Digital Commons Network^™

From Page To Perspective: Book Clubs & Book Reviews Enhance Learning In The College Classroom, Kim Nehls

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Incorporating book clubs and book reviews into my International Business Capstone course (UNLV BUS 498) offered a dynamic and fun learning experience that enhanced both academic development and personal growth. Following this assignment, students demonstrated strengthened skills in critical thinking, collaboration, and global awareness.

Using Game-Based Learning As An Active Learning Technique In Nursing Education Classes, Margaret Trnka

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

In nursing education it is essential to prepare the students for complex clinical settings. The use of active learning activities such as game-based learning combines nursing content with gaming to increase engagement, knowledge retention, and critical thinking. This poster presentation shares information on game-based learning, how to use it, where to gather more information on the topic, and resources to implement game-based learning in the classroom. Game-based learning offers students an engaging and active way to learn in not just nursing education but all areas of education. Game-based learning is a strong activity that promotes deeper learning in both didactic …

How Not To Teach With Technology: A Lighthearted Look At Educational Technology Pitfalls, Alethea Inns, Safiyya Bintali, Andrew Borts, Ted Weisman, Lindsay Erdem

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Educational technology can be both a catalyst for engagement and a source of unexpected chaos. The Do's and Don'ts of Teaching with Technology: A Lighthearted Look at Educational Technology Pitfalls distills insights from IT support tickets, faculty consultations, and student feedback into practical (and lighthearted) DOs and DON’Ts. This poster highlights four key areas of tech use in higher education: Choosing the Right Tools, Setting Expectations, Avoiding Tech Overload, and Designing Intentionally, complete with comic-style illustrations and real-world wisdom. A companion guide, available via QR code, expands on these themes with additional examples, citations, and strategies for designing tech-enhanced learning …

Leveling The Playing Field: The Power Of Pre-Class Structure In Inclusive Education, Andrew Kauffman

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Many students enter UNLV without prior instruction on effective learning strategies or class preparation, and their limited classroom contact hours further hinder the development of essential study and self-regulation skills. This challenge is particularly pronounced among students from underrepresented and underserved communities. To address this, I created structured pre-class activities designed to equip students with effective study habits and learning strategies that support their success both in and out of the classroom. Before each class session, students complete a “Pre-Class Guided Practice” handout, which includes an overview of the new material, clearly defined learning objectives, a QR code linking to …

Helping Students Frame Their Educational Experiences, Nathan Slife, Joseph Ervin

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

What separates a good instructor from a great instructor? One crucial aspect of a great instructor is their ability to help students frame their educational experiences. This framing assistance occurs for both good and challenging student experiences. Instructors play an important role in helping students understand their educational experiences. An instructor may not recognize that they have such a role. We encourage instructors to be intentional about their role in students’ framing.

When Realism In Testing Backfires: Lessons From An Unstructured Practical Exam Pairing, Jennifer Nash

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Physical therapists must adapt quickly and independently in diverse neurologic settings. To reinforce diagnostic readiness and self-sufficiency, students were not assigned partners in advance and received their exam schedule only on the day of testing. This format was designed to challenge adaptability under realistic conditions, promote independent preparation across all course skills, and reduce reliance on rehearsed teamwork.

Designing Futures: Embedding Life Design Into Second-Year Seminar, Janel Doll, Lauren Gatto, Chelsie Hawkinson, Anne Jacklin

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

In COE 202: Second-Year Seminar (SYS), students engage in Life Design to build purpose-driven academic and career pathways. We use design thinking to help students:

• Identify values, strengths, and goals
• Explore possible life and career directions
• Reflect on academic choices in relation to future plans

Life Design Portfolio — Includes:

• Worldview & Lifeview reflections
• Odyssey Plans
• Decision-Making Matrix
• Prototyping conversations and experiences

Learning Outcomes:

• Apply design thinking to life and career planning
• Demonstrate reflective decision-making skills
• Articulate personal and professional values
• Connect coursework to long-term aspirations

One-Page Rpgs: An Engaging Alternative To Group Ppts, Bill Doyle

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Looking to increase student engagement and interest, I added the one-page RPG as an option my HON 110 students have for their group project. Ideally, student-designed games help them think more carefully about class readings and related contexts and connect meaningfully to that material in ways that make the Honors College’s second-year seminar a more memorable, transformative experience. These games also help students better understand a potentially unfamiliar genre. Finally, because materials are shared outside of class, there is a reduced stress level related to conventional, in-front-of-the-class, end-of-semester group presentations.

No More Deer In The Headlights: Interview Practice With Ai, Helen R. Neill

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Ever had a student (or been the student) who froze like a deer in headlights during an interview? Been there. Whether it’s for a job, graduate school, or a conversation with a potential mentor, high-stakes interviews can spark panic. This teaching practice introduces AI-powered mock interviews to give students—both traditional and adult learners—a low-pressure space to prepare. Using AI, students rehearse:

• Informational interviews
• Job interviews
• Graduate school and assistantship interviews

Why it works: Students receive meaningful, low-stakes practice and instant feedback on tone, clarity, and content. They can revise, retry, and gain confidence with each round. This approach also supports …

Real-World Applications: Strategies To Inspire Students To Learn Calculus And Differential Equations Through Modeling, Aleksei Talonov

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Key elements of strategy to inspire students include:

• Pre-Class Preparation;
• Historical Context (Starting each lecture with a brief historical overview to provide relevance and context to the material);
• Interactive Real-Life Problem Solving (Discussing the main concepts of the lecture and collaboratively solving challenging problems);
• Proof Techniques (Demonstrating mathematical methods used to prove key statements from the current lesson);
• Real-Time Feedback.

Supporting Effective Online Teaching And Learning, Serena Scalzi

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Literature identifies numerous related concepts that support effective online education. These concepts include identity, mental models, social presence, motivation, social learning, self-regulated learning, communities of practice, cognitive load, and Universal Design for Learning. After a review of the literature, action research was conducted among participants from across the field of Online Education, including instructors, instructional designers, and embedded instructional technologists. This research collected and analyzed data regarding the practical application of these theoretical concepts, as well as the techniques, tools, and resources to support this application. The result of this action research project was a set of proven best practices …

Oh, The Lessons You'll Teach! Bringing Dr. Seuss Into Graduate Field Work, Megan Griffard

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Teaching Practice and the Need It Addresses

• Incorporated classic Dr. Seuss children's literature into graduate Educational Policy and Leadership field experience coursework.
• Used one story per class session to guide discussions and activities.
• Connected themes from four Dr. Seuss books to students’ real-world work on school improvement initiatives.
• Literature supported students’ year-long capstone projects, helping them

Co-Creating Learning Journeys, Yvonne Houy

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Viewing education as a journey of exploration and discovery, I invite students to co-create our path. As a “guide on the side,” I help students build a foundation while encouraging autonomy through co-creation—where students contribute to course design, content, assessment, and learning activities. This collaborative approach fosters deeper engagement, critical thinking, and meaningful learning. Research shows co-creation improves academic performance, skill development, and student-staff relationships. Instructors can support this by framing learning as exploration, modeling curiosity, building inclusive learning communities, and offering flexible, student-driven curricular choices that include research, topic proposals, and the creation of assessments based on co-developed content.

Thesis Equations: A Standard Formula To Help Craft A Thesis Statement, Meanna Williams

UNLV Best Teaching Practices Expo

Thesis Equations is an outlining method that can be used for writing argumentative papers. It proposes a formulaic structure that acts as a base for students to craft a simple thesis. Students need to know how to make a claim. With the emergence of AI use, and the decreasing knowledge of foundational practices, utilizing proper brainstorming and outlining skills persists to be a difficult task for student writers.

Designing And Implementing A Classification Model For Mangoes Based On Size And Ripeness Using Image Processing, An Van Vo, Hau Van Mai, Hung Duy Ha, Tam Thanh Bui

Makara Journal of Technology

Image processing is an advanced technology that significantly supports production, identification, and quality control for fruits. This paper uses image processing techniques to develop a mango classification system based on size and ripeness. The system integrates hardware, including an Arduino microcontroller, camera, sensors, actuators, and a user-friendly computer interface for monitoring and control. The classification algorithm extracts key features of the mangoes, such as their color and shape, to categorize them into predefined quality classes. Experimental results demonstrate that the system achieves an accuracy exceeding 90% for both ripeness and size classification, with a productivity level of 300 kg/hour, surpassing …

Cottonseed Polyol-Based Composite Evaluated With Inorganic Fillers, Kehinde Esther Ayodeji

Electronic Theses & Dissertations

Composites are extensively utilized as raw materials in an industry. In this study, we synthesized polymer composites, cottonseed oil polyol-based composites, incorporating inorganic fillers. This synthesis process involves the epoxidation of cottonseed oil followed by ring opening. Various characteristics of the polyol, such as the presence and quantity of hydroxyl groups (-OH), iodine value, and viscosity, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) was determined. The composite samples were prepared by mixing different fillers (SiO₂, TiO₂, and Al₂O₃). These composite formulations underwent three-week processing period, with each filler being incorporated at room temperature. …

Urie Bronfenbrenner, Wallace Fullerton, Donna Devaughn Kreskey

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Urie Bronfenbrenner (born April 29, 1917, Moscow, Russia – died September 25, 2005, Ithaca, New York, U.S.) was a Russian-born American developmental psychologist. He is best known for ecological systems theory. This theory explains human development as the result of nested relationships between the individual and family, friends, schools, neighborhoods, society, and the time period in which the individual lived. Bronfenbrenner described these contexts as, matryoshka, or Russian nesting dolls. The individual was layered within multiple contexts, or systems and each system was represented by one of the nested dolls. The ecological system of each individual was built from five …

Adopted Children, Michael Galobardi, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Views about the manner and nature of human development have changed across time (Psyking.net 2016). Some of these views have been religious (e.g., creationism) and some of these views have been more biological (e.g., preformationism).  Regardless of the focus of the view, how we believe human beings develop has a profound effect on our expectations for those beings.  One early view of human development from a biological perspective was Preformationism.  This is explained as, “A notion that was widespread among pioneer biologists in the 18th century was that the fetus, and hence the adult organism that develops from it, is …

Metacognition, Erika Fulton, Tina Miyake

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Metacognition is thinking about cognition or thinking about thinking. It includes what you know about how your own cognition and cognition in general work. Metacognition also involves the judgments we make about our cognition and how accurate those judgments are. Metamemory and metacomprehension are the most studied areas of metacognition and refer to the judgments we make about our memory and about our reading comprehension, respectively.

Person Perception In Childhood And Adolescence, William Goulart, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Prior to the early 1970s little was known about how children viewed others. Previous research had focused on the types of thoughts children had about others, rather than how they arrived at and how to categorize these impressions. Additionally, it was assumed that understanding the development of impression formation in childhood would prove useful for understanding impression formation in adulthood.

Nursing Homes, Julian Garcia, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Nursing homes are a type of residential care that typically provide continual nursing care for elderly people. Residential care refers to long-term care given to either adults or children who stay in a residential setting rather than their own home. Individuals who benefit most from nursing homes are those who do not need to be in a hospital but cannot live independently or be cared for at home. While nursing homes are most typically associated with the elderly, younger adults with different physical or mental disabilities may also benefit from them. The services at nursing homes often vary depending on …

Childbirth Approaches, Michael Galobardi, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

There are various approaches to childbirth, apart from the typical approach of vaginal delivery (e.g., typically done in a hospital). Another approach is a cesarean, which can classified as either an emergency or planned procedure. In the case where an emergency cesarean is needed a vaginal birth would have been detrimental to health of the mother and/or the fetus. A planned cesarean is requested ahead of time due to medical indication or requested by the mother. When requested by the mother the delivery is considered an elective surgical procedure, since it was requested without any medical or obstetrical indication. Cesareans …

Success And Intelligence, Halie B. Hamilton, Nathan C. Weed

Essays in Developmental Psychology

One of the most famous studies tracking the relationship between intelligence and success was conducted by Louis Terman. Terman’s Gifted Child Study began in the 1920s and followed nearly 1500 gifted children throughout their lives. To qualify, the children had to have an IQ of at least 140. The children were followed into adulthood to see how their intelligence was related to social and personal adjustment. Terman found that his sample showed not only positive academic outcomes, but also tended to be healthier, taller, and stronger than children with lower IQs. These positive effects persisted into adulthood. Two-thirds earned bachelor’s …

Empty Nest Syndrome, Kelsey Grodner, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Empty nest is a stage in development when children leave the parental home, thus leaving it “empty.” This stage occurs when children are at the age or point in life where they are ready to become independent and create a life of their own. Parents have various reactions to this change.  Many parents look forward to this transition and view it as a highly positive event, while others have a more difficult time and deal with what is commonly called the “empty nest syndrome.” Empty syndrome is typically considered a maladaptive reaction to this transition, however this significant phase of …

Social Construction Of Technology In Vr Adoption For Science Education, Adipurwa Muslich

JURNAL KOMUNIKASI INDONESIA

VR has emerged as a promising tool for revolutionizing science education, offering immersive and interactive experiences that can enhance student understanding. It holds significant potential as a communication medium for explaining the complexities of science in classroom settings. Despite its potential, VR’s penetration in science education remains limited. This research explored the facets influencing VR adoption in education, focusing on science teachers' perspectives in Jakarta. Using a qualitative approach, the study investigates how the SCOT concept, grounded in communication theory, affects the adoption of VR in the educational sector. Key themes identified included the role of networking, school culture, socioeconomic …

Dependent Care, Michael Galobardi, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

The term dependent care is an umbrella for several types of care regarding family members. One can be the caretaker for disabled children, disabled adult children, or elderly parents. It is expected of parents to perform a supportive role to make sure that children get the services they need from the appropriate health care professionals.  Caring for children is only made more difficult when the child, or one of the children has a disability. It is becoming common practice for children with disabilities to be cared for at home in developing countries. Where the complex medical and physical needs of …

Love, Kelsey Grodner, Lisa K. Lashley, Charles J. Golden

Essays in Developmental Psychology

Many have sought to understand the mystifying concept of love including psychologists, philosophers, and theologians. Most research on love focuses on the early bonding between a mother and her infant, and uses this as the exemplar for how any love relationship is formed and maintained throughout the life span. Early in development, the first understanding of love is gathered through the warm connections, nurture and affection experienced through the interaction between the child and parents or caregivers. Many theorists have suggested that the type and success of this early interaction informs how future emotional bonds and relationships are molded throughout …

Correction: A Mapping Review And Critique Of The Literature On Translation, Dissemination, And Implementation Capacity Building Initiatives For Different Audiences, Ana A Baumann, Danielle R Adams, Laura-Mae Baldwin, Rachel G Tabak, Sara Malone, Maura M Kepper, Anita D Misra-Hebert, Kathleen R Stevens, Maria E Fernandez, Sunil Kripalani

Faculty, Staff and Student Publications

This corrects the article "A mapping review and critique of the literature on translation, dissemination, and implementation capacity building initiatives for different audiences", 34.

States-In-Waiting: A Counternarrative Of Global Decolonization, Sannoy Das

Vanderbilt Law School Faculty Publications

How should we, international lawyers, especially with an interest in history, apprehend the experience of, and the horizon of expectation that opened up with, the dissolution of European empires in the decades following the end of World War II? We know that during these decades a Eurocentric international order marked by alien rule and the denial of statehood to large swathes of the world's population was nominally transformed into one marked by sovereign equality. Triumphalist accounts of progress would yoke this transformation to the realization of other good things such as human rights, and economic development.But more commonly today, we …

Caregivers’ Satisfaction With And Perceived Cultural Sensitivity Of A Modification Of A Child Injury Prevention Program For Spanish-Speaking Families, Karen Padilla

Honors Theses

Unintentional injuries are a leading cause of death among children in the United States. Caregivers play a critical role in reducing children’s risk of injury by adopting appropriate supervision behaviors and engaging in safety-proofing practices. The Supervising for Home Safety (SHS) program is a video-based intervention developed to increase caregiver supervision for children ages 2–5 by targeting beliefs about injury vulnerability, injury preventability, and self-efficacy for implementing safety precautions. While SHS has demonstrated effectiveness in English-speaking populations, no research has examined its adaptation and impact among Spanish-speaking caregivers. This study aimed to examine caregivers perceived cultural sensitivity and satisfaction with …