Digital Commons Network^™

Race, Racism, And Racialization In International Higher Education: A Transnational And Mobility-Aware Approach, Benjamin Denga, Louise Michelle Vital

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Race, racism, and racialization are increasingly recognized as central to understanding inequality in global higher education. Yet dominant frameworks in comparative and international higher education remain nationally bounded and citizenship-centered, offering limited insight into how race operates under conditions of mobility, legal temporariness, and transnational governance. As internationalization intensifies through student mobility, cross-border partnerships, and global knowledge circulation, racialized experiences are shaped by visa-dependent status, differential protection, global racial imaginaries and discourses, uneven or unequal geopolitical relations and institutional logics of internationalization (including marketization, risk management and revenue extraction). In this conceptual article we argue that race and racialization in …

Designing Process-Focused Feedback For College Writers Using Genai, Beata Blood, Maissane Aik, Zoey Zaldivar

Discovery Day - Daytona Beach

As generative AI tools like ChatGPT become more common in higher education, writing instructors face the challenge of guiding students toward effective and ethical use, particularly in asynchronous environments where immediate feedback is limited. This presentation reports on an exploratory study that addresses this challenge by shifting attention from AI’s outputs to students’ moment-by-moment writing processes. Grounded in applied linguistics approaches to writing research and process-tracing methods, the project employed case studies with both expert and novice users of GenAI. Expert participants, including academics and industry professionals, completed writing tasks while integrating AI into their workflows. Their sessions were recorded …

K–3 Teachers’ Perspectives Regarding Learnable Intelligence As A Developmental Target And Their Advocacy For Students’ Cognitive Capabilities, Eleanor Nkechi Maduako

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

Extensive research shows the brain is malleable and, with experience and knowledge, intelligence can grow. The research problem addressed through this study was that the extent of early childhood educators' knowledge of learnable intelligence and their advocacy for advancement of children’s cognitive capabilities as a developmental goal were unknown. Guided by Perkins’s theory of learnable intelligence, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore K–3 teachers’ perspectives on learnable intelligence as a developmental target and how they advocate for children’s cognitive capabilities in their classrooms. In vivo and axial coding of data from semistructured interviews with 12 participants …

Pdf Full Issue, Rosalind L. Raby

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Literacy Hubs: Human-Centered, Coordinated Approach Towards Advancing Adult Literacy In A Community, Alexandria M. Marzolf

Masters Projects

Low adult literacy skills have been a pervasive and persistent challenge in the United States for more than a century. One in five adults (21%) possesses low literacy skills (National Center for Education Statistics, 2026), a finding consistent with statistics reported by the National Literacy Institute (2024). Despite decades of educational reform, many adults continue to experience limited access to coordinated, community-based literacy support. The purpose of this master's project was to develop a community-based Literacy Hub framework designed to increase access to adult literacy learning opportunities through coordinated partnerships and community engagement. An extensive review of educational research, community …

Exploring The Motivations Of Undergraduate Sport Management Students, Kyle J. Brannigan, Tyler J. Hajek

The COSMA Journal

This study explored the motivations of undergraduate sport management in four university programs. Convergent mixed-methods research through the theoretical framework of Self-Determination Theory was incorporated with an adapted questionnaire of the Academic Motivation Scale and semi-structured interviews through Thematic Analysis. Ninety-six surveys with nine interviews were deemed usable across four regionally focused, vocationally minded, and accessible universities. Overall, students reported higher levels of extrinsic motivation than intrinsic motivation. The findings suggested intrinsic motivation to know and extrinsic motivation through regulation for identification scored highest with the participants. No significant differences were found between classes and ethnicities. However, male students experienced …

Teaching Writing With Confidence: A Professional Learning Series To Build Special Education Teachers' Knowledge And Self-Efficacy For Explicit Writing Instruction, Lindsay E. Bowen

Masters Projects

Writing is an essential skill used to communicate ideas effectively, assess understanding, and demonstrate critical thinking across educational and workplace settings. Yet, research demonstrates that a majority of special education teacher preparation programs do not offer standalone courses in writing instruction methods, leaving many special education teachers to enter the profession with limited knowledge of effective writing instruction for students with high-incidence disabilities. This project explores current research on effective sentence-level writing instruction for students with high-incidence disabilities, as well as a research-based approach for applying these practices in a systematic yet adaptable manner to meet the needs of individual …

Beyond The Pencil: Creating Early Writers, Pamela L. Gernaat

Masters Projects

“Schools in many countries are faced with the challenge of developing student writing proficiency. Identifying and implementing effective writing instruction for young, beginning writers play important roles in improving student writing performance. Providing effective writing instruction to beginning writers can promote writing development and minimize the number of children who encounter challenges in learning to write” (Finlayson & McCrudden, 2022, p. 1). Despite the amount of research that has been done on the importance of early writing instruction, many lower elementary students struggle with the ability to write and cannot keep up with the cognitive demands of written instruction. Many …

The Role Of Parents In Supporting Student Learning At Home, Lindsey M. Deblaay

Masters Projects

This study addresses the pedagogical disconnect between modern, inquiry-based mathematics instruction and traditional caregiver support structures. While caregiver involvement has proved to be helpful in student achievement, systematic barriers that limit family’s capacity, parent self-efficacy and their willingness to use learning strategies at home, the perception of the parent role of caregivers in their child’ s education makes it difficult. The curriculum prioritizes conceptual number sense and critical thinking rather than rote standard algorithm, so it has created a barrier in parent support among caregivers with these instructional shifts. It diminishes parent self-efficacy particularly in fifth grade. The project features …

Preparing Newly-Hired Elementary Teachers For Evidence-Based Reading Instruction Through Professional Development, Sierra Rose Anthony

Masters Projects

There is a growing need to equip teachers with the knowledge and support necessary to foster student growth in reading. The problem addressed in this project is that many newly-hired teachers lack the knowledge, confidence, and instructional coaching needed to effectively implement evidence-based literacy practices in conjunction with high-leverage teaching practices. Newly-hired teachers include teachers who are new to a district, both those who have transferred from another school and those who are just beginning their teaching careers. This project proposes a year-long professional development program that equips newly-hired teachers with evidence-based literacy practices and high-leverage teaching practices through explicit …

Vocabulary Knowledge Within Young Children With Autism Spectrum Disorder, Hannah A. Lord

Masters Projects

Young children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) are consistently experiencing a “definitional gap”, where they are able to process vocabulary breadth within labeling but are unable to comprehend text due to the lack of vocabulary depth. The four week vocabulary unit titled “Our World in Words” is created to bridge the gap between vocabulary breadth and depth for first graders. Research in Dual Coding Theory and Cognitive Load Theory provides insight into the use of stable visual anchors with orthographic facilitation, which allows for the disregard of auditory processing, along with an overloaded cognitive load. This framework includes four important …

A Structured Independent Reading Framework To Promote Reading Engagement And Literacy Achievement In Elementary Classrooms, Linda K. Bush

Masters Projects

State and national assessment data indicate declining reading achievement and decreasing reading engagement among elementary students. At the same time, increasing instructional demands and accountability pressures have reduced opportunities for students to participate in meaningful Independent Reading, despite decades of research demonstrating its value for literacy development. Research consistently suggests that Independent Reading is most effective when students are provided with protected reading time, meaningful choice, access to engaging texts, instructional support, opportunities for discussion, reflection, and authentic literacy experiences.

This master’s project presents a Structured Independent Reading Framework, which is a research-based instructional framework designed for elementary classrooms that …

Integrated Self-Regulation Strategy Development And Physical Science: A Unit For Second Grade, Ashley Crawford

Masters Projects

Writing is a large part of education, social communication, and work environments. However, the ability of elementary students to write proficiently is severely lacking. Much of educational writing and work-place writing is informational and the foundation of this writing begins in elementary school. There is a need to increase the amount of instruction and practice that elementary students receive in informational writing so that they are able to write in a competent manner. Writing proficiency in elementary school will affect the education a student receives moving forward and ultimately their adult lives.

Elementary educators need to integrate classroom instruction to …

Exploring The Effectiveness Of A “How-To-Teach” Book Club For Preservice Teachers, Rina Bousalis, Eden Greene, Robyn Klein, Abigail Woods, Isabella Mandoeng

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

As teacher training programs continue seeking ways to prepare their preservice teachers to teach, many have turned to “how-to-teach” books written by veteran teachers, viewing them as a valuable source that could offer teacher candidates additional support. This study, which developed from the idea of creating a book club with instructors and members of a university’s future educators’ organization, used a qualitative textual analysis approach to explore concepts that emerged from how-to-teach books, how participants’ perceived those concepts, and how the books benefited participants. The study revealed that although authors’ perspectives often conflicted with participants’ beliefs, the authors’ engaging activities …

Disengagement And Reconnection: Investigating The Role Of Purpose And Identity Seeking Across Career Stages In Healthcare, Charmel Renee Jeffery

Radiologic Sciences

Purpose To examine the generational purpose gap in healthcare by identifying the psychological and environmental factors underlying early-career disengagement and late-career reconnection.

Method An integrative literature review was conducted using four academic databases. An artificial intelligence (AI)-assisted thematic synthesis was applied to extract and organize findings within a standardized analytic matrix. To ensure accuracy and rigor, all AI-generated outputs were validated against the original source data.

Results Two primary themes emerged. Early-career healthcare workers commonly experienced disengagement associated with destiny beliefs, while later-career professionals demonstrated renewed purpose and resilience despite ongoing stressors.

Discussion The findings revealed a pronounced generational divide …

Challenges In Small-Scale Mining: Developing An Efficient And Sustainable Mining Process, Kossivi Amevo

International Programs

Small-Scale Mining’s economic impact depends on efficient and sustainable mining practices.

Challenges Of Pedagogical Supervision In Côte D'Ivoire: When Three Supervisors Serve More Than 400 Teachers, Kouawo Patrice Touato

International Programs

In Côte d'Ivoire, three pedagogical supervisors support more than 400 English language teachers in one regional education directorate. Nationwide, only 85 pedagogical supervisors serve thousands of English language teachers. Limited human and financial resources make regular classroom observation and individualized teacher support challenging.

Classroom observation can contribute to teacher professional development when it is implemented as a constructive process and supported by adequate institutional capacity thereby helping to implement the Competency-Based Approach (CBA) (Nguyen, 2021; UNESCO, 2017)

Labuan Bajo Menara Vokasi: Weaving The Threads Of Pentahelix Collaboration, Yulian Pauli Fardani

International Programs

No abstract provided.

Bridging The Gap: Documenting The Effectiveness Of Counseling Education In A Speech-Language Pathology Graduate Program, Gianna Baker

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This study aimed to examine the impact of a required counseling course through Duquesne University's Speech-Language Pathology program, particularly regarding student’s counseling self-efficacy and their ability to apply counseling skills within clinical practice. Nineteen first year Master’s students in Speech-Language Pathology at Duquesne University during 2025 participated in this study while enrolled in a counseling course and providing therapy to clients. Students completed the Counselor Activity Self-Efficacy Scales for SLPs (CASES) (Victorino & Hinkle, 2019) prior to beginning and after completion of the required counseling course. While observing video-recorded therapy sessions, the Counselor Competencies Scale-Revised (CCS-R) (Lambie & Swank, 2024) …

Online Parent Group Intervention For Executive Function Skills For Autistic Children And Adolescents, Kathleen Clark

Theses and Dissertations

Executive functioning (EF) skills deficits are prevalent among children and adolescents with autism spectrum disorder (autism) that impacts their academic functioning, social relationships, and families' quality of life. This study aimed to explore an online parent group intervention, to test effectiveness of a 6-week parenting intervention on parenting stress and child's executive functioning (EF) among autism families in rural Utah with limited access to traditional intervention resources. The participants were eight parents from six families of children and adolescents (8-15 years) with clinical diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder and appropriate language abilities for their age. The parents participated in weekly …

Impact Of Artificial Intelligence On The Roles And Career Trajectories Of Radiologic Technologists, Carolina Esquivel

Radiologic Sciences

Purpose To examine how artificial intelligence (AI) is influencing the roles, responsibilities, and career trajectories of radiologic technologists by identifying emerging challenges and opportunities associated with AI integration in medical imaging.

Method A systematic literature review was conducted using PubMed and CINAHL to identify peer-reviewed studies published between 2016 and 2026. Eligible studies examined AI applications in medical imaging and their effects on workforce roles, education, collaboration, and professional practice. Findings were synthesized using thematic analysis.

Results Three primary themes emerged: (a) workflow efficiency and protocol optimization through AI-assisted imaging processes; (b) professional skill development and evolving responsibilities related to …

Administrative And Clinical Impacts Of Theranostic Program Expansion In Nuclear Medicine, Karmela Kljajic Pascual

Radiologic Sciences

Purpose To synthesize current evidence on theranostic trials, nuclear medicine clinical workflow models, and organizational readiness, with a focus on how healthcare organizations and medical imaging leaders are adapting to the rapid expansion of theranostic services.

Method A comprehensive search was conducted across Scopus, PubMed, MEDLINE, and Google Scholar. Inclusion criteria required peer‑reviewed articles published between 2002 and 2026 addressing nuclear medicine leadership, theranostic implementation, workflow design, and organizational factors influencing theranostic program development. Exclusion criteria removed editorials, blog posts, and nonpeer‑reviewed sources.

Results Four major themes emerged: workforce and staffing demands, infrastructure and resource requirements, regulatory and administrative pressures, …

Use Of Technology May Negatively Impact Learners, Dajsha A. Avery

Masters Projects

Integration of technology has changed classrooms vastly in the 21^st century. The research evaluates if the use of technology may negatively impact young learners. The Theory of Constructivism developed by Jean Piaget and Lev Vygotsky encourages the integration of technology in the classrooms because it allows the students to lead their educational journey. It is discovered that using technology allows students to be more engaged, self-paced and work on specific skills. Additionally, educational apps are helpful to build confidence and are an incentive for students while practicing skills. Yet, it is recommended to only allow up to 7 hours …

Equitable Science Instruction For Diverse Learners: Differentiation With Consideration For Multilingual Students, Alicia Reyelts

Masters Projects

Multilingual learners (MLs) continue to experience persistent achievement gaps in science, often due to the linguistic demands of academic language and the limited availability of instructional supports within general education classrooms. As classrooms become increasingly diverse, science teachers require practical instructional resources that promote equitable access to rigorous, standards based learning while supporting students' language development. This master's project addresses this need through the development of a differentiated seventh-grade chemistry unit aligned with the Michigan Middle School Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS). The project is grounded in the principles of differentiated instruction (DI), drawing upon the work of Tomlinson as …

Kindergarten Teachers’ Challenges Embedding Play-Based Learning In A Standards-Based Curriculum, Anna Catalan

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem addressed in this study was that kindergarten teachers in a Western United States elementary school were challenged by standards that have become heavily focused on teaching academic skills at a younger age, instead of teaching with developmentally appropriate practices that allow for play-based learning (PBL). Framed by Vygotsky’s theory of PBL, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to explore what challenges local kindergarten teachers had when embedding PBL in a standards-based curriculum. Data were collected through 15 semistructured interviews with Kindergarten teachers who had at least 2 years' experience embedding PBL in instruction. Using thematic analysis …

English Language Arts Remedial Teachers’ Perspectives On Strategies To Close The Academic Achievement Gap Of Minority High School Students, Barbara Williams

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

The problem that was addressed throughout this study is that 53% of minority students do not reach proficiency on the English Language Arts (ELA) portion of the Florida Assessment of Student Thinking test compared to the 42% of other student populations at Grover High School (GHS, a pseudonym), a large and diverse high school, despite targeted school improvement interventions each school year. Grounded in Ladson-Billings’s culturally relevant pedagogy, the purpose of this basic qualitative study was to investigate ELA remedial teachers’ perspectives on reading strategies and instructional planning tools that might help minority students close the academic achievement gap. Semistructured …

Impact Of Taped Problems Intervention Modification On Children With Deafness, Clyniece Hodge

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Children with hearing loss are at an increased risk of experiencing setbacks in various areas of life, including academic performance and employment opportunities. Academically, they are likely to experience poor academic achievement in reading, as well as in mathematics (ASHA, 2013). In comparison to gifted hearing students and average-ability hearing students, students with hearing loss are at a higher risk of low mathematics performance (Hassan & Mohammed, 2019). Despite these known challenges and risk factors, limited research has been conducted to identify effective intervention strategies for improving mathematical outcomes among this population. As such, this study aimed to evaluate the …

A Mixed-Methods Pilot Study Of A 10-Week Wellness Program For Resident Assistants, Emily L. Lee-Chong

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This mixed-methods pilot study used semi-structured interviews with 15 resident assistants (RAs), complemented by descriptive pre- and post-test data from the Five Factor Wellness Inventory (FFWEL), to explore their lived experiences of participating in a 10-week wellness program grounded in the Indivisible Self Model of Wellness (IS-WEL). The purpose of this study was to examine the program's perceived influence on wellness practices and to explore the feasibility of implementing wellness-focused programming. Using a hermeneutic inquiry approach, the study identified four themes reflecting participants’ experiences throughout the program. Themes highlighted the importance of self-awareness through the IS-WEL model, the value of …

Supporting Oral Language Development Through Family Partnerships: A Family-Centered Toolkit For Children Enrolled In Pre-K, Celeste Baird

Masters Projects

Oral language development during early childhood serves as a critical foundation for later literacy achievement, communication, and preparation for kindergarten. Research indicates that children’s early language experiences are influenced by interactions with families, educators, and community environments, and that differences in access to language-rich experiences may contribute to variation in vocabulary, listening comprehension, and expressive communication prior to school entry. This capstone project examines the role of Pre-K participation and family engagement in supporting oral language development through the lenses of sociolinguistic theory, sociocultural theory, and an educational equity framework. Guided by current research, the project addresses the need for …

Professionalizing Folklore In Latin America: Four Paradigms Of The Musician And The Coloniality Of Music Education, Matias Recharte

Visions of Research in Music Education

In this article, I discuss the professionalization of folklore and its entanglements with coloniality through an analysis of four paradigms of the musicians I encountered in conversations with students, administrators and instructors at the Escuela Nacional de Folklore Jose Maria Arguedas in Lima, Peru. I contrast two pairs of paradigms, the empírico with the académico and the chivero with the professional in order to show how the “professional folklore musician” is constructed through similarities and differences with these paradigms. For my analysis, I use a coloniality theory framework (Casto-Gomez, 2021; Quijan, 1980, 2000, 2007; Segato 2011, 2022) which considers social …