Digital Commons Network^™

Transformative Experiences In A Community College Theatre Program: A Study Of Students' Growth Through A Pedagogy Of Caring, Karen J. Oster

Educational Studies Dissertations

ABSTRACT

This research examined the transformative impact of participation in a community college

theatre program on students’ sense of belonging, confidence, and personal growth. Using a

multiple case study design informed by portraiture methodology, the study focused on five

students who took part in a semester-long production of The Rocky Horror Show. Data were

collected through in-depth interviews, field observations, the researcher’s reflective journaling,

and a pre- and post-semester self-esteem survey to investigate how theatre engagement shaped

students’ social and personal experiences. The program fostered a pedagogy of care emphasizing

mentorship, individualized attention, and the cultivation of a supportive …

Complexity Mindsets, Complex Flow, And More: A Qualitative Grounded Theory Study On The Phenomenon Of Practitioners Working Within Complex Social Systems, Emma D. Stellman

Educational Studies Dissertations

This qualitative grounded theory study addressed gaps in the literature regarding the application of complexity theory to complex social phenomena (CSP), for which no straightforward solutions or simple interventions exist. While complexity theory has played an important role in groundbreaking innovations in quantitative fields such as medicine, engineering, and finance, its application remains limited in human-centered developmental domains including education, social work, and healthcare. Using a grounded theory design informed by phenomenological approaches, this study examined the lived experiences of a group of six CSP practitioners, each of whom participated in two individual, semi-structured video interviews. Interview data were analyzed …

2026 January 15 - From My Notepads Newsletter, Office Of The President, East Tennessee State University, Brian Noland

From My Notepads: A Newsletter from President Brian Noland

No abstract provided.

Differentiated Learning In Pgsd: Enhancing Innovation In Teaching Module Development To Accommodate Students' Learning Styles, Dian Fitri Nur Aini Dian, Falisyta Roisatul Mar'atin Nuro

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

Differentiated learning is an effort to meet learning needs by adjusting to the diverse learning readiness, learning profiles, and interests of each student. Differentiated learning is expected to create effective teaching and learning activities, give students the freedom to exercise their right to learn, and facilitate students' learning needs to develop their abilities. The basic elements of differentiated learning include four (4) aspects, namely: 1) learning environment, 2) curriculum, 3) assessment, 4) learning process. These four elements are interrelated. This research model is qualitative research. The research model used in this study is a descriptive model with the aim of …

We Want The Truth: Fan-Driven Branding And Organizational Response In Professional Wrestling, Jason W. Lee, Nick Davidson, Tim Wilson, Dylan Williams

The COSMA Journal

This teaching case study details a monumental moment in the history of World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) involving the announcement of the abrupt release of a long-tenured, beloved performer, Ron "R-Truth" Killings. The release came as a major surprise to WWE fans, as the performer had recently been featured in a high-profile, nationally televised "main event" match against the WWE icon and crossover pop culture star John Cena. After the news broke that the beloved performer would not be returning to the company, an instantaneous sentiment of shock and subsequent consumer backlash went viral. Ultimately, the WWE did an about-face, bringing …

Play For All: Financial And Legal Dilemmas In Proposing Adaptive Playgrounds, John J. Miller Dr., Jason W. Lee

The COSMA Journal

This case study examines the complexities of designing, funding, and legally complying with adaptive and inclusive playgrounds for children with disabilities. Inclusive playgrounds prioritize social integration by enabling children of all abilities to play together, while adaptive playgrounds focus on accommodating specific functional needs through specialized equipment. Both approaches support physical, cognitive, and social development and promote equitable community participation. Titles II and III of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), mandate accessibility in public and private recreational spaces, yet compliance alone does not guarantee meaningful inclusion. Additionally, funding remains a significant challenge, with full-scale adaptive playgrounds often costing hundreds …

Betting On Inclusion? The Ethical Dilemma Of Funding An Inclusive Playground, Jason W. Lee, John J. Miller Dr., Tasha Hyder

The COSMA Journal

This teaching case study provides an insightful exploration into multifaceted aspects of sport and recreation management. It narrates a fictionalized account enriched with real-life details, focusing on Rhonda Harper, a respected parks and recreation professional leading an initiative to fund an inclusive playground. While this endeavor has garnered support from local citizens, civic leaders, businesses, and children's advocates, raising the necessary $200,000 has proven to be challenging. A profound dilemma emerges when considering a potential $40,000 donation from a local gaming resort. Although this contribution could secure the needed funding for this initiative, it presents intricacies associated with the ethical …

From Automation To Imagination: Empowering Student Creativity In The Digital Age, Annie Yon

New Jersey English Journal

In today’s digital age, literacy extends beyond traditional reading and writing to encompass collaboration, multimodal communication, and the ability to create meaning through diverse media. As AI becomes more integrated into education, we must reconsider its impact on student thinking, work ethic, and writing, while redefining meaningful writing and assessments. Rather than relying on traditional five-paragraph essays, projects like literary magazines that blend writing with multimodal components showcase how educators can prioritize creativity, expression, and personal reflection. This approach ensures that even in the age of AI, students continue to create and engage in ways that are authentically their own.

Amplifying Student Voice With Academic Conversations Across The Curriculum, Tara Temprano, Margaret Gelbwasser

New Jersey English Journal

This article explores the power of academic conversations to foster student engagement across disciplines. Students develop communication skills essential for all subjects through writing exercises, collaborative critiques, and historical role-playing. Strategies for integrating discussion into Art, Social Studies, and ELA classrooms help bridge the gap between the subject and the literacy space.

Of Metaphors And Measurements: Cross-Disciplinary Learning In K-8 English Language Arts And Mathematics, Morgan Shiver, Janet Shiver

New Jersey English Journal

English Language Arts and mathematics may seem like an unlikely pair, but together, literature and math can foster meaningful cross-disciplinary learning. This article presents strategies for using literature in K-8 classrooms to meet both ELA and math standards, enhancing student engagement and comprehension.

Moving Beyond Reading And Writing: Incorporating Historically Responsive Literacy Into Literacy Instruction In Content Area Classrooms, Andrea Lemahieu Glaws

New Jersey English Journal

This article describes the practices on teacher educator used to incorporate a historically responsive literacy framework into a disciplinary literacy course offered for pre-service teachers. This article begins with an overview of disciplinary literacy and Dr. Muhammad’s historically responsive literacy framework. Following, this article describes three assignments that the teacher educator used within her classroom to support pre-service teachers across multiple content areas in making connections between HRL and their content area discipline. These three assignments include: lab reflections, curriculum analysis, and mini-lesson facilitation. Connections to implications beyond teacher education are made.

Interdisciplinary Literacy: An Integrative And Inquiry-Based Effort, Melissa Bryan

New Jersey English Journal

This article outlines a multi-week student-centered social justice research project as a space through which educators may develop disciplinary reading skills. The piece considers culturally responsible and critical literacy practices as well as research on best practices in interdisciplinary reading in secondary education. Results reveal that motivation and discipline-specific reading strategies are key to student success.

Cover, Editors' Note, Front Matter, Susan Chenelle, Lauren Zucker

New Jersey English Journal

No abstract provided.

The Influence Of Continuous Improvement Initiatives On Employee Performance: The Mediating Role Of Organizational Culture. An Applied Study On Sharjah Police Science Academy, Fakhri Abdul Kareem Bani Doumii

Journal of Police and Legal Sciences

This research aims to investigate the effects of the Continuous Improvement (CI) Initiatives on the employees’ performance within the framework of Police Higher Education institution with special reference to the Sharjah Police Science Academy. It examines organizational culture as a mediating variable, through which the connection between CI Initiatives and improved performance results is explained. This research assesses the impact of each dimension of CI initiatives which includes employee involvement, process management, customer focus, leadership commitment, and training on employee performance indices which includes task performance, contextual performance, adaptive performance and counterproductive work behaviour. Using the PLS-SEM analysis, the study …

The Incorporation Of Ai-Enabled Culturally Relevant Narrative-Based Learning Pedagogy To Engage Students In A Diverse Stem Classroom, Nitin U. Jain, Eliza G. Braden

Faculty Publications

This study explores how AI-enabled, culturally relevant, narrative-based learning pedagogy influences engagement among ninth-grade students in an Earth Science course. Conducted in two classrooms in a southeastern U.S. school predominantly attended by African American and Latinx students, we developed lesson plans on Earth Systems and Climate Change. Using a qualitative case study design, we examined one educator's implementation of AI-enhanced lessons. Thematic analysis of exit surveys and students' artifacts revealed that narrative-based learning significantly increased students' desire, engagement, and confidence in scientific concepts compared to conventional methods. This approach allowed students to integrate local and global knowledge, fostering deep questions …

A Phenomenological Study Exploring Christian Women Emotional Traumatic Symptoms Post Spousal Infidelity, Tracy Y. Davis

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The discovery of spousal infidelity has been recognized in the literature as a devastating breach of marital commitment. The purpose of this phenomenological study was to describe women of faith’s experiences with emotional trauma after discovering spousal infidelity in the Northeastern United States. This study’s theoretical framework is guided by Schlossberg’s transition theory, which aims to answer the following research questions: How do women of faith describe emotional trauma after the discovery of infidelity? How does infidelity affect the psychological, emotional, and physical functioning of women and their social systems? How do participants describe their spiritual relationship with God after …

A233: Digital Empowerment And Governance Innovation For Smart Sports Community Development In Urban China, Li Liu, Xuekai Qi, Jie Wu, Wei Shen

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Smart sports communities are emerging as a crucial component of China’s National Fitness Strategy, driven by digital empowerment and governance innovation. This study examines the historical evolution of urban community sports and investigates how technological innovations enhance governance, management, service efficiency, and user experience in the development of smart sports communities. Method: This research employs an empirical case study in the Yangtze River Delta region, encompassing 25 grassroots communities across cities such as Nanjing, Jiaxing, Shanghai, Hefei, and Wuhu. A historical analysis of policy documents, academic research, and media reports provides longitudinal insights into the transformation of urban community sports …

A270: Exerciser Adoption Of Personalized Workout Plan In Ai-Powered Fitness Apps: The Technology Affordance Perspective, Yike Jiao, Zhao Du, Ziyan Deng

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

With the proliferation of artificial intelligence in the sports industry, AI-powered fitness apps that offer personalized fitness services are becoming increasingly prevalent. The personalized workout plan, a popular feature of AI-powered fitness apps, is being added to a growing number of fitness apps and embraced by a rapidly expanding user base. Personalized workout plans are tailored to exercisers’ fitness goals, demographics, body features, preferences, and skill levels. Although this feature is expected to enhance exerciser engagement and improve their satisfaction, scholarly works investigating the factors that drive and hinder exercisers from adopting it remain scarce. Based on the technology affordance …

A276: A Grounded Theory Study: Could Outdoor Hiking Foster Meaningfulness In Life For Urban Gen-Z?, Weikang Liao, Li Li

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Urban Generation Z (youth born between 1995 and 2009 in cities) has grown up in highly digitized and urbanized environments, facing contemporary challenges such as social alienation and a lack of meaning in life. While outdoor hiking is recognized as a stress-relief activity, its specific mechanisms for fostering meaning in life among Generation Z remain unclear. Existing studies predominantly focus on the physical and mental health benefits of outdoor activities, neglecting the dynamic construction of meaning in life and particularly overlooking the unique characteristics of this generational cohort. This study aims to uncover the distinct pathways through which urban Generation …

A305: The International Communication Path Of Table Tennis Sports Presentation, Mingchen Xu, Xiyu Zhao

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Table tennis carries a unique mission of cross-cultural communication. In 1971, the "Ping-Pong Diplomacy" with the strategic wisdom of "a small ball turning a big ball" set a classic model for sports public diplomacy. As a carrier of national cultural symbols, the international communication of table tennis should rely on major events to tell the table tennis story to achieve presentation and Presentation. As a key for event communication, in table tennis events, is driven by the synergy of three-dimensional elements: "competitive core + technological extension + commercial drive". Specifically, through the organic combination of visual and auditory elements and …

A041: “Sports Yuan”: The Body Expression Of Young Women's Digital Participation In Sports, Zongrui Ye

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

With the rise of social media and the popularity of outdoor sports, more young women are sharing sports-related photos and videos online, giving rise to the “sports goddess” phenomenon. This trend has sparked debate, being seen as a reflection of modern women’s active and healthy lifestyle, yet criticized for excessive image focus, deviating from true sports spirit. This research aims to analyze the bodily expression behind the phenomenon and its impact on sports culture, using self-presentation theory and power-disciplinary theory to explore how social media shapes women’s self-expression. This study uses theoretical analysis based on Erving Goffman’s self-presentation theory and …

A051: Spatial Distribution Pattern And Influencing Factors Of Ice And Snow Tourism Resources In Shandong Province, Yu Zhang, Xinlong Zhao, Yan Wang

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

At present, most studies focus on the three provinces in Northeast China, the Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei region, and Inner Mongolia, where the basic conditions of ice and snow tourism are relatively superior, while the spatial distribution characteristics of ice and snow tourism in Shandong Province are relatively scarce. In view of this, this study adopts ArcGIS spatial analysis technology to deeply explore the spatial distribution characteristics of ice and snow tourism resources in Shandong Province, and comprehensively analyze its influencing factors, aiming to provide theoretical suggestions and evidence-based policy references for optimizing the spatial layout of ice and snow tourism resources in …

A107: Multidimensional Influencing Factors And Psychosocial Mechanisms Of Eating Disorders In Female Athletes, Yajing Zhao, Peizhen Zhang, Lumeng Yang

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Eating disorders (ED) are prevalent mental health conditions that significantly threaten the physical and psychological well-being of female athletes. The risk of ED is driven by the interplay of multiple factors, including sport-specific training environments, psychological vulnerabilities, and sociocultural pressures. Although existing research has identified several independent risk factors, a systematic understanding of the sport-related psychosocial mechanisms remains insufficient. This study aims to synthesize empirical evidence from the past five years to elucidate the multidimensional pathways of ED in female athletes, with a particular focus on intervention targets from a sport psychology perspective. A systematic literature review was conducted, retrieving …

A133: Self-Aggrandizing In Badminton Teaching Short Videos Affects Learning Willingness, Mingxiang Yi, Yuanjing Huang

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Based on the new era of digital sports development, self-media platforms have become an important carrier of sports teaching communication; however, few studies have investigated the relationship between self-aggrandizing behavior during sports teaching on self-media platforms and platform users' learning intention. In this study, we take Jittery self-media platform as an example to explore the chain path that creators' boasting behavior (H1) positively affects users' learning intention (H2) by enhancing users' trust (H3), and to verify the mediating effect of trust in the relationship between boasting behavior and learning intention, as well as the two-way influence between badminton short video …

A135: 6-Week Intermittent Fasting And Aerobic Exercise: Effects On Body, Cardiovascular, And Sleep In Masked Obese Men, Boran Zhang, Meng Li, Runsheng Nie, Yuting Fu

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

Masked obesity (MO), defined by normal BMI with elevated body fat percentage, poses elevated health risks. This randomized trial compares combined intermittent fasting (IF) and aerobic exercise (AE) with single-modality interventions in young males, assessing body composition, cardiovascular function, and sleep quality to establish optimal evidence-based interventions. A total of 36 participants were randomized into three groups (n=12 each): (1) intermittent fasting combined with aerobic exercise (IF+AE), (2) IF-only, and (3) AE-only. Baseline assessments included body composition (weight, fat/lean mass, waist-to-hip ratio), cardiovascular markers (carotid intima-media thickness [CIMT], ejection fraction), and Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI). The IF+AE group alternated …

A183: Research On The Path Of The Digital Development Of Sports Culture, Hanxiao Wu

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

The party's 20th report proposed to build a sports power and promote cultural confidence and self-improvement. Campus sports culture needs to borrow digital technology innovation breakthroughs: through intelligent technology to promote the Chinese sports spirit into virtual events, wisdom teaching scenarios, combined with AI and big data implementation physical training and two-way conduction of core values, build "digital technology can assign movement practice-cultural gene deepening spiritual identity" synergy mechanism, for sports power and cultural confidence provide operational innovation path. To study the path of digital development of sports culture on the comprehensive development of teenagers by means of literature, expert …

A211: Ai-Driven Strategic Frameworks For Sport Event Propagation Under Media Affordance Theory, Wenqian Yao, Jingwang Zhang

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

The advancement of intelligent technology has transformed interaction models across communication ecosystems, encompassing production, dissemination, and consumption. Exemplified by the Paris Olympics’ 180+ intelligent communication domains, “AI + Sports” has emerged as an industry paradigm. This study employs media affordance theory to analyze AI’s transformative role in sports communication and associated ethical challenges, offering insights for cultivating a robust digital sports ecosystem. Method: This study investigates the application pathways of artificial intelligence in 20 major sports events held between 2000 and 2024. Data on application frequency, audience feedback, and other relevant metrics w collected to analyze the impact patterns of …

A228: Preservation And Dissemination Of Taijiquan Culture In Digital Perspective, Songqi Wang, Bin Yan

International Journal of Physical Activity and Health

One of China’s most iconic cultural traditions has increasingly gained: Taijiquned global recognition: Taijiquned. However, rapid digitalization has significantly changed young people's cultural preferences and participation habits, posing challenges to traditional methods of cultural preservation, which often fail to resonate with youth, creating a noticeable disconnect. This study examines the potential of digital communication—especially short videos, livestreaming, and social media—to preserve and disseminate Taijiquan culture through interactive, youth-oriented methods. Specifically, it empirically explores whether digital media strategies effectively improve younger generations’ cultural awareness, participation motivation, and cultural identity, aiming to provide practical insights for digital heritage protection. A randomized controlled …

Improving Mathematical Problem-Solving Performance Through The Use Of Reading Comprehension Strategies, Rebecca Yonan

Masters Projects

Research shows that math problem solving relies on more than arithmetic computation. Word problem solving is a combination of text comprehension and word memory. Being able to successfully solve word problems at the elementary level helps prepare students for algebra, and higher academics. Learning to solve word problems teaches students problem solving techniques that can be applied in their adult lives. This project creates an instructional routine where lessons are built around teaching primarily through word problem solving. Students will receive instruction on text comprehension, math vocabulary building, word memory, and arithmetic computation in order to simultaneously increase their math …

African American Adult Male Survivors Of Childhood Sexual Abuse And Their Subsequent Experiences In Intimate Partner Relationships, Christian Lee Jefferson

Doctoral Dissertations and Projects

The purpose of this qualitative interpretive phenomenology study is to explore the lived experiences of African American adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse within intimate partner relationships. The problem is that it is not known how African American adult male survivors of childhood sexual abuse describe their present or past intimate partner relationships experience or the impact that childhood sexual abuse has on their intimate partner relationships. Research shows how experiences of sexual abuse create difficulty in managing intimate partner relationships. Many survivors of childhood sexual abuse often had damaging effects on adults with their romantic relationships. Findings from …