Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Model of education'

Nowadays, types of production and process technology are present in most ofsectors of the economy. The rate of progress is very fast and the manner in which technology is deployed and used undergoes continuous change. This is perhaps especially true for Information Technologies, where computers now have a great influence on our society. Therefore education in Computer Science should respond to the nature of the discipline and also be very dynamic.

In higher education, the transition from University to the beginning of professional career is a crucial moment for students. Education in Computer Science is focused on technical skills. Typically not much attention is given to the non-technical skills needed for life as a computing professional.

This thesis studies the current state of education in Computer Science, and how it trains students for their future professional career and factors that increase their successfulness and competitiveness in Industry. Universities typically provide students with an excellent technical education. But, nowadays the profile of professionals in Computing requires also other complementary aspects.

For this study, the thesis investigates an innovative approach to integratingprofessional practice into University education. The Runestone project, a coursegiven since the mid 1990's is a collaboration between the Universities of Uppsala (Sweden), GVSU Allendale, MI (USA) and Turku (Finland). This course, with its international perspective, hopes to train to the students not only in technical skills but also in non-technical skills representative of modern professional practice. The course encourages the students to realise the importance of these other aspects, understanding the function of a professional with a wider perspective.

The thesis studies the 2007 offering of the Runestone project. It analyzes theexperiences of teachers and students, drawing on interview and survey information. Data sources include interviews and survey responses from the teachers of the three participating Universities as well as students from the three countries involved.

The thesis has two objectives: to study the attitudes of the teacher in regard to the intention of the course and the study of students as they gain experience as a result of the course. The part of the analysis dealing with the teachers is centred in the study of their vision of the current education of Computer Science, their motivations and objectives of the course, the structure, methodology and tools used for it, the course as international project and the importance of the learning of communication in team. The part of the analysis of student's experience and motivation is centred in their vision of the courses role in their future professional practice in computing, motivations for the course, acquired skills during the course, how they worked in a team and the course as an international project.

For decades, the cohort model has been utilized to bring graduate degrees to working adults who cannot put their family lives and careers on hold to attend a university in the more traditional way. With the growing access to reliable digital tools, some cohorts have taken advantage of the ability to meet online with live-streaming applications such as Skype, GoToMeeting, and Adobe Connect. The blending of online instruction and face-to-face interaction has given birth to blended learning, a hybrid of synchronous and asynchronous learning. With this evolution of curriculum and instruction delivery, questions arise regarding the quality of graduate programs. Are the students who are investing time and money into these graduate degrees receiving the high-level of quality that they would expect if they were attending the university in a traditional way? How are they interacting with their peers in a scholarly fashion? How are the professors engaging the students in meaningful and scholarly ways? How do students and institutions know what is working for the success of the student and what needs to be improved? This study sought to uncover answers to some of these questions as it researched 16 doctoral students in one blended cohort in central California. With primarily qualitative methods, the study attempted to describe the phenomenon that is the blended doctoral cohort, specifically researching the participants’ perspective of themselves and the blended cohort model at the beginning of their program and, again, at the end of their program.

An education benefit available to all corporate and franchisee employees of the large quick service restaurant (QSR) under study is an opportunity to achieve a high school diploma at no cost by enrolling in online high school (OHS). The purpose of this research was to explore the role of Thomas Gilbert’s behavior engineering model factors—information/data, resources, incentives, knowledge/skills, capacity, and motives—in helping 15 QSR employees to graduate from an OHS program. This study was warranted because in order to improve employee OHS graduation rates, the QSR under study needed to better understand and cultivate the success factors for OHS program completion. A basic qualitative methodology was used for this study and semistructured telephone interviews were conducted as the primary form of data collection. Thirty online learner success themes were synthesized from the data during the analysis process. Technology, and study skills were the only factors identified by all 15 study participants as being factors in their program success. The most influential online learning success factors reported by study participants were design of instruction, program policies, the role of the academic coach, program accessibility, and student characteristic of persistence/determination. Lack of time to complete OHS lessons was the top challenge to success shared by study participants. The online learning success factors that are currently in place at OHS and the QSR under study and are recommended to continue include 24/7 availability of the program, accepting transfer credits, the role the academic coach, the ability to retake tests, and the QSR under study covering the cost of the program. Recommendations to improve QSR restaurant environmental success factors include increased OHS program follow-up by QSR corporate and franchise leadership, scheduling OHS lesson completion time on restaurant schedules, and providing a reliable computer/tablet.

Limited research exists on the factors that influence an instructor’s choice to use a learning management system. The purpose of the current study is to explore how task technology fit constructs relate to the other constructs that comprise Davis’ Technology Acceptance mode. The technology acceptance model is widely used as an indicator of actual use of a technology system. A sample of 284 instructors completed a survey consisting of demographic questions, open ended questions about their reasons for choosing to choose to utilize a learning management system, and Likert scale questions about six constructs of the research model including task technology fit, ease of use, usefulness, attitude, intent to use, and actual use. The relationships between TAM model constructs and Task Technology Fit were analyzed using a partial least squares structural equation model method with SMART- PLS. The relationship between task technology fit and actual use was mediated by ease of use, usefulness, attitude, and intent to use. To evaluate the constructs in the model, an exploratory factor analysis was conducted and the factor structure for online and face-to-face instructors were different. Two models were developed, one for face-to-face instructors, and one for online instructors to account for this difference. The research models were evaluated for face-to-face instructors and online instructors. The study found significant relationships between all the TAM constructs and Task Technology Fit for face-to-face instructors. The relationship between attitude and intent to use was not significant for online instructors. This research supports the need for more research into the differences between online and face-to-face instructor’s perceptions of technology use. The differing instructional needs of face-to-face and online instructors have implications on the training and support an institution should provide to increase usage of learning management systems.

The California Community Colleges funding model has rich historical, political, and cultural ties embedded in the model foundation. The general funding of the California Community Colleges is enrollment-based and shaped by a long history of legislation based on the K-12 education model. The funding is not tied to performance or outcomes and is driven by how many students are enrolled. Although there has been increased categorical funding in the California Community Colleges over the past 3 years to improve student success and equity, the overall persistence or completion rates of students remains low. Research has demonstrated that many other states are implementing an outcome-based or performance-based funding model to reduce the gaps and improve student success and fiscal sustainability. The purpose of the study was to explore the gaps in the current California Community Colleges funding model and the effect of these gaps on student success and fiscal sustainability for the California Community Colleges. The study additionally investigates effective models in order to design and develop a funding model that will support the mission and outcomes of the California Community Colleges system while planning for fiscal strength.

Personalized learning is an evolving method for tailoring the goals of K-12 education to meet the needs of each student. This study supports education leaders in learning how to tailor education plans that maximize success for each student. This study extends learning about a better course of action for schools that might prevent students from being in credit lag and at risk of dropping out. This qualitative research study aims to outline themes about time, place and pace in earning high school credits, as well as combat the reasons why students drop out. Through a qualitative content analysis of US Department of Education reports, corporate advocacy narratives, and published research monographs, the researcher examined how rationales for a personalized learning model served to further innovative approaches to high school course completion by redefining the roles of teacher and student in the learning environment. The theory of situated learning was the basis for recognizing the relationships between teaching and learning in a personalized learning instructional model. The documents showed a high level of density in discussing the combined roles of teacher and student with little regard for the singular role of teacher in a personalized learning model.

The current trends observed in 4-year college graduation and retention rates (ACT 2011; 2012; 2013; 2014; Tinto, 2006) demonstrate a need for improvement in student academic achievement outcomes. Overwhelmingly, research finds that the first year in college is the time of greatest risk for student academic failure and drop out. Challenges associated with academic-oriented forms of stress and anxiety (Baillie & Fitzgerald, 2000; Bembenutty, 2008; Cassady, 2010; Collier & Morgan, 2008; Jean, 2010; Pike & Kuh, 2005; Soria & Stebleton, 2012; Turner et al., 2012) coupled with limitations in effective coping strategies (Hofer et al., 1998; Kitsantas et al., 2008; McInerney, 2011; Pintrich & Zusho, 2002; Robbins et al., 2004; Zimmerman & Schunk, 2008) lie at the center of the difficulties these first-year students experience, which ultimately play a significant role in persistence and achievement outcomes. This is particularly true for students from at-risk populations (e.g., first-generation students, ethnic minorities; Balemian & Feng, 2013; Borman & Overman, 2004; Choy, 2001; Engle, 2007; Jones et al., 2010; Pascarella et al., 2004; Toldson, 2012).

The wide body of research confirms that no single factor reliably predicts college academic success or failure, although institutions have traditionally relied upon indicators of prior achievement (i.e., H.S. GPA and college entrance exams) for such inferences (Alarcon & Edwards, 2013; DeBerard et al., 2004; Harackiewicz et al., 2002; Kowitlawakul et al., 2013; Randsell, 2001; Zypher et al., 2007). Rather, it is the collective of factors from environmental, behavioral and personal domains that interact and have the potential to positively or negatively influence college student achievement (Bandura, 1986; 1997; 1999; Lazarus & Folkman, 1984; Snow et al., 1996). As such, the Transactional Stress and Coping model (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) provides a comprehensive model through which the influence and interaction of multiple factors associated with student stress-appraisals, coping responses, and eventual outcomes can be examined within investigations of college academic achievement.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the degree of influence student background characteristics, indicators of prior achievement, anxiety-laden cognitive belief states, and self-regulated learning had on first-year college student achievement. Informed by the Lazarus and Folkman (1984) framework, a proposed academic-oriented stress-appraisal and coping model was tested for viability in predicting student achievement outcomes at the conclusion of their first-year in college. This study investigated research questions specifically associated with: 1) the influence of gender, ethnicity and first-generation status on first-year achievement; 2) the influence of student prior achievement (i.e., H. S. GPA and SAT scores) on first-year achievement; 3) the potential mediating influence of cognitive appraisals on first-year achievement; and 4) the potential moderating role of self-regulated learning in first-year achievement. For this archival study, all student demographic data, measures of prior achievement, first-year college achievement (cumulative GPA) and self-report responses to the LASSI-HS (Weinstein & Palmer, 1990) instrument were accessed from a large sample (N = 29,431) of first-time, first-year students enrolled at a mid-sized, Midwestern 4-year university during years 2004-2012. Using an established model of stress-appraisal and coping (Lazarus & Folkman, 1984) within an academic context, five models were tested using Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) to answer the specific research questions and investigate the utility of the models in predicting first-year college achievement.

The results revealed that although all background factors (i.e., gender, ethnicity, first-generation status) were statistically significant predictors of first-year achievement (GPA), their influence on first-year GPA was minimal. Additionally, prior achievement had a statistically significant, but weak, influence on first-year GPA. Although the direct path relationships for all pre-existing personal factors were statistically significant, the results also indicated anxious cognitive appraisals served a mediating role between these factors and first-year GPA. Thus, a partially mediated model best represented the relationships among these variables. The potential moderating effects of motivational regulation and active coping strategies did not have any meaningful impact in the two self-regulatory coping models tested. Although some statistically significant relationships were observed and provided evidence that background factors, prior achievement, anxious cognitive appraisals and self-regulated learning are associated, their influence was minimal and offered little practical utility in explaining first-year college student achievement.

Overall, the results of the study were unexpected given the strong theoretical and empirical support for the measures utilized in the study and literature supporting meaningful and rather robust relationships among the variables of interest. This atypical finding seemed to be due primarily to the first-year student GPAs, and suggests attending to concerns related to the evaluation of student performance and achievement in the first year of college. (Abstract shortened by UMI.)