EHE News

Professor Emeritus Loadman donates dissertation prizes

In an age where we see greed, callousness, and lack of concern for people, Professor Emeritus Bill Loadman said he wanted to counteract such forces by giving back.

So he donated five $500 prizes for the best doctoral dissertations of the year in the School of Educational Policy and Leadership, one prize for each school section. He also supported a reception to honor these students and the achievements of more students in the school.

Faculty, staff, and students gathered at the reception spring quarter to hear about the honors received by 61 graduate students during the academic year.

At the Ramseyer Hall event, Loadman said, "I want to thank all the doctoral students in the school for the life and vitality you bring to the field by conducting your dissertation research."

Recipients of the William Loadman Dissertation Prizes, selected by a faculty committee, exemplify the best in the school's academic research by doctoral students.

As he concluded his remarks, Loadman reflected on his past, explaining that he wished he had been more active in thanking those who aided him. "Please think about the people who have been influential in your career," he advised everyone present. "Make time to say thank you for helping you get to this point."

The recipients of the five prizes for academic year 2008-2009 were:

Section: Cultural Foundations, Technology and Qualitative Inquiry

L-R: Associate Professor Rick Voithoffer, advisor, and prize recipient Dr. Chandapiwa Butale.

Loadman Prize Recipient: Dr. Chandapiwa Butale (PhD Aug '08)
Advisor: Associate Professor Richard Voithofer
Dissertation Title: "The Four Shifts: Family, Work, Online Learning and Social Participation for Female In-service Teachers at the University of Botswana"

Findings: Butale explored the experiences of Botswanian women juggling family, work, distance learning and social commitments significant to their culture, arguing that they have largely been ignored in the zeal for technology. She found the women experienced difficulty managing the multiple roles. Her results emphasized the need for support if distance learning is to succeed with this audience, including a network of resources and communities of practice.

Section: Educational Administration

L-R: Faculty Emeritus Bill Loadman, prize recipient Dr. Karen Stansberry Beard, and Assistant Professor Ann Allen, who served on Beard's dissertation committee.

Loadman Prize Recipient: Dr. Karen Stansberry Beard (BS '83, MA '89, PhD Aug '08)
Advisor: Professor Wayne Hoy
Dissertation Title: "An Exploratory Study of Academic Optimism and Flow of Elementary School Teachers"

Findings: Beard is the first to develop and test a measure of individual teacher academic optimism, defined as positive belief about the capacity to teach all students, trust in parents and students, and emphasis on optimal student performance. Her survey of 260 elementary school teachers showed it is capable of influencing student achievement. She is also the first in education to study flow, in which people report performing their best.

Section: Educational Psychology and Philosophy

L-R: Faculty Emeritus Bill Loadman, prize recipient Dr. Melissa Newberry, and Associate Professor Phil Smith, who served on Newberry's dissertation committee.

Loadman Prize Recipient: Dr. Melissa Newberry (MA '06, PhD Dec '08)
Advisor: Professor Anita Woolfolk Hoy
Dissertation Title: "Examining Conceptual Understandings in the Building and Maintaining of Student-Teacher Relationships by Way of Productive Reflection Practices"

Findings: Newberry examined changes in relationships between a teacher and individual students in her class over the course of one school year. Her results highlight factors that influence a teacher's choice for interaction with specific students. These include social concepts and processes that persuade teachers to make relationship choices, including the reframing of preconceived ideas, increasing knowledge of student lives, and intentionally reflecting on motivation for interactions. Read Newberry's article with Heather Davis in Teacher and Teacher Education, Volume 24, Issue 8.

Section: Higher Education and Student Affairs

L-R: Faculty Emeritus Bill Loadman, prize recipient Dr. Amy Wade, and Associate Professor Ada Demb, advisor.

Loadman Prize Recipient: Dr. Amy Wade (OSU BA '01, OSU MPA '03, Ed P&L PhD Dec '08)
Advisor: Associate Professor Ada Demb
Dissertation Title: "Faculty and the Engaged Institution: Toward Understanding Motivators and Deterrents for Fostering Engagement"

Findings: Wade developed and piloted a Survey of Faculty Engagement at a large Midwestern land-grant institution. Findings from 436 faculty showed that 76.8 percent reported participating in at least one engagement activity, with a wide variation in hours spent. Personal, professional and institutional factors were shown to impact participation. For instance, support from one's professional community seemed to be one of the most important variables in predicting participation.

Section: Quantitative Research, Evaluation and Measurement

Prize recipient Dr. Jing Zhu.

Loadman Prize Recipient: Dr. Jing Zhu (MA '07, OSU MS Applied Statistics '07, PhD Aug '08)
Advisor: Faculty Emeritus Ayres D'Costa
Dissertation Title: "Investigating Intervention Effect of a Reading Program for Low-Achieving Incarcerated Youth Including Simulation Studies for Longitudinal Research"

Findings: The majority of incarcerated youth are unsuccessful in school and many have a significant reading deficit. This study examined if the Scholastic READ 180 program had a meaningful impact on the reading proficiency of low-achieving incarcerated youth in a large midwestern state during 2006-'07 when compared to instruction with a traditional reading program. Results indicated that subjects exposed to the READ 180 program demonstrated accelerated reading growth over time.

The Ohio State University

www.osu.edu