model dissertations what makes these good part 2

Exploiting Rapid Change in Technology

Enhanced Learning

… for Post Graduate Education

Analyzing Dissertations

What Makes These Work? Or Not?

It isn't the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out;

it's the pebble in your shoe. Muhammad Ali

It's better to look ahead and prepare, than to look back

and regret. Jackie Joyner-Kersee

Why? Because you’ll develop…1. Your own voice faster2. A toolbox that works for you3. Understanding that will help your relationship

with your supervisor/committee chair4. You’ll begin to understand your dissertation or

thesis as a project you are managing… transferable skill #1

Goal: To Get You to Look at Others Finished Dissertation or Theses Differently

Agenda

Taking a look at what makes them good…Innovation vs Good Solid Work… both are important

Part I1. Abstracts2. First Paragraphs3. Layouts/organization4. Writing stylePart II1. Lit review logic2. Clarity of methodological design3. Good use of theoretical frame4. Great and unusual findings.

Literature Review - Logic

Dissertations / Thesis From WVU, Morgan State – keywords education

1. First year student expectations: General education goals at a multi-campus community college by Sherri Anna Robinson

2. http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/894213089.html?FMT=AI

Chapter 2: Review of Literature (33 pages)Theoretical Models Related to Student Effort and PersistenceCommunity college student expectations Essential college outcomesCommunity college and general educationSummary

http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/894213089.html?FMT=AI

First year student expectations: General education goals at a multi-campus community college by Sherri Anna Robinson

This chapter will explore college student expectations and perceptions of general education outcomes, goals and related curriculum. In order to understand the impact of student expectations on the college experience, the first sections will provide an overview of relevant college impact models pertaining to student effort and retention. Pace's Path for a Student Development and College Impress Model (1979, 1984) and Vincent Tinto's Longitudinal Model of Departure from Institutions of Higher Education (1975, 1987, 1993) provides an understanding of how student experiences affect their quality of effort and decisions to withdraw from college.Next, the relevant empirical literature surrounding several key issues will be explored.

First, the review will provide an overview of the expectations of community college students and their reasons for choosing to attend. The top eight intellectual skills identified by the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AAC&U) member institutions as common learning goals will be reviewed. Next, it will highlight the literature describing general education in community colleges to reveal how the learning outcomes are presented to students. The last section will explore undergraduate students' perceptions of their general education experiences to provide an understanding as to whether there is a connection or a mismatch between intent and reality.

Use of the Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS)

by career services directors at two-year public community

colleges by Barbour, Wayne C.,

http://pqdtopen.proquest.com/doc/753944231.html?FMT=ABS

Chapter 2: (73 pages)

Background

Student Affairs

Career Services (6 subheadings)

Accountability in Higher Education

Professional Associations and Organizations (2 subheadings)

History of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in HE

Purpose and Use of the CAS Standards (7 subheadings)

Summary


Use of the Council for the Advancement of Standards (CAS) by career services directors at two-year public community colleges by Barbour, Wayne C.,This study determined how professional standards are being used, specifically at two-year public community colleges by career services directors. In addition, by determining if the characteristics of career services directors and their institutions are associated with the use of the Council for the Advancement of Standards in Higher Education (CAS) at two-year public community colleges, this study addressed the problem related to the lack of research regarding the use of professional standards for assessing career services programs at two-year public community colleges.

The first section acknowledges the services that are provided under the umbrella of student services. The second section provides a discussion on the evolution of career services in higher education. The third section explores accountability issues in higher education that have directly impacted the quality of student services programs in colleges and universities. The fourth section characterizes professional associations and organizations. Finally, a review of the literature is provided, which concerns the need for and the creation of the Council for the Advancement of Standards for Higher Education as a guide for professionals in the areas of student services.

Methodological Design

Dissertations / Thesis Comparative Studies: one quantitative and one comparative case study

The Positive Alternative Credit Experience (PACE) Program

A Quantitative Comparative Study

by Warren, Rebecca Anne


A comparison of the career and technical education

programs in a US community college and a Chinese

institution

by Hou, Harry, Ed.D




A comparison of the career and technical education programs in a US community college and a Chinese institution by Hou, Harry, Ed.DIntroduction 51

Restatement of the Purpose and Research Questions 51

Research Design 52

Qualitative Methodology 52

Case Study Method 53

Participants 55

Case Selection 55

Participant Selection 55

Instrumentation 57

Data Collection Methods 58

Documents 58

Interviews 59

Demographical Questionnaire 60

Field Notes 60

Data Collection Procedures

61

Ethical Considerations 63

Data Analysis Procedures 64

Coding into Categories and

Themes 65

Within-Case Analysis 66

Cross-Case Analysis 66

Trustworthiness, Reliability, and

Transferability 67

Limitations 69

Summary 69

The Positive Alternative Credit Experience (PACE) Program A Quantitative Comparative Study by Warren, Rebecca Anne

Chapter Three: Methodology...........................................................................................102 Overview..............................................................................................................102 Purpose of the Study ............................................................................................103 Research Design...................................................................................................103 Research Questions and Hypotheses ....(10 subheadings)..............................................................104

Definition of Terms – Demographic Characteristic Variables…………...….…106 Research Site Context..............................................................................107

Research Populations...........................................................................................109 The PACE Program .................................................................................109The four traditional high schools…………………….…………………115

Sampling Methods………………………………………………………...……116 Participants……………………………………..……………………………….120

PACE Sample……………………………………………….…….……120 Descriptive characteristics…………….…………...…….………121 Demographic characteristics…….…………………..………..…121

Matched Sample……………………………………………….……….122 Descriptive characteristics……………………...……………….122 Demographic characteristics……………………….……………123

The Positive Alternative Credit Experience (PACE) Program A Quantitative Comparative Study by Warren, Rebecca Anne

PACE and Matched Sample Similarities………………….……………124

Descriptive characteristics - averages……………………….…124

Demographic characteristics – percentages present…(2

subheadings)…………126

Data Collection timeframes - outcome data……..…………….….…..130

Data Analysis Procedures - Characteristics of Samples Hypotheses Testing…..131

Descriptive characteristics comparisons………………………..…….132

Demographic characteristics comparisons……………………………132

Data Analysis Procedures - Research Hypotheses Testing………………….…133

Summary……………………………………………………………..…………

Theoretical or Conceptual Frames

Dissertations / Thesis

Cracking the transition code: A paradigmatic framework of

competencies that construct the reality of 50+ Black

executive transitions

by Foster, Jylla Moore, Ph.D.


Modeling the co-development of strategic and conceptual

knowledge in mathematical problem solving

by Campbell, Mariana Elaine




Cracking the transition code: A paradigmatic framework of competencies that construct the reality of 50+ Black executive transitionsby Foster, Jylla Moore, Ph.D.

Chapter 2: Literature Review 19

Introduction 19

Adult Development Theory 21

Career Development Theory 31

Transition Theory 51

Transition Tipping Points 57

Black Literature That Informed the Study 60

The Transitioned Life of Carl Jung 65

Integrating Theory and Practice to Construct a Transition System 76

Objectives of This Study 78





There are three primary streams of theoretical literature that converge to form the

foundation for this research. As noted in Figure 2, adult development theory, career

development theory, and transition theory intersect to formulate the literature review.

These three streams further integrate conceptual constructs that were derived from

the exploratory interviews and extant literature that related to this participant set that

are the subjects of the study. Careful examination of the competencies for success

discovered within these literature streams, combined with the exploratory interviews,

revealed a framework to determine key competencies for success in transitions.





Most of the scholarly literature relative to adult development theory explores stages of the life cycle prior to the 50+ transition phase. The emerging population of 50+ Black executives who have transitioned or are transitioning with the shifting of the population demographics is a critical group of individuals to research. Established definitions of adult development and career stages have been researched as comingled components to establish the transition competencies for this study.

A gap exists at the intersection of the theory explored and the practice associated with the transition of 50+ talented Black executives. Within this gap resides the question that was left unanswered in the literature that was examined: What are the transition competencies employed by 50+ Black executives who transition from first careers to second pursuits?

Modeling the co-development of strategic and conceptual knowledge in mathematical problem solvingby Campbell, Mariana ElaineChapter 2: Literature Review 4

Conceptions, misconceptions, and intuitions about mathematics and science 4

Theories of conceptual change in science and mathematics 6

Knowledge and learning: Perspectives within mathematics education 6

Chapter 4: Theoretical Perspective 19

Empirical approaches to epistemological questions 19

Knowledge in pieces (KiP) 20

Knowledge systems and their dynamics 21

Reference models 22




Knowledge in pieces (KiP)

The Knowledge in Pieces (KiP) epistemological perspective (diSessa, 1993) is a

powerful and evolving heuristic framework for considering the nature of knowledge,

its deployment, and how knowledge organization changes as individuals learn.

Though many of the principles can be (and have been) stated quite generally, KiP

remains most elaborated in the domain of physics (Notable and more recent

exceptions in the domain of mathematics that have strongly guided the current

analysis include Izsák, 2000; 2005; Pratt & Noss, 2002; and Wagner, 2006; 2010).




Historically, Knowledge in Pieces as a perspective on knowing and learning was

informed by two main traditions: developmental psychology (e.g., Piaget’s genetic

epistemology) and artificial intelligence. From developmental psychology came an

interest in and ultimate accountability to be able to explain long-term and central

learning and developmental processes. From artificial intelligence came a

commitment to the fine- grained accountability that is required by attempts to model

moment-to-moment cognitive activity, ultimately computationally. Thus, one can see

that the commitment to understanding change across very long time scales is paired

with the commitment to understand the details of learning at very small, moment-to-

moment timescales.

Great and Unusual Findings – Left for

another webinar later this summer

What’s Up at MN & DN this summer?

1. VERY IMPORTANT – backwards map your summer work

2. 30 day writing challenge, 30 day work-life balance challenge, and 365s -

keep you in touch with your work3. Group work – RLC writing OR

Lingerers

1. For non – university users… Buy a book and get the website usage for free2. For anyone who has literature & a story with or without data…. Time to get

published?

Avoid this one

1. VERY IMPORTANT – backwards map your summer work2. 30 day writing challenge, 30 day work-life balance challenge, and 365s -

keep you in touch with your work3. Group work – RLC writing OR Lingerers