Browsing by Author "Creamer, Elizabeth G."

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    Advancing Diversity at Virginia Tech 2009
    Creamer, Elizabeth G.; Harrell, Leigh (Virginia Tech, 2009-01-12)
    Presentation Overview

    - Assess change in perceptions of climate between 2005 and 2008 surveys for tenured and tenure-track faculty

    - Identify areas of significant difference between groups (gender, tenure status, race/ethnicity)

    - Examine the relationship between departmental climate and other important aspects of faculty life
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    Advancing from Outsider to Insider: A Grounded Theory of Professional Identity Negotiation
    Groen, Cassandra J. (Virginia Tech, 2017-04-11)
    As evidenced by a large body of research within the engineering education community, those individuals who do not maintain a sense of belonging, identify with engineering groups, or perceive themselves as engineers are more likely to leave the profession. However, little is known about the ways in which engineering students construct or develop their personal and professional identities as influenced by the disciplinary values, behaviors, and practices learned during the undergraduate education experience. In order to deepen the understanding of professional identity formation within the engineering disciplines, a grounded theory study was conducted to explore the experiences of 31 sophomore, junior, and senior level undergraduate students enrolled in a civil engineering program. Upon conducting an iterative process of data collection and analysis, a theory of professional identity negotiation emerged from interviews depicting participants' experiences. This theory titled Negotiating Equilibrium: Advancing from Outsider to Insider or the AOI Model, captures the identities negotiated by students as they iteratively define, adjust, and readjust definitions of self and profession to maintain a balance between their personal self and the learned disciplinary identity of the civil engineering profession. As participants gained this balance, they began to see themselves as professionals and advance from an outsider (i.e., one not belonging to the civil engineering profession) to an insider (i.e., one belonging to the civil engineering profession). The AOI Model provides a framework for researchers to further explore professional identity formation, promotes the development of identity-influencing coursework and instructor teaching approaches, and inspires future research trajectories in engineering and civil engineering education.
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    Detecting Rater Centrality Effect Using Simulation Methods and Rasch Measurement Analysis
    Yue, Xiaohui (Virginia Tech, 2011-07-14)
    This dissertation illustrates how to detect the rater centrality effect in a simulation study that approximates data collected in large scale performance assessment settings. It addresses three research questions that: (1) which of several centrality-detection indices are most sensitive to the difference between effect raters and non-effect raters; (2) how accurate (and inaccurate), in terms of Type I error rate and statistical power, each centrality-detection index is in flagging effect raters; and (3) how the features of the data collection design (i.e., the independent variables including the level of centrality strength, the double-scoring rate, and the number of raters and ratees) influence the accuracy of rater classifications by these centrality-detection indices. The results reveal that the measure-residual correlation, the expected-residual correlation, and the standardized deviation of assigned scores perform better than the point-measure correlation. The mean-square fit statistics, traditionally viewed as potential indicators of rater centrality, perform poorly in terms of differentiating central raters from normal raters. Along with the rater slope index, the mean-square fit statistics did not appear to be sensitive to the rater centrality effect. All of these indices provided reasonable protection against Type I errors when all responses were double scored, and that higher statistical power was achieved when responses were 100% double scored in comparison to only 10% being double scored. With a consideration on balancing both Type I error and statistical power, I recommend the measure-residual correlation and the expected-residual correlation for detecting the centrality effect. I suggest using the point-measure correlation only when responses are 100% double scored. The four parameters evaluated in the experimental simulations had different impact on the accuracy of rater classification. The results show that improving the classification accuracy for non-effect raters may come at a cost of reducing the classification accuracy for effect raters. Some simple guidelines for the expected impact of classification accuracy when a higher-order interaction exists summarized from the analyses offer a glimpse of the "pros" and "cons" in adjusting the magnitude of the parameters when we evaluate the impact of the four experimental parameters on the outcomes of rater classification.
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    Development of the Research Paradigm Inventory to Measure Views About Research Practices and Beliefs
    Parker, Paul Francis (Virginia Tech, 2009-02-04)
    The purpose of this study was to develop an instrument to measure the views of educational researchers across the dimensions that comprise research paradigms. The development of the instrument, entitled the Research Paradigm Inventory (RPI), was conducted in the hope of providing a mechanism for future research that will enable the examination of prospective links between the ontological, epistemological and methodological orientations of researchers and graduate students who will serve as future inquirers in the field of education. During its development and validation, various aspects of the RPI were examined in accordance with the validity framework outlined by Samuel Messick (1989). According to Messick (1989), the validity of measure interpretation and corresponding action can be examined in terms of content, substantive, structural, generalizability, external and consequential forms of evidence. During this study, the content aspect of validity was addressed through the creation of instrument specifications and the development of items that were mapped to those specifications. In addition, the content aspect of validity was addressed by selecting items that were reviewed by experts, pilot tested, field tested and exhibited high technical quality. The substantive aspect of validity was addressed through an analysis of item rating scale functioning, person fit, item difficulty hierarchies and relationships among instrument scale measures. The structural aspect of validity was addressed through a confirmation of the instrument's dimensionality. The generalizability aspect of validity was addressed through an analysis of person reliability, the precision of item/person parameter estimates and item calibration invariance. The development activities and analyses described above resulted in the creation of six subscales measuring: (1) Realism in Research, (2) Research Objectivism, (3) Quantitative Methodology, (4) Relativism in Research, (5) Research Interpretivism and (6) Qualitative Methodology. Given the evidence collected, these scales appear to provide reasonably reliable and defensible estimates of individuals' attitudes toward various research practices and beliefs, and should be appropriate for future research studies exploring educational research paradigms.
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    Educational Leadership and the Ethic of Care: The Experiences of Four Women Educators of Trinidad and Tobago
    Conrad, Dennis A. (Virginia Tech, 1999-11-08)
    As policy makers and educators from varying philosophical platforms develop strategies for facilitating inclusive education, there is a subsequent realization that this involves inclusive leadership. Such leadership may be addressed through ethical decision-making, exceptionality in learning, equity, effective programming, and partnerships (Crockett, 1999). Related to the moral and ethical aspects of decision making is the issue of caring leadership. Among the educational leaders who have demonstrated caring leadership, and who have had transformative influences over followers are the four women who constitute this study. To understand how they evolved as educational leaders, testimonies of their experiences and perceptions were developed. These testimonies are presented as reconstructed narratives. The discussion on these narratives explores relationships between who these women are in character, their experiences of the ethic of care, and leadership. The study directs focus on the lives of these women with a view to documenting their contributions and sharing their voices about the education systems of Trinidad and Tobago, and the broader Caribbean area. Oral history interviewing, within the biographical tradition, is the methodology used for data collection. The data as transcribed narratives and topical life histories were then content-analyzed to identify common themes and link these with contemporary research on leadership, women, and the ethic of care as discussed in the review of the literature. Findings from the study revealed caring leadership as an evolutionary process, and the importance that spirituality, community, and a sense of gender-equity and inter-relatedness played in the lives of the participants.
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    Effect of Sample Size on Irt Equating of Uni-Dimensional Tests in Common Item Non-Equivalent Group Design: a Monte Carlo Simulation Study
    Wang, Xiangrong (Virginia Tech, 2012-03-23)
    Test equating is important to large-scale testing programs because of the following two reasons: strict test security is a key concern for high-stakes tests and fairness of test equating is important for test takers. The question of adequacy of sample size often arises in test equating. However, most recommendations in the existing literature are based on classical test equating. Very few research studies systematically investigated the minimal sample size which leads to reasonably accurate equating results based on item response theory (IRT). The main purpose of this study was to examine the minimal sample size for desired IRT equating accuracy for the common-item nonequivalent groups design under various conditions. Accuracy was determined by examining the relative magnitude of six accuracy statistics. Two IRT equating methods were carried out on simulated tests with combinations of test length, test format, group ability difference, similarity of the form difficulty, and parameter estimation methods for 14 sample sizes using Monte Carlo simulations with 1,000 replications per cell. Observed score equating and true score equating were compared to the criterion equating to obtain the accuracy statistics. The results suggest that different sample size requirements exist for different test lengths, test formats and parameter estimation methods. Additionally, the results show the following: first, the results for true score equating and observed score equating are very similar. Second, the longer test has less accurate equating than the shorter one at the same sample size level and as the sample size decreases, the gap is greater. Third, concurrent parameter estimation method produced less equating error than separate estimation at the same sample size level and as the sample size reduces, the difference increases. Fourth, the cases with different group ability have larger and less stable error comparing to the base case and the cases with different test difficulty, especially when using separate parameter estimation method with sample size less than 750. Last, the mixed formatted test is more accurate than the single formatted one at the same sample size level.
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    Effective School Counseling Teams
    Lilley, Stacey Custer (Virginia Tech, 2007-04-13)
    Despite much attention given to effective teams in the workplace, school counseling teams have been neglected in the research. The primary purpose of this mixed methods study was to learn what characteristics secondary counselors perceive contribute to an effective school counseling team. The first research phase conducted six team interviews; themes emerging from the interviews yielded the development of the Effective School Counseling Team Questionnaire (ESCTQ). The following research questions were investigated: What factors do counselors perceive contribute to their team's effectiveness?, Are the scores on the Effective School Counseling Team Questionnaire related to team effectiveness as described by school counselors? Is there a relationship between team characteristics (amount of time together, individual counseling experience, gender, age) and team effectiveness? Is there a relationship between the perceptions of members of effective and ineffective teams? The literature on effective team factors was reviewed and analyzed in three categories: internal, interpersonal, and external. Qualitative results indicated that the majority of participants viewed internal traits as the number one factor contributing to their team's success. Most frequent were competencies, respect, sharing duties, caring for each other and serving students. The second area participants listed as most important was interpersonal factors, such as communication, interactions, and planning. Overall, communication was cited as the number one factor needed for an effective team. Conclusions drawn suggested that teams need altruistic, personal qualities to feel most effective. These were summarized by participants as a team member who is caring, giving, and putting the needs of students first. The second key area for school counseling teams was support from external sources, primarily school administration and central office. In phase two, the questionnaire was developed and used to confirm the interview findings. During the second phase, the ESCTQ was administered to 199 secondary school counselors, yielding an 82.4% (n = 164) return rate. The survey when analyzed by teams did not show major significant differences between the teams; it did, however, confirm the qualitative findings of the internal and personal characteristics counselors of effective school teams posses. The survey also allowed team members to rate their current team and their ideal team. The difference between the two ratings (ie. gap score) showed there was a significant mean difference (20.50) between the means of those who perceived their team as highly effective (26.55) and those who perceived their team as least effective (6.05). When looking at the questionnaire this could be interpreted to mean that the team members who felt most effective had the smallest gap score between their current team and their ideal team. When teams' gap scores were compared to their overall team rating "global" scores, as the global score increased for a team their gap score decreased. Meaning an effective team had fewer discrepancies (smaller gap) between their current and ideal team. Clearly, teams that perceive their team as "relatively effective" are rating the team closer to their ideal team than those that see their team as "relatively ineffective". In order to enhance performance of a counseling team, this study was important to assess school counseling team's effectiveness. Two research methods were used to analyze effective teams; this research provides valuable information relating to school counselors and effective teams.
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    Effects of Motivational Beliefs and Instructional Practice on Students' Intention to Pursue Majors and Careers in Engineering
    Tendhar, Chosang (Virginia Tech, 2015-04-24)
    This dissertation examined the differences in group mean scores of traditional and pilot groups on the students' motivational beliefs and their intention to pursue majors and careers in engineering. The difference between the two groups was in terms of instruction techniques used. The instructional techniques used for the traditional group was that of traditional engineering design (TED), while the technique used for the pilot group had more features of an active learning approach. Further, it tested the tenability of the domain identification model. The domain identification model was used to understand students' decision-making processes in committing to engineering majors and engineering careers. The data for this study was collected via online survey from first-year engineering students enrolled in an introductory engineering course at a research-intensive university located in southeastern US. The sample sizes of the traditional group and pilot group at the beginning of the semester were 875 and 188, respectively. The sample sizes of the traditional group and pilot group at the end of the semester were 812 and 242, respectively. The mean differences between the two groups were computed using t-tests via SPSS version 22.0. The causality hypothesized among variables in the domain identification model were tested using structural equation modeling (SEM) techniques. The measurement and structural models were estimated using LISREL version 9.1. This study followed the two-step SEM approach that Anderson and Gerbing (1988) suggested. A measurement model with an acceptable fit to the data was obtained followed by an estimation and evaluation of structural models. All the independent sample t-tests were not statistically significant indicating that the mean scores of students in the two groups did not differ significantly on any of the motivational and intention variables. The hypothesized measurement and structural models provided a good fit to the data. A few post-hoc revisions were made to the models. This study brought empirical evidence that the domain identification model can be used to understand students' major-and career-decision making processes. Engineering identification was a better predictor of major intention and career intention compared to engineering program utility, engineering program belonging, and engineering program expectancy.
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    The Effects of Unplanned Pregnancy Among College Women
    Story, Wendi A. (Virginia Tech, 1999-04-13)
    The majority of today's college students engage in sexual intercourse (Abler & Sedlacek, 1989), generally with multiple partners (Netting, 1980). Many of these sexually active students use contraception; many do not. Since students are engaging in intercourse and some are failing to use contraceptives properly or not using contraceptives at all, it is not surprising that 12% of college students report either experiencing or being involved in unplanned pregnancy (Elliot & Brantley, 1997). Wiley, James, Funey, and Jordan-Belver (1997) estimate that this number may be closer to 23% of college students. While both studies derived their different percentages from different college student populations, both percentages are significant. Little descriptive knowledge about the experience of unplanned pregnancy for college women exists. The purpose of this study was to describe traditional aged (18-22 years old) women's perceptions of the effects of unplanned pregnancy while enrolled full-time in an institution of higher education. The study examined the effects of the pregnancy from conception through the pregnancy's outcome. It also examined long term or on-going effects that women experienced after the termination or miscarriage. The study did not investigate the effects women attributed to the pregnancy's outcome. Ten traditional aged college women who had experienced an unplanned pregnancy while enrolled as a full-time student in a university in the mid-Atlantic region volunteered to participate in a one to two hour interview. The interview questions focused on the effects they experienced as a result of the pregnancy. The women were recruited to the study through flyers and personal announcements I made to several large undergraduate classes and student organizations. The sample of this study was ethnically diverse. Five of the ten women were ethnic minorities: three African American women, one Asian American woman, and one bi-racial Hispanic woman. The sample was similar in the outcome of the pregnancy. Nine women terminated the pregnancy; one woman miscarried. There are several significant findings of the study. First, the women in this study did not become pregnant as a result of a casual sexual encounter. All of the women conceived within the context of a committed relationship. This runs counter to the stereotype that college women become pregnant as a result of careless, "one night stands." Second, women reported a significant number of long term effects associated with the pregnancy. Long term effects are those that last a year or more. The most prevalent of these effects are feelings of guilt and fear of being stigmatized for their experience. These women are haunted by feelings of guilt. The guilt makes it difficult for them to associate with peers and family because the subject of pregnancy and abortion are discussed frequently. The women who participated in this study fear being socially marked or stigmatized because of the pregnancy. They fear they will be judged negatively by their peers and family because they experienced pregnancy and abortion. The guilt, shame, fear, and sense of stigma the participants reported are not just individual attributes but a reflection of wider social views about women's responsibility for sexuality and reproduction. Most women in this study did not tell their families of their experience. The majority of the women revealed their situation to their partner and only one or two friends. Keeping the situation a secret heightened the sense of isolation and depression experienced by the women. The issue of unplanned pregnancy among college women is rarely discussed. The women who experienced this did not feel safe enough on campus to come forward to seek help. They suffered personal anguish and often negative academic impacts. Universities need to create safe environments for these women to disclose their experience. Educational programs and support groups run by counseling centers or women's centers would be a step toward a safer environment for these women. Families and friends of women who experience an unplanned pregnancy can assist their loved one by expressing emotional support and being cautious about the judgmental things they say about pregnancy and abortion. Despite being conceived within a committed relationship, participants clearly saw the pregnancy as something that was their responsibility. Findings suggest that some women experience a developmental process in their response to the unplanned pregnancy, moving from a position of irresponsibility to a position of responsibility. Future research may examine the stages of this process and how it compares to existing developmental theory.
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    Environmental Education for Secondary Students in the United States: A Grounded Theory Systematic Review
    Bowers, Alison Wofford (Virginia Tech, 2019-12-17)
    Environmental educators work to create an environmentally literate citizenry that is willing and able to tackle complex environmental problems such as climate change, potable water availability, and biodiversity loss. Environmental education (EE) research is a robust field that links practice and research, but lacks a comprehensive model connecting practices and outcomes. The goal of this grounded theory systematic review (GT-SR) was to create a model that identifies the context, strategies, outcomes, and core category associated with EE for secondary students in the United States (U.S.). Systematic review methods were used to locate and screen relevant, peer-reviewed research indexed in academic databases. The first search term, "environmental education," identified studies about EE. To narrow results to those focused on secondary education (grades 6–12), twelve search terms related to middle school and high school were used. After limiting the search to studies published between 2011 and 2018 and in English, 1,009 unique citation records were identified. A screening process for relevancy and quality excluded 982 records leaving 27 studies in the initial final sample. Theoretical sampling identified an additional 12 studies through a second database search and ancestry searching. Data from the 39 studies were analyzed through initial, focused, and theoretical coding using the constant comparative method. During initial coding, descriptive and In Vivo codes were used to organize the data into meaningful chunks. Focused and theoretical coding were used to further abstraction and identify categories. "Authenticity" emerged as the core category suggesting that, in order to be effective, EE for secondary students in the U.S. must be viewed as authentic in the eyes of the participants. The coding process informed the development of the Implementation of Authentic Environmental Education Programs (IAEEP) model. Although not designed to be applicable to all contexts, the model will aid EE practitioners in developing and implementing EE programs for secondary students in the U.S. and guide researchers as they evaluate EE programs. The development of the model also supports the use of a GT-SR as an appropriate and useful method for identifying, screening, and analyzing existing research to create a theoretical model.
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    Examining Acculturation Strategies in Immigrant and Refugee Youth: A Mixed Methods Approach to Arts-Informed Research
    Edwards, Cherie D. (Virginia Tech, 2017-06-20)
    Extending far beyond migration to a new home, the cultural, emotional, and mental plight of immigration plagues immigrants and refugees of all ages. Nonetheless, immigrant youth are commonly overlooked in acculturation studies. This mixed methods approach to arts-informed research examined the acculturation strategies adopted by immigrant and refugee youth attending community-based programs. Through the use of participant drawings, the think-aloud technique, and the Acculturation, Habits, and Interests Multicultural Scale for Adolescents (AHIMSA) instrument, this research also examines the ways in which immigrant and refugee participants communicate their cultural paradigms. The findings emerging from this study illustrate that immigrant and refugee youth cope with cultural transitions through varied approaches that integrate expressions of individuality and cultural behaviors. By exploring six key findings, this study contributes to literature examining acculturation in youth populations as it provides an analysis of cultural transition that expands beyond traditional examinations of cultural behaviors, and highlights the importance of expressing individuality, values, and interests, in the acculturation process of immigrant youth.
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    An Exploration of Ethical Dilemma Resolution by Student Affairs Professionals
    Humphrey, Elaine (Virginia Tech, 2008-09-15)
    This two-phase, sequential mixed methods study explored how student affairs professionals resolved professional ethical dilemmas. A student affairs professional was defined as an individual whose educational background and work experience are in student affairs. An ethical dilemma is defined as a situation in which two ethical principles are at odds rather than a simple matter of right versus wrong (Kitchener, 1985). A professional ethical dilemma is an ethical dilemma in the context of a person's work-related experience. The first phase of the study was a qualitative exploration of how representatives of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) resolve professional ethical dilemmas by interviewing the representatives. The second phase of this study was confirmatory. An online questionnaire was designed and administered to members of the National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) who held positions similar to those held by the phase one sample. The questionnaire was designed to confirm the findings from phase one about ethical dilemma resolution. The study found that professional ethical dilemmas are very complex, involving multiple ethical principles, multiple roles of the person facing the dilemma, and multiple constituent groups involved in the dilemma. Despite this complexity, student affairs professionals use a relatively simple resolution process of serious reflection and conferring with others. Considerations of self (e.g. role in dilemma and impact on self) and the wider organization (e.g. legal implications and political implications) were used in the resolution process. The study also found that student affairs professionals' personal values helped them prioritize the vying ethical principles involved in the dilemma so that they could make a decision that they believed was ethical.
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    Exploring the link between inquiry paradigm and the process of collaboration
    Creamer, Elizabeth G. (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2003)
    Case studies of long-term collaborators here test the links between inquiry paradigm or worldview and the practical aspects of the conduct of scholarly inquiry. The findings reveal that differences in ontological and epistemological assumptions do not always translate into practical differences in collaboration, while those who share the same inquiry paradigm can also have substantial differences in working methods. The article concludes that multiple models exist of effective collaboration.
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    Factors that Influence a Woman's Choice to Remain in or to Leave a Male-dominated Major
    Catron, Gail Satterfield (Virginia Tech, 1997-12-03)
    Grounded theory methods of Strauss and Corbin (1990) and multidimensional scaling techniques (Kruskal & Wish, 1991) were used in this investigation to study the factors that influence a woman's choice to remain in or to leave a male-dominated major (Zuckerman, 1981). Focus group interviews were conducted with 62 sophomore women who had originally chosen male-dominated majors as freshmen to gain insight into the meanings and motivations of the student decisions. The participants responded to a 25-item survey which yielded a-three dimension solution with five clusters in the multidimensional scaling analysis. Five themes emerged from the focus groups as factors influencing a woman's choice to remain in or to leave a male-dominated major: (a) self confidence and refuse to lose attitude; (b) interest in the field; (c) career goals, jobs, and money; (d) ability and experience in the field; and (e) the desire to make a difference. The three dimensions were (a) time of experience, (b) motivation, and (c) career rewards. The five clusters were: (a) pre-college experiences, (b) college experiences, (c) career rewards, (d) self-confidence, and (e) self-fulfillment. The findings are consistent with current literature; however, the use of the multidimensional procedure goes further and helps to explain some of the motivations of the students and challenges some of the beliefs that persons in the practice of student affairs profess about woman and chilly climate. The study extends knowledge about how women deal with their chilly environment.
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    The Faculty Perceptions of Academic Freedom at Christian Colleges and Universities
    Walz, Jerald H. (Virginia Tech, 2017-07-27)
    Academic freedom is a much-discussed topic in the literature. However, little empirical research has been performed that describes the faculty perceptions of academic freedom at Christian colleges and universities, a unique segment of institutions within US higher education. Specifically, little recent research has shown how faculty members at Christian colleges and universities define academic freedom, how they describe experiences where they encountered issues of academic freedom, and how they navigate the interaction between academic freedom and institutional religious doctrines (as found in official statements of faith). The purpose of this study was to describe and analyze how faculty members at Christian colleges and university perceive academic freedom. For this qualitative study, I employed the Critical Incident Technique (Flanagan, 1954) to collect data from full-time faculty members of Christian institutions. I present the findings discovered through this study, discuss their ramifications, offer recommendations, and draw conclusions.
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    Faculty Perceptions of Climate and Job Satisfaction by Race/Ethnicity: Findings from 2005 AdvanceVT Work-Life Survey
    Saddler, Tonya N.; Creamer, Elizabeth G. (Virginia Tech, 2007-08)
    There has been increased attention given to the status of ethnic minority faculty members in American higher education over the past few decades. While minority faculty continue to increase their presence in the professoriate, they represent approximately 15% of full-time faculty members in American colleges and universities. Of this figure, 6.6% are Asian American, 3.2% are Hispanic, and 5.3% represent Black faculty members (Cook & Cordova, 2006; Chronicle of Higher Education, 2006).
    Because ethnic minorities are underrepresented in the academy, work life issues, including quality of life, impacting this population have become a national issue (Holcomb-McCoy & Addison-Bradley, 2005; Tack & Patitu, 1992). Perceptions about the work environment have been linked to overall satisfaction with work. For example, factors such as non-supportive colleagues, unwelcoming institutional and departmental climates, and departments lacking diversity contribute to an individual’s perception of the work place being collegial (Cooper, Ortiz, Benham, & Scher, 2002; Tack & Patitu, 1992). Such factors (among others) have been found to be directly related to predicting satisfaction with work environments for faculty members regardless of ethnicity (Saddler & Creamer, 2006).

    This report examines factors associated with the satisfaction of ethnic minority faculty members at Virginia Tech. Data from the 2005 AdvanceVT Work-Life Survey provide insight about ethnic minority faculty members’ perceptions about university and departmental climate at the institution. Most of these data were shared in presentations during spring 2007 to the Task Force on Race and the Institution and the Black Caucus. The report is intended to generate dialogue about items to add to the AdvanceVT Work-Life Survey when it is re-administered in fall 2008.
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    Feminist Identity
    Collins, Denise (Virginia Tech, 2001-04-23)
    Establishing a sense of identity is a central task in human development. This research pursued questions about how adult, self-identified feminist women conceptualize their identity, the role of feminism in that conceptualization, and the interaction of feminism with race and sexual orientation. Forty women in five geographic regions across the United States were interviewed. The participants were faculty, administrators, classified staff, and graduate students affiliated with a university in the region. The interviews were completed during a week-long visit to each location; each interview lasted from 45 to 75 minutes. Interviews followed a semi-structured format, using a standard protocol. Questions in the interviews asked about the importance of feminism, occupation, relationships, religion, politics, race/ethnicity, and sexual orientation in the women's identities. The connection of feminism to each of the other identity areas was also asked of the participants. The women in this study conceptualized identity as consisting of multiple elements, organized in one of two ways: (a) a whole with multiple parts and (b) a collection of multiple parts. The first is an integrated identity, where all elements are connected to each of the other elements, and the second is a contextual identity, where the connection of elements can depend on situational variables. The multiple identities include traditional categories of occupation, relationships, religion, politics, race, and sexual orientation, but also add other areas such as age, socioeconomic class, avocational interests, and feminism. Women identify themselves as having multiple identities. The way participants in this study view feminism as an identity is organized in four categories: a set of values, a process to make meaning, a contextual identity, and an underlying construct. The categories of feminism vary in the degree to which feminism is connected with other identity elements. Women who view feminism as a set of values speak of it as a set of beliefs or an ideology that may or may not influence other identity areas. The participants who view feminism as a process to make meaning have either an interconnected or contextual view of feminism, with the added element of seeing feminism as a way to understand, interpret, and make decisions about experiences. Feminism as a contextual identity is connected with some parts of identity but not with all elements. For those whose view of feminism is as an underlying construct, feminism is interconnected and interactive with all of the other identity elements. This study adds to the literature about feminism and feminist identity in three ways. First, it suggests that for women who identify themselves as feminists, feminism is not only an ideology but also an important element of their identity. Second, it asserts that a shared definition of feminism is not critical to determining its role in identity. Third, this study's findings challenge the Downing and Roush (1985) model of feminist identity as the principal model. The Downing and Roush model focuses on feminist consciousness rather than identity; it employs a singular, liberal definition of feminism; it ignores multiple identities and their interactions; and it hinges its highest achievement on activist participation. Each of these assumptions of the Downing and Roush model are contradicted by the findings of this research. This study adds to the previous literature about identity in two ways. First, it expands the knowledge about adult women's identity by proposing a definition that takes into account the multiple identities that women have. Second, the findings challenge the limited areas by which identity has been traditionally defined. This study challenges the notion that identity is a singular, core construct based on traditional elements. Individuals must be allowed to identify the elements that make up their own identities. The results of this study also suggest that multiple identities, including race/ethnicity and sexual orientation, are mutually influencing and interconnected rather than independent or singular. Identity is constructed of multiple elements that must be examined together to understand the individual's own definition of self.
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    Gender and Diversity Topics Taught in Coamfte Programs
    Winston, Ebony Joy (Virginia Tech, 2008-02-13)
    I conducted a mixed method study to explore how gender and diversity are being taught and defined at accredited marriage and family therapy programs. This research approach was explored through a feminist lens and within a systems theory framework, using both qualitative and content analysis methods. I examined course syllabi and interviewed faculty members that taught gender and diversity topics in their courses. I examined findings by program (masters and doctoral) and type of training (those that taught specific gender and culture courses and those that attempted to infuse gender and culture throughout the curriculum). The sample population consisted of syllabi from 21 masters and 18 doctoral training programs (ten each that taught specific courses in gender and diversity and eleven masters and eight doctoral courses that stated that they infuse gender and diversity throughout the curriculum). That is that there was variation in the topic areas that were explored when the specific courses content and infused course content were compared. There was a significant difference in the degree to which these topics were taught between the two program levels (Masters vs. Doctoral). However, the qualitative data reflected similarities in the teaching methods of both types of programs. Additionally, Twenty faculty members were interviewed, ten from a master's and ten from doctoral programs. These faculty members were equally split between those representing infusion and specific courses. I constructed course summary tables of books, articles, course objectives and illustrative learning activities from each syllabus. The major implications of this study were that the experiences of the professors were explored and the student's perspectives had been excluded. There was also little variation in the racial and gender characteristics of the professors
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    The impact of service-learning on cognitive development
    Bozeman, Marci L. (Virginia Tech, 1996-05-04)
    Providing students with service opportunities as an instructional tool has recently gained the attention of educators and legislative policy-makers. Participation in service activity has been positively correlated with attitudinal outcomes and the development of a responsible citizenry. While many philosophical and political proposals have been offered for why service-learning initiatives are important to higher education, this study attempted to gain insight into how service-learning impacts college students, specifically, students' cognitive development. The cognitive development of students participating in four service-learning sociology courses at a large, southeastern research university was measured using Erwin's (198J.) Scale of Intellectual Development- IV (SID). The SID-IV measures cognitive growth using Perry's (1968) scheme of cognitive development. The research design was a 2 (servicel non-service) X 2 (pre-testlpost-test) fa~torial design. In addition, analyses were conducted using course type, course instructor, and participant academic level to further elucidate group differences in cognitive growth. As a measure of the salience of the SL experience to the learning of course material, participants were asked to write a short answer to the question, "What activities in this class helped you learn the course materials best?" Responses 'were analyzed by SLINSL, length of response, and rank order of activities mentioned. The null hypothesis that there are no differences in the degree of Perry level thinking among service-learning participants (SL) and non-service-leaming (NSL) participants on pre- and post-test measures was supported empirically. Significant differences among participants were found by course type, instructor, and academic classification. Results of the short answer question provided anecdotal evidence that students perceived service as a meaningful method of learning in the class.
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    Improving Departmental Climate
    Creamer, Elizabeth G. (Virginia Tech. AdvanceVT, 2008-02-19)
    Overview of the Presentation: 1. What is climate? 2. How is climate measured? 3. What are key indicators of climate change? 4. What have we learned from ADVANCE? about improving departmental climate? 5. What role do department heads play in climate change?