Digital Commons Network^™

Learning Workplace-Relevant Competence In Agricultural Sciences Courses: Students’ Perceptions, Minna Lakkala, Hanni Muukkonen, Hanna-Riitta Kymäläinen, Liisa Ilomäki, Mervi Seppänen, Tuomo Kokkonen, Auli Toom

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The aim of this Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) study was to examine instructional methods that promote students’ generic workplace-relevant competence in university education. We investigated courses that differed from each other in their ways to engage students in practicing collaborative knowledge work and career skills. Students from three agricultural sciences courses answered a questionnaire to self-assess their learning of collaborative knowledge-work practices and studying in the courses. The students assessed that the course based on real project work supported the learning of collaborative knowledge practices better than the courses that did so through simulated practices or group work …

“My Ob/Gyn Has The Worst Bedside Manner…” A Qualitative Analysis Of Patient-Provider Communication And Mental Health Outcomes Of Women In Rural Georgia, Tobi F. Oloyede

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Despite technological advances in medicine and public health innovations, maternal mortality in the United States remains significantly higher than in other developed countries. Specifically, Georgia ranks as the second worst place to give birth in the country. Maternal mental health conditions are common, manageable complications that can happen at any point during pregnancy, childbirth, or in the first year following delivery, with 1 in 5 women affected. Unfortunately, 75% of women who experience MMH symptoms are left untreated.

This study focuses on patient-provider communication through the birthing experiences of women who have been pregnant in Georgia to examine how their …

Fostering Engagement With Voicethread In Online Intermediate Spanish Language Classes, Karen Acosta, Ericka H. Parra Dr

The Coastal Review

It is estimated that more than 1.5 billion students have been affected during the course of the global coronavirus pandemic by school and university closures. As a way to navigate this new instructional landscape, the researchers aimed to find a tool that would allow students to develop and practice communicative language skills in their online Spanish classes. In this research study, participants used VoiceThread over the course of a semester and then reflected on their comfort level using communicative skills in Spanish before and after using the tool, as well as whether they perceived that using the platform in their …

Sana Sana: Unlearning Generational Expectation Through Performance, Jalen R. Ash

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

My work is an exploration of identity as a BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, Person of Color) body traversing through the generational histories of my family and the struggle of cultural loss to our assimilation of Whiteness. Through the multi-faceted medium of performance, my work uses physical and mental spaces of self and technology to understand how the body functions as a screen. Our bodies house projections of generational expectations that have trickled down from the past into the present. These projections shape our own unique identities along with the personal experiences we gather as we move through the various spaces of …

Examining The Nexus Of Housing Instability And Neighborhood Within New York City (Nyc), Benjamin Boateng

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Housing instability within the New York City (NYC) area significantly affects the community's well-being. As a robust and growing city, many families in the low-income bracket face the challenge of spending a significant portion of their monthly income toward housing costs (rent, utilities, insurance). With families spending 50% (extreme housing burden) and more of their monthly income to stay in their housing units, various disparities have presented themselves within the housing context.

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, families within NYC have struggled to maintain their housing stock. Policy and community-based actions are needed to reduce the burden …

Perfectionism And Psychological Well-Being In Sport And Performance Psychology Professionals, Kaytlyn M. Johnson

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

Sport and performance psychology (SPP) professionals working in performance-enhancement training, counseling/clinical psychology, academia, and the military, face various work demands that can lead to chronic stress and impaired well-being (McCormack, 2019). Perfectionism is a multi-dimensional personality trait in which an individual sets excessively high personal standards of performance (Burns, 1980; Frost et al., 1990; Hamachek, 1978; Hewitt & Flett, 1990). While striving for high standards is not necessarily a negative trait, perfectionism is not considered a healthy pursuit of excellence, rather a “compulsive drive to achieve flawlessness” (Burns, 1980, p. 38). Given that SPP professionals’ responsibilities are to help athletes …

2023 Georgia Southern University Women's Soccer Media Guide, Georgia Southern University

Women's Soccer Records

No abstract provided.

College Students And Beliefs In The American Dream: The Impact Of Race, Class, And Gender, Maggie E. Marlow

Honors College Theses

The concept of the American Dream and its promises of prosperity and social mobility, primarily through hard work, has been prevalent throughout modern U.S. history. However, what defines the American Dream has been arbitrary and varied, and research has shown that attitudes and beliefs surrounding the Dream have changed over time with shifts in the economic and political environments. The research for this thesis uses qualitative methods, specifically thematic analysis, to analyze 16 in-depth, one-on-one interviews to examine how students attending a predominantly white university in the Southeastern United States perceive the American Dream today while factoring in how those …

“What Do Any Of Us Really Know About Love:” A Discussion Of Irony Within Raymond Carver’S Short Story Cycle What We Talk About When We Talk About Love, Niyonna Johnson

Honors College Theses

With minimalist technique, Raymond Carver manages to accurately depict a depressed working-class America. Current contemporary criticism has focused on the main themes of Carver’s work such as the struggle with identity, alcoholism, disconnection, and domesticity hardships; the one ideal that has seemed to be missing is the irony that lies within the lives of the characters. This paper will analyze, in depth, short stories from a short story cycle of Raymond Carver and detail how their current situations are directly juxtaposed by their occupations and how this benefits the currently discussed themes of his work.

Artistic Representation And Self Esteem, Brianna Davis

Honors College Theses

Dependent upon the constructs of the perception of self and the viewpoint of others, humans base the value of their self esteem on outer perspectives rather than internal ones. For this thesis in particular, the outer perspective to be examined is representation in the field of the arts. This thesis project explores the process of self esteem, artistic representation in the arts, how one affects the other, a history of the correlation between the two, and ways to inform and educate the masses with the tools necessary to advance representation in the arts thus raising the self esteem of its …

Engaged Alienation: Sotl, Inclusivity, And The Problem Of Integrity, Michael K. Potter, Jessica Raffoul

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) defines itself as an inclusive field of study, and scholars have long lauded its ability to engage academics from each and every discipline. Yet SoTL’s research culture has long been dominated by a narrow conception of social science. As a result, the lived experience of scholars from other disciplines, particularly the humanities, is one of engaged alienation. The borders created by SoTL’s research paradigm are invisible to those within and somewhat impenetrable to those who are othered by virtue of their disciplinary identities. This paper interrogates the contradictions between SoTL’s espoused values and …

“I Alone Can’T Stop The Spread”: Mid-Level Conduct Professionals Sensemaking Through Covid-19, Benjamin S. Selznick, Cover Heishman

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how mid-level student conduct professionals (SCPs) made meaning of their professional and mid-level leadership experiences during their institutions’ immediate responses to the COVID-19 pandemic. This study draws on sensemaking as a theoretical lens and literature related to mid-level professionals and student conduct practice to ground its inquiry. Interview data was collected and analyzed from four senior-level student conduct professionals within a single State within the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC) accreditation region. Findings center on three key themes voiced by the participants: the importance of maintaining …

Transgender And Gender Non-Conforming College Students’ Challenges, Supports, And Successes: An Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis, Jennifer R. Curry, Imre Csaszar, Tiffany Shierling

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

We report findings from an interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) study of transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) participants’ perceptions of their on-campus experiences. Participants reported their lived experiences of campus culture in the Deep South. The data was viewed through a minority stress framework. Four major themes emerged: a) supports for students; b) barriers for students; c) undergoing personal change; and d) influencing systemic change.

Supporting The Scholarship Of Teaching And Learning In Hong Kong, Carmel Mcnaught, Cecilia Chun

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The paper traces the evolution of the Centre for Learning Enhancement And Research (CLEAR) at The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) from early 2002 to the end of 2021. The University needed a centre to support both institutional and local (department and faculty) needs and aspirations for enhancing teaching and learning. Five key strategies adopted by CLEAR are: embedding the practice of existing teachers into policy development, localizing quality-assurance processes, relating professional-development activities to career development, involving students, and producing research evidence from within the Hong Kong context. The evidence base that supports these strategies, and the cultural and …

Post-Pandemic Doctoral Mentoring: A Mentor’S Perspective, Carol A. Mullen Dr.

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Academic mentoring has taken its rightful place alongside teaching for supporting student success. However, mentorship in higher education is complex, contextual, and laborious, as well as under-researched and not consistently recognized. Mentoring by design—focused on developmental learning that can empower and transform participants—embeds perspectives, models or theories, and evidence-supported practices/strategies. Reflection on theory-informed practice can draw lessons for mentoring PhD/EdD learners and improving doctoral environments. In this essay, a faculty mentor’s goal is to describe her philosophical approach to doctoral mentoring relative to work context, perspectives, models, application, outcomes, critical evaluation, and reflective critique. Literature on mentoring in higher education …

Knowledge Surveys Benefit Students And Instructors, Lauren Scharff, Julie Tetley, Lynne Chandler-Garcia, Joel Sloan, Martiqua Post

SoTL Commons Conference

N/A

Teaching Generation Z Students About Politics: Optimism Or Pessimism?, Mark K. Mcbeth, Jonathan W.L. Blakeman, Logan Kearsley, Alyson Tyler, Emma Villanueva

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The scholarship of teaching and learning is primarily concerned with improving student learning. Of course, we want our students to learn our disciplines, we want them to become critical thinkers, and we want them learn to write. But this study looks at how learning impacts a student’s optimism or pessimism. We believe that it is an important topic in today’s world and provides an important new topic in the scholarship of teaching and learning. This study is co-authored by two team-teachers and three honors students. Using an Introduction to Politics course as case material, the study provides a pre and …

Exploring The College Enrollment Of Students From Rural Areas: Considerations For Scholarly Practitioners, Elise J. Cain, Samantha Class

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Rural students graduate high school at a rate comparable to their urban and suburban peers; however, people from rural areas attend college at the lowest rate. Due to this discrepancy and the ever-growing importance of postsecondary education, this article summarizes and synthesizes works on the college enrollment of students from rural areas. The article begins with background information on the benefits of postsecondary education, definitions of rurality, the educational attainment of rural people, as well as institutional type and attendance patterns of rural students. Next, using Bronfenbrenner’s ecological model of human development as a guiding framework, literature about the individual, …

“You’Re Kind Of Considered Like A Leper”: A Narrative Inquiry Into How The Significant Academic Struggle Of Academic Probation Impacts Women Undergraduate Science Students’ Sense Of Belonging At An Institution, Matthew J. Smith, Rebekah I. Estevez, Georgianna L. Martin

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

While there has been significant research on both how academic struggles impact college students, as well as factors that impact the sense of belonging for college students, there has been little research examining how a significant academic struggle impacts a students’ perception of sense of belonging at that institution. This qualitative study explores how an academic struggle impacts students’ sense of belonging at that institution, as well as other findings from this study.

Undergraduate Students’ Perception Of Leadership Development Programs And Leadership Self-Efficacy, Benjamin Phillips, Juliann Sergi Mcbrayer, Brandon Hunt, Antonio P. Gutierrez De Blume, Katherine Fallon

Journal of Higher Education & Student Affairs

Colleges and universities across the United States face continual pressure to meet enrollment and retention goals, as budgets in this performance-based environment continue to become more important. On-campus student involvement, such as in undergraduate leadership development programs, has been shown to have a positive influence on both student retention and success. A survey was utilized to examine leadership self-efficacy and engagement of undergraduate students that participated in campus-based leadership development programs and explore some motivators (contributing factors) and barriers (detracting factors) to involvement in those programs. One emergent theme within contributing factors to participation was alignment with personal goals (74.7%), …

It’S Complicated: Instructors’ Perception Of Their Teaching Roles Online, Colleen M. Sharen, Heather Kirk

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, many institutions had shifted to primarily online teaching during the 2020- 21 academic year. This case study at Brescia University College (London, Canada) investigates the experiences of faculty members who, for the most part, had never taught online prior to March 2020. It explores faculty members’ conceptualization of their instructional role when teaching online. Instructors described the role of online teacher as creator and deliverer of content, curriculum designer, assessor, and facilitator of community. The findings confirm Community of Inquiry teaching and social presences but did not find mention of cognitive presence. We …

Sotl Best Practices: 21st Century College Students’ Perceptions Of Learning Styles And Instructional Design Materials’ Influence On The Successful Completion Of Assignments, Mary Rickard, Doreen E. Sams, Samuel Mullis, Aruna Sadasivan

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

There is a long history of interest in individual differences in learning styles. Beginning in the 1960s, academic research endeavors began examining the concept of personalizing teaching as the best scholarship of teaching and learning best practice (SoTL). This current series of interconnected empirical studies take a fresh look at SoTL by examining students’ self-perception of their learning styles and whether their perceptions relate to how they learn. Today’s college students are growing up in the information age of the 21st Century. Many educators believe that a best practice is to focus on delivering personalized instructional material through technology. Thus, …

“Expanding Our Pedagogical Imagination”: Faculty Experiences With Scholarly Digital Storytelling Across Disciplines, Kelly Schrum

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Despite growing pressure to increase technology-enhanced assessment, research has repeatedly demonstrated a lack of widespread meaningful integration of technology in higher education. This is in part due to faculty reluctance which is compounded by lack of training and incentives. This qualitative research grounded in the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL) is based on in-depth interviews with 25 faculty internationally, across disciplines and teaching contexts, who integrated scholarly digital storytelling into their pedagogy. It examines their motivations for adopting this technology-enhanced assessment and their experiences implementing it, including increased engagement and student learning. It further explores challenges faced and lessons …

Rebels, Rogues, And Risk-Takers: Insights Into Personal Characteristics Of National Tertiary Teaching Excellence Awardees, Claire Goode

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

Challenges exist with the discourse in education around terms such as ‘best practice’, ‘excellence’, and ‘impact’, which raises questions around who decides what ‘excellent’ teaching looks like. To better understand the different facets of teaching excellence, this research project investigates the stories of twelve national Tertiary Teaching Excellence awardees in New Zealand, exploring awardees’ trajectories and practice, including views on their identity, and on what they consider to be excellence in tertiary teaching.

This article focuses on the personal characteristics of this group of awardees, highlighted through analysis of their narratives. Educators, mentors, and curriculum designers can gain a deeper …

A Portrait Of Mwrite As A Research Program: A Review Of Research On Writing-To-Learn In Stem Through The Mwrite Program, Solaire A. Finkenstaedt-Quinn, Field M. Watts, Ginger V. Shultz, Anne Ruggles Gere

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

The writing-to-learn (WTL) literature is varied in how assignments are structured and implemented in the classroom, making it difficult for instructors to identify how to incorporate writing effectively. Drawing on the WTL literature, the MWrite program was established to work with STEM faculty to design, implement, and assess evidence- based WTL assignments. Herein we present a review of the WTL research generated through the MWrite program, situating our findings in a four-dimensional framework of engagement to identify how the MWrite WTL assignment design and implementation has supported students’ learning. Our analysis indicates that the multi-faceted design of MWrite WTL assignments …

Rethinking “Damage-Centered” Research And Individual Solutions: Cultural Humility As A Framework To Increase Student Diversity In Undergraduate Stem Departments, Anita Chikkatur, Stephanie Valle

International Journal for the Scholarship of Teaching & Learning

This study examines data from a participatory research action study on the experiences of underrepresented students in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields at a small liberal arts college in the United States. Our analysis aims to move away from the framework that students needed to be taught how to cope with and overcome the challenges they faced in their STEM experiences, including racism and sexism. Instead, we propose a stronger focus on how to end racist, sexist, and other forms of discrimination. We draw on the concept of “cultural humility” as a concrete framework that professors, departments, and …

2023 Georgia Southern University Football Roster, Georgia Southern University

Men's Football Records

No abstract provided.

2023 Georgia Southern University Baseball Roster, Georgia Southern University

Men's Baseball Records

No abstract provided.

Refreshing The Research Process, John Venecek, Barry Mauer

SoTL Commons Conference

No abstract provided.

2023 Spring Commencement, Georgia Southern University

Commencement Programs

No abstract provided.