Native American Studies

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The Department of Native American Studies was established to provide and advance quality education for and about American Indians of Montana, the region, and the nation. In fulfilling this mission, the Department is committed to meet the changing needs of Montana's Indian tribes and all Montana citizens through excellence in teaching, research, and service. In its academic program, the department provides concentrated study through an undergraduate minor, the first online graduate certificate in Native American Studies offered, and a Master of Arts degree in Native American Studies. Students in any major can also gain a multicultural perspective through NAS offerings in the University's core curriculum. The Department, through its research and other creative efforts, actively pursues interdisciplinary scholarship in the field of Native American Studies.

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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    A case study of American Indian students at the College of Great Falls
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1995) Thompson, Audrey Kay
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    Native American warriors in education : journeys of persistence, stories from the heart
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1999) Garcia, Florence McGeshick
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    Embracing the best of two worlds : Native American college graduates of the University of Great Falls
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1998) Beu, Pat Alan
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    An investigation of learning strategy, selected characteristics, and achievement of tribal college students in Montana
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 1992) Hill, Michael Joseph
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    A Chippewa Cree student's college experience : factors affecting persistence
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2009) Drummer, Kadene Sue; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Marilyn Lockhart; Betsy Palmer (co-chair)
    Educators working with Chippewa Cree students need to understand how the students' precollege experiences, college experiences, and cultural backgrounds influence their success in higher education in order to design learning environments, procedures, and policies that will increase the graduation rate of this population. The purpose of this grounded theory study was to explore factors that help or hinder successful completion of a bachelor's degree by students from the Chippewa Cree Tribe. Data was collected in face-to-face interviews using a peer-reviewed interview protocol consisting of open-ended questions for graduates and student services personnel determined by the concepts identified after examination of related literature. Thirty graduates from the Chippewa Cree Tribe and 5 student services personnel from two state colleges in Montana were interviewed. Factors that the graduates found most relevant to their success were family, personal goal, friends, institutional support, and academic preparation. The greatest obstacles they reported were finances, loneliness, commuting, life responsibilities, discouragement, unpreparedness for college work, lack of study skills, and lack of time-management skills. Suggestions to improve the graduation rate for new students included persistence, responsibility, preparation for the transition from high school to college, time management, willingness to leave their comfort zone and develop their social skills, study skills, class attendance, willingness to ask for help, lack of discouragement, academic preparedness, and completion of school work. Recommendations include designing recruiting and retention strategies to meet the specific needs of the Native American student, collaborating with K-12 schools and the community to develop programs that encourage early preparation for college, establishing and advertising Native American centers on campuses, organizing professional development seminars on diversity issues designed to give faculty and staff a safe environment to explore different cultures, encouraging increased faculty-student interactions, creating an advisory committee charged with increasing Native American student retention, recognizing and giving appreciation for success, developing a comprehensive college finance and budgeting workshop that includes the student's whole family, and developing and maintaining an up-to-date data base within the Chippewa Cree Tribe to collect data on educational and cultural issues.
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    An analysis of tribal college student's backgrounds, motivations, and attitudes : the relationship to classroom retention
    (Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2006) Thornton, Samuel David; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Betsy Palmer
    The purpose of this study was to determine if a relationship exists between students' backgrounds, motivations, and attitudes and their academic successes or failures while enrolled in a single core level general education class at the Blackfeet Community College. The study examined indicators as identified in the literature and as identified through a pilot survey given to students at the Blackfeet Community College. A literature review yielded little research on student classroom retention in tribal colleges. The population for this study was n=113 students enrolled in core level academic courses. These students responded to a survey developed specifically for this study and were subsequently tracked through the semester to determine academic success or failure. The survey responses were then analyzed to determine which student indicators or groups of indicators were indicative of student academic success or failure. The significant findings of this study revealed that students who were academically unsuccessful were less likely to re-enroll in the next year. Specific indicators were identified to suggest that students who had not completed high school or their GED were at-risk. Male students without school-age children are more likely to be academically unsuccessful than female students without school-age children and female students with school-age children are more likely to be academically unsuccessful than male students with school-age children. Also identified as at-risk were students who did not drive themselves to campus.
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