Building University Relationships: A Holistic Approach to Student Success in Online Learning Environments

Online learning in the higher education sector has grown exponentially over the past 15 years. Whereas online learning was once a viable alternative for the nontraditional adult student, enrollment trends now show an influx in traditional students opting for virtual education opportunities especially in the last three years during the COVID-19 pandemic. While there has been exponential growth in online learning, the rates of attrition have also significantly increased, making it difficult for institutions to retain their online students. This qualitative narrative inquiry study will explore the impact of authentic relationships on student success, engagement, and overall persistence in online learning environments. The research used in this review is timely and relevant for the current student climate that continues to reflect increases in online learning as well as enrollment of both traditional and nontraditional students who have conflicting priorities (work, personal life, and scholarly pursuits). Data compiled here will seek to provide details that support a teacher culture while considering authentic engagement, collective ownership, communication, and human centeredness as avenues for increased student success. It will explore internal and external factors contributing to and/or hindering student success and seek to identify effective and innovative student service practices that foster increased engagement and retention in online student learning environments. This dissertation is available in open access at AURA (https://aura.antioch.edu) and OhioLINK ETD Center (https://etd.ohiolink.edu)

Blogging as a Medium of Social Support During the Adoption Process: A Phenomenological Study of Adopting Parent-Bloggers.

The purpose of this research was to investigate the community of support prospective adoptive parents create by way of blogging during the adoption process. This study used phenomenology and grounded theory strategies as they pertain to the qualitative method inquiry to collect data through in depth interviews of nine participants, field notes, blog reading and relating artifacts. In order to get a balanced view of the phenomenon, this study included both blogger and non-blogger adoptive parents, who all participated in subsequent open-ended interviews. To analyze data, I used the following analytical tools: servant leadership, narrative paradigm, social support, and care theories. Completion of this research created greater understanding of how social media invites interactions and connections that may not happen otherwise between people who shared the common purpose to adopt. Findings of this study revealed the following: blogging built a support community for adoptive parents; it offered a place to share information and process emotions; it became a medium for adoptive parents to tell their stories; in particular, writing blogs turned blogging parents into servant leaders whose experience pave the way for future generations. These findings suggest that future prospective adoptive parents could use blogs to research sources and to find support groups both online and otherwise whose help could guide them down the least stressful path of adopting a child

In God We Trust: Images of God and Trust in the United States among the Highly Religious

In this analysis, the authors use Greeley\u27s \u27religion as poetry\u27 model to frame an analysis of images of God and trust among the highly religious. Using the 2005 Baylor Religion Survey, the authors regress four ordinal measures of social trust on two images of God measures and a bank of religion and demographic controls. The authors find that having a loving image of God creates greater levels of trust in all four measures among the highly religious. They also find that having an image of God as angry creates less trust in all four measures of trust. Implications for theory and research on trust and civic engagement are discussed in the conclusion

The Logic Behind Logic Models: A Brief Guide

This brief describes the purpose, components, and variations of basic logic models for use in program design/planning, strategic planning, program monitoring and evaluation, and stakeholder communications

True Grit: How Important is the Concept of Grit for Education? A Narrative Literature Review

An abundance of literature exists that explores the potential applications of grit in predicting several academic outcomes. Regardless, the concept of grit has been heavily criticised due to the number of inconsistencies among current research. Fully understanding the usefulness of grit in an educational context is a worthwhile pursuit and could yield incredibly influential implications. The current narrative review aimed to address and explore these inconsistencies to determine the true impact of grit on the academic outcomes of school students. Such that, it aimed to establish whether grit was useful in improving outcomes such as academic achievement, attendance and retention. Research posits that grit is a strong predictor of academic outcomes for many, but not all, students. Furthermore, it seems that the predictive abilities of grit can be enhanced by concentrating on the perseverance of efforts component of grit, rather than overall grit. While the importance of grit’s perseverance component has been confirmed; there are several recommendations for future research. Likewise, a number of inconsistencies are discussed relating to grits practical applications within an educational context. Cultivating grittiness, specifically perseverance of efforts, in student populations would reap huge rewards. Indeed, the educational rewards for students would be substantial, as well as the financial benefits for schools and educating institutions. The usefulness of cultivating a perseverance of efforts in students is discussed

Exercise for Osteoarthritis of the Knees

Osteoarthritis of the knees is considered by many patients to be a barrier to exercise. It is common in primary care to hear patients express the fear that exercise will make their arthritis pain worse. Not only has exercise been shown to reduce joint pain and stiffness, as well as improve quality of life for arthritis sufferers, but it is a key component of weight loss. Weight loss is a major risk factor for developing arthritis, and no arthritis treatment is complete without addressing weight loss for overweight patients. This educational article is designed to provide patients with simple answers to frequently asked questions about arthritis and exercise.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/fmclerk/1217/thumbnail.jp