Adult and Continuing Education Administration Commons^™

Embracing Diversity In Higher Education: Teaching A Driven And Determined Approach, Melvin Jackson, Adriel Adon Hilton, Kevin Mcclain

Journal of Research Initiatives

Diversity and inclusivity are two must-teach components that the academy needs to incorporate into its curriculum to enrich student experiences. Due to globalization, technological advances, and norms, societies are becoming more homogenous. Institutions of higher learning should prioritize teaching diversity and inclusion with a driven and determined approach to prepare students better personally and professionally.

Healing Racial Trauma From Public School Systems, Lisa Y. Collins

Journal of Research Initiatives

Oregon needs Black educators in the K-12 public school system. In 35 school districts throughout the state, the number of students of color has risen by over 40% in recent years (Oregon Chief Education Office, 2019). The number of educators of color in the state is under 10%. The number of Black educators is even lower. Research has shown that Black educators improve all students' academic, cultural, and social aspects, especially Black students. Nationally, Black educators were impacted by the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. At that time in history, Black communities fought for civil rights as they experienced …

Associations Between Multicultural Distress, Academic Achievement, And General Stress Among Racial/Ethnic Minority College Students At A Minority-Serving Institution, Alexandra O. Gil, Franklin Dickerson Turner, Aaron A. Gubi

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study explored the relationship between multicultural distress and general stress symptoms and the academic achievement of college students attending a Minority-Serving Institution (MSI). Research suggests that students who identify as being from a racial or ethnic minority background are likely to experience multicultural distress. Such students are believed to be at greater risk of experiencing mental health and academic challenges. Many contend that being in a diverse learning setting serves as a protective factor, shielding racial/ethnic minority students from some degree of distress and thereby promoting mental health and academic well-being. In contrast, other research findings suggest that multicultural …

Can I Live: Examining The Self-Worth Of Black Men Enrollment In Community College, Lavon Williams

Journal of Research Initiatives

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This study aimed to describe Black men’s self-worth and lived experience in community college. According to research, community colleges are the first option for many Black men. Through qualitative research methods, this study examines the believed self-worth of Black men enrolled in community college and matches its findings to Jay Z’s (1998) classic song Can I Live. Findings from this study identify the internal fight Black men have pursuing an education as a means to achieve upward mobility. Lastly, this study provides insight to aid policymakers, higher education practitioners, and Black families to understand better how to address Black …

The Use Of Film To Motivate Interest In Students With Learning Differences Through Imagination And Diverse Thinking In Higher Education, Edward Cromarty, Mary Alice Young, Simone Elias

Journal of Research Initiatives

This article examined the use of film in higher education to inspire imagination and motivate learning in students with learning differences. It highlighted the benefits of film in enhancing education and fostering imagination and diverse, critical thinking. The findings demonstrated that film is a pedagogical instrument that may assist students with learning differences to access the curriculum better, provide alternative forms of creative and meaningful expression, and develop self-awareness, empathy, and social justice.

A Conceptual Exploration Of Anti-Fragility In The Context Of Confucian Heritage Culture Education, Alwyn Lau

Journal of Research Initiatives

It is a common but not unrealistic stereotype of Asian students that educational success is a matter of personal identity and status. As such, achieving distinctions in as many subjects as possible (the popular target of becoming a ‘straight A’ student) is usually a non-negotiable objective nurtured by both parents and educators. Such an obsessive pursuit of academic excellence produces both laudable outcomes (e.g. the tendency of Asian students to outperform their counterparts) as well as dangerous ones (e.g. worrying rates of mental health problems). This theoretical paper hopes to apply the concept of anti-fragility developed by Nassim Nicholas Taleb, …

A 5-Week Personalized Training Workshop To Assess And Evaluate Faculty Members Teaching Online, Felix O. Quayson, Christopher Zirkle

Journal of Research Initiatives

The authors developed the Skills of Inquiry (SoI) model accompanied by a logic model to assess and evaluate faculty members teaching online. The Skills of Inquiry is based on faculty members’ abilities to understand the online environments, skills development pertaining to online teaching, and acquisition of specific online skills. The Skills of Inquiry model was used to personalize a 5-week workshop training and development module specifically for faculty members teaching online. The training workshop is effective in training faculty members to acquire specific online teaching skills through customized and individualized professional development learning. The training is a self-paced asynchronous online …

A Qualitative Investigation: Black & Brown Men Retention And Recruitment In The Grow Your Own Program And Partners Colleges Of Education And Universities, Sunni Ali, Alberto Lopez

Journal of Research Initiatives

Three decades ago, the U.S. Department of Education identified increasing the number of teachers of color as a priority. Three decades later, the nation is still confronting a gap between the number of students of color and teachers of color serving in our classrooms. Black and brown men make up less than three percent of the teaching workforce (Bryk, A., Gomez, L., Grunow, A. 2011). Regardless of race, all students benefit from having black and brown male teachers working in urban settings because it counters the deficit model while affirming minority male students' cultural efficacy. Through focus groups, we interviewed …

Teaching And Designing Culturally Responsive Experiences Using Cross-Media Film In Higher Education, Edward Cromarty, Mary Alice Young, Simone Elias

Journal of Research Initiatives

This paper examined the pedagogical use of cross-media film in higher education, as it highlighted cross-media in implementing a Culturally Responsive approach to enhance social justice learning in the classroom. The findings demonstrated the potential of cross-media film to engage learners through cultural relevance for the 21st century. The findings also considered that the Culturally Responsive approach may constitute a fourth pillar of the three epistemologies through research and suggestions for culturally responsive teaching practices.

Exploring The Motivational Factors That Empower Military Spouses To Pursue Degrees In Higher Education, Veronica Gregg, Linda Wilson-Jones

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study aimed to explore the factors that motivate and empower military spouses to persist in pursuing degrees in higher education. The following research question guided this study? What do military spouses perceive as the factors that motivate and empower them to persist in earning college degrees? Fifteen military spouses participated in this study. The military spouses who participated in the study shared their experiences on motivating factors that empowered them to continue earning a college degree. The theory of Cultural Capital was used as the theoretical framework to guide the concept that the military environment is a culture within …

Practical Leadership In Implementing Online Education Programs, Felix O. Quayson, Christopher Zirkle

Journal of Research Initiatives

The growing presence of online education can become a challenge for academic leaders and institutions to lead, manage, and explore in higher education. Online education can be complex when considering the social presence (Keast, 2022; Quayson, 2022), course development (Martin et al., 2019; Orlando, 2019), and economic outcomes (Burnett & Conley, 2013; Rubin, 2013; Seaman et al., 2019). However, unraveling the fundamentals of practical leadership can help educational leaders to facilitate, maintain, and implement online education programs. The study found published research studies that helped us to extricate the fundamentals of practical leadership in implementing online education programs in the …

Trauma-Informed Practices For Test-Taking Anxiety At The Elementary Grade Level, Kate Campbell, Shalini Mathew

Journal of Research Initiatives

Test -Taking Anxiety (TTA) is a challenging experience for children of all ages. Childhood exposure to trauma and adverse experience has been increasing. Fortunately, trauma-informed practices, such as mindfulness activities have become more widespread in schools throughout the last few years. Existing school counseling literature offers limited perspectives on how school counselors can support elementary students for TTA. This conceptual article explores the effects of trauma-informed practices on elementary-age students' test anxiety and overall academic success in schools and offers implications for practice.

Finding Correlations Among Academic Performance, Demographic Influences And Clinical Competency Utilizing Predictive Variables In An Associate Degree Nursing Program, Rebecca Montz, Brett Welch, Neil Faulk, Clementine Msengi

Journal of Research Initiatives

A nonexperimental, quantitative, correlation study was utilized as the research design to explore the relationship between multiple academic and demographic variables on the final clinical assessment score and Health Education Systems, Inc., (HESI) Exit Exam (E²) score from a South Texas ADN program. The research was conducted to address the nursing workforce shortage and effective ways to predict academic and clinical achievements for associate degree nursing (ADN) programs. The academic variables for the research consisted of preadmission grade point average (GPA) and Anatomy and Physiology (A&P) I prerequisite GPA. Age and gender were used as the demographic variables …

Developmental College Education Courses And Programs: A Review Of The Literature, Charletta H. Barringer-Brown, Patricia A. Lynch

Journal of Research Initiatives

This study presents a review of the current literature on best practices in developmental education with regards to program structure and student placement procedures. Each academic year, millions of students decide to pursue post-secondary education. These students choose to pursue a college degree or the credentials necessary to improve their standard of living. It has been noted that many of these students are considered as being underprepared for college-level coursework and placed into developmental or remedial education. Among first-year undergraduates in the United States for the 2019-2020 academic year, approximately 40 percent reported they had enrolled in at least one …

Obstacles Women And Historically Marginalized Racial And Ethnic Groups (Hmreg) Face In The Computer Science Field, Simone Elias, Edward Cromarty, Linda Wilson-Jones

Journal of Research Initiatives

This article approaches the problem of underrepresentation of women and marginalized ethnic groups in the computer science fields from a developmental learning perspective. It proposes that systemic social barriers need to be addressed to overcome the bias toward women in the technological fields. The article surmises that even though stereotypes have changed in the past few decades, Gender Socialization which begins at birth and intensifies through adolescence contributes to inequalities of education, employment, and empowerment in adult life. It suggests that changing the educational paradigm beginning in early education, may result in more inclusive diverse perspectives, increase representation of women, …

English Teachers' Opinions On Challenges Face In Teaching English As Foreign Language: The Case Of Jalalabad Selected Secondary Schools, Fahim Rahimi, Hangama Samadi

Journal of Research Initiatives

One important goal of teaching is to achieve learning outcomes. It has been observed in universities that many students have different levels of English language proficiency. However, they study in the same English courses at the school level. The main objective of this study is to learn the challenges that exist in teaching the English language as a foreign language in secondary schools that affect the English proficiency of students. In addition, ways in which these challenges will be overcome is reviewed. The data collection tools were questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from English language teachers in selected …

Esl Teachers And School Leaders Perspectives: Culturally Relevant Pedagogy In Elementary And Middle Grades Social Studies, Matthew John Wynne, Landon Hadley

Journal of Research Initiatives

The American public education system is undergoing significant changes. This is in regard to what students should be learning and how teachers should deliver quality instruction. English language learners (ELLs) are a group that demands time, attention, and special consideration. This is due to their increasing population in public schools and their low academic performance when compared to their native English-speaking students (Samson & Collins, 2012). English language learners are one of the fastest-growing student populations in the United States, with over 4.6 million students as of 2015 (McFarland et al., 2017). This qualitative study with a narrative inquiry approach …

A Case Study Of Afghan Foreign Language (Fl) Teachers' Attitudes Towards Literature As A Method Of Teaching, Omid Wali, Kishwar Zafir

Journal of Research Initiatives

For the last two decades, teaching foreign languages through literature has been advocated as an effective method and trend. Literature also plays a vital role in the language curriculum and teaching. Many instructors believe in using literature as a remarkable strategy for teaching foreign languages effectively. However, many others argue why and how literature should be embodied in the language curriculum. Teachers' attitudes toward literature as a fundamental tool for teaching the four integrated language skills (listening, speaking, reading, and writing) are inconsistent. Therefore, the study aims to survey the perceptions and attitudes of Afghan foreign language teachers towards literature …

Honors College Type: A Detailed Mbti Analysis, Angela Farmer

Journal of Research Initiatives

Individuals in society today are entrenched in stress, from competitive environments like school or work to social anxieties, including one's struggle to acclimate and survive within a given subset of individuals. As a result, life can have challenges. Nowhere is this more apparent than among the schools' high schools and college campuses where students, overwhelmed by a culture where they fail to thrive, take drastic, irreparable, and lethal action. While no established student profile is likely to engage in extreme violence like school shootings, reliable data is detailing some ominous motives (The school shooter, 2002). Paired with this information and …

Teacher Stress In The Current Covid-19 Pandemic, Allison H. Anderson

Journal of Research Initiatives

The Covid-19 infection drastically altered the 2019-2020 school year, shortening and preventing its completion. As a result, we do not know if the school will return as normal in the fall or not. This uncertainty causes stress for parents, students, and teachers. We need to recognize these stresses and develop a strategy to deal with them.

Black Women Leaders Professional And Social Experiences In Higher Education: A Review Of The Research Literature, Marian E. Truehill

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of this review of the research literature was to offer a critical take on the current body of research focusing on the aspect of how Black women are affected by their experiences in higher education. Some of the themes discussed in this review include discrimination, social conditions, and lack of advancement in academic institutions. Implications for these issues is discussed and delineated.

Leading Leaders In Rethinking Grading: A Case Study Of Implementation Of Standards-Based Grading In Educational Leadership, Erin E. Lehmann

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of this paper is to share the process of how one university instructor worked toward a shift to standards-based grading (SBG) in a graduate Educational Leadership program. Educational leadership programs use standards to guide coursework and instruction in an accountability era, but grading practices remain as subjective as they were 50 years ago. Educators of future leaders must address this need. In addition, instructors need to effectively communicate essential learning to students to understand their learning progression clearly; standards-based grading is designed to do this. The author shares best practices in grading as well as the challenges of …

Listen To Your Doppelganger! Global Cultural Empathy For Educators: A Literature Review Based Conceptual Model, Papia Bawa Dr.

Journal of Research Initiatives

Our student populations' diversity now includes African Americans, Native Americans, and Latinos, as classrooms represent various cultural backgrounds. This shift in student population dynamics brings fresh challenges to educator's unpreparedness to identify with the unique cultural identities of international students. The cultural dissonance that international students face compounds this challenge since the cultural unawareness and misconceptions may be generated from both educators and student groups. The Doppelganger Inspired Change Effect model or DICE discussed in this article is inspired by an extensive literature review. It elucidates a process of fostering global cultural empathy and preparedness of educators by linking such …

Advances In Global Education And Research: Volume 4, Waynne B. James, Cihan Cobanoglu, Muhittin Cavusoglu

University of South Florida (USF) M3 Publishing

This is the fourth volume of the Advances in Global Education and Research Book Series. This volume has the following parts:

• Part 1: Adult Education
• Part 2: Curriculum and Instruction Development
• Part 3: Educational Technology
• Part 4: Education in Other Specialties
• Part 5: English as a Second Language
• Part 6: Global Competence
• Part 7: Higher Education and Educational Leadership
• Part 8: Inclusive Education
• Part 9: International Education
• Part 10: PreK-12
• Part 11: Research Methods in Education

ISBN: 978-1-955833-04-2

Adult Education

• Teaching for knowledge transfer: Best practices from a graduate-level educational psychology distance learning program
  • Bobby Hoffman
• A study on the …

Doctoral Student Online Learning: Addressing Challenges Of The Virtual Experience, Dejuanna M. Parker, Kent Willis, Barbara D. Holmes

Journal of Research Initiatives

Abstract

This qualitative study sought to understand student beliefs and perceived levels of confidence in a primarily online professional doctoral degree in education. Before accessing course material and formal instruction, respondents assigned scores to a Likert-style survey and answered open-ended questions about their understanding of basic educational research methodology. The rise of distance education follows the rapid growth of technological advancement, yet, much is still unknown about pedagogical practices that contribute to improved learning outcomes for students in the virtual environment. Themes that emerged from this study suggest that (1) student expectations do not align with prior preparation, (2) student …

The Therapeutic Nature Of Qualitative Interviewing: Benefits Of Research Participation, April Perry, Mary Grace Bigelow

Journal of Research Initiatives

This research explored the notion that interview studies can be therapeutic for participants. It examines the common themes that participants report as beneficial from participating in a study about the transition from higher education to post-university life. The findings are presented as common themes and illuminated by participant excerpts. It is concluded that there are therapeutic characteristics to the qualitative interview process that mirror some of the benefits individuals can receive from the counseling process.

Brain Science And Parent-School Relationships In A Title 1 Elementary School In Massachusetts: A Basic Qualitative Study, Arij Rached, Simone Elias, Linda Wilson-Jones

Journal of Research Initiatives

Bandura's (1977) social cognitive theory contends that people think, learn, and perform based upon a sum of personal (e.g., beliefs, emotions, behaviors), social (home-school relationships), and environmental (school culture). Also, research has already determined that collaboration between home and school leads to better children's social-emotional learning (SEL) (August, Anderson, & Bloomquist, 1992; Cooper & Redfern, 2016; Grant & Ray, 2018). Thus, a basic qualitative research tradition was used to better understand elementary public-school parents' perceptions of the impact of parent-school relationships on children SEL development in a Title 1 school in Massachusetts (MA). Thru the lenses of brain science, a …

An Exploration Of The Perceptions Of Institutional Advancement Leaders On Their Role In The Survival Of Private Hbcus: A Qualitative Study, Evelyn Leathers, Comfort O. Okpala

Journal of Research Initiatives

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the perceptions of institutional advancement leaders on their role in the survival of private HBCUs. The major goals of the study focused on how advancement leaders perceived their leadership roles in generating funds to sustain private historically Black colleges and universities in the southeastern region of United States. Purposive sampling technique was utilized to select seven experienced and successful advancement leaders for the study. Through in-depth phenomenological interview and analyses, four themes emerged. The findings from the study show that the participants strongly perceived that their leadership role in fundraising to …

Distributed Leadership: Theorizing A Mindful Engagement Component, Arij Rached, Simone Elias

Journal of Research Initiatives

The distributive leader cannot influence organizational performance without taking into consideration the capabilities of team members to achieve a common goal (McIntyre, 2003; Harris, 2003). To leverage the capabilities of teams, distributive leaders need to be mindfully attentive in establishing a collective interpretation of the current organizational situation. However, establishing a collective interpretation may not be effective if distributive leaders do not initially consider the importance of creating group learning environments to engage diverse group members (Ashford & DeRue, 2012). The purpose of this integrative literature review is to explore theoretical and empirical research examining the potential of mindful engagement …

Domination Of European Culture In All Over The World, Md. Ruhul Amin

Journal of Research Initiatives

European colonialism is an extremely controversial affair in world history that is also discussed today. This paper explores the influence of these happenings as the world incorporates the culture of European in every step of life. Europe dominated almost the entire world and its people were leaders in science and technology. European languages, literature, and culture spread all over the globe. Decisions in Europe largely determined global events for centuries. The other continents did not approach European power until after World War 1 or World War 2. Europe consisted of constantly competing nations, and this competition spurred development. Europe achieved …