Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Effective Teaching Behaviors Of Adjunct Faculty In Occupational Therapy Education: Perspectives Of Students, Adjuncts, And Core Faculty, Kayla Collins, Marian Gillard, Christine Davis, Kirsten Davin, Barbara M. Doucet, Bridget Scheidler

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Adjunct faculty constitute nearly half of the higher education workforce in the United States, yet they often receive limited preparation and institutional support for their teaching responsibilities. In occupational therapy education, where rapid program expansion has heightened reliance on adjunct instructors, understanding which teaching behaviors are most valued is critical to ensuring instructional quality, student success, and professional readiness. This study examined perceptions of effective adjunct teaching behaviors in a doctoral occupational therapy program using the Teaching Behavior Checklist (TBC), a validated 28-item measure of teaching effectiveness. Participants included students (n = 33), adjunct faculty (n = 19), and core …

The Teacher Shortage Crisis: How Workplace Relationships Influence Retention, Attrition, And The Education Labor Market, Jeremy Brooks

University of the Pacific Theses and Dissertations

This study took a closer look at how high school teachers perceive the ongoing teacher shortage, with particular attention to how workplace conditions and the broader school climate impact whether they choose to stay in the profession. Special focus was given to teachers in their first five years, a group especially vulnerable to early attrition. As the conversation around teacher turnover grows louder, this research seeks to better understand what’s driving teachers’ decisions from their own perspectives, not just policy data or administrative assumptions.

The study used a basic qualitative research design, relying on one-on-one, in-depth interviews to gather insights …

Education For A Shared Society In Wartime: A Faculty Of Education Dean’S Autoethnography, Ilana Paul-Binyamin

The Qualitative Report

My autoethnographic study emerged in the wake of the Hamas–Israel war that began on October 7, 2023, placing me in a dual position as both an academic leader and a member of a society in crisis. As Dean of a multicultural Faculty of Education, I reflect on how the war disrupted longstanding efforts to promote shared society education between Jews and Arabs. Drawing on personal narratives, reflective fieldnotes, and case studies from campus life, I explore how trauma, fear, and political polarization undermined the multicultural frameworks I had developed over years of practice. I document moments of rupture—between students, faculty, …

Enhancing Student Engagement In Numerical Methods: The Impact Of Alternative Grading Practices, Vivek Singhal, Kenan Baltaci, Oai Ha

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this introduction here.

Student engagement is critical for achieving positive academic and social outcomes. However, maintaining high engagement levels in challenging math-based courses like numerical methods can be difficult. This study addresses this challenge by implementing two assessment-based strategies: a bonus point self-assessment rubric and peer evaluations. These interventions aim to incentivize engagement and reward essential skills such as effort and teamwork, which are often overlooked by traditional grading systems but are crucial for success beyond the classroom. While existing research highlights the potential benefits of self-assessments and peer evaluations, there is limited evidence …

Virtual Teaching During Covid-19: Attitudes, Abilities, And Educational Needs Of Cooperative Extension Staff, Kathryn Yerxa, Kayla L. Parsons, Jennifer Lobley

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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This study aimed to 1) identify the attitudes and abilities of Cooperative Extension staff regarding the delivery of virtual educational programming based on their characteristics and 2) identify professional development priorities to effectively deliver programming virtually. We disseminated an adapted Faculty Readiness to Teach Online questionnaire to Cooperative Extension staff via Qualtrics. Mean and standard deviation were calculated from complete surveys (n = 67) for each virtual programming competency in the self-reported attitude and ability sections, categorized by position type, years of teaching, and program area. We conducted a MANCOVA to …

Coaching Undergraduates, A Conceptual And Practical Guide, Anna Carissa Rozzo

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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The overall aim of this paper is to provide a holistic orientation to the practice of person-centered coaching while providing tangible methods that faculty and advisors in higher education may be able to integrate into their professional practices. This conceptual paper explores the theoretical and practical intersections of coaching and teaching, presenting a flexible modality to support student-centered learning. The author provides readers with general guidance and templates for goal setting, problem solving, and assessment that practitioners may adapt to their own contexts.

Coaching Graduate Students Through Early Childhood Focused Community-Engaged Learning: Graduate Student Perspectives And Course Design, Sarah Tulane, Shirlene Call Law

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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Community-engaged learning (CEL) in graduate-level coursework contributes to professional development and growth. CEL course design requires intentional and time-intensive planning. A graduate-level child development course was designed for CEL using the following process: needs assessment, training for community education, preparing materials, practicing with feedback, presenting to an authentic audience, and reflection on the experience. Students created presentations for authentic parent audiences based on a needs assessment of parent interest in child development topics. Reflections from four students in the course were analyzed using a general thematic analysis technique. Three themes emerged. …

Jete Introduction Fall 2025, Nichelle Frank

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version of this introduction here.

An introduction to the Spring 2025 issue of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence.

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 9, Issue 2, Fall 2025

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Fall 2025 issue (Volume 9, Issue 2) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

This issue of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence brings together articles that highlight approaches for engaging students and broader communities through teaching, coaching, and assessment in higher education. The contributions examine community-engaged learning in graduate coursework, the use of coaching practices to support student-centered teaching and advising, Cooperative Extension staff readiness for virtual instruction, and alternative assessment strategies aimed at increasing engagement and reducing anxiety in challenging STEM courses. Collectively, the articles …

(In)Consequential Rhetoric: Grading Policy And Values Misalignment At First-Generation-Serving Community Colleges, Sarah N. Seiffert

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

Research indicates that first-generation (FG) students face a number of barriers to success in higher education when compared to their continuing-generation peers. Although many institutions serving a large number of FG students have implemented programs to support this population, little attention has been paid to institutional grading policies that reinforce harmful practices by attempting to standardize assessment while perpetuating inequalities. This study uses document analysis and critical policy analysis to examine the alignment between the grading policies and institutional values of 25 community colleges serving high FG student populations. Findings reveal critical tensions between the stated values of these colleges …

Developing Digital Feedback Literacies In Language Teacher Education: Peer And Partnership Approaches In The Postdigital Age, Jennifer Schluer

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Critical media literacy needs to be seen as a central component of language teacher education, especially in the postdigital age. One underexplored dimension, however, is digital assessment literacy and in particular digital feedback literacy (Schluer, 2022a). Even though recent years witnessed a proliferation of digital technologies for feedback exchanges, pedagogical guidance for the use of digital feedback remains almost non-existent (but see Schluer, 2022a; 2023; 2024a). Theoretically, this paper connects the concept of Digital Feedback Literacies (DFL) to the frameworks of Critical Media Literacies (CML) and Postdigital Literacies (PDL). Empirically, it presents insights from research on digital peer feedback as …

Digital Text And Communication Literacy Of English Language Teachers: Implications From A Reconstructive Study On Teachers’ Professional Development, Annika Janßen, Jan-Erik Leonhardt, Alexandra Kemmerer, Britta Viebrock

Journal of Media Literacy Education

In this contribution, we will introduce the concept of Digital Text and Communication Literacy (DITECOL), which was developed as part of the DigiNICs project. It contains subject-related, functional, critical, and methodological competences to deal with and teach digital texts and communication forms in foreign language education. We will present first results from a qualitative interview study with six English language teachers who participate in the DigiNICs project. The study examines how they perceive their usage of digital texts and communication forms a) in their lessons and b) in the context of in-service teacher training. The interview data was analysed using …

Holistic Support And Development: Collaboration Between Residence Life And Faculty On Short-Term Education Abroad Programs, Kendra Sherman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Short-term education abroad programs are designed to increase students’ intercultural competencies, expose them to new cultures and languages, prepare them for future employability, and further their academic development (Castiello-Gutiérrez & Gozik, 2022; Yao, 2021). While education abroad programs may result in strong benefits for students, they are not without their challenges when it comes to facilitating and managing them. Both the faculty who lead these programs and the students who participate in them face challenges respective to their experiences abroad. Many researchers emphasize collaboration between student affairs and academic affairs to alleviate these challenges, but no one office is identified …

When Prayers Aren’T Enough: The Need For Mission Formation And Professional Development For Lay Faculty At Catholic Colleges And Universities, Lucy A. Pesce

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Current literature suggests that administration and faculty must make a more intentional effort within Catholic higher education to articulate the mission of these religiously-affiliated institutions in response to two current issues: dwindling numbers of clergy and vowed religious faculty and administrators, and fewer students nationwide who self-identify with any form of organized religion. However, few studies have examined the experience of lay faculty at Catholic institutions who are entrusted with advancing the mission, regardless of their religious affiliation, and their professional development needs.

Using the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities’ Catholic Identity and Mission Assessment (CIMA) as a framework …

Interview With Orca Award Winner John J. Janovy, Jr., Unl Biological Sciences; Parasitologist And Author, Mark Griep, John J. Janovy Jr.

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Professor John Janovy, Jr., was awarded the ORCA in 1998. John was born in Louisiana, but his family moved to Oklahoma, where he grew up in Tulsa and then Oklahoma City. Something in his youth must have sparked an interest in science because he earned three degrees from the University of Oklahoma in Norman: a bachelor of science in math in 1959, a master of science in zoology in 1962, and doctoral degree in zoology in 1965. Next, he ventured 1400 miles east to Rutgers University in New Brunswick, New Jersey, where he did post-doctoral work for about a year. …

'The Rest Is Silence': Reframing Stasis As Integral To Creative Practice, Corinna Di Niro, Pablo Muslera

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

This duoethnographic study examines the relationship between motion and stasis in creative practice through the lens of two creative educators working in postgraduate and undergraduate Creative Industries. Drawing on our combined experiences as practitioners and educators at SAE University College, we explore how creative blockages can be reframed as productive rather than problematic, challenging dominant productivity paradigms in contemporary creative industries and education. Through structured dialogic exchange, we investigate three interconnected themes: the rhythmic nature of creative practice, the pedagogical value of embracing productive stasis, and the tension between institutional timelines and creative development. We consider how encouraging SAE creative …

Teachers' Beliefs Expressed As Personal Practice Theories: A Touchstone And Tool To Navigate First Year Teaching Challenges, Sera Shimakura, Tara Barnhart

Student Scholar Symposium Abstracts and Posters

This study examined how early-career teachers utilize Personal Practical Theories (PPTs)—core beliefs about teaching and learning—to navigate first-year challenges. PPTs represent convictions about pedagogy, engagement, and classroom management that teachers develop throughout their preparation. This two-year longitudinal study followed credential program students through training and into their first year of service, replicating and extending Levin et al. (2013).

During preparation, participants engaged in reflection to develop coherent PPTs guiding future practice. Through self-studies, peer discussions, and faculty mentorship, they assessed congruence between stated beliefs and actual implementation, creating a baseline understanding of pedagogical identity. PPT enactment during the first teaching …

Preparing Teachers To Seek Out Student Voice: Grounding The Work In Critical Consciousness, Stephanie Mg Herb

Northwest Journal of Teacher Education

Seeking out student voice is a powerful and beneficial practice that requires teachers to be thoughtful and intentional. While students may feel validated when teachers respond to their input, soliciting student voice can also be harmful if not done carefully. It is necessary to use a critically conscious lens when soliciting student voice and responding to their input and feedback to best support students with historically marginalized identities. Teachers must be prepared to seek out multiple perspectives, deeply listen, and take critical action in response to the information that the students provide. By doing so, teachers can create empowering learning …

Interview With Orca Award Winner Karen Kunc, Unl Art; Abstract Print Artist, Mark Griep, Karen Kunc

UNL ORCA Interview Series

Emeritus Prof. Karen Kunc the Outstanding Research and Creative Activities Award in 1998. She was born in Ralston, Nebraska, in the Omaha Metro Area. Something in her youth must have sparked an interest in art because she earned her bachelor of fine arts degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln in 1975. Next, she ventured 800 miles east to Ohio State University in Columbus, where she earned a master of fine arts. For the next six years, she enhanced her teaching credentials as a printmaking instructor at the Columbus College of Art & Design. From there, she joined the University of …

Exploring Faculty Perspectives Of Roadblocks To Accommodating Students With Disabilities In Community Colleges, Shalither S. Cushenberry

Dissertations

This qualitative study explores faculty perspectives on student accommodation in the community college setting. The one-on-one, semi-structured, in-depth interviews with faculty and perspectives of accommodation experts will result in outcomes that better prepare faculty, as a workforce, to support students with accommodations. The study utilized the social cognitive career theory (SCCT) to understand how increasing faculty awareness and engagement through professional development can enhance their ability to provide services to students with accommodation requests. The study underscores the critical importance of understanding the rationale for students with granted accommodations and faculty members supporting their academic success. The findings revealed gaps …