Population dynamics modeling using stage-based transition matrices has been used in ecology for six decades. However, the data analysis method has never been used for students in higher education. This applied doctoral project used the principles of population dynamics to assess two student populations at an institution of higher education…

The purpose of the study was to investigate secondary choral music educators' and administrators' perceptions of the use of the Mississippi Professional Growth System (PGS) as an applicable tool for evaluating secondary choral music educators. While there is limited research regarding the evaluation of choral music educators, this study aimed to…

The purpose of this qualitative content analysis study is to investigate the themes and potential gaps in quality assurance rubrics and scorecards used to evaluate online courses in higher education. For the utility of this study, the themes and potential gaps in quality assurance rubrics and scorecards is generally defined as the recurring…

This study examined the perspectives of accreditation liaison officers, institutional accreditor peer-reviewers, and chief library officer perspectives on the role that the academic librarian, academic library, and information literacy should play in institutional accreditation. The study was framed using a conceptual model based on New…

Strategic planning is the process in which organizations develop goals and objectives that drive actions for the purpose of fulfilling their institutional mission. This paper addresses how strategic planning can be utilized at community colleges. A review of relevant literature is also included. A qualitative case study research methodology was…

Item response theory (IRT) is currently the dominant methodological paradigm in educational and psychological measurement. IRT models are based on assumptions about the relationship between latent traits and observed responses, so the accuracy of the methodology depends heavily on the reasonableness of these assumptions. This dissertation consists…

This study aimed to explore the experiences of nurse educators using flipped classroom methods with learning activities proven to be successful in students' achievement of learning outcomes. Specifically, it aimed to identify the learning activities that nurse educators have found to be most successful in terms of student achievement of learning…

This project discusses the creation and implementation of labor logs in multimodal curricula in two levels of writing courses and how these labor logs support students' development of meta-awareness through reflection-in-action (Yancey, 1998). Labor logs create a space for students to focus on in the moment recognition, or monitoring, of what…

Multistage adaptive testing (MST) has become popular in the testing industry because the research has shown that it combines the advantages of both linear tests and item-level computer adaptive testing (CAT). The previous research efforts primarily focused on MST design issues such as panel design, module length, test length, distribution of test…

Kuh and colleagues (2008) use the term "high-impact practices" (HIPs) to describe co-curricular programs that are particularly effective in advancing student learning. The original list of HIPs does not include campus employment, which McClellan et al. (2018) argued should be added. According to the results from the 2019 NASPA survey…

This paper explores how the charter school sector evaluates the success of specialized education programs in order that the Nature School can learn from these best practices and develop its own framework. The researcher conducted in-depth interviews with five evaluation experts and eight diverse charter school authorizers overseeing a significant…

Faculty are critical players to advance institutional mission in higher education (Clark, 1972). Hiring faculty who have an affinity for mission and who understand and support Catholicism in the spirit of an institution's founding charism can be a significant challenge for academic leaders and for the longevity of institutional mission in Catholic…

From my personal point of view, the role of a program evaluator is to gather information about the thoughts and experiences of individuals impacted by the program and to use the findings to inform program improvement. However, participants in the evaluation may be reluctant to share their full thoughts due to factors such as power imbalances and a…

The purpose of this quantitative, non-experimental, correlational study was to determine if there was a correlation between first-time pass rates on the USMLE Step 1 and the use of active learning strategies in medical school classrooms. For the utility of this study, active learning strategies were defined as any activity in which medical…

The transfer of training from learning environments to workplace environments has been a major concern for training professionals and researchers for decades. How should organizations evaluate the effectiveness of their training programs and what impacts are those programs having on their employees' on-the-job performance? These questions are…