Educated Sons And Evolving Traditions: A Qualitative Exploration Of Male Family Roles, Inheritance Customs And Cultural Identity In Matrilineal Meghalaya., Boby John

Educational Studies Dissertations

Abstract

This study examines how increased access to higher education among Khasi boys reshapes family roles, inheritance customs, and cultural identity within the matrilineal society of Meghalaya, India. While matriliny has often been portrayed either as empowering women or disadvantaging men, limited scholarship has explored how access to higher education interacts with gendered inheritance structures and moral responsibility within such systems. This research addresses that gap by investigating how educated sons, youngest daughters (Ka Khadduh), and elders experience continuity and change in contemporary Khasi families.

Guided by Cultural Capital Theory, Social Role Theory, and Cultural Modernization Theory, the study employed …

Púchica! Central American Students Navigating A Community College In The Southwest, Reina Ferrufino

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

This qualitative study centers the lived experiences of U.S. Central American students at a large community college in the Southwestern United States. Guided by Latinx Critical Race Theory (LatCrit) and Garcia’s (2023) Servingness framework, the study examines how institutional structures—including classrooms, student support services, and co-curricular spaces—shape students’ experiences of belonging, access, and recognition. Grounded in LatCrit, particularly its attention to racist nativism, the study situates students’ experiences within broader racialized and migration-related contexts. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with eight Central American students and recent alumni. Findings reveal patterns of misrecognition, generalized understandings of Latinidad, and navigational challenges …

Unveiling Unseen Obstacles: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Black Women's Tenacity In Doctoral Programs, Yolanda V. Jackson

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

This phenomenological study explores the lived and student experiences of Black women pursuing Doctor of Philosophy (Ph.D.) and Doctor of Education (Ed.D.) degrees in the United States, centering the underexamined internal barrier of Imposter Syndrome — the persistent experience of intellectual fraudulence in the face of demonstrated competence.

The study investigated Black women's perceptions of Imposter Syndrome, the lived and student experiences that contribute to feelings of imposterism, and the coping mechanisms and strategies they employ to persist and succeed in doctoral programs. A pre-screening survey administered to 124 Black women enrolled in doctoral programs across the United States measured …

The South Got Somethin' To Say!: Black Student Affairs Professionals Sustaining Equity Work Amid Dei Dismantling, Jaborius D. Ball

Theses and Dissertations

Scholarship within the academy extensively interrogates the realities of Black faculty but neglects the lived experiences of Black Student Affairs Professionals (BSAPs). This omission renders BSAPs labor and experiences institutionally invisible while reinforcing the narrative of equity work being a racial obligation pushed on Black professionals rather than institutional responsibility. Although representing 15% of the higher education workforce, this gross percentage is disproportionately concentrated in lower-paying, non-exempt staff positions (e.g., service, office/clerical) rather than in decision-making authority (CUPA-HR, 2025). Despite structural marginalization and inconsistencies, institutions rely on Black professionals to bear the brunt of racialized equity labor work classified as …

"Hopefully This Thing Is Legit:" Student Experiences Of Administrative Burden With A Promise Program, Rosa Maria Acevedo, Denisa Gándara, Sasha Smith

Journal of Student Financial Aid

Despite the expansion of tuition-free college (Promise) programs as a financial aid strategy, little is known about how students learn about, navigate, and experience them. This qualitative case study examines how second-year students encounter administrative burdens in a Promise program (PROMISE) at a large university that seeks to minimize compliance costs. Findings reveal a tradeoff between ease of access (low compliance costs) and program-related information (high learning costs). Minimal eligibility requirements contrast with limited marketing, leaving students misinformed about key aspects of their aid. Elevated learning and psychological costs generate stress and uncertainty. Despite these challenges, students draw on navigational, …

An Equity-Based And Culturally Responsive Bill Of Rights For Early Childhood Students Of Color With Exceptionalities, Evette Simmons-Reed, Michelle Frazier Trotman Scott, Gloria Tardash, Mildred Boveda, Donna Y. Ford

Perspectives on Early Childhood Psychology and Education

The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated existing disparities in early intervention (EI) and early childhood special education (ECSE) services for culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) disabled children, exposing critical gaps in access, services and support. systemic inconsistencies in implementation, training, and funding, remain barriers limit opportunities for CLD students to benefit, despite the aims of the Individuals with Disabilities Improvement Act (IDEA). To address these inequities, this manuscript proposes an expanded and updated Culturally Responsive Equity-Based Bill of Rights for EI and ECSE. Building upon Ford and colleagues' (2018) work, this revised document extends protections to children aged zero to five, emphasizing …

Developing Spanish-Language Campus Tours To Enhance Accessibility And Competitive Recruitment At The University Of Mississippi, Caitlyn E. Culpepper

Honors Theses

This thesis proposes and outlines an initiative that would bring Spanish-language campus tours and visit resources to the University of Mississippi, increasing accessibility to the campus visit experience while also providing institutional benefits within a competitive recruitment landscape. Through a review of current literature on Hispanic/Latino students in higher education, institutional enrollment and recruitment data, comparative research on peer institutions, and conversations with university professionals, this project explores the role that language accessibility, family engagement, and campus visits play in the college decision-making process.

Findings suggest that Hispanic/Latino students remain an underrepresented yet rapidly growing population in higher education and …

A Study On Community And Technical College Students' Identification Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Cynthia J. Carow Schiebe

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students could identify culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) and, to what extent, in a community or technical college classroom where a set of goals and strategies had been established to guide methodology. Previous research on CRP traditionally focused on the educators’ or administrators’ interpretation of what students had learned when CRP was used as a methodology to reduce the opportunity gap. Students in classrooms where CRP was used were able to identify content that was aligned with their needs and wants, bring their own lives into the class without fear, balance their …

Teaching And Technology: Diagnostic Abilities Of Chatgpt For English Article Usage Errors In Turkish Esl University Students’ Academic Writing, Daniela Hong

Senior Honors Theses

This study examines how the large language model (LLM) ChatGPT can support teachers of Turkish learners of English as a Second Language (ESL) in addressing one of the most persistent cross-linguistic challenges in academic writing: the misuse of the definite article “the.” Because Turkish lacks a grammatical article system entirely, Turkish learners frequently omit or misapply the definite article in ways that reflect deeper structural differences between English and Turkish rather than simple errors. Writing samples were elicited from two proficiency levels of English in Turkish university English courses and analyzed through ChatGPT to determine whether AI could accurately diagnose …

Socioeconomic Status, Motivations And Barriers To Higher Education, And The Academic Achievements Of Women Attending Postsecondary Institutions In The Freely Associated States, Laura Ann Mccormick

Walden Dissertations and Doctoral Studies

No abstract provided.

What We Want The Decision Makers To Know About First-Generation College Student Success: Insights From Students’ Perspectives, Monique N. Legendre

LSU New Orleans Theses and Dissertations

One-third of all undergraduates in the U.S. are first-generation college students (FGCS) (Center for First-Generation Student Success, 2020). Due to barriers such as inequitable access to rigorous college preparatory programs and coursework, limited resources and access to college and career counseling, financial constraints, and a lack of college knowledge such as the expectations, norms, and language of higher education, FGCS often arrive less prepared for college than continuing-generation students, impacting first-generation student success and persistence in post-secondary education (Broadhurst et al., 2023; Campoverdi, 2023; Cataldi et al., 2018; Hamilton et al., 2016; Katrevich & Aruguete, 2017; Osborne, 2023; Pratt et …

The Experience Of South Asian International Students In Online Classes, Ashima Sitaula

All-Inclusive List of Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The COVID-19 pandemic prompted a widespread shift to online education, compelling higher education institutions to reassess their delivery methods. South Asian international students, a significant global demographic, were particularly affected. This qualitative study examines how South Asian international graduate students experience online learning at U.S. universities and the strategies they use to succeed. Guided by the Community of Inquiry (CoI) framework, the research addresses two questions: (1) What are the experiences faced by South Asian international students in online classes? and (2) What tools and strategies do they use to enhance their online learning experience? Participants were ten graduate students …

Ai-Assisted Case Conceptualization: Enhancing Ethical Decision-Making In Graduate Counseling Education, Thang S. Tran, Praveen K. Rudra, Justin Jacques

Journal of Educational Leadership in Action

As artificial intelligence (AI) is increasingly integrated into counselor education, a significant gap exists between the rapid adoption of technology and the development of structured pedagogical frameworks for ethical decision-making. This article introduces a multi-component framework to support ethical AI integration in graduate counseling education, comprising three key elements: (1) a case conceptualization model with AI assistance, (2) Morgan (SC), an intentionally imperfect AI school counseling thought partner trained on ethical standards and decision-making models, and (3) structured protocols for ethical decision-making aligned with American Counseling Association and National Board for Certified Counselors guidance. The framework is designed to center …

More Than A Destination: The Transformative Power Of A Place-Based Study Abroad Experience For First-Year College Students, Steph N. Dean, Augustine Owusu Achiaw

Publications

Background: Traditional study abroad programs often overlook the importance of place, missing opportunities for deeper, context-driven learning. Despite the transformative potential of place-based education, existing research has not consistently examined or explicitly conceptualized its integration into global learning experiences.

Purpose: This study explores the impact of a place-based study abroad program on first-year college students at a U.S. university.

Method: Using a qualitative design, researchers analyzed reflective learning journals from nine students who participated in a short-term, place-based study abroad program in Scotland. The study was grounded in Experiential Learning Theory and utilized open coding and dyadic analysis to identify …

The Parental Experience: First-Generation Students In The Transition From High School To College, Angelica Agudo

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examined the lived experiences of parents and guardians of first-generation Latinx students as they navigated the transition from high school to college in the Inland Empire region of Southern California. Despite increasing attention to first-generation student success, limited research has centered parental perspectives, particularly within regionally underresourced Latinx communities. This study addressed this gap by exploring how parents access and interpret institutional resources, the roles they assume in shaping college choice and family dynamics, and how educational institutions can better support families during this critical transition.

This study was guided by Schlossberg’s Transition Theory and Bronfenbrenner’s …

Building Bridges: Evaluating Teacher Preparation And Program Activation Of Ethnic Studies In California’S K-12 High Schools Through An Autoethnography, Jose Aguilera-Lopez

Electronic Theses, Projects, and Dissertations

This study examines the lived experiences of secondary Social Science educators teaching Ethnic Studies in the early stages of program activation, with particular attention to the challenges that are often invisible to policymakers, institutions of higher education, and K-12 school districts. Using an autoethnographic approach, the research examines key elements of Ethnic Studies Program Activation, including infrastructure support, capacity building, professional development led by experienced Ethnic Studies practitioners, and teaching with fidelity. The findings aim to provide actionable guidance for educators and district leaders to support new Ethnic Studies teachers at the secondary level and to inform leadership teams at …

Examining Mathematics Identity And Student Capital In The United States And Norway: Comparative Insights From First-Generation College Students In First-Year Mathematics Courses, Margaret Ann Bolick

All Dissertations

First‑generation college students (FGCSs)—students whose parents did not complete a bachelor’s degree—are underrepresented in international research on first‑year mathematics course retention and are often compared to their continuing‑generation peers in ways that reinforce deficit narratives and skew perceptions of FGCSs. This study provides a descriptive comparison between FGCSs’ mathematics identity and forms of capital across the cultural contexts of Norway and the United States through four interconnected papers that address the overarching research question: How do cultural and educational contexts in Norway and the United States influence how FGCSs conceptualize and express forms of capital and mathematics identity in first-year …

Arts Integration: Teaching Through The Senses Just Makes Sense!, Isabella Shenouda, Noah Karnafel, Hongming Xu

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Arts Integration is a high-impact teaching practice for both higher education and K-12 settings. Because students bring diverse backgrounds, learning preferences, and ways of making meaning, the arts offer flexible, multi-sensory pathways to content comprehension that traditional lecture-based and text-based instruction often cannot. Drawing on classroom evidence from an Honors First-Year Seminar at UNLV in which students identified an arts-based workshop as their favorite lesson, we argue that creative, hands-on activities deepen knowledge retention and foster genuine intellectual engagement. Arts Integration is inherently an asset-based and inclusive practice, as it encourages students to connect through various sensory learning experiences, whether …

From Deficit To Empowerment: Culturally Responsive Leadership Development In Student Affairs Practice, Bethany Dallas

Masters Projects

Students of Color represent a growing population enrolling at Historically White Colleges and Universities (HWCUs). Within these institutions, race-neutral practices and programming hide the racialized contexts that shape the experiences of Students of Color on predominantly White campuses. When analyzing leadership development practices at HWCUs, frameworks that do not account for the implications of race may reinforce dominant norms, thereby limiting the effectiveness of leadership programs in supporting diverse student populations. Simultaneously, student affairs professionals may be ill-equipped to address racial dynamics and must proactively seek out professional development opportunities to increase cultural competency.

This project proposes a professional development …

Testimonios De Una Estudiante De Doctorado: Regaining Joy In Graduate School Through Research-Practice Partnerships, Sophia Piral Lee

The Qualitative Report

Through an epistolary critical autoethnography and Latina and Chicana feminist framework, I explore the question of how international graduate students of color can overcome cultural, linguistic, ethnoracial, and social class isolation on predominantly white campuses and in college towns. By writing a letter to my mother (one of my methods for survival in academia), I share my challenges as a Guatemalan, first-time mom, first-generation college student, international student, and non-English native speaker in graduate school during and after the COVID-19 pandemic. At the same time, this writing helps me recognize how I overcame my isolation and regained my joy and …

What Multiple Theories Can Illuminate In Qualitative Research, Sherry Marx, Rachel Billings, Taylor Dexter, Mark T. Lewis, Patrick Ocran, Douglas Weber

The Qualitative Report

Our aim in this paper is to help scholars better understand theory’s purpose in qualitative research, how it is employed in data analysis, and the strengths and limitations of the insights it can reveal. We do this by sharing our practice using multiple theories to make sense of a common data set in an advanced doctoral class focused on theory in qualitative research. For the class final project, students chose different theories to analyze one common data set: A brief historical article on the Los Angeles Zoot Suit Riots. Student-chosen theories included constructivism, actor-network theory, symbolic interactionism, critical race theory, …

Unf Student Research Symposium Conference Program Spring 2026, Office Of Undergraduate Research, Graduate School, Digital Humanities Institute, Hicks Honors College

UNF Student Research Symposium

Formerly known as SOARS, ARISE and U-GLIDE, the Student Research Symposium is a multi-disciplinary conference series at the University of North Florida (UNF) in which undergraduate and graduate students showcase their research projects during the fall, spring and summer semesters. Research at UNF includes inquiry and investigation in all forms. Communication of knowledge produced through student research can be presented in poster format or as an oral presentation at the Student Research Symposium in a welcoming environment. This is an excellent opportunity for students to refine their presentation skills through interaction with peers and faculty as they explain their projects, …

2026 Undergraduate Research Symposium Program, Coastal Carolina University

Undergraduate Research Symposium Programs

17th Annual Undergraduate Research Symposium, April 21-22, 2026.

The 2026 CCU Undergraduate Research Symposium included 72 oral presentations, 127 poster presentations, and 22 team pitch presentations comprising 50 students who participated in the Wall College’s Chant’s Tank Pitch Competition.

Presentations at the Undergraduate Research Symposium were judged by almost 90 faculty and staff, and prizes were awarded in three categories: Best Oral Presentation, Best Poster Presentation, and Best Chant’s Tank Pitch Presentation. Here are the following award winners and their mentors in their respective categories:

Best Oral Presentation:

• 1st Place: Ryan Ryan Avallone, Applied Mathematics. Faculty Mentor: Bong Jeong (Management …

Composing In Relation: Rethinking Multimodal Feedback As Rhetorical Design, Angela Laflen

Journal of Response to Writing

This qualitative study investigates how writing instructors compose feedback in multimodal digital environments, focusing on the rhetorical and relational dimensions of their design choices. Drawing on social semiotics and multimodal composition theory, the study analyzes feedback artifacts, instructor interviews, and student surveys from six first-year writing courses. Findings reveal that instructors engage in complex feedback design work across communication modes, often without formal training or shared frameworks. Instructors tended to default to text-based habits shaped by genre memory but adapted their strategies in response to communicative breakdowns and student needs. The study identifies three core themes: reliance on print-era conventions, …

Evaluative Trialing: A Grounded Theory Of Preservice Speech-Language Pathologists’ Learning Processes With Speech-Generating Devices, Elizabeth M. Leatherman, Stacy Gasvoda, Jane R. Wegner, Nancy C. Brady

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

Although preservice SLPs are required to receive training in AAC as part of their preparation, there is limited understanding of what teaching and learning methods are effective in developing preservice SLPs’ competence in this area, including their competence with AAC systems. This study explored how preservice SLPs engage in hands-on learning experiences with a speech-generating device (SGD). Fifteen undergraduate students majoring in speech-language-hearing completed a brief online introductory module on AAC and then engaged in a think-aloud task with an SGD. Qualitative analysis was used to develop grounded theory that explained students’ hands-on learning process. The emerging theory revealed a …

From Stories To Speech: Cultivating Cultural Competence And Linguistic Awareness In Future Slps, Alexis Lawton

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

This manuscript reports on a pilot study examining how storytelling and linguistic diversity may cultivate cultural competence in graduate students in speech-language pathology (SLP). Through engagement with traditional folk tales, students explored the cultural significance of narratives and the linguistic features that shape them. The assignment emphasized adapting stories for diverse audiences while highlighting culturally relevant vocabulary, dialectal variations, and the complexities of language use. Facilitated discussions following student presentations prompted reflections on how these elements influence communication and understanding. Preliminary findings suggest that narrative exploration can foster both cultural and linguistic awareness, equipping students with emerging skills to provide …

Experiences Of Culturally Engaging Advising Among South Korean Doctoral Students: A Collaborative Autoethnography, Sarang Kim, Hanna Kim, Seyoung Hong, Eun Jung Paik

Journal of Comparative & International Higher Education

Empirical research on culturally engaging advising (CEA) for international graduate students, particularly in relation to their cultural backgrounds and identities, remains limited. This study addresses this gap by employing collaborative autoethnography and drawing on CEA and intersectionality frameworks to examine the experiences of four South Korean women doctoral students in the social sciences. Findings highlight challenges these students face due to their intersectional identities as Asian, Korean women and non-native English speakers. Findings also demonstrate ways in which CEA can be tailored to suit their needs. This study contributes to comparative and international higher education by offering insights on supporting …

Immigration And Policy: Who Influences Who?, Madison May Albers

SACAD: Scholarly Activities

This project examines how public opinion on immigration changes in response to the framing of major immigration policies in the United States. The study is grounded in Policy feedback theory, which argues that shifts in public opinion reflect the dominant frames of policy. The independent variable is the framing of the legislation, measured by presidential State of the Union addresses, and the dependent variable is the public's sentiments on immigration, measured by the media's portrayal. Utilizing a qualitative comparative historical design, the project analyzes the Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigrant Responsibility Act of 1996, DACA in 2012, the Trump travel …

English By Any Other Variety, Leya Shekanena

Masters Projects

African American Language (AAL) is a variety of English that is commonly used and linguistically respected, yet its application is barred from writing courses in higher education. Because AAL’s academic stigmatization negatively impacts the students who utilize AAL, it is important to discover how accepted usage influences students’ understanding of collegiate academic writing and their own identity. To engage with this complex problem, this project integrates Culturally Relevant Teaching and Black Linguistic Justice frameworks with the andragogical method of experiential learning to create a Supplemental Writing Skills college course. The purpose of this course is to explore how encouraged usage …

Patient Perceptions Of Empathy In Medical Student Encounters: Comparing Electronic And Handwritten Notetaking Methods, Harish Karthikeyan, Asad H. Siddiqui, Stacey Algren, Angellar Manguvo

Innovations in Health Sciences Education Journal

Objectives: Patient interviews are central to clinical practice, serving as both an information-gathering tool and a foundation for rapport and empathy. With the increased use of electronic documentation during clinic visits, concerns have been raised about technology detracting from the patient-clinician connection. This study examined whether medical students’ notetaking modality (electronic vs handwritten) influenced patient perceptions of empathy during clinical encounters.

Study Design: This study employed a causal-comparative approach, as student groups occurred naturally, combined with a survey design to collect data from patients.

Methods: A total of 135 student–patient encounters were analyzed at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School …