Digital Commons Network^™

Table Of Contents

Georgia Criminal Law Review

No abstract provided.

Technology And History: The Battle Of Britian As An Interactive Model, Dr. Lee Eysturlid

Professional Learning Day

This session will use the Battle of Britian (1940) as the material to demonstrate the impact of several technologies (radar, aircraft, radio, etc.) on a historical event. This will be part of bringing the details into a discussable format through floor model of the event, which participants will engage in. AI in the STEM Classroom  FULL Sarah O’Leary-Driscoll 9th-12th Grade Science, Computer Science, AI In this session, we will discuss current uses of AI for science research, as well as ways to introduce students to appropriate tools and their ethical usage in their academic endeavors. Resources will be provided, and …

Watching Movies To Stimulate Mathematical Inquiry, Dr. Evan Glazer, Anderson Trimm

Professional Learning Day

Have you ever wondered the odds of Luke Skywalker making that perfect shot to destroy the Death Star? How about the size and speed of the T-Rex in Jurassic Park? In this session, we will investigate several examples of how mathematics can be used to make sense of remarkable phenomena in the movies. We will brainstorm connections to a variety of concepts in algebra and geometry.

The Cubic: Centuries Of Mathematical Intrigue, Dr. Micah Fogel

Professional Learning Day

Humanity has had a formula for solving quadratic equations since antiquity.  The corresponding cubic formula is a relative newcomer, and its story has led to other important discoveries, career-ending intrigue, and the foundations of mathematics in the modern age.  We'll meet the principal characters, investigate the math, and hear the story of the cubic equation.

Integrating Neuroscience And Technology: Experiential Learning Through Muscle-To-Robot Systems, Dr. Ashwin Mohan, Dr. Mark Carlson

Professional Learning Day

In this interdisciplinary module, participants engage in hands-on exploration of neuroengineering by recording and interpreting electromyographic (EMG) signals to control robotic devices, bridging human physiology and technology. Through guided experimentation, they investigate neural pathways, signal processing, and biofeedback to understand brain-machine interfaces. The module highlights real-world applications of neuroscience, engineering, and computer science in biomimetics, fostering critical thinking, problem-solving, and creativity through experiential, technology-driven learning. *It would be helpful for participants to have the Spike Recorder App from BackyardBrains website downloaded on a laptop*

The Big Air Lab, Dr. Joseph Golab

Professional Learning Day

When baking soda and vinegar mix, it's instant chemistry chaos exemplified by the look of satisfaction on a young chemist's face as the foamy explosion leads to dreams of first place in the school science fair. In this lab experience, we will apply reaction chemistry, stoichiometry, and engineering skills to fill a ziploc bag with just the right amount of carbon dioxide. "Just the right amount" means a bag that is taut but does NOT explode! Along the way we'll learn about the reaction a car's air bag uses to protect passengers in an accident. And we'll try to keep …

Disease Detectives: An Exploration Of Foodborne Epidemiology Activities, Dr. Zachary Conley

Professional Learning Day

An interactive workshop presenting lessons utilizing inquiry-based and problem-centered learning to introduce basic concepts of epidemiology. In particular participants will engage in group discussion and interactive elements to explore foodborne illnesses and the science used to track them. Our hope is to present lessons, which in addition to sharpening scientific skills will present unique career pathways to students.

Experiential Cooperative Learning Methods For Science And Math, Dr. Thomas Juliano

Professional Learning Day

Tired of students mindlessly copying each other's homework?  In this workshop, experience what it is like to "chunk up" concepts or problems for a unit, giving each student a unique voice and inherent motivation to share with others in the class. The presenter will draw from experience with a physics curriculum; however, this technique can be applied to other sciences, math, and most any other academic discipline. *Participants may bring a laptop to this session*

Shaping Ideas: Integrating Injection Molding Into Stem Learning, David Hernandez

Professional Learning Day

This workshop introduces educators to the role of injection molding machines in modern product development and manufacturing. Participants will engage in hands-on activities to design and create molds used for producing high-volume, uniform plastic parts with precise shapes and characteristics. Through this process, attendees will learn how injection molding supports rapid prototyping, mass production, and quality control in industry. Educators will leave with practical strategies for integrating real-world manufacturing processes into STEM learning environments.

Executive Functioning: Definition And Strategies, Crystal England

Professional Learning Day

This interactive session defines executive functioning disorders and examines how these cognitive processes influence student behavior in and out of school. Through realistic case studies, participants will identify how EF strengths and challenges manifest in daily routines. Strategies to support neurodivergent learners with executive functioning delays will be provided.

Enhancing Science Accessibility And Engagement For Students With Visual Impairments: A Randomized Trial Of The Talking Labquest In Nigerian Schools, Sariat A. Adelakun Dr

Journal of Science Education for Students with Disabilities

Students with Blindness in Nigeria are often erroneously perceived as incapable of engaging with science at the basic education level, contributing to their low enrolment in science-related careers. Although various techniques and materials have been proposed to support students with blindness in science, many lack empirical validation. This study investigated one such approach by examining the impact of the Talking LabQuest on the interest of Students with blindness in science subjects.

A randomized controlled trial was conducted in inclusive junior secondary schools in Nigeria, involving 20 classrooms over an 18-week period. Twelve classrooms were randomly assigned to the intervention group, …

Supporting College Students’ Mental Health In An Academic Setting: Faculty Perspectives, April Garrity

SoTL Commons Conference

No abstract provided.

Creating Accessible And Welcoming Iep Meetings: Empowering Teachers To Partner With Parents, Barbara Serianni, Nedra Cossa

Empowering Educators Conference

Parents’ experiences in eligibility and initial IEP meetings range from feeling welcomed to feeling unheard. This session equips special education teachers with practical strategies—clear communication, inclusive structures, and culturally responsive practices—to create accessible, empowering environments where families are valued as equal partners in the IEP process.

Teaching Leadership In The Classroom: Peer To Peer Learning, Leadership Theory, Unsd Goals, And Community Building, Emma Wilson Parker

Professional Learning Day

Teaching LEADership in the Classroom: Peerto-Peer Learning, Leadership Theory, UNSD Goals, and Community Building highlights IMSA’s LEAD program, where students engage in leadership-centered activities that connect theory to practice. Participants will explore how peer-to-peer teaching, reflective dialogue, and the UN Sustainable Development Goals create intentional spaces for growth. This session offers strategies to implement peer-led models, build community, and design meaningful learning experiences that develop empathy, self-awareness, and purposeful leadership in and beyond the classroom.

Data At Hand: Statistically Speaking… Which Hand Is The Real Mvp?, Lindsey Herlehy

Professional Learning Day

Explore a lively, hands-on investigation into which hand truly performs better. Participants will collect their own data, analyze their results, and use statistical reasoning to uncover surprising findings. Through quick experiments and collaborative challenges, this session brings data to life while modeling engaging, classroom-ready strategies. Come ready to move, measure, and rethink what you thought you knew about your “better” hand.

How Much Do Your Questions Matter?, Dr. Janice Krouse

Professional Learning Day

As much as we are accustomed to answering students’ questions, how this is done can radically influence the amount of thinking that goes on in the classroom. Our answers should stretch each mind, extend students’ thinking and also further access to all learners, inviting them into the conversation. In addition, posing a well-planned jump-start can set the ideal tone the minute students walk in the room. Come, and question your questions! *OPTIONAL - Participants may bring a lesson or warm-up used in their classroom*

Moving Onward: Reframing Illinois' Role On The Underground Railroad For The Classroom, Eric Krupa, Zach Bishop

Professional Learning Day

Join Eric Krupa and Zachary Bishop, cofounders of the Illinois Network to Freedom Collective, as they discuss recent efforts to: “explore, research, and commemorate Freedom Seeking and the history of the Underground Railroad in Illinois.” With groundbreaking new research and legislation leading the way forward, discover how to approach this difficult, and oft-misunderstood period of time. Learn how to apply these new findings to an already-overloaded classroom setting, and collaborate with experts across the State.

What Are Your Students Doing This Summer? We Have Some Ideas., Dr. Anita White, Jacqueline Salinas

Professional Learning Day

IMSA offers summer programs for students who are currently in 8th grade and interested in math and science enrichment , and students in grades 10 and 11 who would be interested in a summer research opportunity. The directors of the PROMISE (Providing Opportunities for Mathematics and Science  Enrichment) and SRELO (Summer Research and Experiential Learning Opportunities) programs will provide information, answer questions and share activities that are a part of the programs.

How Ai Really Works, Dr. Peter Dong

Professional Learning Day

The rise of generative artificial intelligence has generated excitement, fear, and more than its share of hype and hysteria. This session will discuss, as simply as possible, the basic principles of large language models.  The hope is that this will dispel some of the aura of mysticism around AI and allow people to consider carefully how it can be useful as a tool—and when it can’t.

Build It Fast - A Civil Engineering Challenge, Patrick Young

Professional Learning Day

Constructing a new highway overpass creates road closures and temporary traffic woes. Civil engineers must sequence the required tasks in a manner that minimizes closure time. Participants will work in teams to create and test construction sequences to see what works best. Simple, inexpensive materials are used for construction (mostly paper). Participants will be given access to this and several related activities of a middle-school curriculum developed for Illinois Tollway.

Sensemaking In The High School Science Classroom, Matt Bulman

Professional Learning Day

When students investigate phenomena that spark curiosity, science learning transforms. This session highlights how to design lessons where students ask their own questions, construct models, and revise ideas through evidence-based reasoning. Participants will explore real high school examples of sensemaking in action and leave ready to shift instruction from “covering content” to fostering authentic scientific thinking. The session features classroom shifts and resources developed at St. Charles East High School. *Participants may consider bringing a favorite lab, activity, or assessment to this session.*

Csi: Costa Rica--Turning Phenomena Into Engaging Biology Storylines, Cassandra Armstrong

Professional Learning Day

Immerse yourself in a problem-based storyline and work to solve the case of a mysterious illness that has taken over a Costa Rican village. Experience an accelerated student journey as you ask questions, build and revise models, analyze outbreak data, and design investigations. We’ll connect the activities to NGSS performance expectations and explore how anchoring instruction in compelling phenomena increases understanding, engagement, and authentic scientific reasoning.

Building A Rainbow Solution Tower, Dr. Terry Leung, Dr. Angie Ahrendt

Professional Learning Day

Meaningful activities can increase student engagement and improve their learning. Colors provide the visual aids necessary to enhance student understanding. In this session, the audience will participate through hand-on experience to make multiple colorful solutions and determine the corresponding densities, which could be extended to the concepts of moles and concentrations. This lab is extremely low-cost. It is suitable for all levels of chemistry courses, as well as general science courses.

Exploring The Attributes Of Varied Interventions To Reduce Firearm Violence Among Youth And Emerging Adults: A Systematic Review, Vickie Blakely Reed, Lashanda D. Brumfield, Maaz Ali, Traci Hayes

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

The death rate among children and adolescents, 14-26 years old, from firearms has increased 46% from 2019 to 2021. Among this demographic population, Black and Latino youth account for most firearm deaths. The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) guidelines were used in conducting this study. Studies from January 2020 to October 2025 were identified through a search of PubMed, Web of Science, and ProQuest databases. Searches for the review included but were not limited to terms and phrases such as “gun violence prevention interventions for youth” and “firearm violence prevention interventions.” The purpose of this systematic …

School Climate As Primary Prevention: Mental Health And Violence Outcomes Among Lgbtq+ Youth In The U.S. South (2015–2024), Latarsha H. Michael, Brieah D. Hudson, Kenya T. Horne

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, and other sexual and gender minority (LGBTQ+) adolescents in the U.S. South experience disproportionately high rates of bullying, discrimination, depression, and suicidality. Supportive and inclusive school climates are identified as key protective factors that can mitigate these risks and function as primary prevention against violence. This systematic narrative review synthesizes peer-reviewed research and high-quality survey reports published between 2015 and 2024 that assess school climate, mental health, and violence-related outcomes among LGBTQ+ youth with representation from Southern states, including Mississippi, Alabama, and Louisiana. Following Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses guidelines, 1,167 records …

Violence And Abuse Against Adult Stroke Survivors In The Deep South: Epidemiology, Risk, And Public Health Responses, Dawn S. Mclendon, Shaneka S. Patterson, Shreyas Gangadhara

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Adults living with neurologic disability, particularly stroke survivors, face disproportionately high rates of violence and abuse. This vulnerability is amplified in the Deep South due to elevated stroke burden, structural disadvantage, and persistent community-level disparities in both violence and health care access. We conducted a narrative review of peer-reviewed literature indexed in PubMed, along with relevant surveillance and policy reports, to synthesize current evidence on the burden, patterns, risk factors, and prevention opportunities related to violence among adult stroke survivors. The review focused on elder mistreatment, intimate partner violence, sexual violence, caregiver abuse and neglect, and financial exploitation. Findings indicate …

Socioeconomic Factors Affecting Length Of Hospital Stay And Discharge Disposition Among Male And Female Gunshot Injury Patients In Jackson, Mississippi., Okechukwu Erinne, Deanna Howington, Sarah Mcgraw, Jonathan B. Lowrie, Matthew Kutcher, Alyscia Severance, Masoumeh Karimi, Leila Seidfaraji, Lei Zhang

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Background: Gun violence remains a public health concern in the United States, with Jackson, Mississippi, ranking among the highest in gun violence rates. Understanding how sociodemographic factors influence clinical outcomes is essential for improving care delivery and resource allocation. 

Purpose: This study examined the association between age, education, employment, and insurance status with hospital length of stay (HLOS) and discharge disposition among adult male and female firearm injury patients residing in Jackson, Mississippi.

Methods: Data were obtained from the electronic health records of adults (≥ 18 years) presenting to the University of Mississippi Medical Center emergency department …

A Secondary Analysis Of Mississippi Domestic Violence Trends From 2019 To September 2025 Based On The Trace Atlas Of Gun Violence Archives, Lashanda D. Brumfield, Bernice Akinwande, Vickie Blakely Reed, Traci Hayes, Tanya Funchess

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Abstract

Background: Domestic violence remains one of the most heartbreaking yet overlooked public health challenges across the Deep South. Prevention programs and effective policies addressing domestic violence issues must be driven by translatable, applicable, and reliable data in order to see outcome-driven results. Purpose: The objective was to identify temporal, regional, and city-level patterns in the frequency and severity of domestic violence gun incidents. Methods: This study presents a secondary analysis of domestic violence gun incidents in Mississippi from January 2019 to September 2025. To examine geographic distribution, incidents were aggregated at the regional level: Central, Northeast, Northwest, Southwest, …

Demographic, Circumstantial, And Geographic Patterns Of Firearm-Related Homicides And Suicides In Mississippi, 2021-2023, Zhou Fang, Utsav Nandi, Cerissa Eubanks Neely, Lei Zhang

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Background: Firearm violence ranks among the leading causes of death in Mississippi. Understanding its demographic, circumstantial, and geographic patterns is essential to inform prevention efforts.

Purpose: To describe demographic, circumstantial, and geographic patterns of firearm-related homicides and suicides in Mississippi during 2021–2023 using Mississippi Violent Death Reporting System (MSVDRS) data.

Methods: Percentages and crude rates of firearm-related homicides and suicides were analyzed by demographic characteristics for 2021–2023. z tests assessed rate differences between years. Chi-square (χ²) tests compared proportions of decedents with specified precipitating circumstances for 2022 versus 2021 and 2023 versus 2021. County-level crude rates were mapped to visualize …

“I’M Going To Get Help”: Violence Prevention And Response Assessment In Higher Education, Leah B.P. Pylate, Lindsey D. Knight, Sristi Subedi, Earnestine Y. Roby

Journal of Public Health in the Deep South

Background: College-age students are at risk for violence, and these victimizations can affect academic performance and outcomes.

Purpose: The purpose of the current project was to gather information about violence prevention and response in higher education to inform resources and programming delivered to students through an institutional office in the Division of Student Affairs.

Methods: The project was guided by a social-ecological framework. Seven focus groups were conducted with 31 students.

Results: Students identified key issues affecting violence prevention, including personal and relational barriers; limited awareness and access to campus resources; emotional and mental health impacts; and the need for …