Digital Commons Network^™

Embarrassment As A Signal: Feminist Affects And The Commodification Of Love, Bianca L. Schmitt

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Analyzing Educators’ Roles In Preparing Students For Civic Engagement In Arkansas Communities, Mia Hastings

2026 Research Poster Competition

Individuals aged eighteen to twenty-nine accounted for only thirteen percent of the voting electorate in the 2018 election, despite representing nearly twenty-two percent of the voting age population (Making Young Voters, 2020, p. 3). Although the percentage of students enrolled in at least one high school government course has remained relatively constant since the late 1920s, most state standards, including those in Arkansas, require only a single civics course to graduate (Branson, 2003, p. 3). As a preservice teacher, I am struck by how civic education often focuses on reciting facts about government and political institutions rather than equipping students …

Stuck In The Middle?: A Design Project To Support Do Not Qualify (Dnq) And Other Struggling Students At The Elementary Level, Steven T. Hartnett, Kevin M. Parkinson, Whitney M. Wayman

Doctor of Education Capstones

This dissertation in practice is designed to support New Kent County Public Schools, which noticed an increase in students being referred for special education services without a concomitant increase in students being found eligible for such services. Systems mapping revealed a root cause of this discrepancy is that the division lacked a comprehensive intervention plan consistently implemented, and - as a result - some students were referred for special education services not due to the presence of a potential learning disability, but merely for lack of other available options. Using tenets from design thinking and design-based research, the project co-created …

Neoliberalism In Education: Three Studies On The Intersection Of Neoliberalism, Science Of Reading, And Policy, Candace Bechtold

Theses and Dissertations

This dissertation consists of three linking projects that study the intersection of neoliberal ideology, American education policymaking, and the Science of Reading (SOR). I sought to understand how neoliberal mechanisms like standardization and accountability have shaped past and current education policies in the United States. In the first project, I take an historical approach to conceptualize neoliberal ideology to explain how it is manifested in Standards-Based Accountability (SBA) reform and demonstrate how its implications have progressed over time. In the second project, I focus on one state's SOR policy–the Virginia Literacy Act (VLA)– to conduct a discourse analysis of documents …

"I Didn't Teach It Again Because It Wasn't Worth It": How Grades 6-12 English Language Arts Teachers Select Texts And Navigate The Obstacles That Impede Them, Steve Poggendorf

Theses and Dissertations

Classroom texts not only function as tools through which teachers can build curricula, but they can also engage and empower learners. Despite the importance of engaging texts in the classroom, teachers encounter obstacles, both social and institutional, that impede their ability to select the texts they believe will best foster student engagement and empowerment. The purpose of this qualitative study was to investigate how teachers make text selections, as well as the nature of the obstacles that stand in the way of teachers who hope to inspire and engage their students through lessons built around texts of their choosing. The …

“What Am I Reading This Draft For?” Using Reading Filters To Enhance Your Peer Feedback, Kaitlin Clinnin, Mellisa Huffman, Benjamin Keating

English Faculty Research

Reading is a key part of the peer feedback process, and yet how to read peer drafts often receives less attention than other stages of this process.1 As a result, students may ask, “What am I reading this draft for?” Within this question are student concerns about the rhetorical and pedagogical purposes of reading peer drafts as well as the students’ own credibility and ability to read peer work compared to other presumably more “expert” sources of feedback. The chapter helps students grasp the social and rhetorical purposes of reading for peer workshops. It then presents a set of reading …

The Effectiveness Of An Educational Program Based On The Argumentative Theory In Developing Media Discourse Skills Among Female Students Of The Media Department At Taif University, Azizah Makhdhur Makhdhar Al-Harthi, Mohammed Abduljabbar M. Alsulami

Journal of Educational and Psychological Studies

The study aimed to reveal the effectiveness of an educational program based on the argumentative theory in developing media discourse skills among female students of the Media Department at Taif University. To achieve the goal, the researchers used quasi-experimental design and prepared the following materials: a list of the written media discourse skills, a test of the written media discourse skills, provided with a rubric, a list of the oral media discourse skills, a test of the oral media discourse skills, equipped with a rubric, a general framework for the program, the student’s book, and the teacher’s guide. The random …

From Needs To Action: Designing Inclusive Writing Workshops For Academics, S. Alison Bolling, Julie Hicks Patrick

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

Being productive in academic writing is a critical component of success for graduate students and faculty, yet many scholars report persistent barriers that interfere with successful writing (Kaslow et al., 2025, Sweet et al., 2017). Few faculty and graduate students receive formal training on the art of writing and those who have attended writing programs vary in success (Dankoski et al., 2012). The present study reports results from multiple institutions to inform workshops on writing needs of graduate students, faculty, and postdoctoral scholars.

Data was collected online through a Qualtrics survey distributed by WVU listserv. Participants (N = 26) included …

Ai-Resistant Activities For Online And Large Enrollment Courses, Jason Bock, Eric Lemley

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

The rapid adoption of generative AI tools has fundamentally challenged traditional assessments in higher education, particularly in large-enrollment and fully asynchronous online courses where instructor presence and grading time are constrained. While many instructors have responded by restricting AI use or adopting detection tools, research increasingly shows that detection-based approaches are unreliable and labor-intensive. We propose a design-centered alternative: reshaping assessments so that AI use becomes insufficient, rather than prohibited.

Drawing on a systematic process of testing proposed and original assessment ideas directly against multiple generative AI models (using both simple and advanced prompting strategies), we present a curated playbook …

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 …

Designing Ai-Aware Media 101 Curriculum Through Faculty–Librarian Collaboration, Miranda Gale Smith, Elizabeth Oppe

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

This presentation explores faculty–librarian collaboration as a teaching practice. It will inform attendees about the work done by a faculty member (Elizabeth) and a Student Success & Instruction Librarian (Miranda) to design and implement an AI-aware curriculum into an existing Media 101 course at West Virginia University. This resulted in the careful integration of subject-specific and information literacy expertise into the course’s curriculum. More broadly, this is meant to illustrate that in terms of practice, treating AI-aware curriculum development as a shared, iterative process grounded in mutual respect for distinct but complementary forms of knowledge has the potential to yield …

Interacting With Ideas: How To Engage Stem Students In Active Learning Of Theory Using Technology, Jessica Elizabeth Whitney, Keith Brian Morris

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

STEM education in the modern age has been subject to much reform – from the integration of technology to an emphasis on student-centered teaching strategies, such as active learning. However, in the wake of virtual and blended-learning environments, student engagement and teacher assessment of student success have been challenged. Tools such as KAHOOT! and iClicker have been promoted to foster an active learning environment while sometimes falling short in regards to student retention of course material. In light of this technological educational revolution, instructors need to be able to determine the most effective tools for their discipline to aid in …

Building Ai Literacy To Redesign Graduate Public Health Courses: A Case Study Of Pubh 520, Darren Liu

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

As artificial intelligence (AI) becomes increasingly embedded in public health practice, graduate education must move beyond ad hoc responses to AI toward intentional, ethically grounded instructional design. This conference paper presents a case study of the redesign of PUBH 520, a graduate-level public health course, to explicitly integrate AI literacy within course outcomes, assessments, and learning activities. Guided by higher-education AI literacy frameworks, the redesign foregrounded faculty AI literacy as a prerequisite for responsible AI integration, emphasizing ethical reasoning, technical understanding, pedagogical alignment, and reflective assessment practices. Findings suggest that the redesigned course improved coherence among learning outcomes, assessment integrity, …

Utilizing Visual Literacy In Thinking Critically About Children’S Cognitive Development, Andrea Gail Schafer

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

Undergraduate coursework in child development requires college students to be proficient in their understanding and assessment of holistic development of young children as defined within the physical, cognitive, social, and emotional domains. Traditionally, undergraduate courses at the 100 and 200 level require college students to critically consider scenarios and evaluate level of child development based on traditional text-based scenarios describing child behaviors or engagement in tasks.

Specifically, considering Piaget's theory of cognitive development (Piaget, 1974), it's critically important in a course that covers early child development that college students (pre-service professionals) be able to identify and correctly assess level of …

Choose Your Own Adventure: A Different Course Structure, Jacquelyn Kate Seymour

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

As commonly accepted in upper-level courses, course work should appeal to higher levels of Bloom’s taxonomy such as analyze, evaluate, and create (Halupa, 2021). However, course design choices can limit a student’s potential in reaching these higher levels of learning when a preselected number of topics and assignment types are provided by the instructor (Halupa, 2021). Additionally, not all students will thrive with instructor selected assignment design. Instead, instructors can offer a “choose your own adventure” approach to course designs (Sutherland, 2023; Yetter, 2022). Specifically, this has taken the form of allowing students to choose their own assignments within my …

Documenting Sustainable Social Media Workflows: Supporting Student Professionalization In Faculty-Student Teams, Jenny Rissen

Master's Projects

This capstone project, Documenting Sustainable Social Media Workflows: Supporting Student Professionalization in Faculty-Student Teams, examines how departmental social media teams serve as informal training grounds where students build professional identities through collaborative, often undocumented communication work (Buck; Leon & Pigg). Addressing writing studies concerns about experiential learning gaps (McNabb; Carr et al.), the project creates a handbook offering practical guidance for onboarding, workflow continuity, accessibility, and ethical social media practices. It shows how mentorship and structured documentation turn everyday digital work into meaningful professional development. Situated in technical communication and rhetoric, the project demonstrates how social media teams help …

From Compliance To Connection: Advancing Authentic Community In Vcu Residence Halls, Sarah M. Ramkey, Keon Nesmith, Carly Croft

Doctor of Education Capstones

This capstone project examines challenges to authentic community building within Virginia Commonwealth University’s Residential Life and Housing (RLH) department. Although the Community Development Model (CDM) was originally designed to foster belonging through structured engagement, it has increasingly been perceived by frontline staff as a compliance-driven checklist rather than a tool to develop community. Using improvement science principles, this case study identifies outdated curriculum, misalignment with student needs, and disconnect between senior leadership and frontline staff as systemic barriers to building authentic community in RLH, including student residence halls.

We used a single-institution case study design. We conducted empathy interviews with …

An Ecological Systems Perspective On Chronic Absenteeism: The Role Of Family Engagement In Virginia Secondary Education, Jenna Conlee, Joel W. Fravel, Bryan M. Hannun, Imani K. Hinson, Erika R. Napolitano

Doctor of Education Capstones

Chronic absenteeism has emerged as a significant challenge for schools across the United States, particularly following disruptions associated with the COVID-19 global pandemic. This capstone project examined how school leaders in Virginia understood and navigated the relationship between family engagement and chronic absenteeism. Guided by Bronfenbrenner’s ecological systems theory, the study addressed two research questions focused on identifying family engagement practices perceived as effective in improving attendance and examining the barriers schools encountered when engaging families to address chronic absenteeism. Data were collected through nine semistructured interviews with school leaders and observations of two high school attendance team meetings. Using …

Understanding Student Non-Use Of Vcu's Cabell Library Through Ecological Systems Theory: A Mixed-Methods Study, Tracy D. Booker, Ethan L. Carter, Joshua C.J. Lockhart, Margaret E. Mcdearmon, Jessica S. Watson

Doctor of Education Capstones

This study examined undergraduate students’ non-use of physical spaces and services within Cabell Library at a large, urban public university. While academic libraries are widely associated with student success, patterns of engagement remain uneven, with a subset of students not utilizing these resources at all. This study sought to understand which students do not use the library and why, with particular attention to identifying systemic barriers and opportunities to improve equitable access and engagement. Grounded in Ecological Systems Theory and informed by improvement science, the study employed a mixed-methods research design to capture both patterns of behavior and lived experiences. …

The Impact Of A Social Wellness Intervention On The Perception Of Social Support Among Working Adults, Jannysse Gray

DNP Research Projects

Abstract 

Objective: Social isolation and loneliness have detrimental effects on physical and mental health. For working adults, these experiences may impact work attendance, performance, satisfaction, and retention, leading to burnout, fatigue, grief, and disengagement. Barriers to developing and nurturing healthy relationships, such as competing work and family responsibilities, or a lack of resources or energy, can contribute to this problem; therefore, this group was chosen for the intervention. This project aimed to raise awareness of the importance of social connections and to analyze whether an online educational intervention was associated with improved perceptions of social support among working adults. Methods: …

Redefining Educational Technology: A Critical Collaborative Inquiry, Aras Bozkurt, Helen Crompton, Robert Farrow, Agnes Kukulska-Hulme, Jon Dron, Richard West, Agnieszka (Aga) Palalas, Matth Bower, Junhong Xiao, Ahmed Tlili, Danah Henriksen, Angelica Pazurek, Henk Huijser, Thomas K. F. Chiu, Petar Jandrić, Katy Jordan, John Curry, Royce Kimmons, Mutlu Cukurova, Thomas Reeves, Gwo-Jen Hwang, Peter Shea, Jason Lodge, Martin Weller, Davy Ng, Tutaleni Iita Asino

STEMPS Faculty Publications

Educational technologists have not settled on a fixed definition of the field and likely never will. However, attempting to define the field helps to understand the epistemological meanings that shape what the field sees, values, and considers worth pursuing. Through a critical historical review spanning over a century, alongside theoretical engagement with the concepts of entanglement and distributed agency, this paper identifies three key insufficiencies in current educational technology frameworks. These are the persistence of an instrumental-facilitative paradigm that treats technology as a resource deployed by human agents; the theoretical dissolution of the pedagogy-technology dichotomy that existing definitions have not …

Exploring Engagement With The Ecoschools Platform: An Interactive Display Board Exploratory Evaluation, Kaitlyn E. Ashmore

Theses and Dissertations (Comprehensive)

This study explores strategies to enhance engagement with EcoSchools Canada, an online sustainability platform used across Canada. Through an exploratory case study involving two Waterloo Region District School Board (WRDSB) schools, the research evaluates the effectiveness of interactive tools such as an Interactive Display Board (IDB) and action cards in fostering student engagement, self-efficacy, and action competence in sustainability initiatives. Through examining user experiences and feedback from Eco-teams and staff, the findings aim to identify if and how these interventions serve as valuable complements to EcoSchools activities. Although not a standalone solution, these tools facilitate deeper involvement when integrated within …

Beyond Compliance: Creating A Disability Self-Advocacy Summit For Higher Education Using Critical Disability Pedagogy, Katie Manwiller

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) has been in place for over 35 years, yet the systems it created to ensure equity are riddled with inherent barriers and often fail to provide equal access because of the ableism baked into American society. Institutions of higher education exemplify this failure as they largely treat disability as a compliance-issue, not as a marginalized identity that deserved dedicated inclusion efforts. Most institutions provide disability inclusion solely through the ADA-mandated accommodation process for students and employees, which falls far short of creating fully accessibility cultures. Crucially, these case-by-case processes isolate disabled people and do …

Teaching For Meaning: Life, Death, Self And Purpose, Stephen Diromualdo

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Teaching for Meaning is fundamentally a paper about the need for a philosophical shift in current educational goals. The current institution of public education relies on “job training skills” and ideas of “global competitiveness” as its most important outcomes. This thesis argues that not only are these goals insufficient but actually detrimental to human development. The thesis seeks a method to shift to a more humanistic approach of education through the inclusion of several potential methods. Those methods include the implementation of democratic schooling, youth participatory action research and death studies.  In order to establish those methods the thesis the …

The Role Of Growth Mindset As A Mitigating Factor On Teacher Burnout In The Secondary Math Classroom, Grant Butler

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This mixed methods sequential explanatory study examined how secondary mathematics teachers’ mindsets relate to burnout tendencies, and how schools can support staff mindset to prevent burnout. Using a two-phase design, Phase 1 gathered survey data from 94 secondary math teachers, measuring mindset and burnout with descriptive statistics, correlations, chi-square tests, and regression analysis to quantify associations between mindset orientation and burnout risk. Phase 2 employed semi-structured interviews with a subsample of teachers and open and axial coding to explain and contextualize the quantitative patterns. Quantitative analyses revealed that teachers with more fixed mindset tendencies reported significantly higher burnout scores across …

Beyond The Game: Career Readiness Development At The Nirsa Championship Series, Samantha A. Wary

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Understanding the students' perceptions of the career readiness skills they develop and how they develop is critical in higher education. This allows campus recreation professionals to better understand and create opportunities for student development related to career readiness. A convergent mixed-methods design was employed to investigate students’ perceptions of the career readiness development of student officials who have participated in the NIRSA Championship Series flag football tournaments. Informal and Incidental Learning Theory and Experiential Learning Theory guided the study. The National Association of Colleges and Employers (NACE) career readiness competencies were used as a standardized tool to define career readiness. …

Seeing Through Their Lenses: Perspectives Of Kindergarten Teachers On Implementing Purposeful Play For Children’S Academic And Developmental Learning, Subarna Basu

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

The purpose of this study was to examine the kindergarten teachers’ perceptions of using purposeful play for children’s academic and developmental learning, and the benefits and challenges they perceive in implementing purposeful play. The study utilized a qualitative, visual arts-based, participatory action research (PAR) design, in the form of Photovoice methodology. This qualitative study focused on the kindergarten teachers’ lived experiences and voices on the importance of implementing purposeful play and employed Paulo Freire’s Critical Pedagogy and Constructivist theories. Utilizing this methodology, six kindergarten teacher participants collected photographs based on photo prompts, provided narratives to their photographs, and reflected and …

Where Joy Lives: Black Students, Faculty, And Staff At Pwis, Chyna Hart

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

Matriculating into Predominately White Institutions (PWIs) can be challenging for Black students due to racism. However, Black faculty and staff play an important role in combating these challenges and creating supportive and joyful spaces for these students. Using Narrative Inquiry, this study examined the role that Black faculty and staff played in fostering Black Joy for Black students at Predominately White Institutions (PWIs). Participants were self-identified Black students, faculty, and staff who are 18 years or older and were affiliated with a mid-size four-year PWI in the northeastern region of the United States. The study utilized two data collecting instruments …

Examining The Stories Of Early-Career Student Affairs Professionals And Free Speech Issues On College Campuses, Kimberly C. Farrer

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

This qualitative research study explored the stories of early-career student affairs professionals on their experiences responding to free speech issues on college campuses. Additionally, this studied explored how they were prepared for those responses. This study was important because early-career student affairs professionals are managing free speech issues on college campuses but lack the training and preparation to do this (Duran Leftin & Duran, 2021; Harris & Ray, 2014). This study utilized both authentic leadership theory (Avolio & Gardner, 2005; Gardner et al., 2005; Luthans & Avolio, 2003; May et al., 2003; Northouse, 2025) and Kohlberg’s (1976) theory of moral …

Reimagining Myvcu: Enhancing The Platform To Connect Our Staff, Rebecca Aldridge, Jake Burns, Kelsey Cappiello, Molly Case, Katie Ferguson, Adam Richardson

GEHLI - 2026 VCUL Team Project Publications

In an increasingly inter-connected world, higher education institutions continue to lag behind in their ability to break down silos — and VCU is no exception. This project seeks to improve upon the existing, centralized myVCU tool to address lack of connection to staff resources. We propose a redesign of myVCU based on research and feedback from VCU staff, tailoring the platform to streamline navigation and empower a united staff workforce. A key component will be a communications campaign to support staff buy-in. The ultimate goal is to transform myVCU into a critical tool that empowers and UNlocks the potential of …