Game designers and researchers agree that the main motivation for starting playing a game is challenge. It is only a small step to say that when the game becomes too difficult, players can become frustrated and quit. While extensive work shows that challenge is central in player enjoyment, its influence on player retention has received little…

This study examined the impact of servant leadership practices as perceived by faculty and staff in an urban Focus elementary school. A mixed-methods design was used to explore the impact of the school leader's servant leadership practices on the behavior and perceptions of the faculty and staff, and the challenges a school leader faces as a…

Purpose: Among the identified highly effective California community colleges, the purpose of the study was to ascertain the degree of importance for the six competencies of board effectiveness as determined by the Chait et al. (1993, 1996) Board Self-Assessment Questionnaire (BSAQ) as self-reported by board members. Methodology: The design for…

The researcher designed this mixed-methods dissertation to delve further into the definition of professionalism for cooks and chefs within the culinary arts industry. The researcher also explored the process of professionalization (i.e., the process by which members attempt to transform their occupation into a profession) within the field of…

People with disabilities face a number of societal challenges that influence this vulnerable population to be less interested and motivated to pursue working. According to researchers, persuasive technologies are able to motivate intended users to change a targeted behavior. This study included the design, development, and evaluation of an…

The purpose of this study was to identify what leadership behaviors are associated with each of Spillane's (2006) three conceptually distinct forms of distributed leadership, and to determine whether specific influence tactics (Yukl, Seifert & Chavez, 2008) are differentially associated with each form. A two-phased, mixed methods design was…

This project is an interdisciplinary empirical study that explores the emotional experiences resulting from the use of the assistive technology closed captioning. More specifically, this study focuses on documenting the user experiences of both the D/deaf and Hearing multimedia user in an effort to better identify and understand those variables…

This concurrent, embedded mixed methods study used predominantly quantitative analyses to examine coach expectations and behaviors on female athletes' intrinsic motivation to play softball. Qualitative methods in the form of structured, open-ended questions were used to enhance the data by examining athletes' perceptions of coaching…

The purpose of this mixed-methods study was to better understand how female mechanical engineering faculty members' career experiences in academia affect their satisfaction. Specifically, the research considered differences in satisfaction reported by female and male mechanical engineering faculty members in terms of: (a) departmental…