Date
12-7-2023
Department
School of Education
Degree
Doctor of Education in Curriculum & Instruction (EdD)
Chair
Ellen Ziegler
Keywords
high school dropout rate, learning experiences, self-efficacy, social cognitive theory
Disciplines
Adult and Continuing Education
Recommended Citation
Ellison, Cathy Walker, "How High School Dropouts Perceive and Describe the Influence of Lived Experiences on Their Feelings of Self-Efficacy as They Enroll in an Alternative Educational Environment: A Phenomenological Study" (2023). Doctoral Dissertations and Projects. 4984.
https://digitalcommons.liberty.edu/doctoral/4984
Abstract
The purpose of this transcendental phenomenological study was to understand the influence of lived experiences on high school dropouts’ feelings of self-efficacy as they enrolled in an alternative education program in a rural county in a southeastern state. Purposive sampling was used to select the research participants from the program. Document review of enrollment forms ensured participants were high school dropouts. Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy, which explains the influence of learning experience on feelings of self-efficacy, guided this study. The focus of the proposed study was the following central research question: How do high school dropouts perceive and describe the influence of lived experiences on their feelings of self- efficacy as they enroll in an alternative educational environment? This research study had three areas of data collection: observations, interviews, and extended responses, along with researcher reflection. Data analysis followed Moustakas’s (1994) bracketing approach to reduce researcher influence on data analysis, followed by horizontalization and data coding. The study addressed the gap in the literature regarding the influence of lived experiences on feelings of self-efficacy for high school dropouts enrolling in an alternative education program. The research study includes a detailed description of data analysis and the participants’ lived experiences. Coding data and using Moustakas’s method for analyzing a phenomenological study resulted in the development of two key findings which correlated to the study’s theoretical framework: (a) desire for a better life influences student’s enrollment, and (b) adverse experiences resulted in dropping out. This study confirmed Bandura’s theory of self-efficacy and social cognitive theory.
