In the past 15-20 years, contemplative practices, designed to cultivate present-moment awareness, have become more common in K-12 educational settings with some growth in higher education contexts seeking to reorient around teaching the "whole student". In response to calls that have also emerged in higher education to advance social…

In the past 15-20 years, contemplative practices, designed to cultivate present-moment awareness, have become more common in K-12 educational settings with some growth in higher education contexts seeking to reorient around teaching the "whole student". In response to calls that have also emerged in higher education to advance social…

This research seeks to answer the question of why sociologists teach at community colleges, how they view their choices and how they view the discipline of sociology. I theorize that contrary to community college teaching being a "fall back" position, many sociologists actively seek those positions deliberately to enact social justice…

This study explores the promise of student success in undergraduate education that exceeds its standard definition and measurement as retention and graduation rates. The research paradox framing this dissertation is: "In what ways can universities support conceptions of undergraduate student success that escape measurement?" This paradox…

Students often fail to develop a sophisticated understanding of scientific topics despite years of formal education designed to help them do so. Through studying how students learn the physical sciences, conceptual change researchers have amassed a large body of evidence that people, rather than being empty vessels who passively accept scientific…

Since Greece entered the EU, language learning has become prominent and gained further momentum in the context of modern globalized economy. Acknowledging the intense commodification of the modern foreign language education industry, this research explores Greek Foreign Language Learner (FLL) investment in multiple foreign languages, and how…

In this study, I examined the academic search process and the role that unconscious bias plays in the evaluation and recruitment of faculty candidates. The academic search process and participants' beliefs, values, and attitudes regarding how they evaluated faculty candidates and made decisions regarding shortlist placement were examined. I used a…

The primary purpose of this study was to examine the perceptions that Alabama funeral service licensees had towards their academic preparation for entry-level funeral service careers in a professional field that was changing. More specifically, this study identified and examined specific learning objectives within the American Board of Funeral…

The genre of the research article has attracted the attention of researchers, particularly after the research conducted by Swales (1981). In 1990, Swales introduced the Create a Research Space (CARS) model which consists of three rhetorical moves (i.e. units): Move 1: creating a research territory, Move 2: establishing a niche, and Move 3:…

This dissertation reports the results of a content analysis of Introductory Sociology textbooks in order to assess their coverage of, and approach to, the teaching of "culture" in the hopes of ultimately creating a unified approach for the introduction of students to the sociology of culture. Looking at introductory sociology textbooks,…

The purpose of this study was to understand the factors that lead entrepreneurs to seek formal education. The evidence shows that entrepreneurs are playing an increasingly important role in producing economic growth in the United States. This researcher examined the theoretical foundations of entrepreneurship based on economic, psychological, and…

This dissertation explores the relationship between US acting, actor training, and the sociology of theatre. Using the cultural criticism of notable Western Marxists, it argues that the profession of US acting has become a commodified enterprise, most especially since the 1970s and 80s. By using the now defunct League of Professional Theatre…

Location-based social networks (LBSNs) have recently attracted the interest of millions of users who can now not only connect and interact with their friends--as it also happens in traditional online social networks--but can also voluntarily share their whereabouts in real time. A location database is the backbone of a location-based social…

This dissertation is based on a long-term ethnographic and sociophonetic study of 15 transgender people on the female-to-male (or "transmasculine") identity spectrum. The focus of the study is the way these individuals' voices change during the first 1-2 years of masculinizing hormone therapy, which brings about a drop in vocal…

The purpose of the study was to construct a chronological history and analysis of the published educational objectives for the Introductory Sociology survey course in the colleges and universities of the United States from 1892 to 1957, as reflected by objective statements from selected peer-reviewed periodicals. Because of the gradual…