This dissertation is situated as the third work in a series on academic women. In 1964, Jessie Bernard published "Academic Women," which provided a comprehensive assessment of the status of women in academia. Two decades later, in 1987, Angela Simeone offered insight into attempts to achieve equity for women in higher education in her…

This dissertation investigated citizen science, a tool that connects the public to the scientific community through research-based projects and education campaigns. Benefits include volunteers adding data to long-term data sets and improved scientific literacy among the public. Oftentimes, there is trepidation among scientists, managers, and…

Alcohol and/or substance use among college students is a serious public health issue. In Oman, studies addressing college student's alcohol and/or substance use are limited. The purpose of this study was to identify knowledge, attitudes, subjective norms, self-efficacy, and perceived behavioral control associated with alcohol and/or substance…

Information in general is congruent with cultural values because a culture consists of transmitted social knowledge. Cross-cultural research demonstrates that audiences who are fostered by different cultures may have different understandings of information. This research represents a comprehensive cross-cultural study using an experimental method,…

My work engages links between notions of disability and notions of deservedness; the ways in which they are consequential; and how they are constructed and sustained. For my dissertation research I studied a select group of people at two sites of high visibility and focused practice: I used ethnographic methodology to collect qualitative data…

Although much has been written recently about holistic orientations to transformative learning, including its theoretical foundations and frameworks for designing learning experiences that engage multiple epistemologies, little is known about learners' experiences and about how engaging multiple epistemologies can foster learning that is…

Within higher education today, the student population in American colleges and universities is becoming increasingly diverse, relative to students' racial/ethnic, sexual, religion, and gender identities. Specifically, students who identify as Lesbian and gay are more often seeking personal authenticity and opportunities to make meaning of their…

The purpose of this qualitative study is to examine the pre-college factors, attitudes, and experiences of black men who joined traditionally white fraternities (TWFs) at large public predominantly white institutions (PWIs) over approximately the past four decades. These factors, with special emphasis on issues of identity, self- and group-esteem,…

Discussions of race in educational research have focused primarily on performance gaps and differential access to advanced coursework. Thus, very little is known about how race mediates the learning process, particularly with respect to classroom participation and student identity formation. This dissertation examines mathematics learning as a…

To investigate whether a persuasive game may serve as a way to change attitude towards the homeless and increase affective learning, this study examined, experimentally, the effects of persuasive rhetoric and ethos in a video game designed to put the player in the shoes of an almost-homeless person for thirty days. Data were collected from 5139…

In this qualitative study, I explore the experiences of parents of children with autism in China. I investigate how the parents negotiate their day-to-day life of raising a child with autism in contemporary urban Chinese society. I also examine the socially constructed nature of autism within this specific social and cultural context and how the…

Principals, teachers, and school support staff perceive an increase in disrespect for the educational system and its representatives (Lickona, 1991). Using a qualitative research design through focus groups this study sought to answer the following question: "What are the similarities and differences between students' and teachers'…

Literacy is one of the most fundamental processes in the life of people. It is complex enough when people develop these processes in their first language, and the nature of the task becomes even more challenging when it is developed with students in a second language within the context of a bilingual setting. Bilingual education has been based on…

Using qualitative research methods, this dissertation closely examines discourses and representations of disability from the cinematic images of disabled characters and their families in two South Korean films, "Oasis" (C. Lee, 2002) and "Malaton" (Y. Jung, 2005) as well as from the responses of nineteen Korean graduate…

Schools are often hostile and unwelcoming spaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, queer/questioning (LGBTQ), and gender-nonconforming students, teachers, and parents. This qualitative study sought to address that problem by examining the role that teacher education can play in preparing teacher candidates to transform those spaces. The…