Mediation analyses are crucial for understanding the mechanisms through which interventions or theoretical constructs influence outcomes within nested structures, commonly found in education, psychology, and sociology. Recognizing the importance of these effects, designing and analyzing robust studies to detect them is essential. This dissertation…

We study flexible Bayesian methods that are amenable to a wide range of learning problems involving complex high dimensional data structures, with minimal tuning. We consider parametric and semiparametric Bayesian models, that are applicable to both static and dynamic data, arising from a multitude of areas such as economics, finance and…

This research study explored possible relationships of professional mental health counselors who have experienced a phenomenon called posttraumatic growth (PTG), which is a positive cognitive and emotional change that stems from surviving a traumatic life crisis. The current study aimed to investigate a connection of PTG in professional counselors…

Since the seminal work of Davis in 1989 produced the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM), researchers have sought to extend the framework and use the resulting models to describe the predictors of technology adoption specific to various populations. Although the TAM has been used to understand the adoption of technology in higher education, most of…

As both universities and students demonstrate an increasing interest in offering and taking online courses, a better understanding of the causes of student outcomes, such as student achievement has become increasingly important. Exploring the causes of varying rates of student success in online courses of higher education is an ongoing challenge…

Since the turn of the century, higher education organizations and educational policy makers have urged U.S. colleges and universities to internationalize due to globalization pressures of the twenty-first century. The desired outcome of these internationalization efforts is intercultural competence. Decades of literature have provided a number of…

This quantitative study was designed to be an analysis of the relationship between school climate and student achievement through the creation of an index of climate-factors (SES, discipline, attendance, and school size) for which publicly available data existed. The index that was formed served as a proxy measure of climate; it was analyzed…

This study sought to examine the interrelationships between job socialization, organizational commitment, occupational commitment, and intention to leave a job for individuals working in the field of student affairs. Specifically, a theoretical model was proposed based on the literature in order to determine how well that model fit data gathered…

The current study investigated college students' content knowledge and cognitive abilities as factors associated with their algebra performance, and examined how combinations of content knowledge and cognitive abilities related to their algebra performance. Specifically, the investigation examined the content knowledge factors of computational…

Unique challenges affecting the influx of online doctoral learners create opportunities to enhance their experience by mitigating limited contact. This quantitative causal-comparative and correlational study examined differences based on frequency and duration of video-based coaching doctoral learners received from their dissertation chairs, at a…

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationship between GEAR UP academic support services and student achievement. GEAR UP is an evidence-based college readiness program. This study focused on a subset of academic support services designed to impact student achievement including: academic mentoring, math tutoring, English tutoring, study…

Many U.S. universities are concerned with student retention. The current study surveyed 237 first time college students at a Midwestern university to determine the extent to which social-cognitive factors, such as high school GPA, ACT scores, first semester college GPA, college self-efficacy and perceptions of mentorship support influence…

The roles of the school counselors have changed significantly over this century. Due to the pressures of high-stakes testing and budget cuts, counselors often are tasked with roles that are not aligned with state or national standards for school counseling programs (Brown, Galassi, & Akos, 2004; Gysbers & Henderson, 2001). This study…

The purpose of the current research was to comparatively explore and document similarities and differences in POS, POP, and teacher commitment within the two school settings (public and non-public) by analyzing the perceptions of teachers within secondary school settings within a mid-south state. Surveys were sent to teachers for completion. After…

This research investigated the relationship between college students' political involvement and their capacities for socially responsible leadership, including which student characteristics, precollege experiences, and collegiate experiences contributed to these capacities. Political involvement was defined as participation in co-curricular,…