Lori L. Moore

Using Achievement Motivation Theory to Explain Student Participation in a Residential Leadership Learning Community.

This study sought to examine student motives for participating in a residential leadership learning community for incoming freshmen using McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Theory (McClelland, 1958, 1961). Eighty-nine students began the program in the Fall 2009 semester and were administered a single, researcher-developed instrument. Responses to an open-ended question that asked students what their primary motive for participating in the voluntary, residential leadership learning community were analyzed using deductive content analysis techniques (Fraenkel & Wallen, 2009; Patton, 2002) and categorized according to McClelland’s Achievement Motivation Theory as the need for Achievement, the need for Power, the need for Affiliation, or any combination thereof. Results demonstrated that while all three needs were found within the responses, the need Journal of Leadership Education Volume 9, Issue 2 – Summer 2010 23 for Achievement and the need for Affiliation were more common motives for joining the voluntary, residential leadership learning community.

The Undergraduate Leadership Teaching Assistant (ULTA): A High-Impact Practice for Undergraduates Studying Leadership

To meet the demands for effective leadership, leade rship educators should integrate high-impact practices for students to dev elop, practice, and evaluate their leadership knowledge, skills, and abilities. The purpose of this application brief is to describe how undergraduate leadership t eaching assistant (ULTA) experiences can be a high- impact practice for unde rgraduates studying leadership. The ULTA experience at Texas A&M University in the Agricultural Leadership, Education, and Communications (ALEC) department was examined using the six characteristics purported by Kuh (200 8) to describe effective highimpact practices: considerable time and effort to p urposeful tasks, interaction with faculty and peers on substantive matters, increased likelihood of experiencing diversity, frequent feedback on performance, applic ation of learning to different settings, and better understanding of self in relat ion to others. The ULTA experience can be a high-impact practice that provi des leadership students with the opportunities to apply their leadership learnin g to their teaching roles and reflect on their experience to gain new leadership perspectives. Recommendations for implementing this practice include: purposeful interactions with ULTAs,

Leadership for Dummies: A Capstone Project for Leadership Students.

Capstone courses in leadership provide students opportunities to synthesize prior knowledge about various aspects of leadership. This article describes the Leadership for Dummies project, which could be used as a capstone experience for leadership majors. Based on his experiences as a psychological researcher, Gardner (2008) identified five minds individuals should develop: the disciplined mind (being an expert in one area), the synthesizing mind (gathering information from multiple sources and combining the information in a meaningful way), the

Students' Attitudes and Perceptions about the Use of Cooperative Exams in an Introductory Leadership Class.

This study sought to examine student perceptions related to the use of cooperative exams in an introductory leadership class. In this study, cooperative exams were used as a collaborative learning activity in which students took class exams individually first and then as a peer group. The majority of students ( n=41, 61.4%) had not previously taken a class that incorporated cooperative exams. Four advantages of cooperative exams were identified: the opportunity for discussion to increase understanding, the opportunity to increase the overall grade on the exam, the opportunity for collaboration and teamwork, and increased individual accountability. Two disadvantages of cooperative exams were identified: the reliance of some students on the efforts of others and the conflict that can arise from peer pressure in the peer group portion of the exam. Overall, students enjoyed the cooperative exams and think they should continue to be used in the class.

Developing an International Agricultural Leadership Program to Meet the Needs of a Global Community

This paper advances the notion that global leadership is a necessary component of undergraduate agricultural leadership. Within an existing leadership curriculum, the development of at least three new courses with innovative approaches to such a globalized curriculum is justified and outlined. These three classes include a course designed to increase awareness of global leadership issues, a cultural assimilation course designed to prepare students for an international experience, and a capstone seminar course. The program will require students to take the three classes being developed in addition to at least three other classes with an

Killing Two Birds with One Stone: Using Book Reviews to Teach Leadership and Foster Community in an Online Class

The academic community is more fully integrating technology into the business it conducts. Online courses are becoming more and more popular. Popular culture can be a source of commonality among students that can be used to more effectively teach leadership in an online environment. This manuscript outlines the use of a group book review assignment to teach leadership while simultaneously fostering a sense of community among students learning about leadership in a primarily asynchronous environment.

Factors Influencing Student Affairs Professionals’ Attainment of Professional Competencies

Limited research exists that examines factors influencing student affairs professionals’ attainment of the professional competencies that are expected of them. The study described in this article analyzed student affairs professionals’ survey responses to determine which demographics, pre-professional experiences, and educational experiences impact their attainment of the American College Personnel Association (ACPA) and National Association of Student Personnel Administrators (NASPA) professional competencies. Findings revealed there are disparities between the attainment of professional competencies based on certain factors, especially gender, education level, and type of degree.

A Multidimensional Needs Assessment of Social Emotional Learning Skill Areas.

Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) has often been an umbrella term for a wide range of competencies, including emotional processes, social and interpersonal skills, and cognitive regulation (Jones, Bouffard, & Weissbourd, 2013). We used the Borich (1980) needs assessment model to assess the professional development needs of Texas agricultural education teachers in core SEL skill areas. Data were collected with three forms of a paper questionnaire to determine teachers’ self-perceived levels of competence in core SEL skill areas. Twenty SEL indicators were assessed in four ways (Importance, Ability to Perform, Knowledge, and Ability to Teach), and then used to create three latent variables (Performance Competence, Knowledge Competence, and Consequence Competence), which served as dimensions of professional development needs. Agriculture teachers perceived the importance of all core SEL skill areas as having average or greater importance, their ability to model core SEL skill areas as average or greater, their knowledge of core SEL areas as average or greater, and possessing average or greater ability to teach core SEL skill areas. The findings of this study support the Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning (CASEL, 2003) report and emphasize the importance of SEL in agricultural education.

An Examination of the Outcomes of the Undergraduate Leadership Teaching Assistant (ULTA) Experience as a High-Impact Practice in Leadership Education

The Undergraduate Leadership Teaching Assistant (ULTA) experience offers students a high-impact opportunity to develop, practice, and evaluate their leadership knowledge, skills, and abilities. The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine outcomes of the ULTA experience as a high-impact practice for students studying leadership. Weekly journal entries of eight ULTAs were analyzed to assess their perspectives on the experience. Findings revealed the ULTAs developed cognitive skills through the generation of mostly divergent discussion questions on the knowledge and comprehension level of the Taxonomy of Educational Objectives: Cognitive Domain (Bloom et al, 1956). ULTAs applied their learning from the experience to both personal and professional roles and intend to model behaviors in seven skill areas: (a) communication; (b) active listening; (c) mentoring; (d) responsibility; (e) followership; (f) professionalism; and (g) collaboration.

An Empirical Analysis of the Literature Cited in the Journal of Leadership Education

Since 2002, the Journal of Leadership Education (JOLE) has served as a primary source for the dissemination of new knowledge in the field of leadership education. The purpose of this study was to empirically analyze sources cited in research features included in the JOLE from Volume 1, Issue 1 through Volume 12, Issue 1. A total of 125 research features were analyzed, resulting in 3,497 citations, and yielding an average of 28 citations per research feature. A thorough examination indicated research features of the JOLE cite journals and books most frequently, accounting for 86.7% of all citations. The JOLE was found to be the most cited journal in research features. Nine books and five journal articles were found to be the most often cited references within the research features in this study. Future research should be conducted to understand the relative contribution of various document types to the overall composition of research features to better understand the relevance of each in today’s knowledge base.