Digital Commons Network^™

The Effect Of Water Pollution In Kansas, Chaejun Park Chaejun Park, Jeanne Sumrall

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

Groundwater in Kansas shows significant nitrate contamination, with about 20% of samples exceeding the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) safe drinking water limit of 10 mg/L. This indicates that a considerable portion of groundwater sources are affected by pollution levels high enough to pose potential risks to human health and environmental quality. High nitrate concentrations are strongly associated with agricultural activity and land-use patterns, particularly areas with intensive fertilizer application, irrigation, and livestock operations. In addition, more than half of all monitored wells show evidence of human influence, reinforcing the idea that nitrate contamination is largely driven by anthropogenic rather than …

In Their Own Words: A Student-Centered Assessment Of Human Rights And Policy Competency, Nadaya Brantley

One University Assessment Celebration

No abstract provided.

Humanizing Engineering For Preservice Elementary Teachers Through Sustainable Engineering Stories, Jeffrey D. Radloff, Madison M. Morris, Jacob Pleasants

Journal of Pre-College Engineering Education Research (J-PEER)

Meeting the goals of US K–12 science education reform requires that preservice elementary teachers (PSTs) understand engineering as a specialized discipline and a human endeavor that addresses real-world issues. Yet in their formal education, few PSTs receive opportunities to learn about the humanistic dimensions of engineering: engineers’ personal values and motivations, the sociocultural nature of engineering work, and the societal significance of engineering. Storytelling about engineering offers a practical way to give PSTs access to these ideas. This study examines the impacts of integrating storytelling about engineering in a science methods course for future elementary school teachers. Over a two-year …

Hispanic Students As Environmental Scientists: Culturally Sustaining Stem Pathways Through Raíces Y Ciencia, Uma Ganesan

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This study examines how culturally and linguistically sustaining environmental STEM education (CLSE-STEM) fostered student agency and environmental consciousness among Hispanic/Latinx students in Rio Grande Valley border schools. Through qualitative analysis of the Raíces y Ciencia project's water quality investigations, the research explored how teachers integrated students' cultural and linguistic resources with environmental science learning. Data from conference panel presentations, educator surveys, and classroom artifacts revealed three key themes: linguistic border-crossing as scientific understanding pathways, connecting family knowledge to environmental justice advocacy, and positioning students as community researchers. Findings demonstrate that centering Hispanic students' cultural assets while addressing local water quality …

Effective Support Services For Black-African International Students, Amy V. Rutledge

Doctor of Education (Ed.D)

Currently, 1.5 million F-1 and M-1 students are enrolled in U.S. institutions of higher education (IHEs; U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, 2025). Although support services for international students are improving, substantial gaps remain in helping these students transition to the next phase of life (Weiner & Ghazarian, 2024). This transcendental phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of six recently graduated Black African international students (BAISs) to identify effective support services for graduate programs, licensure, or legal employment. Participants were recruited through snowball sampling for interviews, which were analyzed using descriptive coding (yielding 61 codes) and thematic analysis (producing six themes). …

Cultivating Teacher Agency: Professional Development For Culturally Sustaining Environmental Stem Education In South Texas, Uma Ganesan, Angela M. Chapman, Alexander Hernandez

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This qualitative multiple-case study examined how culturally and linguistically sustaining environmental STEM (CLSE-STEM) professional development transformed in-service teachers' practices across three South Texas high schools serving predominantly Hispanic populations. Through a three-phase design, eight STEM teachers participated in sustained professional learning focused on implementing culturally situated, liberatory pedagogies addressing educational inequities. Data included focus group interviews, classroom observations, teacher-created curricula, and student artifacts collected from Spring 2024 to Spring 2025. Findings revealed five interconnected themes demonstrating teachers' evolution from deficit-based to asset-based approaches: place-based environmental stewardship, strategic translanguaging implementation, teacher agency development, enhanced student engagement, and elder knowledge integration. Results …

Empowering Change: Building Environmental Sustainability Initiatives And Becoming A Sustainability Champion, Amanda C. Karls

School of Public Service Theses & Dissertations

In an era marked by escalating environmental challenges and an urgent need for sustainable development, higher education institutions (HEIs) are increasingly positioned as critical actors in advancing sustainability within the communities they serve. Regional comprehensive universities (RCUs), in particular, occupy a distinctive position as access‑oriented, community‑embedded public institutions; yet sustainability efforts at these institutions often unfold under conditions of limited resources, diffuse responsibility, and informal governance. This dissertation examines how individual actors at RCUs effectively advance environmental sustainability initiatives in the absence of centralized infrastructure or formal authority.

Guided by the overarching research question—How can individual actors at regional comprehensive …

Beyond The Survey: Performance Assessments For Higher-Order Sustainability Literacy In Higher Education, Gregory Vincent Massara, Courtney B. Ryan, Mary Ellen Mallia

Educational Policy & Leadership Other Graduate Student Scholarship

Purpose This study explores how a performance-based assessment measures students’ higher-order sustainability competencies in ways that multiple-choice or scaled-survey tools, common ways to assess sustainability literacy, may not.

Design/Methodology/Approach This exploratory case study created a performance task for a first-year honors writing and critical inquiry course. Students (n=9) analyzed a scenario across environmental, social, and economic domains. A rubric measured students’ abilities to address all three domains and articulate a feasible and balanced solution supported by credible evidence.

Findings Students demonstrated proficiency in defining the three sustainability domains but tended to struggle to balance them. Choosing scenarios in familiar local …

Advancing Environmental Justice Through Chemical Education: Perspective From New Orleans’ Water And Air Quality Challenges, Ja’Lynn Keller, Sita Aggarwal, Rami A. Al-Horani, Morewell Gasseller, Navneet Goyal

Faculty and Staff Publications

New Orleans, Louisiana, faces profound environmental vulnerabilities arising from the convergence of industrial pollution, urban runoff, and climate change–driven weather events. This paper examines systemic challenges affecting water and air quality in the region, with particular focus on low-income and marginalized communities disproportionately burdened by environmental degradation. Drawing on educational and community-based monitoring initiatives at Xavier University of Louisiana and Southeastern Louisiana University, we highlight the integration of student learning with real-time data collection of contaminants such as fecal coliforms, heavy metals, hydrocarbons, and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). The aftermath of Hurricane Katrina revealed significant fecal contamination in sediment layers, …

Rupturing The Sport Management Classroom: Zine-Making For World-Making, Roc Rochon, Chen Chen

Sport Management Collection

The on-going COVID-19 pandemic (and the pandemic of capitalism, white supremacy, imperialism, and colonialism, etc.) calls for imaginative, relevant, and critical approaches in sport management education to address diverse, socially, and culturally dynamic students. Yet the bulk of existing educational resources remain rooted in reinforcing systems of domination and the structure of on-going settler colonialism (Chen & Mason, 2019; hooks, 1994). A major challenge in traditional approaches to “updating” the curriculum fall short in challenging the banking mode of education (Freire, 1970). Following Amis and Silk’s (2005) call for a “rupture” of the reproduction of the status quo within sport …

From The Publisher & Editor, Lamont Anthony Wells, Colleen Windham-Hughes

Intersections

No abstract provided.

Full Issue

Intersections

No abstract provided.

“It’S A Lot More To It Than Just Research”: Integrating Critical Data Literacy And Reasoning With Data Into A Stem Summer Camp, Marc T. Sager, Saki L. Milton, Candace Walkington

Publications

Purpose: This study explores how middle-grade girls from predominantly underrepresented and underserved racially and ethnically minoritized (UUREM) backgrounds developed critical data literacy (CDL) through participation in a week-long residential STEM camp. Given the increasing importance of data science education in a data-driven world, this research examines how informal learning environments can support CDL development among youth from historically marginalized groups.

Design/Methodology/Approach: The study draws on qualitative interview data from eleven participants, and their group-produced artifacts to investigate how the camp experience supported engagement with data and the development of CDL. Interviews explored participants' experiences with data collection, organization, analysis, and …

A Phenomenological Study Of Teacher And Student Experience Within A Community Of Inquiry: Utilizing Wonder-Infused Pedagogy In An Elementary Outdoor Classroom, Andrew Gilbert, Steph N. Dean

Publications

This interpretive phenomenological study explores how wonder-infused pedagogy, enacted within an elementary outdoor classroom, supported the development of a community of inquiry. We position the community of inquiry as the overarching framework for cultivating social, cognitive, and teaching presence; wonder as the pedagogical driver; and outdoor learning as the authentic context for engaging in science practices. In response to schooling contexts that often privilege testing and individual achievement over collaborative inquiry, we examined an eight-week outdoor wonder project with third- through fifth-grade students. Data sources included group interviews, student journals, teacher reflections, and photographs. Students engaged in weekly wonder journaling …

Fighting The Black Snake: The Dapl And The Case For Indigenous Environmental Stewardship, Kenny Moll

Student Theses 2015-Present

This thesis analyzes the current scope of environmental injustice on Native lands in the U.S. Specifically it examines The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and its impacts on the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota. Western colonialism and capitalism have dominated North American ecosystems since their forcible introduction hundreds of years ago, causing the commodification of natural resources and leading to injustices such as that of the “Black Snake.” However, the story of The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s resistance will be analyzed through the framework of Indigenous philosophy and environmental justice. Chapter 1 analyzes the implementation of the DAPL and …

Beyond Black And White: Embracing Every Hue Through Words, Stories, And Unapologetic Truths, Darius M. Phelps

New Jersey English Journal

Literacy shapes how students interpret and engage with the world, yet traditional education often compartmentalizes it. This article explores racial literacy and poetry as transformative, interdisciplinary tools for critical inquiry and identity formation. Grounded in scholarship and practical strategies, it calls for reimagining literacy instruction as empowerment across disciplines and lived experiences.

Nourishing Roots: Supporting Indigenous Food Education In School Gardens, Tatiana Marina Patino Madriaga

Cal Poly Humboldt theses and projects

This project asked: How can a school garden at Hoopa Valley Elementary support Indigenous food education, student well-being, and relational learning? To explore this question, I designed and implemented a garden classroom and facilitated hands-on garden and culinary workshops with students.

The garden was planned in September, built in October, and had plants in the ground by November. Over the course of the project, I facilitated four workshops, one Earth Day community event, and weekly garden classes. Approximately 350 students participated in the garden in some capacity, reflecting broad, school-wide engagement.

Methods included participant observation, documentation of student engagement, and …

Environmental Risk Modeling For Heavy Rainfall Events In Jeddah City Between The Years (2000-2025), Amina Atallah Al-Rehaili

University of Tabuk Journal for Humanities and Social Sciences

This study models the potential environmental risks associated with heavy rainfall events that affected Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, between 2000 and 2025. A descriptive-analytical approach based on Geographic Information Systems (GIS) was employed to analyze spatial patterns of rainfall and assess their environmental implications. The methodology included a literature review, collection of daily rainfall data, identification of extreme rainfall events, and spatial analysis of rainfall distribution across the city. A suitability model was then developed to determine areas most vulnerable to heavy rainfall hazards. Results indicate that heavy rainfall events and their environmental impacts on residents and property correspond to 70.37% …

Eat With Understanding: A Um Student Guide To Food Systems, James Deacon, Cora Johnson, Lucas Dymit, Kaeli Rackham, Elsie Danyo

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

The industrialized food system creates environmental harm, reduces food sovereignty, and contributes to growing food insecurity. These problems oftentimes are overlooked in higher education. To address this gap, our project examines how access to sustainable food education and campus-community partnerships can improve well-being and informed decision-making amongst University of Montana students. This collaborative project connects partners within UM Wellness, PEAS Farm, the Missoula Food Bank and Community Center, and the Big Sky Culinary Institute. Our research includes applied learning with these organizations by hosting a variety of speaker series presentations and coordinating a cooking workshop. We collected quantitative and qualitative …

Learning For A Sustainable Future: Embedding Sustainability Literacy In Honors Curricula Within Higher Education, Zoe E. Belinda

Undergraduate Theses, Professional Papers, and Capstone Artifacts

This research investigates the sustainability literacy levels of first-year Davidson Honors College (DHC) students at the University of Montana (UM) to develop a baseline for average sustainability knowledge at the beginning of students’ post-secondary education. The goals of this research are to (1) determine if there are differences in sustainability literacy scores between students in sustainability-related fields of study and their counterparts, (2) identify weaknesses in students’ current sustainability literacy, and (3) develop curriculum suggestions to improve sustainability knowledge. To address these research questions, all first-year DHC students in 2024 and 2025 were surveyed using a modified version of the …

Equity In Coastal Resilience: A Framework For University Engagement In Community-Based Projects, Juita-Elena (Wie) Yusuf, Jennifer L. Whytlaw, Marina Saitgalina, Ogechukwu N. Nwandu-Vincent, Khairul A. Anuar, Thomas Allen, Joshua Behr

School of Public Service Faculty Publications

As communities face intensifying climate hazards, it is vital to strengthen resilience in ways that explicitly prioritize social equity. This study examines how higher education institutions can better support government, nonprofit, and community partners in advancing equity-centered coastal resilience in the U.S. Utilizing a qualitative research design, we analyze discussions among researchers and practitioners during a three-day workshop. We present a framework derived from a thematic analysis of breakout group transcripts from a three-day national virtual workshop involving 113 researchers and practitioners. The analysis identified four core themes: the necessity of aligning projects with community-defined priorities; the foundational role of …

Preserve Democracy By Teaching Social Action, Cheyenne C. Luzynski

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

This presentation introduces social action pedagogy aimed to empower students to lead campaigns on pressing social issues and strengthen their participation in democracy. Teaching social action has enhanced the knowledge, practice, and skills of leadership and civic engagement. America’s Promise Alliance conducted a research study on the state of young people in 2024 and found that young people have low trust in American institutions and adults and feel negatively affected by the current social and political climate (Flanagan et al., 2025). The report also found that young people want access to civic education and engagement opportunities to correct inequalities and …

2026 Jan Term Course Catalog, Saint Mary's College Of California

Jan Term Course Catalog

No abstract provided.

Teaching Nature Of Science (Nos) Through Cultural Windows: A Framework For Latinx Preservice Science Teachers, Noushin Nouri, Maryam Saberi

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

This chapter presents a comprehensive framework for teaching Nature of Science (NOS) to preservice science teachers through cultural windows, implemented through six targeted activities. The framework, developed through rigorous meta-synthesis of NOS literature and analysis of Latinx preservice teachers' autobiographies, integrates Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (CSP) and Rightful Presence (RP) theories with NOS curriculum elements. This theoretical foundation informs the design of activities: Dolores Huerta environmental justice, Tangram exploration, historical cases, cultural picture analysis, nixtamalization black box, and family-scientist interactions. Each activity systematically maps to curriculum elements while demonstrating how the framework enables cultural knowledge integration in NOS instruction for meaningful, …

Sustainable Justice: A Critical Contemplative Approach To Sustainability In Higher Education, Jessica A. Reneau

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The field of sustainability studies increasingly asks students to confront ecological crises alongside considerations of power, privilege, and unequal environmental harm. This work can be emotionally challenging as well as intellectually complex. Contemplative practices, such as meditation and yoga, may offer meaningful pedagogical support, helping students cultivate the attention, reflection, and emotional capacity needed to stay engaged with justice-centered sustainability learning. Although the use of contemplative pedagogies is growing in higher education, little research has examined how these practices shape justice-orientated learning outcomes in sustainability education. This dissertation addresses that gap by exploring how both student and instructor experience contemplative …

Updates To Version 1.0 Of The Four‐Dimensional Ecology Education Framework Create Version 1.1., Christopher W. Beck, Loren B. Byrne, Jennifer Doherty, Amanda E. Sorensen, Et Al.

Arts & Sciences Faculty Publications

Since its introduction in 2018, the Four-Dimensional Ecology Education (4DEE) Framework has advanced ecology education. Yet, ecology educators have had different understandings of aspects of the Framework. Here, we describe the updates to the original Framework that aim to provide more clarity. Specifically, we describe higher-level changes in how the Framework is presented on the 4DEE website, changes to some of the elements within the dimensions, mostly in the Human–Environment Interactions dimension, and perhaps most substantively, replacing the lists of subelements with more descriptive paragraphs that explain the intent of the elements. We hope that these updates will promote the …

A Children’S Rights Approach To Critical Media Literacy In Language Education: Developing Children’S Agency In A Digital Networked World, Frauke Matz, Jeff Share

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Children are growing up in a culture of digitality, one infused in digital communication in and out of school (Faverio & Sidotti, 2024; Stalder, 2018). They are immersed in a digital networked world, which plays a significant role in how they develop their literacies and identities (Cannon et al., 2022) across languages. To help them participate as “active thinkers and citizens in their own right” (Wall, 2016, p. 86), educators could consider the potential of critical media literacy in language education as a pedagogical response to the commercial exploitation of information, and the liberatory potential of critical thinking and creative …

'That All May Be One’: Incarnation, Solidarity, And Anti-Racism In Jesuit Education, Yancy Hughes Dominick

Jesuit Higher Education: A Journal

Jesuit colleges and universities in the US have been striving to become anti-racist. This work is often tied to mission and to a shared commitment to Jesuit and Catholic values like a faith that does justice and the dignity of all persons. At the same time, however, many Jesuit institutions frame their commitment to anti-racism in language that does not appeal to specific aspects of Jesuit tradition; likewise, mission and Jesuit identity is often described in ways that make no overt reference to anti-racism. A robust anti-racism, I argue, arises necessarily out of Jesuit Catholic thought, and fully realized Jesuit …

Voices At The Intersection: A Listening Guide Analysis Of Campus-Based Advocates Navigating Institutional Policies On Sexual Violence, Arely Zaragoza-Hernandez

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

Campus-based advocates occupy a critical yet complex position within higher education institutions (Nightingale, 2023; Wood et al., 2021), serving as frontline support for students while simultaneously navigating the mandates, policies, and bureaucratic structures that define their roles. This research study explores the lived experiences of advocates working in university settings, focusing on how institutional mandates from compliance requirements to administrative expectations shape, constrain, and sometimes empower their daily practices. Using a qualitative, phenomenological approach, the study centers the voices of campus-based advocates in Texas to illuminate the tensions between their professional commitments to student-centered care and the institutional imperatives of …

Teaching For Global Ecological Citizenship: A Case Study Of Rural Teachers’ Experiences And Practices, Sarah L. Tennyson

Dissertations

The purpose of this qualitative case study is to examine the experiences and practices of rural educators incorporating global ecological citizenship education into the social studies classroom. The systematic themes of social studies education in the past must evolve with the diversity of the classroom. Traditional themes taught must become more globally relevant, including ecological citizenship, the responsibility of citizens to sustain and participate in global ecological issues. One on one interviews with four rural Georgia educators along with artifacts they provided were examined for themes related to two research questions. How do rural educators adapt their instructional strategies to …