Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Education Change (Psychology)'

A leadership program was created for students to gain skills and/or change their behavior using Appreciative Inquiry and Video Self Modeling, VSM. In 2011a youth that experiences a disability had been unable to achieve a skill utilizing traditional methods of skill acquisition. He employed the Appreciative Inquiry and VSM leadership program and was able to achieve 100% skill acquisition. Appreciative Inquiry was used to gather information on what makes a participant who experiences a disability feel successful and the theme of the greater organization/class which was independence, provided guidance for examples of success. Videos were created showing students succeeding in activities that they have not yet achieved or participate in with low frequency. These activities were documented as a barrier to success typically in the Individual Education Plan, IEP. Viewing these videos aids the individual in achieving a goal as they viewed this desired future as the present in the majority of cases.

Many universities have expanded from teaching only to include research goals, requiring shifts in organization behavior. An exploratory case study method was used to examine these dynamics among positive deviant researchers at the University of Technology, Jamaica (UTech), the single case examined, from a social construction perspective. As a participant observer in the organization, the researcher engaged in marginality and its associated risks in studying UTech’s transition from low to higher research outputs to answer the research questions—significant norms influencing positive deviancy patterns of the researchers and, their perceptions and experiences during transition. A qualitative case report and mini-organization ethnography of UTech was produced to enhance contextual understanding of positive deviance among university researchers, an area not previously described in the literature. Several important organizational findings emerged from the analysis of interviews of 6 participants who received the President’s Research Initiative Award (PRIA), artifacts of the organization, and participant observation. The results detail early development of a descriptive typology of positive deviance during organization change, including motivation, feelings of being marginalized and coping strategies. Three patterns—(1) teaching versus research (2) disorder, and (3) personal resilience—and 9 interrelated themes enhance understanding of role adaptations and the meanings and beliefs that these faculty associate with their research environment. The results also indicate organizational factors and personal dimensions in a research subculture that is emerging amidst strong pivotal teaching norms and culture; social costs involved in such a transition, and; some challenges and opportunities for building a research culture and a high performance research environment at UTech. A construct of organizational and individual adaptation to stress was hypothesized, subject to future research. The main conclusions included that research is a peripheral norm; doing teaching and research involved tensions, challenges, incongruence, disequilibria as new identities and the implied research subculture are emerging at UTech; there are anti-research risks to the transition, and; organizational tradeoffs might be required. The findings, although not a template, are of potential usefulness in any organizational setting where organization growth and change are contemplated. Recommendations are made for UTech and future research.

This phenomenological case study of finding meaning explored the developmental nature of Pepperdine University’s Doctor of Education in Organization Change (EDOC) program through graduates, who as students, found deep, visceral, and life changing meaning. The primary request of participants, identified as co-inquirers, was to: describe in as much detail as possible how meaning was found through their participation in the EDOC program. Detailed storied descriptions from 10 graduates were gathered through interviews. Anecdotes were gathered by email from other graduates concerning the meaning found, relational experiences, and vivid program experiences. In my analysis of data, I explicated the structure (the relationship among the most invariant constituents of the phenomenon) and meaning (implications) from their lived experience. Though particulars differed, the interview data revealed a structure surrounding each of the ten co-inquirers as being (a) self-aware learners who joined the program with assumptions concerning the challenging nature of the learning experience; (b) a socially constructed environment that facilitates the formation of relational sets and community engagement; (c) deep and rich dialogic relationships among participants within the learning community; (d) co-constructed learning through collaboration with faculty and fellow students; (e) abundant free-space in learning enabling the transcendence of boundaries to personal growth; (f) an immensely helping and caring environment; (g) significant opportunities to challenge and broaden worldviews through program experiences; and (h) consistent validation of progress toward personal, educational and life goals. In coming to understand the phenomenon for finding meaning, I used descriptive phenomenology and given my presence as a student in the program being studied, I offered my own observations. I framed propositions from the study’s findings for progressive educators and organization development professions. Meaning found led to life changes such as improved personal and professional effectiveness, a deeper sense of self and self-worth, a clearer view of the world, and an ability to enact what had been taken from the experience; a significant educational outcome in addition to cognitive competencies, field knowledge and application. Those who have experienced the program came away with a deeper sense of purpose and far reaching capabilities to serve.

According to the U.S. Department of Education, the 2012-2013 national high school completion rate for Latino (75%), African American (73%), American Indian (70%), and limited English proficient (63%) students increased slightly compared to the 2011 national graduation data. While the national trend shows a one percentage point gain in the overall high school graduation rate across all subgroups, the numbers for African Americans, Latinos and other ethnic groups far trail that of their White (87%) and Asian (89%) peers. It is also far more likely that ethnic groups trailing in high school completion rates live in economically disadvantaged communities that are plagued with the disparate effects of poverty, such as single-family households, poor nutrition, and community safety concerns. As a result, there has been an increase in local and national conversations about how to best amend inequitable educational outcomes for these groups of students.

The conceptual framework for this study is oriented around systems thinking, race, empowerment theory, and community schools and partnerships. More specifically, this study sought to explore systems thinking and opportunities that schools can explore to eradicate the current negative racialized outcomes for African American, Latino, other ethnic minorities, and socially disadvantaged students. The one-year study took place at Roses in Concrete Community School, a newly designed charter school located in Oakland, California.

Findings suggest that during its first year implementation, the school’s leadership team and staff focused primarily on supporting students and families by (a) establishing a foundation of responding to basic needs, (b) partnering with community organizations, universities, and activists to provide additional school and community supports, (c) analyzing the system that produces the current outcomes with the intention of not reproducing inequities, and (d) empowering students and families to have a voice and increase their sense of agency.

The combination of globalization, technological advancements, governmental regulations, changing customer tastes and trends combined with a host of other influences constantly force organizations to change, or respond to changes in the business environment. Businesses need their employees to be flexible and ready for change; however, the literature is rife with the assertion that more than 70% of organizational change initiatives fail. These failures cost organizations billions of dollars each year and have been blamed in part on employees' unreadiness for change, and their subsequent resistance to it. Businesses have a continued interest in understanding how to achieve higher rates of success with change initiatives; therefore, this research examined whether or not employees' personality traits predicted their readiness for organizational change. It also examined whether or not employees' level of education interacted with their personality traits to moderate the effects of personality traits on variances in readiness for change. Results indicated that personality traits predicted employees' readiness for change; however, increasing education did not interact with personality traits to modify the effects of personality on employee readiness for change.

The goal of this dissertation was to contribute to research on practical nursing students’ self-efficacy and the sources that build self-efficacy including mastery experience, vicarious learning, social persuasion, and physiological and affective states (Bandura, 1986). Specifically, the focus in this study was on students’ self-efficacy change and development through the measurement of students’ confidence in ability to engage in medical surgical simulations during the last semester of a practical nursing program. The results of this study revealed perceived self-efficacy did not change, but participants indicated an overall strong sense of efficacy to engage in medical surgical simulations. Additionally, students relied on all four sources that build self-efficacy (Bandura, 1986). In other words, students relied on personal perseverance in facing obstacles, sought the nursing faculty’s assistance and encouragement to perform well, observed and modeled their teachers’ behaviors, and successfully managed their physiological and emotional states. Strong self-efficacy was concluded to be a key factor in the success of practical nursing students. Thus, there is a need for future experimental and theory-driven studies that utilize the self-efficacy approach to reduce student attrition and contribute to academic and professional accomplishment of practical nursing students.

The general public harbors misconceptions about mental illnesses; particularly, auditory verbal hallucinations (AVHs). Misconceptions about the causes, dangerousness, and treatment of mental illnesses constitute barriers for treatment. The purpose of this study was to examine whether a neurobiological refutation text was more effective than a neurobiological expository text in changing knowledge and attitudes concerning AVHs. A MANOVA determined that the refutation text was not statistically different than the expository text in changing knowledge of AVHs [F(2, 95) = 0.982, p = 0.428]. Another MANOVA determined that the refutation text was not statistically different than the expository text in changing attitudes towards a person in a vignette with severe AVHs [F(2, 95) = 2.553, p = 0.083]. A bimodal distribution was observed in participants? level of contact with persons with severe mental illness. Supplemental analyses indicated that participants who read the expository text and reported high levels of contact endorsed significantly lower levels of social distancing behaviors towards the person in a vignette [t(47) = 1.983, p = .053, d =.57]. Participants who read the refutation text and reported low levels of contact attributed significantly less attitudes of fear and anger [t(41) = 2.664, p = .011, d =.82], and endorsed significantly lower levels of social distancing behaviors [t(41) = 2.829, p = .007, d =.87]. A refutation text may be more effective than an expository text in changing attitudes concerning AVHs, when a participant?s misconceptions of persons with severe mental illness are formed through observations and various forms of media.

Academic libraries and their parent institutions are experiencing increasing social, technological, economic, and political pressure in the twenty-first century. While the academic library literature contains numerous discussions and case studies illuminating how larger academic libraries are engaging in organizational change and experimentation to respond to those pressures, libraries in smaller academic institutions are underrepresented in those professional discussions.

This study examines liberal arts college libraries engaged in transformational change. It explores ways academic libraries are aligning their purpose and services with the missions, strategic priorities, and challenges of their parent institutions. Through four case studies, it examines how library directors create change visions, enroll staff and stakeholders in those visions, and the skills, tools, and strategies they use to lead and manage organizational change.

Data were collected using narrative inquiry, a qualitative methodology. Participants included library directors, provosts, and senior management team members. After analyzing the data, two organizational change theories were applied. The first theory focuses on what was changed—the antecedents and consequences. The second organizational change theory focuses on how the change was done—strategies, tools, and actions.

Data analysis reveals several findings. Directors who employed the greatest range of political intelligence, emotional intelligence, and transformational leadership skills were the most successful in creating lasting, radical organizational change. They were also most likely to align that change with the mission and needs of the colleges they served. Directors who used frame bending rather than frame breaking approaches to envisioning and communicating change were more successful in enrolling both library staff and academic stakeholders in their change strategies and change goals.

The results of this study contribute to an understanding of how smaller college libraries are leading and managing change. The findings identify potential obstacles to successful change and provide examples of strategies used by other change leaders to mitigate or surmount those obstacles. Those findings may be of value to other academic library change leaders. Finally, this study also identifies change leadership skills and strategies that were effective within the unique environment of academic institutions which have a decentralized environment, distributed power and authority, and a shared allegiance to the organization's history and culture.

The purpose of this study was to compare and contrast four age cohorts to determine: (a) if they have any preexisting knowledge about The Blue Zones Power 9 lessons for longevity, (b) if they are currently practicing any of the Power 9 lessons, and (c) to what extent they intend to adopt all or some of the Power 9 lessons in the future. The Transtheoretical Model of Behavior Change (DiClemente & Prochaska, 1982) guided exploration of the respondents’ adoption of the Power 9 lessons. There were four significant findings in this study. Physical activity and stress relief had similar results in that both the youngest and oldest age cohorts’ expressed higher frequencies than the two middle age cohorts. Wine consumption and adoption/intention to adopt the Power 9 also had similar results, demonstrating that as age increased, so did the frequency of wine consumption and adoption/intention to adopt the Power 9.