UMD Theses and Dissertations
Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://hdl.handle.net/1903/3
New submissions to the thesis/dissertation collections are added automatically as they are received from the Graduate School. Currently, the Graduate School deposits all theses and dissertations from a given semester after the official graduation date. This means that there may be up to a 4 month delay in the appearance of a given thesis/dissertation in DRUM.
More information is available at Theses and Dissertations at University of Maryland Libraries.
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Item Describing the Ineffable: A Mixed-Methods Study of Faculty Mentoring Information Practices(2018) Follman, Rebecca Parks; St. Jean, Beth; Library & Information Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Formal mentoring programs are a valuable tool for the professional development and socialization of new employees, and for the mentor. However, formal mentoring is often difficult to institutionalize. What are the indications that mentor and mentee should be split up? How often should mentoring partners meet? These questions and others highlight the problem: without a clear definition of mentoring itself, we are challenged to identify the characteristics of good mentoring. Mentoring is so contextual, and generally so private, that it is difficult to define. However, there is one element that is central to all mentoring relationships, and that can be used to describe mentoring explicitly – the exchange of information. The study described here consists of a longitudinal, mixed-method investigation of mentoring attitudes and practices among higher education faculty, with the goal of gathering data about the information practices – information seeking and sharing in a social context – of faculty engaged in mentoring. The study identifies the information practices of faculty who are engaged in mentoring, as well as how those information practices change across time. Faculty were surveyed about their attitudes toward mentoring, using an online instrument. The respondents provided data about their experiences with mentoring, including aspects such as the frequency of their meetings with mentoring partners, the topics they often discussed, the number of years they had worked with mentoring partners, their expectations of their mentoring partners, and their personal philosophy of mentoring. Faculty mentoring participants also completed an online diary of their mentoring information practices. The information diary provided an opportunity for faculty mentoring participants to share their information practices in real time, without requiring a prohibitive amount of effort. Data analysis shows that faculty mentoring participants do engage in information practices, such as seeking or sharing information regarding the specifics of the work environment, with the goal of transmitting culture (e.g., the requirements to achieve tenure). Both mentors and mentees value honest and open communication with their mentoring partners. Examination of the information exchanged between mentoring participants gives us a sense of what topics are most likely to be addressed, and also recommendations for new mentors and mentees.Item Going to the Source: A Case Study of Four Faculty and Their Approaches to Writing Instruction(2015) Callow, Megan; O'Flahavan, John; Malen, Betty; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation examines four college professors’ approaches to writing instruction in the disciplines of history and engineering. An investigation of writing instruction in two disparate disciplinary contexts contributes to our understanding of how instructors approach writing instruction in the disciplines, and which factors encourage and inhibit writing instruction. This study proposes and assesses the validity of a guiding conceptual framework, which posits that the primary factors influencing faculty’s approaches to writing instruction are academic biography, disciplinary identity, and educational ideology. The study employs a qualitative case study methodology, and data sources include in-depth interviews, field observations, and analysis of documents such as syllabi and writing prompts. This dissertation is founded on a premise that the instructor is an under-studied but essential player in the Writing in the Disciplines movement. The study reveals more about the nature of discipline-based writing instruction, and proposes a conceptual framework for future research on instructional approaches to disciplinary writing.Item "Being the Faculty Face:" A Grounded Theory of Living-Learning Program Faculty Motives and Experiences(2012) Drechsler Sharp, Marybeth Joy; Quaye, Stephen J; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)Few evident incentives exist for faculty to become involved with living-learning programs. The purpose of this constructivist grounded theory study was to investigate the motives and experiences of faculty members working with living-learning programs at doctoral-granting research institutions. Illuminating the experiences of living-learning faculty is necessary, because for these environments, their participation is a signature element. An enhanced understanding of what motivates faculty members to participate in living-learning programs can help administrators recruit and retain faculty partners, allow administrators to better structure opportunities to meet faculty's needs, and provide voice to living-learning faculty to potentially yield new theoretical understanding. The findings of this study revealed participants' different paths into and through work with living-learning programs. A grounded theory approach resulted in a model to guide practice for living-learning practice and research. The subsequent theory suggests that faculty members' interactions with living-learning environments are propelled by personal motivations and attributes, academic environment, and perceived advantages and disadvantages of involvement; these factors are depicted in the model by overlapping gears. In the model, a large gear represents living-learning faculty members' experiences, including their different roles and varied responsibilities, assorted challenges they navigate, and perspectives they hold about living-learning environments. For administrators seeking to involve faculty, the study's findings regarding what motivates faculty members to work within living-learning settings and their perspectives on their experiences can help with recruiting new faculty, assisting faculty with the transition to living-learning work, incentivizing living-learning involvement for faculty, developing relationships with faculty participants, and providing necessary support for faculty. For involved faculty, this study may help them investigate their own motives with an eye toward improving their living-learning experiences, point them toward resources or approaches they can integrate in their work, and promote self-exploration of what makes living-learning involvement meaningful to them.Item Female Doctoral Students' Family and Academic Department Experiences and their Relationships to Career Choices(2006-12-19) McClintock-Comeaux, Marta Suzanne; Anderson, Elaine A; Family Studies; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)The purpose of this study was to determine factors that may influence women's choices of whether or not to enter the pool of tenure track faculty, and for those who do pursue these positions, factors that influence their choices of the type of institution in which they will seek employment: research I universities, liberal arts universities, or community colleges. Feminist and role theories guided the conceptual model and research questions. It was hypothesized that career salience, family structure, social support at the familial and department levels, the presence of a faculty role model successfully balancing work and family, and perceived work to family and family to work conflict would influence intended career tracks of female doctoral students. The sample (n=273) included female doctoral students who were United States citizens at The University of Maryland, College Park who were married, partnered, separated, divorced, widowed, or single with children. A letter explaining the study with a link to an online survey was emailed to all students in this population and completed surveys were compiled on an internet website. This study revealed that career salience was a significant positive predictor of students' intent to pursue research I and liberal arts university tenure track positions, and for women's increased interest throughout their doctoral program in pursuing such faculty positions. Marriage was a significant negative predictor for intent to pursue research I and liberal arts positions, while age and number of children were not significant predictors. Family support was a significant positive predictor for intent to pursue liberal arts positions, and a significant negative predictor for no intent to pursue faculty positions. Department faculty support was a significant negative predictor for career choice change scores for no intent to pursue faculty positions. Advisor support was a significant positive predictor of intent to pursue liberal arts faculty positions, whereas having a faculty role model was a significant negative predictor of no intent to pursue faculty positions. Work to family and family to work conflict were not significant mediating variables in the path between predictor and dependent variables. Implications for program and policy development are discussed.Item Teacher Seeks Pupil--Must be Willing to Change the World: A Phenomenological Study of Professors Teaching for Social Justice(2005-06-30) Pigza, Jennifer M.; Hultgren, Francine F; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)This dissertation explores the lived experiences of faculty who teach for social justice in the context of higher education. The tradition of hermeneutic phenomenology grounds this inquiry (Gadamer, 1960/2000; Heidegger, 1971/2001, 1977/1993; Levinas, 1969). The phenomenological research activities designed by van Manen (1990) provide the methodological framework for entering the study. By calling upon the philosophical traditions and methodological guidelines of hermeneutic phenomenology, the research begins to name what it means to teach and be for social justice in higher education. This study involves conversations and classroom observations with five faculty members representing three colleges and universities. Among the participants are three women and two men; three faculty with tenure, two without; two people of color; Jewish, Christian, seekers, and unnamed; one person who self-identifies as gay; and, ages mid-30s to early 60s. They are grounded in more than five different disciplines, and teach in at least seven departments, at three types of institutions. Through this hermeneutic phenomenological exploration, the lived experience of teaching for social justice in the context of higher education shows itself in two main themes. The first theme reveals elements of articulating social justice through speaking-teaching-being. Within this theme, sub-themes are present, such as troubling language, currency and curriculum, and reading the world-word. The second theme refers to a sense of wide-awakeness in the pursuit of social justice and its teaching. Sub-themes here include the notion of taking attendance and being attentive, linking seeing with doing, and serving and sustaining a vision. The first set of pedagogical implications of this study focus on the influence of culture, the notions of liberal and conservative ideas, speaking truth to power, and crafting a language of longing to teach for social justice. A second set of pedagogical implications emerge from the proposed idea of a currere communis for social justice. The research suggests the development of communities that support transformative learning for faculty and other educators in higher education. The currere communis for social justice also extends to suggest implications for the teaching of students and the teaching of the general public, as well as directions for future research.