experiencing, Cindy's development was interpreted in terms of her progression through a sequence of developmental plateaus: externalized self, internalized self, and integrating and actualizing self.^ The findings of this study were that Cindy's desire to meet academic expectations is guided by a meaning construction internal frame of reference. High expectations of self in conjunction with other protective factors found in Cindy's home and school environments were also found to be linked to her educational resilience and success. Cindy's lived-experiences were also found to be related to Mahrer's theory of human development. In addition, it was concluded that "minority" students do not all fit into social categories and labels. ^

Icelandic occupational therapists' attitudes toward educational and professional issues

The entire population of Icelandic occupational therapists were surveyed concerning characteristics and attitudes toward professionalism and educational goals. There were 87 questionnaires sent out and 80 (92%) were returned and used for analysis. This data will have a positive impact upon the development of the first Icelandic occupational therapy curriculum. Icelandic occupational therapists, in general, value academic skills over technical skills, are active in their association, willing to take on duties for the advancement of the profession and are interested in conducting research. The attitudes of the Icelandic occupational therapists were generally quite uniform. T- tests and one-way ANOVAs (p < .05) revealed some significant differences in a number of attitudes by education level, length of professional experience and country of education. The results show the importance of providing Icelandic occupational therapy practitioners with the opportunity to take part in research. This study will serve as a foundation for future studies on Icelandic occupational therapists and provide reference data for later comparison.