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- ItemTeacher Perception of Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies That Have the Greatest Impact on the Engagement of African American Male Students(2019-04-05) Scriven, Brian Walter; Hayman, Warren; Anderson, Christian; Dwarte, Marquiq; Education and Urban Studies; Doctor of EducationThis mixed method studied teacher perceptions of culturally relevant teaching practices as a viable methodology to better engage African American male students in the learning process. More specifically, the researcher seeks to identify what components of CRT are most effective in engaging African American male students. The researcher used a modification of Johnny McKinley’s teacher perception survey on Effective and Culturally Responsive Teaching and Learning Strategies as the assessment instrument. An in-depth exploration of teacher perceptions gleaned useful and actionable information. This information, in turn, could form the basis of CRT related training programs and staff development aimed at implementing those aspects of CRT perceived as most effective in engaging AA males in the learning process, thereby improving their learning and achievement. The purpose of this study is to identify perceived teacher strategies that best engage African American students using Culturally Responsive Teaching.
- ItemRoger Mais's Protest Novels: A Revolt and Self-Affirmation Mandate for Marginalized BlacksRose, Denise Angela; Henzy, Karl; Brown, Leiza; N'gom, M'bare; English and Languages; Doctor of PhilosophyThe problem of this study was to examine how Black marginalized individuals in the Caribbean use hybrid cultural practices—religion, family life, and creative arts—to protest societal dictates and simultaneously affirm their identity. Specifically, the marginalized use hybrid practices to cope with and simultaneously challenge the status quo that relates to their social, economic, and political climate. Mais adjoins his artistic sensibilities and skills to his writing, illustrating his intertwined overt and covert agenda of passive aggression—to effect desired change. Thus, in seeking to understand the mentality of the downtrodden population in Jamaica and their coping mechanisms, the researcher evaluated the problem identified in this study by critically examining Mais’s three multi-faceted novels: The Hills Were Joyful Together (1953), Brother Man (1954), and Black Lightning (1955). Mais’s three novels illustrate overlapping reasons why deviating from traditional religious practices, family structures, and creative arts necessitate the fundamental changes that the marginalized, in their seeming defenseless and naïve state, demands. Mais unmistakably demeaned societal values through the subtlety of his craft, which was predominantly apparent in this discourse. To establish the premise for this exposition, the researcher delved into historical facts that pre-date Mais’s affirmation and protest mechanisms. Additionally, the researcher employed theoretical works on colonialism, postcolonialism, cultural, socio-economic, and religious theories to advance the scope of the discussion. Although Mais’s novels evidence postcolonial readings, a lingering colonial mode pervades, particularly illustrated through the projection of the social institution of marriage as the standard for decent family decorum and traditional religious practices as the preferred or acceptable norm. Likewise, Mais examines Jamaican cultural norms in the form of creative arts—traditional dances, folk music, and crafts—which were derived from African and other historical experiences that the indigent used as coping and revolting tools. Mais’s novels also discuss the correlation between poverty and rebellion. Notable is that these selected novels structurally raise a thorough awareness of the strategies that poor people use to protest the system and simultaneously affirm themselves. In addition, Mais uniquely magnifies and celebrates his characters, despite the eventualities that he realistically inserts into their everyday existence, while he deliberately undermines any possibility of dignifying the actions or inactions of the colonizers and their oppressive “Babylon” system.
- ItemExamining the Relationship Between HBCU Faculty Online Education, Innovativeness and Attitudes Towards Computers(2019-04-01) Riggs, Valerie; Jackson, Omari; Anderson, Christian; Bista, Krishna; Education and Urban Studies; Doctor of EducationRecent research highlights the relationship between levels of innovativeness, the use of online learning technologies and attitudes toward computers. Most of the research in this domain has been conducted in PWIs (Johnson, 2015; Pereira and Wahi, 2017; Glass 2017; Broussard and Wilson, 2018). Only a few studies were conducted at HBCUs (Lawrence, 2008; Keesee & Shepard, 2011; Johnson, 2008). There is some evidence on how HBCUs are participating in online learning, but there is certainly not enough to contribute to this overall body of work. This research attempts to augment the body of literature on academic studies completed at HBCUs. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to determine whether significant relationships exist among the variables: levels of innovativeness, attitudes toward online education, attitudes toward computers and various demographic characteristics of full or part time faculty members employed at an HBCU in a Mid-Atlantic state in the United States. The study and data analysis were informed by Rogers' (2003) Diffusion of Innovation Theory and Azjens' (1985; 1991) Theory of Planned Behavior. A survey correlation research design accomplished the objectives of the study. This study classified the faculty members based on Rogers' five categories of innovation adoption and correlated them with the demographic variables of age, gender, race/ethnicity, teaching experience and academic rank. A significant relationship emerged between Rogers' identified adopter category of Early Majority and attitudes toward online learning (r= .299, p< .05) and computers (r= .284, p< .05) and the variables ever taught online and faculty member innovativeness (r= .266, p< .05). The results did not show significant difference between faculty member adopter categories and demographic characteristics of age, gender, years of teaching experience, academic ranks and race/ethnicity. However, attitudes toward online education and computers were found to be significantly different by race and gender (p < .05). Positive attitudes of the faculty toward online education found in this study suggest faculty members would accept the continued implementation of online education in HBCUs. The study may inform further research on attitudinal aspects that can promote the growth and continued acceptance of online learning at HBCUs.
- ItemExamining Faculty Perceptions of Students' Information Literacy Competencies in a Community College General Education Program(2019-10-31) Terry, Carolyn Shields; Spaid, Robin L.; Gillett-Karam, Rosemary; Linck, Henry F.; Community College Leadership Program; Doctor of EducationYears of declining public funding for two-year colleges have resulted in an increased dependence on part-time or contingent faculty members, who cost institutions less in salaries and benefits. Part-time faculty members now represent the majority of faculty members in higher education, with a larger proportion at community colleges. Accreditation agencies have responded to public calls for accountability with increased requirements for higher education institutions to demonstrate their worth through assessment of student learning, particularly in the general education offerings common to all academic majors. Best practices in assessment require full participation of the faculty teaching these courses, yet when a majority of faculty members are part-time and lack institutional support and resources, some researchers questioned whether their status negatively affects student learning. Senge’s The Fifth Discipline (2006) described shared vision in a learning organization as the participation of its members in common goals and values. The purpose of this quantitative study was to apply Senge’s theory of shared vision that relates the status of the faculty member as full-time or part-time. The study examined ex post facto data gathered from faculty assessments of student-demonstrated information literacy competency in general education courses at a large, multi-campus community college in the Middle States accreditation region. The study compared the faculty ratings to determine whether the status of the faculty member had an effect on the faculty member’s perception of students’ competency. The study also examined whether shared vision between full-time and part-time faculty members was stronger within discipline groups – Arts, Humanities, Sciences, and Social Sciences. The results of the study indicated that the employment status of the faculty member did affect the perceptions of student competency in the Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences. In general, full-time faculty members rated student competency lower than the part-time faculty members did. However, the differences were not significant in the Science disciplines. These findings add to the body of research regarding the impact of part-time faculty members on student learning, as well as the research promoting advocacy for institutional resources for the support of part-time faculty members.
- ItemThe Effect of Cellphone Usage on Driving Performance Using an Eye Tracking System and a Driving Simulator(2019-10-24) Sheykholmolouki, Maryam; Jeihani, Mansoureh; Lee, Young-Jae; Chavis, Celeste; Shin, Hyeon-Shic; Transportation; Doctor of EngineeringIn 2016 the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) reported that 10% of fatal crashes, 18% of injury crashes, and 16% of all police-reported motor vehicle crashes resulted from distracted driving. Thus distraction while driving is a major risk factor for road traffic crashes in the U.S. and the State of Maryland. There are different types of distracted driving, usually categorized as those in which the source of distraction is internal (in-vehicle), such as using a mobile phone or tuning a radio, or external (out-of-vehicle) like looking at accidents, surrounding landscapes, or pedestrians. This study focuses on the different types of mobile phone distractions (hand-held, hands-free, voice commands, texting) and the effect they have on drivers’ performance while driving on different road classes, to show that the potential risk to road safety is increasing rapidly as a result of the exponential growth in the use of mobile phones in society. Different studies from different countries suggest that the proportion of drivers using mobile phones has grown over the past decade, ranging from 1% to 11%. The use of hands-free mobile phones is likely to be higher, but this figure is more difficult to ascertain. In many countries the extent of this problem remains unknown, as data on mobile phone use is not routinely collected when a crash occurs. Using a driving simulator and an eye tracking system, this study evaluates the driver’s performance (speed, steering, brake, throttle, etc.) when distracted by a cellphone in a simulated road network that includes four different road classes: urban, highway, rural, and local - school zone. Forty participants drove six scenarios sequentially with a few minutes break between scenarios. There are no cellphone distractions in the first and last scenarios to benchmark the pure effect of distraction and capture and remove the effect of learning and/or fatigue. The second to fifth scenarios have hands-free, hand-held, voice command, and texting as the distracting element, respectively. A total of over 960 simulator runs was collected and analyzed. Statistical analyses such as Kolmogorov-Smirnov test, ANOVA test, and Mann-Whitney U test were performed to find the effect of each distraction on driver performance. The first and last scenarios were specifically evaluated to examine the effect of fatigue on a driver’s performance. Since the results showed the effect of learning influences drivers’ speed, another study was conducted to examine the impact of learning on the performance of drivers. Additionally, a distraction model was also designed in this research to show the relationship between distraction and some variables. The statistical analysis of the results indicated; impaired performance of participants due to these distractions, is affected by other driving parameters such as; speed, steering and throttle. Based on the results of this analysis, increasing the complexity of the distraction will result in decreased speed. In other words, participants decreased their speed in all scenarios, on all roads, in the presence of an external distraction. It is the author’s hope that this study’s findings will help to root out the issue of distracted driving, identify key effective factors, and ultimately identify factors associated with driving distraction to remove or mitigate this issue.