College of Education

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    BUILDING READINESS AND INTENTION TOWARDS STEM FIELDS OF STUDY AMONG HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS
    (2017) Kurban, Elizabeth R.; Cabrera, Alberto F; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This dissertation study investigated the cognitive and contextual influences contributing to the developmental process that high school students undergo in preparing for and considering the selection of an academic major in a STEM field. Guided by the theoretical framework of SCCT (Lent et al., 1994) and Wang’s (2013) conceptual model, I developed a new conceptual model for understanding the STEM readiness and intention development process. The STEM Readiness and Intention Development (SRID) Conceptual Model addresses gaps in previous research, such as the absence of parental involvement. In addition, my research design overcame measurement and analytic shortcomings, while examining the moderating effect of self-efficacy on high school students’ intention to major in a STEM field. Through the use of structural equation modeling with data from the High School Longitudinal Study of 2009, I tested the SRID Conceptual Model and examined the indirect effects of self-efficacy on high school students’ intention to major in a STEM field. The results of these analyses suggest several cognitive and contextual influences contributing to building STEM readiness and students’ intention to major in STEM during high school. This study revealed that STEM readiness is impacted directly by several factors, including SES, math ability, parental involvement, math self-efficacy, science self-efficacy, math interest, and science interest. Intention to major in STEM is directly impacted by STEM readiness, as well as high school students’ interest in math and interest in science. In addition, I found that self-efficacy in math and science had a mediating effect through math and science interest on high school students’ intention to major in STEM, emphasizing the critical impact of self-efficacy throughout the career development process. Overall, this dissertation study expands our knowledge of the process that leads high school students to become prepared for and aspire to pursue majors in STEM. Through facilitating this process among all student populations, we may improve overall enrollment and persistence through the STEM pipeline and contribute to the national goal of increasing the number of graduates in STEM fields of study.
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    A STUDY OF THE PERCEIVED TEACHING SELF-EFFICACY AND LEADERSHIP OF NATIONAL BOARD CERTIFIED TEACHERS
    (2014) Zentmeyer, April A.; Kivlighan, Dennis M; Education Policy, and Leadership; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to examine the perceived levels of teacher self-efficacy and leadership of National Board Certified Teachers (NBCTs). One of the goals of Race to the Top is to provide highly qualified, efficacious teachers in every classroom, prepared to lead in the 21st century. Given that National Board Certification is one avenue to highly qualified status, this study sought to discover whether NBCTs perceived high levels of teacher self-efficacy and assumed leadership roles at a higher rate than a matched sample of non-NBCTs. This quantitative, non-experimental approach compared the perceived levels of teacher self-efficacy in the domains of instruction, engagement, management, and leadership of NBCTs to a matched sample of non-NBCTs in one district in the state of Maryland. The Teacher Sense of Efficacy Scale - SF (TSES), a 12-item Likert-like scale, used with permission by Dr. Anita Woolfolk-Hoy measured teacher efficacy in the three domains. A question regarding compensated leadership roles was added to the TSES. Results derived using SPPS generated a T-test to examine the subset correlations and tabulate compensated leadership roles. The T-test failed to reveal a statistically reliable difference between the mean scores of the NBCTs and a matched sample of non-NBCTs. Both groups scored high on the TSES and assumed leadership roles in the district. The non-significant results do not discount National Board Certification as a vehicle to identify highly qualified, self-efficacious teachers prepared to lead in the 21st century.
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    Third Grade Students' Writing Attitudes, Self-Efficacy Beliefs, and Achievement
    (2012) Williams, Heather Michelle; Wigfield, Allan; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    In order to become successful members of society in the United States, students must be able to write effectively. However, many students are unwilling or unable to write by the time they leave high school. Two major factors linked to writing performance include writing attitudes and self-efficacy beliefs. The first objective of this research is an investigation of the effectiveness of an intervention designed to improve writing attitudes, self-efficacy beliefs, and achievement. The second objective is an examination of the relation between those constructs. Participants were given the Writing Attitude Survey, a writing skills self-efficacy scale, and a short writing assessment. Further, 50% of the participants participated in an intervention designed to increase positive writing attitudes, self-efficacy beliefs, and achievement. The study found a significant positive relation between writing self-efficacy and attitudes. The intervention was found to have no effect on the self-efficacy, attitudes, or performance of participants.
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    EXAMINING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN COLLECTIVE RACIAL ESTEEM AND LEADERSHIP SELF-EFFICACY AMONG ASIAN AMERICAN COLLEGE STUDENTS
    (2011) Lee, Douglas Henri; Jacoby, Barbara; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This thesis explored whether collective racial esteem was a significant predictor of leadership self-efficacy for Asian American college students. The subjects of the study were undergraduate students from the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership who identified as Asian and United States citizens. An aggregated Asian, Chinese, Filipino, and Indian/Pakistani samples were drawn from the MSL in order to study the diverse Asian American population. The aggregated Asian sample included all the ethnicities in addition to the three samples. The hypothesis was tested using a modified Input-Environment-Outcome model as an organizing framework and hierarchical multiple regression as the statistical method. Collective racial esteem was observed as a significant predictor of leadership self-efficacy for the aggregated Asian sample, the Chinese sample, and the Indian/Pakistani sample. The null hypothesis was rejected for these three samples. The null hypothesis failed to reject for the Filipino sample. The study's findings offer suggestions for practitioners and researchers.
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    The Effects of Constructs of Motivation that Affirm and Undermine Reading Achievement Inside and Outside of School on Middle School Students' Reading Achievement
    (2009) Coddington, Cassandra Shular; Wigfield, Allan; Guthrie, John T; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to examine whether motivation for reading was multidimensional in two respects. First, central constructs were drawn from three major theories of motivation. Second, versions of each construct were formulated that were expected to correlate positively with achievement (affirming); and versions of each construct were formulated that were expected to correlate negatively with achievement (undermining). The goal of the study was to determine whether these reading motivation constructs were relatively independent and whether the multiple motivations contributed to predicting achievement. Constructs of motivation were derived from Self-Determination Theory (Deci, Vallerand, Pelletier, & Ryan, 1991), Social Cognitive Theory (Bandura, 1977, 2001) and Social Goals (Wentzel, 2002, 2004). Constructs of motivation that affirm reading achievement and constructs of motivation that undermine reading achievement were both examined. These constructs included, intrinsic motivation, avoidance, self-efficacy, perceived difficulty, prosocial interactions, and antisocial interactions. This study also investigated student motivations for reading for two reasons, school and outside school. Participants were 247 seventh grade students from two middle schools in a mid-Atlantic state. Students completed four measures, including the Gates-MacGinitie Reading Comprehension test, a measure of inferencing ability, a motivation questionnaire for school reading, and a motivation questionnaire for outside school reading. Reading/Language Arts grades were also obtained for all students. Four objectives were addressed through the results of six research questions. Factor analyses results supported the discussion of motivation as a multidimensional construct. Three factors emerged when examining the three constructs of motivation that affirm achievement and the three constructs of motivation that undermine achievement. In addition, factor analyses results supported the perspective that undermining motivations are uniquely predictive of achievement and not simply negatively valenced affirming motivations. Two factors emerged when analyzing the affirming and undermining constructs of motivation in theoretical pairs. Regression analyses indicated that undermining motivations are predictive of achievement even when affirming motivations have been taken into account statistically. Some differences in these results for the school and outside school constructs are discussed. Significance of the findings was discussed in terms of the theoretical importance of the simultaneous functioning of multiple motivations for reading among adolescent students.
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    Peer mentoring and leadership: Differences in leadership self-efficacy among students of differing peer mentoring relationships, genders, and academic class levels
    (2009) Smith, Meredith Ann; Clement, Linda M.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    This study examined the relationship between peer mentoring and leadership self-efficacy. The design of this study was an ex post facto analysis of a sub-study of 2006 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership. The sample included 10,555 respondents from 52 institutions ranging in Carnegie classification type. The researcher utilized a one-way Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) to see if there was a significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between students who served as peer mentors and students who did not serve as peer mentors in college. The study found that students who served as peer mentors in college had a significantly higher leadership self-efficacy than non-peer mentors. Additionally, the study also examined the subset of respondents who identified as peer mentors in college. Utilizing a two-way ANCOVA, the researcher found no significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between male and female peer mentors. The finding of no significant difference in leadership self-efficacy between gender groups is important because past studies on college students have found that men typically report higher levels of leadership self-efficacy than women. The researcher did find significant differences for each class-standing group in same two-way ANCOVA. The post-hoc Bonferroni multiple comparison procedure showed that there was significance across all class-standing groups. Another important finding from this study was that students who had mentors in college were more likely to serve as mentors. This post-hoc analysis was computed through implementing a chi-square test for independence. The overall findings of this study add important foundational understanding of the relationship between peer mentoring and leadership in college students.
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    EXAMINING FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH LEADERSHIP SELF-EFFICACY IN COLLEGE STUDENT MILITARY PROGRAMS
    (2009) Wilson, Wendy L; Kurotsuchi Inkelas, Karen; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The current study examined the relationship between college experiences and socially responsible leadership with leadership self-efficacy for students who participate in military education programs. This study applied the social change model for leadership development, SCM, as the theoretical lens through which a socially responsible leadership process was understood in these programs. In addition, Astin's (1991) college impact model was applied to the design of the study in order to understand the relationship between involvement measures and leadership self-efficacy, an outcome of military education programs. This ex post facto study was a secondary analysis of data collected through the 2006 administration of the Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership (MSL). The MSL provided a national sample of 1413 students who indicated involvement in a military student group. These military education programs were defined broadly and included participation in Corps of Cadets and ROTC students. The findings of this study indicate significant differences between students who participate in military education programs and other college students in terms of leadership self-efficacy. Military students indicated greater efficacy for leadership even when differences in background were accounted for. Second, the values of socially responsible leadership and leadership self-efficacy were positively correlated for students who participate in military education programs. Finally, the conceptual model designed for this study to understand leadership self-efficacy for military students was able to explain 49% of the variance in the criterion variable. Several factors significantly contributed to leadership self-efficacy, including demographic characteristics, a leadership self-efficacy quasi-pre-test, academic classification, leadership experiences, and socially responsible leadership. The study provided support for leadership self-efficacy as an outcome for students who participate in military education programs, and the use of socially responsible leadership as a means to understand leadership self-efficacy for this population. The study also identified areas of the campus environment that might be incorporated and developed further within military education programs in order to take full advantage of the college environment.
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    Towards an empirical typology of collegiate leadership development programs: Examining effects on student self-efficacy and leadership for social change
    (2008-05-30) Owen, Julie Elizabeth; Komives, Susan R.; Counseling and Personnel Services; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to determine whether a meaningful empirical typology of institutions with co-curricular leadership development programs could be developed based on structural elements and programmatic characteristics, and then examine any effects of different classifications of leadership programs on perceived student leadership outcomes of self-efficacy and social change. Findings from a two-step cluster analysis and an integrative content analysis indicate an emergent typology of leadership programs based on variables related to theoretical intentionality, resource level, and productivity. Results from two hierarchical linear models reveal numerous level-one effects on perceived student leadership outcomes related to social change and self-efficacy for leadership, including pre-college positional leadership and group experiences, gender, and race. Two-level hierarchical linear models also showed limited second level interaction effects, primarily related to institutional control and Carnegie classification. Typologic clusters had few meaningful differential effects on student outcomes. Results suggest the importance of pre-college experiences to collegiate student leadership development, reveal gender differences related to efficacy for leadership and actual leadership performance, and detail significant interaction effects among institutional control, race, and leadership outcomes. Results have implications for higher education research in that the use of hierarchical linear modeling revealed significant effects of institutional type and control on student leadership outcomes that were not apparent in existing literature (Pascarella & Terenzini, 2005). Cluster analysis results provide validation of extant leadership program evaluation variables (Kellogg, 1999; CAS, 2006). Implications for professional practice include the need to attend to the heterogeneity of collegiate leadership development programs in access to resources, theoretical approach, and stage of development. The on-going development of a data-driven typology will assist with leadership program planning, advocacy, and evaluation needs.
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    Learning with hypermedia: Examining cognitive, motivational, and contextual factors
    (2007-04-17) Moos, Daniel Charles; Azevedo, Roger; Human Development; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    Think-aloud, pretest, posttest, and self-efficacy data collected from 85 undergraduates were used to examine factors related to learning with hypermedia. Participants, randomly assigned to either the No Scaffolding (NS) condition or Conceptual Scaffolding (CS) condition, were given 30 minutes to learn about the circulatory system with hypermedia. Participants in the NS condition received an overall learning goal during the hypermedia learning task, while participants in the CS condition received five guiding questions in addition to the same overall learning goal during the hypermedia learning task. There are four findings from this study. First, results from the pretest and posttest indicated that prior domain knowledge significantly predicted both declarative and conceptual knowledge learning outcomes with hypermedia. Second, results from the self-report self-efficacy questionnaire indicated that while self-efficacy significantly fluctuated during learning, the provision of conceptual scaffolds was not related to this fluctuation. Third, results from a think-aloud protocol indicated that self-efficacy significantly predicted monitoring and planning processes, but not strategy use during the hypermedia learning task. Fourth, results from a think-aloud protocol also indicated that self-regulatory processes (particularly processes related to monitoring) significantly predicted conceptual and declarative learning outcomes. Educational and scientific implications are discussed.
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    Having Their Say: Eight High-Achieving African-American Undergraduate Mathematics Majors Discuss Their Success and Persistence in Mathematics
    (2006-07-26) Ellington, Roni; Fries-Britt, Sharon L.; Curriculum and Instruction; Digital Repository at the University of Maryland; University of Maryland (College Park, Md.)
    The purpose of this study was to identify and understand the factors that influence high-achieving African American mathematics majors to persist and succeed in mathematics. The major research question guiding this study was: What perceived factors contribute to high achieving African-American junior and senior mathematics majors' decision to persist and succeed in mathematics through college? This study also sought to answer the following sub questions: 1. In what ways do African- American high achievers perceive the role of the family, educational institutions, and the community in their success and persistence in mathematics? 2. How do they perceive their own role in their success and persistence in mathematics? This study sought to understand which factors shaped the participants' decision to persist and succeed in mathematics. This study employed interpretive case study methodology in which interview data from eight high-achieving African-American mathematics majors were collected, transcribed and analyzed. The study employed elements from social, cultural, and personal factors identified in mathematics education research and factors from the college persistence literature relating to African-American students. Findings indicate that parents played an essential role in providing these high achievers with early learning experiences and advocating for them in school environments. By doing this, the students were placed in advanced academic programs by third grade that gave them access to caring teachers who held high expectations for them and provided them with challenging mathematics experiences. Participating in accelerated academic programs, having access to advanced mathematics coursework, and having peer support and teacher encouragement were factors that shaped their mathematics success in high school. Participants were involved in college scholarship programs that provided them with a variety of resources, particularly faculty and peer support that were key factors to their success and persistence as mathematics majors. The participants' social consciousness and spirituality were key factors underlying their success and persistence in mathematics, particularly in college. Implications for practice, policy and research are presented.