Scholarship & Research
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Item "I felt like I did not belong": A case study investigation on doctoral students' validation, engagement, and socialization experiences(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2024) Edwards, Melisenda Gilda; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Bryce HughesThis case study examines the role of an academic department in aiding doctoral students' success with a focus on socialization, engagement, and validating experiences. Research has shown that some attrition at the doctoral level can be mitigated by adopting systems similar to those already occurring in undergraduate populations, yet implementation continues to lag. Exploring the effects of programming and support in an academic unit may be the key to leading a campus integration strategy. To investigate this, the study utilized doctoral students within the Department of Education at Montana State University to consider their experiences with an implemented retention method, specifically unique courses geared towards student success. This research aimed to uncover the system's efficacy from the students' perspectives by understanding the students entering post-graduate work and exploring their experiences throughout their journey. The project involved interviews with 25 current and past doctoral students within the Department of Education. Students were selected from all doctoral students admitted by the department over seven years, covering Fall 2014 through Fall 2021. The students who responded self-selected to participate in a semi-structured interview or to complete an open-ended Qualtrics survey. A key finding was that the initiatives were mostly successful and provided validation, community, and social connections, which were aspects surrounding effective student retention. Conversely, the retention initiatives were somewhat problematic when the courses were not taken at the most opportunistic time or were found partially ineffective based on differing student needs. Ultimately, the study underscored the need for programming to support student success through programmatic changes to bridge social, cultural, and academic knowledge gaps, also known as insider knowledge, that some students may be lacking when entering doctoral programs and to address continued socialization, engagement, and experiential validation throughout a doctoral journey.Item What we bring with us: investigating the impact of identity and background on the online learning experience(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2024) Dorsett, Carter Michael; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Nick LuxA student's identity and background play a significant role in their educational experiences. In higher education, these factors are often discussed while analyzing discrepancies in outcomes. However, a student's identity and background do not intrinsically affect learning outcomes; the impact that these two factors have on the student's educational experience causes discrepancies in outcomes. We have considerable research on the many ways that identity and background impact a traditional higher educational experience, but there is less research available exploring their impact on the online learning experience. Through a qualitative approach, this case study seeks to go beyond demographic- and outcome-based research to explore the core of the student experience through their own perspective. The selected case was a semester-long online graduate-level course in the Health and Human Development Field at a large research institution in the Mountain West. Data was collected through a syllabus review, observation of a live class session conducted via videoconferencing, and a semi-structured interview. Findings suggested that like in-person learning, a student's identity and background impact their feelings of community and belonging, their persistence and purpose, and their approach to learning in an online environment. Additionally, with fewer opportunities for interaction, instructors can cultivate feelings of community and belonging among their students by acknowledging the challenges associated with the course and demonstrating their support. They can also support student persistence by providing flexibility with assignments and deadlines and understanding when a student may have an outside factor impacting their ability to meet course requirements.Item Bodies, public land, and belonging: the story of disability in Yellowstone National Park(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2022) Ashley, Guadalupe Rose; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Catherine Dunlop and Mark Fiege (co-chair)Even though disabled individuals constitute 26% of the United States' population, the reality and recognition of disability is mostly absent from dominant historical narratives, especially narratives about national parks. I seek to remedy this problem in this Master's thesis by retelling the story of Yellowstone National Park from a disability perspective. Broadly, I argue that able-bodied narratives of wilderness ruled and have continued to rule Park policy, often resulting in the exclusion of disabled individuals from these spaces. Yet, over the course of Yellowstone's 150-year existence, the Park began to slowly consider and integrate more holistic interpretations of disability and disability access. My thesis begins by considering the early years of the Park, the 1860s and 1870s. I argue that four of the 'founding fathers' of Yellowstone were disabled themselves but distracted others from their disability by highlighting ableist narratives of wilderness. My second chapter picks up this theme and considers how these narratives impacted the debate between access and preservation in the 1960s and 1970s. I conclude that even though there were more instances of disability access present, nineteenth-century ideals of wilderness (preservation) controlled Yellowstone policy, making it difficult for disabled individuals to fully experience the Park. My third and final chapter highlights the late 1980s and 1990s to examine how an increase in federal accessibility legislation impacted Yellowstone. Although the Park initially continued to ground itself in exclusive management policies that valued an untouched wilderness - particularly as it pertained to the backcountry - after the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act, the Park began to integrate a more holistic interpretation of access that allowed disabled individuals to fully experience Yellowstone's backcountry. Despite these much-needed strides towards more equitable policies and inclusion, the Park still fell short of incorporating true access in all spaces, an aspect that I consider in my conclusion.Item Anonymous anomaly: nonresident undergraduates on a 21st century land grant campus(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2021) Hicks II, James Merle; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Tricia SeifertThe experiences of nonresident undergraduates enrolled in US public universities have remained understudied. Accordingly, the purpose of this qualitative intrinsic case study was to explore the nonresident undergraduate's experience, persistence and sense of belonging on a land grant university campus. Combined, findings were intended to expand the literature base, methodological approaches and practitioner programming regarding nonresident persistence. Existing transition and institutional logics theory formed the basis of the study's theoretical framework. Nine first-time, full-time third year undergraduates from states across three time zones were interviewed twice during their sixth semester of college enrollment. Additionally, data was collected through photovoice and document analysis methods. Findings for each research question were reported through a thematic analysis. Themes related to experience included: adapting from home to university life, motivating from enrollment to degree, and recreating as a lifestyle. Themes related to persistence included: accessing campus resources, familying from afar, and socializing to stay. Themes related to sense of belonging included: transforming through personal growth, identifying across groups and areas, and supporting across communities. Lived experience findings supported existing literature on socioeconomic and enrollment management while extending the literature on financial challenges. Persistence findings supported past literature on third year priorities and extended the literature on nonresident peer groups and family support. Sense of belonging findings supported literature on the theoretical construct of interdependence while extending the literature on the influence of community characteristics and campus climate. Policy implications for nonresident retention centered on leveraging outdoor curriculum, addressing nonresident insurance, revising nonresident tuition models and expanding nonresident mentoring programs. Practice implications for nonresident retention focused on innovations to summer orientation programming, expanding transportation options, expanding family weekend opportunities, and offering more resources on the surrounding community. Future recommendations focused on expanding research both in methodological scope and duration to better understand the nonresident experience.Item Investigating the relationship of an early semester intervention program and first year college student sense of belonging(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2020) Wilson, Chelsey Jo; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Tricia SeifertApproximately seventy five percent of first year college students are retained their second year (NSC Research Center, 2020). Students leave college for a variety of reasons: they may experience financial difficulties, have family obligations, trouble seeking a support community in school, experience academic adjustment issues, lack of student involvement, and poor institutional fit (Tinto, 2001). Students stay in college when they find a sense of place or community. Researchers (Astin, 1984; Beil, Reisen, Zea, & Caplan, 1999; Cadet, 2008; Milem & Berger, 1997; Strayhorn, 2012) have presented evidence that student involvement in campus activities, both social and academic, are strongly related to student sense of belonging and retention. Strayhorn (2012) states that educators must create conditions that foster belonging among students. This quantitative study examined an early semester intervention program designed to welcome first year students to their college community through involvement and connection. A self-report online survey was utilized to assess level of participation in the week of welcome program and feelings of belongingness. The respondent pool consisted of 625 first-time, full-time students at one large, public institution in the northwest. Correlation Analysis, Linear Regression, Independent Sample T-Tests, One-Way Analysis of Variance, Ordinarily Least Square Regressions, and Paired Sample T-Tests were used to examine and determine the relationships between independent and dependent variables. Level of participation in a week of welcome program has a statistically significant positive relationship with first year college student sense of belonging. Living status was the only student background characteristic that had a relationship with level of participation in the week of welcome program. Students who lived on campus participated in welcome week activities at a higher rate than students who lived off campus. Both planned and actual level of participation in a week of welcome program had a statistically significant positive relationship with student sense of belonging, even when accounting for student background characteristics and desired sense of belonging. Last, desired sense of belonging and actual sense of belonging had a positive relationship, even when controlling for student background characteristics. Based on the findings, recommendations for higher education administrators, practitioners, and institutions are discussed.Item The impact of social belonging on the academic performance of first-generation students at Montana State University(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2019) Oliveri, Christiane Nadine; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Tricia SeifertIn the United States, first-generation college students are significantly less likely to persist in college and complete a four-year college degree than continuing-generation students (Cataldi, Bennett, & Chen, 2018; DeAngelo & Franke, 2016; Engle & Tinto, 2008; Pascarella, Pierson, Wolniak, & Terenzini, 2004). The same is true at Montana State University (MSU), where only thirty-one percent of first-generation students graduate within six years (Montana State University, 2018c). It was hypothesized that generational status would predict academic performance at MSU, and that sense of belonging, along with peer and faculty involvement, would mediate the relationship. In addition, a conditional effect was hypothesized, so that there would be an interaction between generational status and belonging, with belonging being a stronger predictor of college grades for first-generation students than for continuing-generation students. A self-report online survey was utilized to assess peer and faculty involvement and sense of belonging. The sample consisted of 184 first-year, first-time, part-time and full-time students at MSU. Factor analysis was used to better delineate between peer involvement and belonging scales. Logistic regression and linear regression were utilized to determine the relationships between independent and dependent variables. First-generation college students had significantly lower levels of influential positive peer involvement when compared to continuing-generation students. Specifically, they had lower levels of agreement that peers would help or listen if they had a problem, and that it was easy to make friends at MSU. Peer involvement and faculty involvement significantly predicted higher sense of belonging for all students. Peer involvement had a negative impact upon college grades for all students, which approached significance. Faculty involvement had a positive impact on college grades for all students. Stigma/stereotype threat variables had an impact on college grades. Sense of belonging did not significantly impact college GPA. Finally, a conditional effect emerged for generational status and peer involvement upon college GPA, which approached statistical significance. Policies, programs, and services must be changed at institutions of higher education to help first-generation college students feel more supported by their peers and welcomed to campus, along with balancing social vs. academic priorities during college.Item Resonating feedback: the impact of feedback cycles on students' sense of belonging in an eighth grade biology classroom(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Letters & Science, 2018) Maday-Travis, Lewis D.; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Greg FrancisThis classroom research project addresses the issue of middle school students' sense of belonging in their eighth-grade science classroom. Many students report a shift in relationship to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics in the middle grades. Regular feedback cycles about classroom procedures and assignments were implemented in two sections of my classes and compared to a third section who provided written feedback only. Differences in students' self-reported sense of belonging in my classroom before, during, and after two responsive feedback cycles showed no significant differences over the treatment cycle, but different individual classes of students had significant differences between them in their sense of belonging throughout the treatment. The relationship between students' sense of belonging was compared with vocal participation and relationship to grades and achievement. There was a positive, non-significant relationship between belonging and classroom participation and students' grade point average. Student responses indicate further research on the interactions between peers and teachers and teaching strategies to mitigate peer influence and disciplinary issues is one possible next step towards increasing students' sense of belonging in the science classroom.Item Non-tenure-track faculty job satisfaction and organizational sense of belonging(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Education, Health & Human Development, 2013) Hudson, Barbara Krall; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Carrie B. MyersNon-tenure-track (NTT) faculty members are playing an increasingly larger role in the instruction of students in higher education. They provide a flexible workforce with specialized expertise, often prefer to work part-time and frequently teach large introductory courses. Concerns about their treatment and the environment in which they work are often investigated because their attitudes about their jobs and the workplace can have an impact on their students and institution as a whole. This study seeks to further investigate the psychological health of this diverse group of faculty and more specifically studies the job satisfaction (JS) and organizational sense of belonging (OSB) of NTT instructional faculty at a public research intensive university. The study used survey methods to determine the distribution of different NTT faculty types at the institution, obtain demographic information about their employment and determine their level of JS and OSB. An electronic survey was sent to 397 identified NTT faculty and 194 responded to a 77 item survey. The respondents self-selected themselves into one of four previously determined NTT faculty categories. A variety of methods were used to analyze the data including descriptive statistics, ANOVAs and multiple linear regression analyses. Results indicate that this institution has three different types of NTT faculty and that their JS and OSB vary. One of the groups has significantly more job satisfaction but lower sense of belonging scores than the other two groups. The other two groups have significantly less job satisfaction but have a greater sense of belonging to their department and university. These results support previous findings that NTT faculty members are a complex group of faculty who have different motivations and expectations for teaching. This diverse group of faculty should not be treated uniformly and distinct group variations should be considered when initiating recommendations for improving their professionalism.Item Again and again(Montana State University - Bozeman, College of Arts & Architecture, 2011) Worob, Sukha; Chairperson, Graduate Committee: Gesine JanzenOur meaningful interactions within the realm of the Other define and develop who we are as social and cultural individuals. This body of work represents an exploration into the structure of social connectedness versus belonging. There are two aspects to the body of work; one employs more traditional printmaking techniques, the other engages the viewer through interactive performance based printmaking. The more traditional work holds on to its institution solely in terms of its technique. These works leave behind the edition in favor of the multiple and module which are used as conceptual symbols to reference repetition, open reinterpretation of action and memory, and the relationship between Self and the Other. For the interactive work, I ask that the viewer assist me in the creation of large scale works, printed directly on the wall. Using stamps, the viewer will add on to existing works printed directly on to the gallery walls. In the end, compositional choices and densities of the work will act as a visual representation of our communal engagement with one another. Through our meaningful interactions as a social group we hold great creative potential. Potential that is much larger than each of us as individuals.