Recent Higher Education Program Faculty Publications
Dr. Laura I. Rendón (ELPS Chair and Professor of Higher Education)
Burgis, L., & Rendón, L. I. (2006). Learning with heart: Embracing wholeness in learning communities. Religion and Education, 33 (2), 1-19.
Some educators employ the notion of "learning with heart" as a metaphor for experiences that are centered on evoking emotions and engaging learners to learn more about their selves. The purpose of this investigation was to conduct an exploratory study to investigate if and how holistic pedagogy practices can be employed as a compliment to traditional learning and teaching. Utilizing Rendón's Academic of the Heart (AH) model, the authors learned that there are four key elements that can invoke heart in learning communities: (1) creating space for learning, (2) fostering active engagement and community, (3) honoring diversity, and (4) engaging in contemplative practice. The findings of this study illustrate the beginnings of transforming pedagogy and bringing the breath of heart and spirit into higher education. [PDF]
Rendón, L. I. (2005). Recasting agreements that govern teaching and learning: An intellectual and spiritual framework for transformation. Religion and Education, 32 (1), 79-108.
To create a new teaching and learning dreamfield that is intellectual and spiritual requires an examination of at least six agreements that are firmly entrenched in the academic culture of the academy. In this article the author provides specific examples of how each of these privileged agreements can be recast to serve as new consciousness to transform pedagogical practice. [PDF] |
Dr. Nancy Evans (Professor of Higher Education)
Salter, D. W., Evans, N. J., & Forney, D. S. (2006). A longitudinal study of learning style preferences on the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator and Learning Style Inventory. Journal of College Student Development, 47, 173-184 .
The stability of learning style preferences, as measured by the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator (MBTI) and Learning Style Inventory ( LSI), was examined using a configural frequency analysis of differences. Thirteen cohorts (222 graduate students) completed the instruments 3 times during their programs. Implications for use of learning style measures are discussed.
Evans , N. J., Assadi, J. L., & Herriott, T. K. (2005). Encouraging the development of disability allies. In R. D. Reason, E. M. Broido, T. L. Davis, & N. J. Evans (Eds.), Developing social justice allies. New Directions for Student Services, no. 110, pp. 67-79. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
The authors advocate for a constructionist interpretation of disability, grounded in a social justice perspective, by discussing disability paradigms, factors that influence attitudes and attitude change regarding disability, and disability ally development and behaviors.
Evans , N. J., & Broido, E. M. (2005). Encouraging the development of social justice attitudes and actions in heterosexual students. In R. D. Reason, E. M. Broido, T. L. Davis, & N. J. Evans (Eds.), Developing social justice allies. New Directions for Student Services, no. 110, pp. 43-54. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
The authors discuss strategies for the development of heterosexual allies and actions that allies can take to support this social identity group. |
Dr. Florence A. Hamrick (Associate Professor of Higher Education)
Hamrick, F. A., & Stage, F. K. (2004) College predispositions at high-minority enrollment, low-income schools. Review of Higher Education, 27(2), 151-168.
Using base year data from the National Educational Longitudinal Study 1988 (NELS, 1988), this study explored the validity of a causal model that incorporated traditional influential measures of college predisposition as well as impacts of two additional factors: participation in community activities and mentoring contacts. Differences among predisposition processes of eighth grade White students, Hispanic students, and African American students were examined.[PDF]
Hamrick, F. A., & Benjamin, M. (2004). Seeking coherence and integrity: Personal and professional demands of senior women professors. Journal of Women in Educational Leadership, 2 (4), 239-256.
This study of 26 senior women professors at a large research university suggest that, while their negotiation of professional and personal commitments involved calculated balancing acts and strategies, they primarily described searches for integrity and coherence in life. More effective personal management strategies, modified and more realistic expectation, and a refusal to dwell on past decisions were among the themes identified. Respondents described an almost uniform and long standing self-sufficiency and acknowledged having more control over aspects of their work, lives, and time.[PDF]
Hamrick, F. A., Schuh, J. H., & Shelley, M. C. (2004). Predicting higher education graduation rates from institutional characteristics and resource allocations. Educational Policy Analysis Archives, 12(19). 1-24.
This study incorporated institutional characteristics (e.g., Carnegie type, selectivity) and resource allocations (e.g., instructional expenditures, student affairs expenditures) into a statistical model to predict undergraduate graduation rates. Instructional expenditures, library expenditures, and a number of institutional classification variables were significant predictors of graduation rates. Based on these results, recommendations as well as warranted cautions are included about allocating academic financial resources to optimize graduation rates by institutions of higher education. [PDF] |
Dr. Mary Huba (Professor of Research and Evaluation), Dr. John Schuh (Professor of Higher Education), and Dr. Mack Shelley (Professor of Research and Evaluation)
Recasting Doctoral Education in Outcomes-Based Framework
The faculty in the Department of Educational Leadership and Policy Studies at Iowa State University recently redesigned its doctoral program to focus on educational leadership, providing students in both Educational Administration and Higher Education with opportunities to understand and analyze the field of education from a K-16 perspective. The redesigned program is grounded in a set of intended learning outcomes in five areas: Leadership, Educational Foundations, Communication (written, oral, interpersonal, and intrapersonal), Evaluation and Assessment, and Research. This chapter explains how considerations related to assessing student learning prompted the faculty to broaden the scope of the program and how assessment data provide useful information for continued revision and fine-tuning of the program. [PDF]
|
Dr. Frankie Laanan (Associate Professor of Higher Education)
Hardy, D. E. & Laanan, F. S. (2006). Characteristics and perspectives of faculty at public 2-year colleges. Community College Journal, 30(10), 787-811.
This descriptive study makes use of the 1999 National Study of Postsecondary Faculty (NSOPF:99) public access database. It examines the demographic characteristics of full-time faculty in American public 2-year colleges at the close of the 20th century and how these characteristics differ across and within age groups. This study also examines levels of agreement between demographically subdivided groups of faculty members on opinions, institutional support and resources, and their degree of satisfaction with various aspects of the work environment. It also assesses the “gaps” that exist between various demographic groups. Implications for policy and practice, as well as recommendations for future research, are discussed.
Laanan, F. S., Hardy, D. E., Katsinas, S. G. (2006). Documenting and assessing the role of community colleges in developing human capital. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 30(10), 855-869.
The 21st century community college is an institution that espouses the values of open-access and high quality education. The literature is filled with research that documents the extent to which these institutions contribute to society and to human capital development. The purpose of this article is three-fold: First, to apply a human capital framework to the community college context; second, to describe efforts by several states to document and assess their community colleges' contributions to human capital development; and third, to raise research and policy issues related to improving assessment of that role. The article concludes by addressing future research and policy implications.
Laanan, F. S., Compton, J. (2006). The role of career and technical education in Iowa community colleges. Community College Journal of Research and Practice, 30(4), 293-310.
A new, groundbreaking report describes how Historically Black Colleges and Universities, Hispanic-Serving Institutions, and Tribal Colleges and Universities are in an unrivaled position to remedy the technological disenfranchisement of the nation's emerging majority populations - the nation's future workforce - but remain limited due to lack of financial resources. While some minority-serving institutions (MSIs) have achieved impressive results in the application of technology, far too | |
