Digital Commons Network^™

Differential Equation Modeling For Sustainable Resource Management: A Steady-State Optimal Harvesting Approach, Iordanka N. Panayotova, Aleksei Talonov

CODEE Journal

Mathematical models based on differential equations provide a powerful framework for connecting real-world data to informed decision-making. In this work, we present a student-accessible project that uses an optimal-control framework to study the sustainable management of biological resources.

Motivated by fisheries management, we examine a predator--prey system in which harvesting decisions must balance ecological and economic considerations. The model is formulated as an optimal control problem that seeks to maximize the total discounted net revenue from harvesting. Rather than solving for the complete time-dependent harvesting trajectory, we restrict the analysis to positive controlled coexistence equilibria and characterize an interior stationary …

Cultivating A Culture Of Belonging: Elementary Principal Practices, Sara Macneil

Educational Studies Dissertations

A sense of belonging is a fundamental human need that influences students’ experiences, relationships, and engagement within their school context. It is shaped through intentional actions and everyday experiences. Understanding how school leaders intentionally shape conditions that foster students’ sense of belonging requires further exploration. This study focused on an elementary school principal and sought to identify specific leadership practices that strengthen the sense of belonging for elementary students. Using a mixed-methods approach, data were collected through a sense of belonging survey and small group interviews. The survey data provided a measure of students’ sense of belonging and were used …

Artistic Inquiry As A Critical Disability Studies Methodology: Interdisciplinarity By Queer, Trans, And Gender Non-Conforming Disabled Artists, Brandi Lewis

Education Studies Faculty publications

Arts-based and artistic research as a critical disability studies (CDS) methodology is an artistic inquiry into material practices and social conditions around disabled lives, communities, and care systems that support justice and liberation for disabled people. This article examines interdisciplinary practices of queer, trans, and gender non-conforming disabled artists as forms of research. Artists Rora Blue, Alex Dolores Salerno, Yo-Yo Lin 林友友, and Finnegan Shannon critique social hierarchies and exclusions by deconstructing normative ideologies about access and embodiment. Through crip politics, their approaches explore disability’s entanglement with ableist, colonial cis/hetero/patriarchy. Artistic inquiry as a CDS methodology moves beyond disability as …

The Perceptions Of K-5 Teachers Regarding Their Preparedness To Implement Trauma-Informed Practices, Matthew P. Londo

Educational Studies Dissertations

Childhood trauma significantly impairs students' cognitive, emotional, and behavioral functioning, yet teachers frequently lack the preparation necessary to address its effects in classroom settings. This mixed-methods study examined the perceptions of K-5 teachers regarding their preparedness to implement trauma-informed practices (TIPs) at a public elementary school in a mid-sized urban district in central Massachusetts. A convergent mixed-methods design was employed to gather data from 20 selected K-5 educators via a structured Likert-scale questionnaire and semi-structured Zoom interviews. Quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics, while qualitative data were analyzed through inductive thematic analysis. Findings revealed that participants employed four primary …

The Implementation Of Sel-Based Interactive E-Modules To Enhance Mental Health Literacy, Muhammad Arif Budiman Sucipto, Mulyani Mulyani

Jurnal Kajian Bimbingan dan Konseling

The mental health crisis among Generation Alpha students is concerning, marked by stagnating life purpose and digital academic pressure. This study aims to examine the effectiveness of an interactive SEL-based E-Module in enhancing students' mental health literacy, offering an innovative solution responsive to the digital era. Employing a Classroom Action Research design integrated with ADDIE. Thirty-two tenth-grade students with low initial literacy scores (mean pre-test = 42.3) participated through purposive sampling. The two-cycle intervention utilized a digital module featuring Private Mode (encrypted emotional journal) and Emergency Button (direct link to counselors). Data were collected through literacy scales, observations, interviews, and …

Effects Of A Filial Therapy Program On Gifted Children’S Self-Regulation And Academic Perseverance, Helin Yarcel, Fuat Tanhan

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 10-session filial therapy program delivered to mothers on gifted children’s self-regulation and academic perseverance. Participants were 45 gifted students attending a Science and Art Center (Bilim ve Sanat Merkezi [BİLSEM]) in Eastern Türkiye and their mothers, who were randomly assigned to an experimental, placebo, or control group. Self-regulation and academic perseverance scales were administered as pre-test, post-test, and 6-week follow-up measures. Given the sample size, data were analyzed with non-parametric tests, including the Kruskal–Wallis H, Friedman, Wilcoxon signed-rank, and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results showed improvements in self-regulation …

Leveraging A Model Of Intergroup Competencies: A Reflexive Tool For Developing Diversity Leadership In Higher Education, Arig Al Shaibah

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

Despite, or perhaps precisely because of, the current partisan pushback against equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI) efforts in Western higher education institutions, universities may be well served to renovate their approaches to leadership diversity development to build greater capacity for advancing mission-critical inclusion excellence priorities. This article describes a promising educational intervention that has broad applicability to more meaningfully develop leadership proficiencies that better enable the advancement of EDI goals in higher education. While individual diversity leadership development programming is a micro-level intervention, it could prove beneficial—though insufficient on its own—as a prerequisite for macro-level equity and inclusion policymaking and …

God Save The Keen: Designing For Authentic Over Artificial Learning, Heather J. Leslie Phd

Learning Design Center: Staff Scholarship

While AI has put the transactional model of schooling on steroids, I argue that AI is not the only artificial aspect of education. Grades are an artificial barrier towards authentic learning which decades of research have shown negatively impact intrinsic motivation, intellectual risk-taking, and depth of thinking. In this article, I explore what instructors can do to design authentic learning to center the human learner, not the AI.

Interrupting The First Story: A Lonerganian Claim Audit For Visual Analytics, Ajaya K. Swain

San Jose - Lonergan Chair in Catholic Philosophy

Visualizations can create an impression of immediacy: a pattern appears, an explanation follows, and managerial action can seem warranted before the transitions among observation, interpretation, judgment, and decision have been examined. This conceptual and pedagogical paper develops a Lonerganian Claim Audit for visual analytics, a discipline-specific adaptation of Bernard Lonergan's account of experience, understanding, judgment, and decision. It conceptualizes visual inferential compression as diminished differentiation among these operations, such that confidence generated by a visible pattern transfers to an explanation, an evidential claim, and an action without the distinct warrant required at each transition. The Claim Audit interrupts that movement …

From Literary Encounter To Responsible Action: Adapting Lonergan's Transcendental Method To En2375, Bonita Pfleiger

San Jose - Lonergan Chair in Catholic Philosophy

Bernard Lonergan characterizes the transcendental method as the “concrete and dynamic unfolding” of human knowing (Lonergan, 1997, p. 454). This unfolding involves the operations of experience, understanding, judgment, and decision. The operations describe the structure of human knowing, while the transcendental precepts express the standards by which they should be carried out: “Be attentive, Be intelligent, Be reasonable, and Be responsible” (p. 450). Together, they provide a cognitive framework for examining how students come to understand, make warranted judgments, and act responsibly. Within philosophical hermeneutics, Hans-Georg Gadamer and Paul Ricoeur describe understanding as an ongoing interpretive process rather than a …

From Consumer Experience To Brand Meaning: Teaching Brand Management Through Lonergan’S Generalized Empirical Method (Gem), Nicole Kirpalani

San Jose - Lonergan Chair in Catholic Philosophy

Teaching marketing involves more than helping students learn disciplinary concepts and frameworks. It also involves developing processes of inquiry that prepare students to analyze complex situations, interpret evidence, exercise judgment, and make thoughtful professional decisions. As marketing practice continues to evolve, marketing education must similarly reconsider how courses, assignments, and learning experiences prepare students for professional practice (Grewal et al., 2025). Lonergan’s Generalized Empirical Method (GEM) offers one framework for structuring this process of inquiry. Lonergan, writing as a philosopher, theologian, and educator, initially described the underlying pattern of conscious operations as the transcendental method. In his later work, he …

Mentorship As A Catalyst For Change Readiness: A Qualitative Study Of How Effective Mentoring Mitigates Burnout And Turnover During Organizational Transformation, Jeffery M. Camp

Journal of Online Mentoring

This qualitative study examined how effective mentorship mitigates burnout and attenuates turnover intention during organizational change, foregrounding the perspectives of experienced mentors. Drawing on Biggs’s presage–process–product (PPP) model, data were collected through semi-structured interviews (n = 12) and two focus group discussions (n = 6 each), engaging 18 unique mentors employed in organizations with 1,000 or more employees. Thematic analysis following Braun and Clarke’s six-phase protocol yielded four themes: (1) mentorship as strategic facilitation of organizational change; (2) mentorship as provision of emotional and psychological support; (3) empowering mentees through relationship-building; and (4) applying adaptive and reflective strategies. …

Navigating Predominantly White Institutions: A Narrative Inquiry Restorying Native American And Indigenous Students' Lived Experiences Of Higher Education, Chandra Anderson

Doctor of Education Program Dissertations

Previous research has examined retention rates of Native American and Indigenous students within the United States in higher education; however, there remains a significant narrative silence regarding the lived stories and personal chronologies of these students (Brayboy et al., 2015; Davidson & Lopez, 2023; Oxendine et al., 2018). The purpose of this qualitative narrative inquiry was to elicit and restory the lived narratives of Native American and Indigenous students enrolled in predominantly White institutions (PWI) of higher education. This study’s literature review themes include: (a) history of Native American and Indigenous students, (b) contemporary research on Native American and Indigenous …

Analysis Of Needs For Web-Based Mobile Learning Development Based On Universal Design For Learning For Students With Special Needs, Murni Winarsih, Mayasari Manar, Rohmah Ageng Mursita, Mita Septiani

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

Higher education institutions still have substantial challenges when it comes to accommodating students with special needs, especially those who are visually or aurally impaired. Access to learning resources is still an issue, as are the limitations of adaptive learning media and the dominance of more conventional verbal and visual methods of information transmission. Hence, not all pupils are given the same chances throughout the learning process. With its emphasis on providing a variety of representational, interactive, and expressive tools, Universal Design for Learning (UDL) aims to meet the requirements of students with a wide range of learning styles. In order …

Project-Based Conversion Versus Prototype-Based Instruction In Automotive Teacher Education, Ramdhani Ramdhani, Sriyono Sriyono, Wahid Munawar, Raafi Rizki Maulana, Apriyansah Bahrudin

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

The transition to electric and hydrogen mobility is reshaping the competencies that automotive vocational teaching requires, yet institutions with limited equipment must choose between authentic learning designs without evidence of what each produces. Indonesian research to date has built substitute learning media and reported feasibility ratings rather than measured learning. This study asks what cognitive and psychomotor gains two contrasting designs produce and how those gains compare. Two pre-experimental studies were conducted in one automotive teacher education programme in Indonesia. Study A used a time-series design across three project cycles of 200 minutes in which 15 undergraduates converted a combustion …

Evaluation Of Land Suitability In The Watu Ondo Waterfall Area Using The Analytical Hierarchy Process (Ahp) Method, Carina Nur Indah Lestari, Syamsul Bachri, Sugeng Utaya, Daudi Richard Malusu

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This study was motivated by the importance of utilizing land physical conditions as a basis for developing disaster mitigation education in natural tourist areas. The study aims to evaluate land suitability for disaster mitigation education in the Watu Ondo Waterfall area using the Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) and Geographic Information Systems (GIS). A quantitative research method was employed, involving AHP weighting analysis of the parameters topography, rainfall, dry season duration, soil type, and land cover, followed by spatial overlay to generate a land suitability map. The results indicate that topography is the dominant factor with a weight of 47%, followed …

Digital Mindset Efficacy For Human-Ai Career Readiness, Frank Lin, Conrad Shayo

Communications of the IIMA

This article develops digital mindset efficacy as a key capability for human-AI career readiness. It argues that success in AI-shaped workplaces requires not only technical tool use but also the confidence and capacity to learn with, evaluate, collaborate with, and responsibly govern digital and AI systems. Drawing on digital mindset, digital intelligence, AI proficiency, self-efficacy, and life-skills literature, the article proposes a theory-based model linking digital mindset efficacy to AI proficiency and life skills through mastery experience, vicarious learning, social persuasion, and affective regulation. It illustrates the model through a General Education course, Leadership for Global Challenges: Exploring the Digital …

Beyond Ai Literacy: Developing And Validating A Reflective Human–Ai Learning Scale In Higher Education, Alison Munsch Phd

Communications of the IIMA

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is transforming higher education, yet current AI literacy frameworks primarily assess what students know about AI and how they use it rather than how they think while learning with AI. This paper introduces Reflective Human–AI Learning (RHAL), a complementary construct that captures the quality of students' reflective cognition while collaborating with AI. Drawing upon AI literacy, metacognition, significant learning, critical thinking, and self-regulated learning, the study proposes a multidimensional instrument and outlines a rigorous psychometric validation process. The resulting scale is intended to complement—not replace—existing AI literacy measures by assessing reflective judgment, intentional inquiry, and ethical …

Already Successful: Enacting A Rasquache Mathematics Pedagogy, Melissa Adams Corral, Gladys Krause, Luz A. Maldonado Rodríguez

Teaching and Learning Faculty Publications

In this article, we braid together conversations from a multilingual third-grade mathematics classroom in the U.S. with a Chicanx art exhibit to illustrate the generative power of a rasquache mathematics pedagogy—one that centers people, place, and possibility. This pedagogy takes shape through practices grounded in making do with what is at hand, maintaining a lens of abundance rather than deficiency. Through an analysis of a single day’s Number Talk (Parrish, 2011), we explore the mathematics classroom as a space of creative, relational, and political possibility. We use Chicanx art to reframe classroom mathematics as already sufficient—as more than enough. Our …

Read, Evaluate, Cite: Using Chatgpt To Teach Primary Source Literacy, Victoria Jones

Journal of Contemporary Archival Studies

For the last three years, generative artificial intelligence and its uses have been a frequent topic of conversation. In education, many of us have wondered about the impact that generative AI will have on teaching and student learning. The present study considers the benefits and challenges of using generative AI tools in archival education to improve students’ primary source literacy skills. The focus of the research project is an assignment that uses ChatGPT to remove one of the challenges of developing primary source skills: historical writing. In doing so, the students were able to focus on practicing key archival research …

People Orientation And Thing Orientation In Business Majors: Implications For Assessing The Impacts Of Cross-Functional Business Program Curricula, Todd J. Hostager, David A. Christopher, Kristy J. Lauver, Christopher Knowles

International Journal for Business Education

Background/Introduction/Purpose:  Prior research documented significant differences in people orientation and thing orientation (PTO) based on type of major and sex.  This study examines a set of measures for helping business programs to assess whether they are producing graduates equipped to consider both people and things when making decisions, regardless of their major or sex.

Methods/Design:  Students in a strategic management capstone course spent a single 75-minute session responding to a brief new venture pitch by identifying what types of additional information they would need to decide whether to invest in the business.  Three Likert-scaled options gauged the extent to participant …

Factors Shaping The Graduate Assistantship Experience In Ncaa Division I Athletic Departments, Kelly P. Elliott, Kate Labate, Josh Tennant, Chris Espinosa

The COSMA Journal

Graduate Assistantships (GA) are a critical component of career preparation in sport management, yet little is known about how the GA experiences vary across institutions, and intercollegiate athletic departments. This exploratory study examined differences in intercollegiate athletic department GAs based on NCAA Division I subdivision, length of time the GA served in the position, and how the GA found the opportunity. Survey data were collected from GAs listed on athletic department staff directories. The instrument assessed functional areas, supervision, compensation, satisfaction, and perceived career impact. Chi-square analyses compared GA experiences across institutional and student-level variables. Overall, the findings suggest that …

Analyzing Cultural Alignment In Rwandan Sexual And Reproductive Health Education, Amit Gerstein

Journal of Critical Global Issues

Rwandan education cannot be understood outside the context of colonization. This study investigates the cultural alignment of Rwandan sexual and reproductive health (SRH) education. Using existing literature on indigenous sexuality and reflective practice from teaching in a Rwandan secondary school, this paper analyzes three SRH curricula to examine the extent to which they incorporate local knowledge versus Western scripts. The analysis focuses on four key areas: the definition of sex, contraception, consent, and female anatomy.

The findings reveal significant disconnects, where Western narratives regarding sex and sexuality appear to overwrite or displace indigenous sexual knowledge and practice. This study concludes …

Teaching Communication And Teamwork Under Pressure: An Experiential Activity Using Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes, Bryan L. Rogers, Cody Logan Chullen, Brian Waterwall

International Journal for Business Education

Background/Introduction/Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to present an experiential classroom activity designed to help students develop communication and teamwork skills under conditions of time pressure and information asymmetry.

Methods/Design: This paper presents a teaching activity rather than an empirical study; no research design, sample, instruments, or analytic procedures are reported. The paper describes and contextualizes an experiential learning activity using the cooperative video game Keep Talking and Nobody Explodes. Drawing on research in experiential learning, cooperative learning, and simulation-based instruction, the paper outlines learning objectives, materials, implementation procedures, observer roles, and structured debriefing strategies suitable for undergraduate and …

Hospitality And Tourism Students’ Perceptions Of Well-Being, Belonging, And Engagement In Their Academic Endeavors And Extracurricular Activities, Cynthia S. Deale, Seung Hyun Lee

International Journal for Business Education

Background/Introduction/Purpose: This study examined hospitality and tourism college/university students’ views of their engagement, well-being, and sense of belonging in academic and extracurricular activities, based on 130 responses from students in the United States.

Methods: Descriptive analysis, analysis of variance, confirmatory factor analysis, and structural equation modeling were used to analyze the responses. Qualitative comments were also obtained.

Results:  Respondents felt positive overall about their engagement, and many participated in extracurricular activities. The relationships between class engagement and sense of belonging, and between campus engagement and sense of belonging were significant, and the sense of belonging significantly influenced student subjective …

“The Goal Is To Live Their Heritage Culture, Speak Their Language”: Teaching, Techniques, And Environments In Uk Turkish Weekend Schools, Ayşe Çiftci, Leah Roberts, Fatma F.S. Said

All Works

This research scrutinizes Turkish weekend schools in the UK, investigating their instructional practices, teaching methodologies, and educators’ perspectives. Despite the expectation of homogeneity in teaching qualifications, the study reveals a lack of consistent prerequisites for formal Turkish language teaching credentials. Findings are based on questionnaires from 22 teachers and interviews with five teachers from Turkish weekend schools across the UK. The study demonstrates that being a native Turkish speaker does not necessarily equate to effective pedagogy. The primary language of instruction is Turkish, while students predominantly employ English. It indicated that family involvement, student motivation, and the creation of an …

The Role Of Generative Ai In Secondary School Business Education: Insights From Teachers’ Perceptions, Leonard Busuttil, Emanuel Mizzi

International Journal for Business Education

Background/Introduction/Purpose: Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) has entered classrooms more quickly than the evidence base needed to guide its use, and that evidence base remains concentrated in higher education. Comparatively little is known about secondary school business education, a curricular area that brings together accounting, business studies, economics, financial literacy, marketing, and retail, and in which teachers move between subjects whose epistemological and procedural demands differ considerably. Existing studies also tend to treat business education as a single homogeneous domain, or to examine one of its subjects in isolation. This study addresses that gap by examining how secondary school business education …

Reclaiming Instructional Leadership: Using Evidence-Based Tools And Conversations To Change Classroom Practice, Lyndsay Britt, Matthew Militello

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Instructional leadership is the most influential lever principals and supervisors have to improve teaching and learning, yet managerial demands often limit sustained classroom engagement. This qualitative participatory action research study explores how leaders can reclaim instructional leadership by embedding focused observation tools and instructional conversations into routine supervision without adding time burdens. 

Using Community Learning Exchange methodology, four teachers and a principal engaged in a 14-month community of practice at a rural Title I early college high school. Through three inquiry cycles, the study examined how evidence-based tools and data-informed dialogue shaped teaching and leadership practices.

Findings revealed two outcomes …

Becoming: Adult Learners In Graduate Education And The Pursuit Of A Meaningful Life, Tara Shollenberger

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Adult learners in graduate education represent a population defined by deliberate, purposeful choice. Unlike traditional-age students, these individuals advance within higher education while managing careers, families, and complex life responsibilities. This conceptual paper explores the espoused and enacted vision for a meaningful life held by adult learners in graduate education, with particular attention to doctoral students in professional education programs. Evidence is drawn from national enrollment and attrition data, relevant scholarship, and nearly two decades of direct practitioner observation. The paper argues that adult graduate learners are animated by a vision of becoming: a generational, relational, and deeply purposeful understanding …

The Gender Gap: Exploring Superintendents’ Perceptions And Experiences In Iowa, Jillian Dotson, Matt Townsley

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Abstract

The gender gap in the superintendent role continues to plague the educational system across the nation. Female school teachers drastically outnumber female superintendents, which limits the number of women superintendents who are available to serve as mentors. Until women can access superintendent positions in an equitable manner, this gender imbalance will continue. The purpose of this study was to explore current Iowa women superintendents' perceptions and experiences with seeking and operating in the superintendency, and understand their perceptions on the strengths and weaknesses of the mentoring support available for new superintendents. The findings confirm that participants in this study …