Bloom, Jennifer

This phenomenological study sought to understand the lived experiences of graduate students engaged in STEM-related Academic Service-Learning (AS-L). For the purposes of this study, Academic Service-Learning is a form of experiential learning whereby students complete a service project as a component of a specific course. This study looked at these student AS-L project experiences at the graduate level as a component of STEM-based courses. While the impact of Academic Service-Learning on the undergraduate experience is well documented, there is no research to date on the graduate experience, much less on graduate students in STEM fields. By understanding the lived experiences of graduate students in STEM-based Academic Service-Learning, this study attempts to fill that gap.
The research questions that guided my study were: (1) What types of project-based experiences are graduate students performing in their Academic-Service-Learning designated courses? (2) What are the lived experiences of graduate students who are conducting AS-L projects in the community as a component of a STEM-based AS-L course as perceived by students, faculty, and community partners. (3) What are the lived experiences of the community partners who are hosting the students for their AS-L projects.

This study addresses existing gaps in the literature concerning the undergraduate experiences of Latino men students as examined through an intersectional and masculinities-based lens. Due to a dearth in literature centering the exclusive study of Latino men in higher education, researchers are challenged to offer a comprehensive understanding of their postsecondary experiences and outcomes. Therefore, the purpose of this phenomenological study was to understand how currently enrolled Latino men undergraduate students make meaning of their undergraduate experiences. Relying on the lived experiences of Latino undergraduate men, this study collected data through three sets of interviews (Seidman, 2013). The examination of data was considered through the Multilevel Model of Intersectionality (Núñez, 2014a), which allowed for the participants’ lived experiences to be examined at multiple levels of intersectionality and centered in social oppression and privilege. The findings center the role of the Latino family, navigating and overcoming pan-ethnic discrimination, and evolved understandings of masculinity. Recommendations include the incorporation of the Latino family into the postsecondary experiences of Latino men, discontinuing the study of Latino masculinities as a homogenous concept, and equity based institutional policies that center the intersectional needs of Latino men undergraduate students related to academic and personal success.

Institutions of higher education have increased their efforts to improve retention and graduation rates by developing support services and programs targeted at specific student populations. The purpose of this descriptive case study was to describe and further understand the perspectives of students and academic coaches/administrators associated with the Academic Coaching and Career Enhancement for Student Success (ACCESS) Program at Florida Atlantic University (FAU) in Boca Raton, Florida. The program targets students who earned below a 2.0 grade point average (GPA) and were placed on academic probation. Data was collected through one-on-one interviews with previous ACCESS Program students and current ACCESS academic coaches/administrators. A document analysis was also conducted. The guiding research question for this study was: How useful, if at all, did participating students perceive the interventions of the ACCESS Program (e.g., meetings with an academic coach, tutoring, life skills workshops, meeting with a career advisor) in improving their academic performance (e.g., GPA) and why? The study also compared the perceptions of students to those of the ACCESS academic coaches/administrators about the interventions of the program and their usefulness. This study found that students and ACCESS academic coaches/administrators were most likely to find the academic coaching sessions to be the most useful intervention in helping students improve their academic performance and the academic workshops were found to be the least useful. Additionally, while there are elements of the program that can be improved, findings also suggest that those who had a positive overall experience in the program were more likely to perceive the program as useful because of the partnerships formed with their assigned academic coach/administrator/tutor/career counselor; the self-management skills they developed, such as accountability; and the academic and non-academic skills developed, such as improved writing and time management skills.

The purpose of this study was to analyze the influence of attending the 2018 Appreciative Advising Institute (AAI) on the overall and workplace wellbeing levels of attendees. The 2018 AAI was held July 29 to August 1, 2018 in Boca Raton, Florida at Florida Atlantic University. Seligman’s (2011) PERMA model of wellbeing was used as the theoretical framework for this study and Butler and Kern’s (2013) PERMA Profiler and Kern’s (2014) Workplace PERMA Profiler were the instruments used to study the influence of attending AAI on advisor wellbeing. Three research questions provided the basis of the study. A repeated measure analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to explore the influence of attending the Appreciative Advising Institute on wellbeing. Major findings in the study suggests overall PERMA scores were significantly influenced immediately post AAI, F(1,60) = 4.67, p = .04, ηp = 0.07, with measures of positive emotion (P), t(60) = -2.65, p = .01, and accomplishment (A) t(60) = -3.45, p = .001 being significantly improved. Workplace PERMA cores demonstrated short-term improvements as well. Specifically, measures of meaning (M) were significantly higher following the AAI t(60) = -2.17, p = .03 . In terms of long-term impact for overall PERMA, measures of positive emotion (P) remained significantly higher one month following the AAI t(46) = -2.14, p = .04. Workplace PERMA scores were significantly higher one-month post AAI, F(1,45) = 8.11, p = .01, ηp = 0.15. (Mean difference = 0.40, SE = 0.14, p = .007). Specifically, measures of positive emotion (P), t(45) = -2.53, p = .015, engagement (E) t(45) = -2.55, p = .014, relationship (R), t(45) = -2.10, p = .041, and meaning (M), t(45) = -2.17, p = .036, all were significantly higher one-month post intervention. Results suggests that attending the 2018 AAI positively influences academic overall and workplace wellbeing. Overall results suggest that attending AAI may provide a potential professional development platform for academic advising offices looking to address overall and workplace wellbeing in their advisors. Going forward, findings suggest the AAI may be a potential valuable option for higher education institutions seeking to increase the overall and workplace wellbeing levels of their academic advisors.

The challenges inherent in pursuing a medical education can leave many students at risk of experiencing stress and burnout. Premedical and medical students have been found to experience high levels of stress, anxiety, and depression (Fang et al., 2010; Niemi & Vainiomaki, 2006; Vitaliano, Russo, Carr, & Heerwagen, 1984). The sources of stress for premedical and medical students include academic obligations, the financial burden of paying for medical school, and family relationships. If excessive stress is left untreated it can result in negative health risks such as depression, anxiety, suicide ideation, and other physiological distress disorders.
There are proven ways to reduce the stress levels of students, including eating well, exercise, and peer support. Mindfulness meditation is also known to be a useful method for lowering perceived stress and improve academic performance. This study investigated how participation in a 7-week mindfulness meditation intervention impacts the perceived stress, depression, and anxiety levels of premedical and medical students. Self-regulation theory (Fiske & Taylor, 1991; McClelland et al., 2018) was used as the theoretical framework for this study to indirectly discover if mindfulness meditation is a practice that can improve students’ ability to calm themselves when facing high stress situations and to focus their thoughts on a goal.