Education Commons^™

The Incorporation Of Salivary Diagnostic Testing In Dental Hygiene Program Curriculum; A Pilot Study Using A Self-Reported Questionnaire, Carrie B. Palmer-Hawkins

Dental Hygiene ETDs

This study evaluated the incorporation of salivary diagnostic testing in dental hygiene program curricula. A recruitment email and survey link were sent to a convenience sample of 296 CODA-accredited program directors in the United States. Using a descriptive research approach, the survey gathered quantitative and qualitative data exploring directors’ perspectives on the role of salivary testing in dental hygiene education. Thirty-seven responses were gathered over three weeks, and 34 participants were included in the study, resulting in a response rate of 13%. Thirty-eight percent (n=13) reported incorporating salivary testing into their dental hygiene program curriculum through didactic or clinical coursework. …

Physical Education Through The Lens Of A Transgender Individual, Allison L. Graham

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

Transgender students face unique challenges in K–12 physical education (PE) that other groups of students do not experience. The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the life history of a transgender woman, Evergreen, with a focus on her experiences in PE throughout K-12 school. This study was guided by Queer Theory (Jagose, 1996) and Atkinson’s (1998) life history methodology, data was collected through nine semi-structured interviews and participant-selected artifacts. Data was analyzed using Merriam and Tisdell’s (2016) coding procedures to identify themes. Findings revealed distinct experiences across four areas: (1) Elementary School PE—positive memories centered on play …

Predicting The Unpredictable: Advancing Risk Management In Fitness Centers Through Data Science-Driven Judicial Outcome Modeling, Hongyoung Kim

Health, Exercise, and Sports Sciences ETDs

This study developed a prediction model of judicial outcomes in fitness exercise-related injury lawsuits to identify key factors influencing fitness centers’ success in litigation. Using 209 U.S. court cases from Westlaw, Phase One employed text mining and content analysis to identify legal variables. Phase Two applied descriptive statistics and multiple logistic regression to evaluate the combined influence of these variables on judicial outcomes. For the multiple logistic regression analysis, the sample size was reduced to 184 cases after excluding 25 remanded cases.

Results showed that victim behavior, hazardous facility conditions, and enforceable waivers or exculpatory clause defenses significantly predicted judicial …

A Phenomenological Study Of The Lived Experiences Of Implementing An Education Model From School Leaders’ Perspectives, Jackie Marie Cusimano Phd

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

A high school science teacher asked the question, “Why not make every class an elective?” He noticed that when his high school students were required to take a course, such as biology, the attendance and participation lacked when compared to his elective course of forensic biology. Both classes covered the same science standards. This question led him to applying for a public charter license and ultimately opening the first Choice Charter School in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 2014. Choice Charter Schools follow the created Choice Charter Education Model, which is based on William Glasser’s Choice Theory (Glasser, 1998). Since the …

When Two Worlds Collide: A Narrative Inquiry Into The Teacher Identity Development Of Graduate Students Of Additional Languages, Hannah L. Garver

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

This study explores a population that has been understudied in teacher identity research: native English-speaking graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) of additional languages who assumed this role with no prior teaching experience. Influenced by my own experience as a GTA, the purpose of this study is to gain insight into how this population’s experiences shape their identities as teachers and later careers. This qualitative study uses narrative inquiry as a method by which to examine their experiences through the stories told by participants: six former GTAs of French and German.

Using data in the form of semi-structured interviews and some participants’ …

Hearing Their Voices: Exploring Parent Perspectives Regarding Augmentative And Alternative Communication In Home And Community Contexts, Heather Rose Diluzio

Special Education ETDs

Parents of children who have extensive support (ESN) who use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC) have reported challenges in supporting their children’s communication in home and community contexts. This qualitative interview study explored the perspectives of six mothers of children with ESN who use aided AAC to examine the supports families have, or would like to have, to integrate aided AAC meaningfully into their child’s communication in home and community settings. Findings revealed that these parents were the primary force behind their child’s access to aided AAC due to limited support from formal systems and professionals. Themes included: parents’ deep …

Book Review: Academic Coaching: Coaching College Students For Success, Corinne Bishop

Journal of Graduate Librarianship

Book review: Howlett, M. A., & Rademacher, K. (2023). Academic coaching: Coaching college students for success. Routledge. 196 pp. ISBN: 9781032272214 (paperback), 9781032265711 (hardcover), 9781003291879 (ebook).

Prevention Of Suicide As Perceived By Educated Adults In Ondo Metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria, Margaret Kehinde Soetan

Buletin Konseling Inovatif

This study investigated prevention of suicide as perceived by educated adults in Ondo metropolis, Ondo State, Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for this study. Population of the study consisted of all educated adults in Ondo metropolis, Ondo State. The sample comprised two hundred (200) educated adults randomly selected from the metropolis. Structured questionnaire was used as instrument to collect data for the study. Data collected was analysed using mean, ranking, t-test and analysis of variance (ANOVA). The results revealed the perception of prevention of suicide as giving people hope for a better life after current problems are resolved, …

Needs Analysis: Ar As An Innovative Learning Media Solution For Elementary School Students, Rosfaniarti Rosfaniarti, Makmum Raharjo, Meilinda Meilinda

Jurnal Pendidikan: Teori, Penelitian, dan Pengembangan

This study aims to identify the need for the development of Augmented Reality (AR)-based learning media as an innovative solution in elementary school learning. The needs analysis method was conducted using a mixed methods approach through questionnaires and interviews with 103 students and 5 teachers. The data were analyzed descriptively and quantitatively to obtain a comprehensive picture of instructional needs. The results showed that student needs were in the high category, with a percentage of 80.64%-85.30%. The socio-cultural aspect was the highest need (85.30%), followed by the pedagogical and technical aspects, while the cognitive aspect had the lowest value (80.64%). …

Caring More For Our First-Year, First-Generation And Low-Income Students: Perceptions Of Barriers And Transitional Success, Joshua Burns

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

First-generation and low-income (FGLI) students often encounter challenges during their transition into higher education, including limited access to institutional knowledge, social networks, and financial resources. While many colleges and universities offer targeted programs to support FGLI populations, not all eligible students enroll in or engage with these initiatives. This qualitative phenomenological study explores the lived experiences of first-year, nonprogrammatic FGLI students who are not actively participating in formal support programs to better understand how they navigate the transition to college. Through in-depth interviews, the study investigated the types of support these students seek independently, the institutional and social barriers they …

Building Resilience One Connection At A Time: A Guide To Developing Retention Programming On College Campuses, Stephanie Sibley, Rachel Daltry

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

Despite college students having the potential to be more socially connected than ever before thanks to technology and social media, many students still struggle with isolation, loneliness, and a lack of belongingness and community. These feelings and experiences not only increase the risk for suicidal behavior and diminish resilience, but they can also negatively impact student retention. Outreach programming that targets social connectedness will be described. Specific guidelines developed from first-hand experiences with implementing such programming will be highlighted, and readers will be encouraged to consider how similar programming could be implemented by various offices or personnel at their own …

Bridging The Gap: Exploring The Impact Of Graduate Preparation Programs On Undergraduate Stem Students, Faika Tahir Jan, Thomas Nelson, Travis Chan, Tremayne O. Waller, Cynthia Hampton, Sherif Abdelhamid

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

This study explores the impact of the "A Step to the Doctorate" (S2D) program on the academic trajectories of undergraduate STEM students, focusing on how it fosters academic success and prepares participants for graduate education. Drawing on data from pre and post surveys and semi structured interviews of 60 participants, the research addresses two primary questions: (1) Which program components do participants find most impactful? Moreover, (2) How has the program influenced their academic aspirations and preparedness for graduate school? The findings highlight that mentorship, peer networking, and targeted workshops are key in boosting academic self-efficacy and enhancing participants’ confidence …

The Success Equation: Scaling The Pivot Framework For Stem & Healthcare Student Success, Ryan Clark, Jarrod Lockhart

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

Student success in STEM and healthcare increasingly depends on intentional design of equitable, scalable pathways that integrate structured programming, immersive experiential learning, and modern workforce-aligned upskilling. This manuscript introduces the PIVOT Framework— Pathways, Innovation, Vision, Opportunity, and Transformation—as a comprehensive, evidencedriven model for reimagining student success strategies in STEM and healthcare education. The framework emphasizes early engagement, longitudinal support, and competency-based preparation, ensuring students develop the skills and professional identities necessary for success. Drawing from a range of high-impact practices—including paid internships, research-based learning experiences, mentoring structures, digital skills integration, and stackable credentialing—the manuscript demonstrates how coordinated institutional strategies improve …

The Power Of Intentional Programming: Amplifying Student Voices As A Catalyst For Student Engagement At Hbcus, Jason D. Etheridge

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

Student engagement is a critical factor in retention and success, particularly at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). This study explores the development and implementation of intentional programming designed to foster inclusion, leadership, and academic success at an HBCU in the southeastern United States. Using a student-centered approach, initiatives such as leadership conferences, study halls, and identity-affirming programs were developed to address gaps in student engagement. Through qualitative data collection and student feedback analysis, findings suggest that integrating student voices into programming enhances institutional responsiveness, strengthens campus culture, and improves retention. This study highlights best practices, challenges, and implications for …

Mentoring Through A Cultural Lens: Faculty Mentorship Experience In The Bunche Fellows Undergraduate Research Program, Audrey Devost, Passion Lord, Kiana Billot-Vasquez, Zeyna Faucette, Ketema Paul, Walter Allen

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

This manuscript explores the significance of faculty mentorship in underrepresented student success within a culturally engaged on-campus research program. Drawing on data derived from the Pathways Through Research case study, a mixed-methods empirical study of the Bunche Fellows Program at the University of California, Los Angeles, this paper centers student voices to better understand the manifestations of cultural engagement among faculty mentoring experiences, and how these cultural experiences shape student development among the program’s alumni. Guided by Critical Race epistemology and the Culturally Engaging Campus Environments (CECE) Model, this research highlights the effectiveness of mentoring relationships within a structured on-campus …

Rethinking Academic Integrity: Deconstructing Academic Norms In A Technologically And Culturally Shifting Lanscape, Ilknur Sancak-Marusa

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

The rise of generative AI use in higher education calls for a critical reexamination of academic integrity, revealing its culturally-constructed and context-dependent nature. While institutions scramble to create generative AI policies, many rely on Western-centric definitions of integrity that overlook the diverse cultural and linguistic students’ backgrounds. Traditional frameworks often misunderstand behaviors like patchwork writing or collaborative learning, viewing them as misconduct rather than culturally influenced practices. This paper argues that academic integrity standards differ across cultures and institutions rather than follow universal principles. As generative AI further complicates ideas of authorship and originality, institutions must move beyond punitive responses …

Foreword, Orikideh Mohajeri

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Editor's Note, John B. Craig

Journal of Access, Retention, and Inclusion in Higher Education

No abstract provided.

Infographic: Top Sports For Children, Dominique Russell

Teacher infographics

What sports options are on offer at your school for 2026? Today’s infographic might serve up some inspiration. It outlines the most popular organised sports participated in outside of school hours, by age group. The data show activities such as gymnastics and swimming lessons are popular at a younger age, and participation in team sports becomes more popular in older age groups.

Language Attrition As A Social Process, Or Barzilay

Master's Projects and Capstones

Language attrition is a process in which the gradual decline in proficiency of a language occurs when another language becomes more prominent among individuals, families, and broader societies. This shift often occurs not by choice but by necessity, as speakers are expected to adapt to the other language in educational settings, for employment, and to conform to societal pressures in their new environments. Although language attrition is often described as an individual loss of proficiency, contemporary research reveals a far more complex picture—one shaped by factors that determine which languages are valued and which fade into obscurity. These forces collectively …

Lost In Translation: Navigating Cultural And Linguistic Barriers For Indian Learners In Tesol Classrooms, Shivam Jaynarayanbhai Gohel

Master's Projects and Capstones

ABSTRACT

This thesis examines the cultural, linguistic and emotional issues of the Indian multilingual students in the U.S. TESOL classroom and explains the value of decolonized and culturally responsive pedagogies to ameliorate foreign language anxiety and create equitable education. Based on the frameworks of Culturally Responsive/Sustaining Pedagogy and Affective Filter Theory, the study integrates existing and existing research to investigate the role of colonial heritage in influencing TESOL practice, the undermining effect of anxiety on academic achievement and the empowering effect of instructions that are inclusive and responsive. Chapter I presents the problem, including how multilingual and multicultural identities of …

What We Can Learn From Comenius About Why We Educate, David I. Smith

University Faculty Publications and Creative Works

As we wrangle repeatedly over the purposes of schooling and who gets to define them, what might we gain by taking a moment to listen to a thoughtful voice from a place and time not defined by our own mix of prejudices? I invite you to listen to such a voice, one speaking from a different era amid different anxieties and in a different idiom yet addressing questions that remain pressing. It is a voice shaped by a lifetime of educational engagement and reflection in the constant shadow of violence, yet, to the last, invested in the pursuit of delight. …

From Incomplete To Impactful—Finalizing Unfinished Nursing Projects In Nart And Polypharmacy For Lasting Improvement, Paula Thanh Nhat Pham, Armine Lianna Chamichyan, Anastasia Yerofeyeva, Stelene Alexis Tragus

Master's Projects and Capstones

This quality improvement project addressed the problem of incomplete or unsustained clinical initiatives at a long-term care facility by introducing Kotter’s Change Model, an evidence-based framework designed to support and sustain lasting improvements in clinical practice. Within the context of a religious-based residential community for older adults with complex chronic needs, the objective was to strengthen the facility’s capacity to implement and sustain change more effectively. By using two previously unfinished initiatives, the NaRT triage tool and Polypharmacy management process, the project applied Kotter’s model to evaluate how structured change strategies can improve staff engagement, leadership alignment, and long-term project …

Shattering The Silence: The Path To Maternal Equity In Texas, Karah Renfroe

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

The Black maternal mortality crisis reflects the persistence of institutionalized racism embedded in the U.S. healthcare system. In Texas, Black women account for just 11% of births yet represent 31% of maternal deaths—a mortality rate more than twice that of their white counterparts. This staggering disparity has persisted, even as statewide initiatives have improved maternal outcomes for non-Black women. This Comment situates the current crisis within a broader historical continuum: from the coerced medical experimentation on enslaved Black women by figures such as J. Marion Sims, through the codified racism of the Jim Crow era, to present-day inequities ingrained in …

Texas Black Maternal Mortality Crisis: A Spotlight On The Texas Legislature’S Alternatives To Abortion Program, Camille Tealer-Misage

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

Texas leads the nation in maternal mortality and morbidity which intersects with high uninsured rates, abortion bans, and legislative policies promoting medical misinformation. Texas’ legislatively codified Alternatives to Abortion Program allocates tens of millions of dollars per year to crisis pregnancy centers and non-profits with the goal of deterring women from seeking abortions. These clinics do not have to hire medical professionals or obtain licensing for the pregnancy-related services provided to clients. Crisis pregnancy centers do not have to provide accurate medical information or social services to the thousands of people who seek care in a state with increasingly limited …

The Evil Historical Twin: How The Requirement Of A Historical Analogy Could Result In Further Discrimination In The Law, Bryanna Mall

The Scholar: St. Mary's Law Review on Race and Social Justice

In 2024, the Supreme Court decided the case of United States v. Rahimi. The Court, unpersuaded by Rahimi’s objection regarding federal law which prohibited an individual subject to a domestic violence restraining order from possessing a firearm, decided the restriction was constitutional. While the holding of this case represents a win for survivors of domestic violence, the legal reasoning plants itself of flimsy concepts of history. The Court utilized a historical analysis test and looked to precedent rooted in social customs, legislation, and court holdings. The first major issue of this test is the dueling interpretation between a historical …

Mental Health Literacy In Biology Graduate Teaching Assistants: Perception, Knowledge, And Training Needs In College Stem Education, Kanza Arshad, Ricardo Montoya, Nicole Scheuermann, Heather E. Bergan-Roller

Honors Capstones

College students experience a high prevalence of mental health challenges, and STEM students exhibit lower mental health literacy than students in other disciplines. Graduate Teaching Assistants (GTAs) play a crucial role in supporting undergraduate students, yet little is known about their mental health literacy (MHL) or how they navigate student disclosures in instructional settings. This preliminary study examines MHL among GTAs in biology, as well as their knowledge, perceptions, and training needs regarding MHL. We used semi-structured interviews and thematic analysis to examine how biology GTAs understand mental health, their responsibility related to student well-being, and what supports they identify …

Suprasegmentals And Small Talk Skills: An Adult Esl/Efl Teacher Training And Curriculum Design, Katya Davida Landau

Master's Projects and Capstones

There is inadequate education and training for Adult ESL teachers on how to teach pronunciation, especially the essential suprasegmental feature of intonation. This leads to the perpetuated issue of lowered intelligibility amongst ESOL learners, which limits their opportunities in English-speaking settings. Through the provision of innovative curriculum and teacher training videos that share pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) on the subject of suprasegmental phonemes, these issues can be addressed.

Any curriculum developed to teach suprasegmentals must consider the role of creative and engaging activities to inspire learners, comprehensibility and intelligibility, embodied pronunciation techniques, and the impact of explicit, communicative, and task-based …

December 12, 2025 Ereporter, University Of Alabama At Birmingham

eReporter (campus newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Enhancing Academic Efficiency Through Ability Grouping And Remedial Classes: The Cases Of India And Vietnam, Samwel Lwiza

Journal of Humanities and Social Sciences

Improving the performance of academically weak students remains a major challenge in developing countries, particularly in the context of the ‘leave no one behind’ agenda. This study examines the roles of ability grouping and remedial classes in enhancing academic efficiency among students in India and Vietnam. Drawing data from 17,866 students in the 2016/17 Young Lives School Survey, this study estimated efficiency scores by using the order-alpha partial frontier approach, and their determinants were assessed through a bootstrap truncated regression model. The findings indicate that ability grouping increases students’ efficiency by 3%, whereas remedial classes decrease it by the same …