Digital Commons Network^™

Wayfinding For All, Yosssera Bouchtia, Serra De Arment, Mahesh Jonnalagadda, Jada Wright, Julie Arendt, Cynthia Myron

The Grace E. Harris Leadership Institute Publications

Quest 2028 challenges us to nurture an institutional culture of care. Team Affirmation supports robust digital wayfinding to ensure accurate information for all members of the VCU community, including those with disabilities. This project collects data about accessible facilities on campus and includes a survey on wayfinding needs, such as accessibility beyond wheelchair accessibility, gender-inclusive facilities, wellness resources, and map iconography to ensure comprehensive data collection and meaningful engagement that informs wayfinding at VCU.

Resume Guide: A Worksheet And Sample Resumes For The Job Applicant, Handout Courtesy Of Career Services

Employment Materials

No abstract provided.

10 Cover Letter Tips, Handout Courtesy Of Career Services

Employment Materials

No abstract provided.

Uah First Year Experience (Fye), Michelle Greene

Open Educational Resources (OER)

The Charger Success First Year Experience course is designed to assist new students in making a successful transition to the University of Alabama in Huntsville, both within and beyond the classroom. The goals of this course focus on developing a sense of community, promoting engagement in the academic life of the university, and articulating to students the expectations of the University. In addition, the course will assist students in understanding and applying critical thinking skills, as well as offer support to students in clarifying their academic interests and eventual career direction.

In Order For My Voice To Be Heard, I Had To Create My Own Space: A Critical Narrative Analysis Of Black College Student Success In Creative Majors, Rachel Horton

Dissertations of Practice

This critical narrative inquiry explored the strengths of Black undergraduate students who study the creative arts. The research centered on the unique wealth that Black students bring to their institutions, as highlighted through the Community Cultural Wealth model. The study found that participants: used aspirational capital to fuel them in attending college and pursuing the arts; used linguistic capital in general, and code switching in particular, to navigate various cultures and spaces, to facilitate hard conversations on topics such as racism, and to ensure that their voices were heard and respected; networked with other artists to create strong work through …

Loan Debt Burden, Student Experiences, And Livelihood: A Study Examining Relationships Between Students’ Education Costs, Financial Viability, And Life Impact, Christa A. Reid

Master's Theses and Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation investigates the complex connections among loan debt burden, student experiences, and post-bachelor’s outcomes, situated within the framework of systemic disparities in educational funding and opportunities. It identifies declines in state funding across educational levels as a systemic and politicized issue, disproportionately affecting students in underserved and underresourced school districts. The study emphasizes the impact of systemic racism and policymaking in perpetuating poverty through higher education, emphasizing the need for equitable policy establishment. Economic downturns and reduced higher education funding necessitate the exploration of alternative revenue streams, such as endowed funds and fundraising efforts, to prevent increased tuition costs …

Piloting Of Specific Common Tools In Support Of Digital And Online Learning, Orlin Marinov, Karlis Valtins, Janina Fengel, K.C. O'Rourke, Lubomir Dimitrov, Rossen Radonov

Conference Proceedings

This publication is an insightful exploration into the evolving landscape of digital and online learning, with a specific focus on the pilot testing and implementation of innovative educational tools. It aims to critically assess the effectiveness of these tools in enhancing the educational experience and the overall learning outcomes in digital environments.

This manuscript is particularly relevant for educators, education technologists, policymakers, and scholars interested in the advancement of digital education. It serves as a pivotal resource, providing valuable insights into the utilization and effectiveness of digital tools in education. The publication's contribution to academic scholarship is significant, offering a …

Exploring How Out-Of-Class Student Engagement Shapes Undocumented Students' Sense Of Belonging, Taylor D. Hartman

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

EXPLORING HOW OUT-OF-CLASS STUDENT ENGAGEMENT SHAPES UNDOCUMENTED STUDENTS’ SENSE OF BELONGING

Taylor D. Hartman, EdD
Department of Counseling and Higher Education
Northern Illinois University, 2023
Carrie A. Kortegast, Director

This dissertation explores how out-of-class student engagement shapes undocumented students’ sense of belonging at a public four-year university in the Midwest. The goal of this study is to understand the out-of-class student engagement experiences of the participants in relation to their sense of belonging. This study is significant as further research is needed to understand undocumented students’ experiences with out-of-class engagement, or lack thereof, may shape their sense of belonging. …

You Belong Here: How The African American Success Unit Supports A Sense Of Belonging For Black Men At An Urban Institution In Chicago, Joyce Elam

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

YOU BELONG HERE: HOW THE AFRICAN AMERICAN SUCCESS UNIT SUPPORTS A SENSE OF BELONGING FOR BLACK MEN AT AN

URBAN INSTITUTION IN CHICAGO

Joyce Elam, Ed.D.

Department of Counseling and Higher Education

Northern Illinois University, 2024

Jacqueline Mac, Director

This case study focuses on Black men and their experience of connectiveness, inclusion and belonging as a student at an institution where they account for a significantly low percent of the student body. The research found that departments dedicated to the support of Black men students is significant in their acceptance and Black identity while on campus. This study found …

The Hip Hop Collective, Veronica Bjorkman

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

THE HIP HOP COLLECTIVE

Veronica Bjorkman, Ed.D.

Department of Counseling and Higher Education

Northern Illinois University, 2024

Gudrun Nyunt, Director

This qualitative case study, guided by Gloria Ladson-Billings’s culturally relevant pedagogy, examined the pedagogical approaches in a Hip Hop music course called the Hip Hop Collective, at a large Midwestern predominantly white public institution. Data was collected via interviews and focus groups with 13 university students, one university faculty member, and two community members along with in-class and out-of-class observations. Three primary themes emerged from the research: (a) the Hip Hop Collective course fostered students’ collaboration skills and their …

Retaining Lgbtqqia+ Faculty To Tenure And Beyond, Kristopher Hall, Asha Dickerson, Alfonso Ferguson, Isaac Conlon-Kvale, Carolyn Dolejs, Danielle Hanji Kim, Januela Burt

School of Leadership and Education Sciences: Faculty Scholarship

In recent years, academia has attempted to be more open and accepting of diverse identities to better serve the campus community. To this end, there has been increased programming to focus on inclusiveness of marginalized identities such as LGBTQQIA+. However, much of this programming has centered on the student experience and neglected tenure-seeking faculty, who are generally used to carrying out such programming rather than benefiting from it. The purpose of this study was to examine the lived experiences of tenure-seeking counselor education faculty during their tenure-seeking process. Using consensual qualitative research (CQR) as an analytical framework, the authors found …

Forward-Focused Together: A Strategic Plan For The Old Dominion University Libraries, 2023-2028, Timothy Hackman

Libraries Reports and Documents

[From Dean Hackman's Introduction]

The Old Dominion University Libraries are pleased to present our 2023-2028 Strategic Plan, Forward-Focused Together. The plan is a result of many hours of careful thought, discussion, debate, research, writing, and revising by the Libraries’ dedicated employees. It represents our vision for the coming half-decade and identifies exciting opportunities for the Libraries to support the mission and vision of Old Dominion University.

Who Do We Think We Are? Designing A Higher Education Inclusive Excellence Audit Tool For Review Of Communication Materials, Abby Boyd, Bridget Trogden

Publications

As higher education institutions focus on improving and conveying our commitments to inclusive excellence, it becomes necessary to self-assess our communications. This work describes the development and pilot testing of a simple tool to assess the inclusive excellence of print or electronic materials produced at any scope – from individual department or unit through institution-wide uses. The tool considers several areas of inclusivity at once, allowing stakeholders to identify strengths and weaknesses in their communications and move towards continuous improvement.

Graduate School Academic Catalog 2024-2025, Graduate School Of Engineering And Management, Air Force Institute Of Technology, Walter F. Jones

AFIT Documents

No abstract provided.

2024-2025 Graduate Msn-Fnp Handbook, Morehead State University. Nursing Department.

Nursing Department Publications Archive

2024-2025 Graduate Student Handbook for the Department of Nursing at Morehead State University.

Exploring Black Women Initiative Programs At Community Colleges: Potential Possibilities For Institutional Support, Erin K. Lewis

Educational Leadership & Policy Studies Dissertations - Archive

The existing literature lacks sufficient exploration of Black women’s experiences of a sense of belonging in institutional-sponsored programs centered around their Black and Woman identities at community colleges. Using a collective case study qualitative methodology, the purpose of this study was to understand Black women's experiences of a sense of belonging in institutional-sponsored initiative programs centered around their Black and woman identities at community colleges. The research question guiding this study is: How do Black women experience a sense of belonging in initiative programs centered around their Black and woman identities at community colleges? And to what extent? The conceptual …

Collaborative Leadership For Research Investigating Stem Teacher Preparation Across Many Institutions, Dana P. Franz, Keith Hubbard, Devon Brenner

Journal of Mathematics and Science: Collaborative Explorations

This paper describes the creation of a collaborative research team investigating the impacts of education preparation on the recruitment and retention of science and mathematics teacher candidates in rural settings. Our collaborative research includes a core leadership team across 3 institutions and with collaboration across 14 total universities. We discuss the process from the inception through year two of this program, including the structure of leadership, communication techniques with the large group, and efforts to translate this research into scalable action. Using a framework for transdisciplinary research (Hall et al., 2012), we describe the processes and challenges that we encountered …

Decomposing The Complex Practice Of Whole Class Instructional Decision Making, Lara Dick, Melissa M. Soto, Mollie Appelgate, Dittika Gupta

Faculty Contributions to Books

No abstract provided.

2023-2024 Annual Security And Fire Report – Sayre Campus, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

ANNUAL SECURITY & FIRE REPORTS

This is the 2023-2024 Annual Security and Fire Report of the Sayre Campus by Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

2023-2024 Annual Security And Fire Report – Weatherford Campus, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

ANNUAL SECURITY & FIRE REPORTS

This is the 2023-2024 Annual Security and Fire Report of the Weatherford Campus by Southwestern Oklahoma State University.

Reclaiming & Reasserting Third World Womanhoods In U.S. Higher Education, Bhavika Sicka

Educational Leadership & Workforce Development Faculty Publications

This study combines narrative inquiry with Third World feminism to bring a nuanced and scopic perspective of Third World women student experiences in US higher education. Specifically, it utilises Talpade Mohanty's concept of Third World womanhood to visibilise the experiences of five Third World international female students. Understanding womanhood as transnationally fluid and contextual, I investigate how women international students from the Third World perceive themselves to be misrepresented or homogenised in Western higher education. I also examine how gender and foreignness act as dynamic, interrelated categories in doubly‐othering this population. The purpose is to identify how Third World women …

Students' Perceptions Of Hospitality And Tourism Internships On Career Pathways: Transformational Versus Transactional Internships, Jessica L. Wickey

Graduate Thesis and Dissertation 2023-2024

Internships provide a platform for students to apply theoretical knowledge in a practical setting and to gain hands-on experience (Simons et al., 2012). Moreover, internships can help students build networks and connections within their chosen industry, which can later prove valuable in their career development. This qualitative exploratory study investigated students' perceptions of their hospitality and tourism internships on how they perceive their career pathways after completing an internship in a four-year degree program. For this study, a group of Junior and Senior hospitality and tourism university students from a major university were interviewed. The researcher utilized a phenomenological approach …

Student Use Of Anchors And Metacognitive Strategies In Reflection, Anu Singh, Heidi A. Diefes-Dux

Department of Agricultural and Biological Systems Engineering: Faculty Publications

Context: Self-regulation, a skillset involving taking charge of one’s own learning processes, is crucial for workplace success. Learners develop self-regulation skills through reflection where they recognize weaknesses and strengths by employing metacognitive strategies: planning, monitoring, and evaluating. Use of anchors assists learners’ engagement in reflection. Purpose or Goal: The purpose of this work was to gain insight into students’ use of anchors when reflecting on their learning. The two research questions: (1) To what extent do students link their self-evaluation and learning objective (LO) self-ratings to their reflections? and (2) What dimensions and level of metacognitive strategies do students use …

Critical Thinking Skills In Pre-Service Teachers And Their Coursework: Investigating The Preparation Of Teachers In The Rural Midwest With Humans, Ai, And Cyborg Researchers, Tiffany Shonerd

Dissertations and Theses

Despite the plethora of research and literature regarding the relationship of critical thinking and its key role in promoting learning, little research investigated the teaching of critical thinking to pre-service teachers in their coursework along with how they facilitate it in their students. As future teachers worked towards completing their teaching degrees, student teaching permitted them to work in live classroom settings with veteran teachers as mentors. Markedly, scholars argued that future teacher programs needed to understand the importance of critical thinking and utilize facilitation strategies in classroom settings. In this way, the live classroom setting could then create students …

Personal Narratives As Mechanisms To Explore The Stem Undergraduate Research Experience, Isha Chauhan

Gaines Fellow Senior Theses

STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) has popularly been labeled as reliant on objective analysis, while, conversely, humanities are rooted in engaging human virtue and creating connections between people. A particularly interesting piece of the humanities is storytelling, which allows people of unique backgrounds to develop creative connections to their work. In this way, STEM and the humanities are united by personal experience and the ability to convey such. This connection can be demonstrated through the STEM undergraduate experience, which has been greatly underrepresented in the form of personal narratives. With the format of personal narratives being conducive to discussion …

2023-2024 Annual Student Assessment Report, Southwestern Oklahoma State University

Assessment Center Reports

Annual Student Assessment Report produced by the SWOSU Assessment Center.

Cultivating Delight, Crossing Divides, And Solving Impossible Problems: Lessons Learned From A Year Of Virtual Conferences, Jon Blandford, Kathy J. Cooke, Erik Liddell, Kathryn M. Macdonald, Tara M. Tuttle

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This chapter highlights some of the lessons learned from a year of virtual conferences held by three different honors organizations, the Southern Regional Honors Council (SRHC), the Northeast Regional Honors Council (NRHC), and the Kentucky Honors Roundtable (KHR) during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Transcending Distance: Connecting During Imposed Seclusion, Lauri B. Cockfield

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Although the world endured many losses because of the COVID- 19 virus, including missing the hustle and bustle of seeing and socializing with our students in person on campus, I am pleased with the way the honors college at Perimeter turned this challenging time into an opportunity to focus on and build the community our students and faculty have told us they want. We are now adept at archiving virtual events, and our practice is to seek permission from all our speakers to record and archive their presentations. Our plan is to track views of these recorded sessions so we …

The Tightrope Walk Of Academic Creativity: Eliciting Growth In Online Honors Courses, Jacob Arnold

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

This essay reflects upon and explicates the inception, implementation, and publication of the experimental assignment, “A Quibbler,” from a course entitled “Forms of Literature: Influences of and on Harry Potter” (ENGL 2341) at North Central Texas College in Gainesville, Texas.

Honors Online: Teaching, Learning, And Building Community Virtually In Honors Education: Front And Back Matter, Victoria M. Bryan, Cat Stanfield

National Collegiate Honors Council Monographs: Chapters

Front and back matter from Honors Online: Teaching, Learning, and Building Community Virtually in Honors Education (NCHC, 2024), edited by Victoria M. Bryan and Cat Stanfield.