Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Educational Psychology'

This investigation attempts to determine the value of outdoor adventure education for educational leaders based upon leadership qualities identified in both the Educational Leadership and Outdoor Adventure Education (OAE) literature. Theoretical underpinnings of outdoor adventure education and claimed leadership outcomes resulting from OAE participation are identified and investigated. Three leadership skills identified as both OAE outcomes and constructs valuable to educational leaders (Self-efficacy, Collaboration, and Trust) are the focus of this mixed methodology study.

Research questions are proposed and addressed using mixed methodology. The anonymous online Outdoor Adventure Education Survey was developed based on previous research (Gareis & Tschannen-Moran, 2004; Rhodes & Martin, 2013; Tschannen-Moran & Barr, 2004; Tschannen-Moran & Gareis, 2004) and with input from educational leadership and OAE experts. Qualitative measures, including participant focus groups and key informant interviews, were developed with the advice of OAE and educational leadership experts before implementation.

Volunteers at a one-day OAE ropes challenge course participated in the anonymous online Outdoor Adventure Education Survey one week after course implementation of a one-day ropes challenge course and focus group discussions occurred within one month in order to allow for reflection, a major component of Experiential Learning Theory. Facilitators and group leaders participated in individual key informant interviews at irregular intervals after implementation.

Analysis revealed that OAE impacted self-efficacy in ways that are valuable to leadership, increased participants’ collaboration, and generally increased trust among members of each group. Results varied based on the obstacles encountered and by the group participating, but were positive overall. Additional outcomes included participants’ increased awareness of the importance of open communication, including active listening, and shared decision-making while solving problems collaboratively.

This quantitative study examined self-compassion as a buffer in burnout of teaching assistants working with students on the autism spectrum. An on-line survey was developed using the Self-Compassion Scale (SCS) and the Copenhagen Burnout Inventory (CBI) to investigate self-compassion, burnout, and a number of demographic variables. The survey was shared with teaching assistants who work with students on the autism spectrum in nine New York Counties. One hundred forty-five (N = 145) teaching assistants participated in the study. The self-kindness factor score, the mindfulness factor score, and the overall self-compassion composite score of teaching assistants working with students on the autism spectrum demonstrated statistically significant negative relationships with all areas of burnout: personal, work-related, and student-related. This indicates that as the teaching assistants' scores for self-kindness, mindfulness, and self-compassion increase their scores for all areas of burnout decrease. Overall, the findings indicate that there may be buffers that prevent against burnout in teaching assistants who work with students on the autism spectrum.

A gap in the knowledge of literature was found in that no research had been performed examining the effect different physical learning environments have on cognitive load levels. This is important because high cognitive load levels are known to affect learning. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study is to examine the relationship between the overall, intrinsic, and extraneous cognitive load and the physical learning environment (online and traditional classrooms) of undergraduate college students in an Introduction to Psychology class, at a medium-sized liberal arts college. Cognitive load theory provides a framework that has been used extensively to promote learning. Cognitive load refers to the total amount of mental activity imposed onto the learner. Research noted what has not been examined is how different physical learning environments may affect cognitive load. For this study, the physical learning environment is the place where learning takes place. Three research questions sought a correlation between cognitive load levels and the physical learning environment, online or traditional classroom. The Leppink scale was used to measure cognitive load. A survey was sent, one week in December, until the minimum sample size was determined. Data were determined using a Spearman correlation. The findings indicated no significant relationship exists between Overall Cognitive Load and the physical learning environment (r _s = –0.011, p > 0.05), Intrinsic Cognitive Load and the physical learning environment (r_s = –0.082, p > 0.05), and Extraneous Cognitive Load and the physical learning environment (r_s = 0.086, p > 0.05). Recommendations for future research include looking at gender differences and testing at different times during the semester.

In Education, there has been an amplified interest regarding the need for distance education practices over the course of the last century (Allen & Seaman, 2010, 2013, 2014). The purpose of the present study was to explore the attitudes and experiences of counselor educators in Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP) accredited counseling programs in relation to distance education. A secondary purpose was to gather data about the implementation of distance education activities in these programs. Exploring this phenomenon provided an up to date picture of the lived experiences of counselor educators with distance education.

This research study employed a phenomenological design with a quantitative survey and qualitative follow-up interviews. The sample for the quantitative phase of the study consisted of 41 CACREP-accredited counseling programs that successfully completed the researcher-designed survey instrument. Maximum variation purposive sampling for the qualitative phase of the study identified four participants for follow-up interviews. Three themes emerged from participant interviews that described the lived experiences of counselor educators with distance education: external encouragement for implementation, adequate preparation and support for development and delivery, and evolving design for counseling programs and courses.

The results of the study indicated that implementation of distance education in counselor education programs was related to both extrinsic and intrinsic motivational factors. Factors such as institutional encouragement, incentives, student needs, adequate support services for distance education, competitive program marketability, and university-level teaching experience, were identified as influencing distance education adoption in counselor education programs.

The results of the study provided information helpful to counselor educators and university administrators planning to implement distance education in counselor education programs. In order for counselor education programs to serve a larger population and remain competitive, they may need to consider incorporating distance education activities within their curriculum. Counselor education preparation programs may need to further infuse instructional components in their curriculums that prepare graduates with the skill and knowledge necessary to implement distance education. A wide range of support services need to be available to assist faculty that want to develop and implement distance education activities. It is recommended that counselor education programs first use a hybrid model in knowledge base courses and transition to making available full distance education courses that include skilled based coursework.

This study inquires into the peak experience of educators arising within educational encounters with students. It indicates a particular trend in education away from authoritarian modes of teacher behavior toward dialogic, empathetic relationships cultivated by teachers with their students. Also indicated is the potential for teachers to transform themselves morally, thereby creating conditions necessary for students to develop moral attitudes and behavior. By developing capacities for meditation, contemplation, and self-reflection, by developing intrapersonal and interpersonal skills, teachers enter on a path of development and actualize a truly human individuality. When self-actualization becomes a modus operando, peak experiences may give self-reflecting teachers knowledge of their own development.

A mixed-methods approach to the project was used that employed a questionnaire to: (a) establish the demographics of the sample; and (b) survey the types of peak experience that occurred within teachers resulting from educational encounters with children. The questionnaire also requested that the participant give a narrative of a peak experience. From the pool of 46 respondents, seven were chosen for interviews that ultimately clarified and enabled a deeper understanding of the narratives. The interview data and narratives were analyzed using a 3 step process proposed by Ricoeur (1986) and employed by Lindseth and Norberg (2004). The data revealed that teachers working with Steiner pedagogy have a multitude of peak experiences. These teachers use contemplative practice and self-reflection to cultivate intrinsic qualities of empathy, love, and dialogic competence. The findings also affirm that the kinds of peak experience reported by James (1901/2008), Bucke (1905/2006), Maslow (1970), and Csikszentmihalyi (1990) are definitely and extensively in evidence in the sample surveyed. Particular aspects of experience reported also included: dreaming as a mode of cognition, the prescient nature of some experiences, the prevalence of self-reflective and contemplative practices as precursors to peak and transpersonal experiences, the importance of the encounter as a condition for the emergence of such experiences within teachers.

This study intends to determine to what extent, if at all, the practices used in one urban school district in Southern California servicing high populations of socioeconomically disadvantaged students have on the academic achievement of students who are considered homeless under the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Act. A quantitative analysis of the academic performance of homeless students in both English Language Arts and Mathematics on the California Standards Test was used. In addition, a survey was used to capture the perceptions of existing practices in schools. Interviews were conducted to gain the perceptions of site principals and district administrators to learn what they believe are the existing practices contributing to the academic performance of their homeless student population.

The following areas provided background and understanding of the academic needs of homeless students: (a) history of federal legislation (b) federal and state funding and national effort to end the cycle of homelessness (c) accountability for academic achievement (d) successful academic practices as well as the best practices to support the social-emotional needs of homeless students, and, (e) the perceptions of educators and administrators who work with students in homeless situations. Based on the research, the important factors to consider are the needed socialization and relationship-building component that provides homeless students with stability and a connection with the school as well as the teacher and staff awareness and sensitivity needed when working with homeless students.

The results demonstrated three significant areas to consider when educating homeless students; having an awareness of homeless students, accountability and monitoring of homeless students, and the social-emotional organizational practices in place to support these learners.

Recommendations included district level professional development focused on the special needs of homeless students as well as providing school principals with academic data on their homeless student population. Secondly, identifying homeless students in a web based data system for teacher review. Thirdly, site based professional development for both certificated and classified staff to provide strategies in working with student who face homelessness. Finally, to develop a district wide counseling partnership with outside consultants or city resources to allow for more on-site counseling services.

Research has shown that the autonomy supportive motivating style benefits students, yet the controlling motivating style, which has detrimental effects on students, remains prevalent in K-12 classrooms. Few studies have explored determinants of teachers’ motivating styles. Furthermore, research on the basic psychological needs satisfaction of teachers and teacher demographic factors as determinants of teachers’ motivating styles is scarce. A better understanding of which psychological needs variables might predict teachers’ motivating styles for particular demographic groups of teachers might allow school leaders to better meet the needs of teachers in order to ultimately enhance the self-determination of K-12 students. A Pearson correlation coefficient revealed a positive, strong correlation that was statistically significant between years of teaching experience and teachers self-reported motivating styles. A linear regression analysis revealed that satisfaction of the basic psychological need for relatedness explained 32.4% of the variance in motivating styles scores for teachers with 1–5 years of experience. Additionally, a linear regression analysis revealed that satisfaction of the basic psychological need for relatedness explained 20.6% of the variance in motivating styles scores for teachers with 1–10 years of experience. Finally, a linear regression analysis revealed that satisfaction of the basic psychological need for competence explained 20.7% of the variance in motivating styles scores for teachers with at least 11 years of experience.

Cyber bullying; the act of hurting someone with the use of advanced technology, has become a significant problem in educational institutions around the world. While schools have policies in place related to on-site bullying, they have yet to develop policies related to cyber bullying. Administrators found assessing educator responses to student concerns difficult. However, the proposed hermeneutic phenomenological study is to discover how educators in the secondary school experience managing cyber bullying. Specifically, the purpose is to explore the perceptions of secondary educators’ experience from the direct experiences related to them by their students. The goal of this hermeneutic phenomenological study is to explore the phenomenon of cyber bullying and its perceived management by educators who have dealt with students’ ages 12–17 years old. The overarching research question that this qualitative study will evaluate is: how do educators experience managing cyber bullying? The use of Vygotsky’s (1986) sociocultural learning theory along with Maslow’s (1943) hierarchy of needs may give a focused perspective at the problem and possible solutions. Securing a safe environment for students assists parents of school-aged children who have been cyberbullied. With the impact of social networking, the home has become a high priority where safety is now threatened. The findings of this study may initiate a closing of gap to understand how policies may assist in cyberbullying issues.

As defined by the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2012), social-emotional learning (SEL) involves the acquisition of skills necessary to: identify and manage one’s emotions, relate to and establish relationships with others, and make positive and healthy decisions. With only 40% of kindergarten students demonstrating the social-emotional skills needed to be both academically and socially successful upon school entrance (Yates et al., 2008), explicit instruction targeting SEL is needed. As this instruction requires systems-level implementation and decision-making practices, members of these decision-making bodies can include several different school personnel, who may have varying levels of familiarity and previous use of SEL programs. Because the school principal is responsible for overseeing the implementation of school-wide programs (NYS Education Department, 2014), obtaining information regarding their familiarity and use of SEL programs, as well as their decision-making practices is needed. Consequently, the present study examined the extent to which principals participate in SEL decision-making practices; the selection procedures and decision making methods they use to select SEL programs; and their levels of familiarity, past use, and current use of CASEL approved SEL programs. The relationship between principal demographic characteristics and familiarity and use of SEL programs was also evaluated using survey methods. Analysis of descriptive statistics, frequency data, and three multiple regression analyses indicated that most NYS elementary school principals participate in SEL program decision-making. Additionally, they use a variety of methods for learning about programs and deciding upon programs. Overall, however, NYS elementary school principals have little familiarity, past use, or current use with CASEL-approved programs, suggesting a need for increased dissemination and professional development regarding these programs and resources.