Graduate Education Programs

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Browsing Graduate Education Programs by Author "Chirica, Bettina"

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    A Dissertation Defense on the Impact of the Soccer Program at a Rural County High School on Females of Hispanic Descent on Social Development
    (2019-04-30) Chirica, Bettina; Howell, Lyn
    The social development of an adolescent is a complex process, and adolescent minorities face additional challenges. Female Hispanics take on many gender and cultural roles and face challenges of balancing school, home life, and community involvement. Extracurricular activities can help build traits that will impact a person for the rest of his or her life. It can connect a student to his or her community and teach life lessons. This qualitative case study focused on female Hispanic players that participated on the newly established soccer team at rural county high school for at least one season. Journal observations, interviews, and semi-structured open-ended questions were used to determine if the soccer program had any impact on the participants. Community members and teachers that worked with participants were also used as informants of the participants’ social interactions. Through the analysis of data, the researcher identified themes to match the four research questions. Themes of gender and racial equality, ability to engage in diverse situations, and school involvement all arose relating to the changed perception of social interactions since participating on the soccer program. Support groups, building relationships, and community integration were themes formed that related to the female Hispanic players’ relationships with others that were formed because of the interaction in the program. Leadership and pride and purpose were themes formed related to decision making characteristics that were taught in the program. Confidence, character building, soft skills, team concepts, and motivation to persevere were the final themes found related to lessons learned from the program.
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    The Effects of Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivations on Academic Performance of Seventh Grade Students
    (2015) Chirica, Bettina; Kariuki, Patrick
    The purpose of this study was to examine the difference between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation on academic performance of 7th grade health students. The population of this study came from University School, which was a K-12 laboratory school enrolling 499 students, 267 included girls and 232 included boys. The sample consisted of 7th grade students between the ages of 13 and 14 year olds in a health class. There was a total of 16 students of which 10 were girls and 6 were boys. Two units, which were similar in comprehension and difficulty, were selected for this study. First unit was taught using extrinsic motivation strategies and second was taught using intrinsic motivation strategies. At the end of each unit the students were administered a unit test and data were recorded. Both test scores were compared for difference. The results showed no significant difference in overall test scores when students were taught using extrinsic and intrinsic strategies. Similarly, no significant difference was found when boys and girls were compared. However, the overall mean score of intrinsic motivation was slightly higher. The results suggest that teaching using intrinsic motivation strategies may be beneficial to students than using extrinsic motivation.