Career Conversations In Academic Advising: Tools For Integrating Career Into Everyday Advising, Molly Landa

Masters Projects

With a growing concern about the value of higher education, higher education institutions need to adapt to the evolving career needs of students. With the frequent interactions academic advisors have with students, advisors are uniquely positioned to help student align their academic and career plans. However, literature reveals that many academic advisors struggle to have career conversations with students due to a lack of confidence and time with students. Furthermore, the literature illustrates the importance of integrating academic and career advising because it provides students with holistic support that better supports their needs. Therefore, the purpose of this project is …

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 …

Enduring Commitment: A Phenomenological Exploration Of Retention Among Veteran Early Childhood Educators In Rural Settings, Erin M. Wirtz

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The retention of teachers has been a challenge, particularly in the field of early childhood education (Downey et al., 2024; Havlicek-Cook, 2012; Markowitz, 2024; Totenhagen et al., 2016). Research on teacher attrition is abundant, yet studies of retention are far less common, and those that exist have largely focused on K-12, novice, and urban educators. This study seeks to address this gap by exploring the experiences of veteran early childhood educators working in rural northern Minnesota. Guided by the framework of Deci and Ryan’s (2000) Self-Determination Theory, the purpose of this study was to examine factors that contribute to sustained …

Approaching Learning Satisfaction: Factors Influencing Educational Video Learning, Fei Wang, Douglas Havard, Tara Barnhart

Education Faculty Articles and Research

The rapid expansion of digital education has accelerated the use of online instructional videos, yet variability in video design and production quality continues to shape learners’ engagement and satisfaction. This study developed and tested a structural equation model to examine predictors of undergraduates’ satisfaction with educational videos. Using survey data from 964 students, learning satisfaction was positively predicted by image clarity (β = 0.381, p <  0.001), learning motivation (β = 0.18, p = 0.006), and interactive behavior (β = 0.182, p = 0.011). In contrast, video attachment tools showed a small negative direct association with satisfaction (β = −0.116, p = 0.042). Teacher performance and video …

Using Multiple Means Of Representation To Enhance Higher Education Student Learning, Cathy Stephens

Staff Scholarship - Australia & Dubai

Today’s students enter higher education from diverse backgrounds with differing educational pathways. Universal design for learning recognises that learners are not homogenous and suggests ways of improving engagement, understanding and agency for heterogeneous learners by including varied resource formats and instructional approaches, or multiple means of representation. While institutional imperatives often call for consistency of approaches and pre-designed content formats, this small pilot study asks if the implementation of varied resources and activities can enhance student comprehension and understanding of project requirements in a creative course. This small-scale study surveyed students on the perceived value of a variety of resources, …

“I Am Shining Like Never Before”: A Qualitative Study Of The Preparation For Leadership And Vocational Call Among Lay Hispanic Women Educators In U.S. Catholic Schools, Bernadette Mary Boyle

LMU Theses and Dissertations

Catholic education was established and staffed by religious individuals called by the principle of mission and vocation: to serve and support immigrant, socio-economically disadvantaged Catholic communities. But by 2016 less than 3% of full-time professional Catholic school staff were avowed religious, and these historically Eurocentric schools across the United States have declining enrollment (Donohue & Guernsey, 2023). This has challenged Catholic leaders to consider whether Catholic schools can still fulfill the founding mission of Catholic education. In 2022, Ospino and Wyttenbach reported on “the various ways in which Hispanics educators are transforming the American Catholic school experience” (p. 5) and …

Fostering Creativity With Three Shapes: Triangle, Square And Circle, Adrian Bruch

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

An account of devising a simple creative exercise for drawing and animation that imposed a set limit of shapes (three) and the success that arose from restricting the options for students. The basic shapes (triangle, square and circle) have stimulated creativity in both students and the author and it has also influenced their teaching and animation practice.

Luja Volume 6: Issue 1 (Full Volume)

Laurier Undergraduate Journal of the Arts

No abstract provided.

Secondary Mathematics Teachers' Perceptions, Knowledge, And Collaborative Practices In Professional Learning Communities, Josey S. Rodriguez

Education Theses and Dissertations

This Improvement Science Dissertation in Practice (ISDiP) investigates teacher perceptions, knowledge of and collaborative practices of professional learning communities (PLCs) at a Southwest Texas high school. The study used a mixed-methods design utilizing a survey, open-ended questionnaire, PLC observations, and an interview. Participants included 8 mathematics teachers and one campus administrator at a campus with over 800 students in grades nine through twelve. Teacher perceptions of PLCs were analyzed using descriptive statistics for quantitative data, while observations, the open-ended questionnaire, and the interview were analyzed using inductive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006). Findings revealed that despite PLC+ training, limited …

Social Perspective Taking, The Search For Meaning, And A Sense Of Belonging In Emerging Adults, Miranda Joy Powers

All Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This quantitative study examined relationships among social perspective-taking, the search for meaning, and a sense of belonging among college students. Drawing on data from the 2021 Multi-Institutional Study of Leadership, this research tested whether social perspective-taking and the search for meaning predicted higher levels of belonging. Additionally, covariates, including race, religious affiliation, gender, and COVID-19, were analyzed to assess their effects on both the independent and dependent variables. A regression analysis was performed, and as hypothesized, students with higher levels of social perspective-taking and those searching for meaning reported greater belonging. In addition, the covariates race, religious affiliation, COVID-19, and …

Academic Advising As A Pathway To Belonging: Examining The Sense Of Belonging Of West African International Students In United States Universities, Samuel A. Ahutorvie

Masters Projects

West African international students pursuing higher education in the United States encounter several challenges upon their arrival, including cultural adjustment, racial experiences, language barriers, and navigating unfamiliar academic systems. These challenges can significantly impact their perception of the institution, particularly their sense of belonging. Research indicates that when students feel a sense of belonging, it positively influences their academic success, confidence, and overall well-being. However, many current institutional practices, particularly in academic advising, do not fully account for the cultural and racial experiences of these students. To address these challenges, this project introduces the Culturally Responsive Academic Advising Intervention (CRAAI) …

Velocity: The Shimmer As Methodology, Lola Montgomery

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This article articulates a new methodology, named ‘shimmer’. Shimmer is an embodied, intuitive, temporally irregular, and affectively attuned methodology for creative-practice research. Grounded in feminist philosophy, phenomenology, autotheory, and Csikszentmihalyi’s theory of flow, shimmer names the state in which corporeal knowing precedes cognition and generates theoretical insight. Drawing from lived episodes of illness, performance, lineage-work, and practice-led research, I argue that shimmer functions as an onto-epistemological mode of inquiry: a somatic process that moves between the imaginary, symbolic, and real to produce conceptual clarity with velocity. Against the masculinised tempo of academic grind, shimmer proposes a cyclical feminist temporality of …

The Ambiguity Of Truth: Exploring Inductive Reasoning And Pedagogy In Creative Practice Through Critical Reflection, Stephen O'Connell

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

The creative process inherently utilises critical thinking, reflective practice and problem-solving skills, but students can struggle with the mental effort required to engage in critical thinking. This paper examines this phenomenon through a critical reflection as a case study, utilising the Integrated reflective cycle method to engage both in reflective practice and theory. Through the reflection on in-class experiences, errors in the students’ inductive reasoning and a tendency for them to shortcut mental challenges with experiential heuristics were identified, with students appearing to seek cognitive ease over critical metacognition. This paper then proposes utilising an inductive reasoning-led pedagogy, with a …

Using Multiple Means Of Representation To Enhance Higher Education Student Learning, Cathy Stephens

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

Today’s students enter higher education from diverse backgrounds with differing educational pathways. Universal design for learning recognises that learners are not homogenous and suggests ways of improving engagement, understanding and agency for heterogeneous learners by including varied resource formats and instructional approaches, or multiple means of representation. While institutional imperatives often call for consistency of approaches and pre-designed content formats, this small pilot study asks if the implementation of varied resources and activities can enhance student comprehension and understanding of project requirements in a creative course. This small-scale study surveyed students on the perceived value of a variety of resources, …

Echoes Of Memories Erased: A Reflection On Underscoring Between The Fractures, Nat Texler

Imaginings: creative practice and inquiry

This paper covers a reflective account of creating the underscore for the 2025 production of Between the Fractures, performed at the Butterfly Club in Melbourne, Australia. While the process of creating a mise-en-scéne  for a two hander within a small theatre space involves multilayered praxis of aesthetic inferences (Pavis, 2003) this paper aims to provide an insider’s account into some of the creative processes that resulted in the original underscore. Drawing on an eclectic fusion of practice as research methodology, specifically Linda Candy’s reflection practice variants (Candy, 2021), the research provides insight into the decisions, references (musical and otherwise), …

Association Between The Combined Herbal Medicines And Risk Of Dental Diseases In Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis: Insight From A Nationwide Database, Chiu-Hui Ling, Wei-Jen Chen, Ying-To Hsu, Hanoch Livneh, Ming-Chi Lu, Tzung-Yi Tsai

Leadership, Learning and Counseling Faculty Publications and Presentations

Background and Objectives:

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) are found to have a higher risk of dental diseases. Although herbal medicines (HMs) have long been used to treat various conditions, few studies focus on its impact on dental diseases. In this longitudinal cohort study, we assessed the correlation between HM use and risk of dental diseases in RA groups.

Materials and Methods:

A total of 2359 persons with RA aged 20–80 who were free of dental diseases between 2001 and 2010 were retrospectively enrolled from nationwide register-based data. They were then classified into HMs and non-HMs groups based on whether …

The Life Of Richard Henderson Rivers, Nell Peerson

Documents

This article is on the president of LaGrange College and Florence Wesleyan University, Dr. Richard Henderson Rivers. This "paper" was completed as an assignment for Research in the History of Southern Education in 1933.

History Of Florence State Teachers College, Susan Kirkman Vaughn

Documents

The story of the History of State Teachers College in Florence, Alabama.

La Grange Alabama's Earliest College, Walter Brownloe Posey, Ph.D.

Documents

This article on LaGrange College was published in the Birmingham-Southern College Bulletin in November 1933. (Volume XXVI Number 6)

Open Education On Social Entrepreneurship: A Comparative Study Between Mexico And Bolivia To Scale Up Complex Thinking, Inés Alvarez-Icaza, Benito Javier Martinez-Briones, Liz Katherine Marco-Torrez, Evelyn Rondon-Jara

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objectives: This study examined the effectiveness of an open digital educational platform for developing complex thinking competencies through social entrepreneurship education among higher education students in Mexico and Bolivia. Specifically, it assessed changes in perceived systemic, scientific, critical, and innovative thinking and compared learning outcomes across both contexts.

Method: A quasi-experimental pre-post design was implemented with 601 participants (Mexico, n = 509; Bolivia, n = 92). Participants completed a validated 25-item, Likert-scale instrument assessing systemic, scientific, critical, and innovative thinking before and after engaging with the digital platform. Within- and between-group differences were analyzed using permutation-based statistical tests, complemented by …

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Minutes, April 27, 2026, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting minutes from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

University Of Northern Iowa Faculty Senate Meeting Agenda, April 27, 2026, University Of Northern Iowa. Faculty Senate.

Documents - Faculty Senate

Meeting agenda from the Faculty Senate of the University of Northern Iowa.

Preparing For The Workforce: An Analysis Of Employability In Business Education, Maddie Quintanilla

Masters Projects

Research has shown that undergraduate business students are not prepared for the workforce upon graduation. When it comes to career readiness, there is a gap between employers, universities, including Grand Valley State University, and students. This project investigates employers' expectations of universities and graduates, as well as the critical skills and strategies that graduates require to be employable after graduation. A comprehensive experiential learning course must address academic, career, and personal readiness while acknowledging the complexity of this transition, including the change from college to the workplace. The Business Internship Course is intended to assist undergraduate business students in their …

Writing As A Process Of Inquiry In Autoethnography For Meaning-Making: Reflections And Some Points For Consideration, Niroj Dahal

The Qualitative Report

This article explores writing as a process of inquiry and meaning-making in the autoethnographic tradition, offering reflections on the recursive, emergent, and dialogical/dialectical nature of writing, along with some points for consideration. Drawing on perspectives from qualitative research and narrative inquiry (Riessman, 2008), I argue that autoethnographic writing serves as a method of inquiry and/or discovery, generating ontological, epistemological, and axiological-driven cultural meaning that functions as a site of reflection, interrogation, and re-storying of lived experiences. This recursive, often messy, and reflexive act allows researchers to excavate, analyze, and interpret their lived experiences. Rather than viewing writing as a final-stage …

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 …

Solo Faculty Program Coordinators In Student Affairs-Related Graduate Programs, Phillip A. Olt, Mitch Nasser, Louise Michelle Vital, Steven Tolman, James G. Archibald, Mary Ann Bodine Al-Sharif, Blue Brazelton, Rozana Carducci, Michael Houdyshell, Tryan Mcmickens, Cara Meixner, Molly Mistretta, Amy Paciej-Woodruff, Richie Stevens, Ann Wendle, Claude E.P. Mayo

The Qualitative Report

Many graduate programs in student affairs-related subfields employ just one full-time faculty member, who then also functions as the program coordinator. Program coordinator duties and compensation vary widely, but they are generally the person who ensures all aspects of the program function. Research shows that fulfilling these responsibilities in addition to teaching, research, and service is difficult; however, this study sought to expand on that literature to understand what it was like to coordinate a HESA program as the only full-time faculty member isolated in that subfield at the institution. We utilized the hybrid qualitative methodology of phenomenological polyethnography, wherein …

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, …

Stories Of Stress: Experiences Of Students In A Second-Degree, Graduate-Level, Prelicensure Nursing Program, Holly L. Nerone

Dissertations (1934 -)

This study documented and analyzed through story, the stress-related lived experiences of students in an accelerated, second-degree, graduate-level, prelicensure nursing program. Stress among nursing students has been associated with enduring negative impacts to personal wellness, future professional practice, and patient outcomes. Accelerated, second-degree prelicensure programs are rapid, rigorous, growing in popularity, and associated with the potential to generate high levels of stress among students. Second-degree prelicensure nursing programs have been underrepresented in existing literature on nursing student stress with little research focused on graduate-level options such as Master Entry in Nursing Practice (MENP) and Direct Entry Master of Science in …

Beyond Barriers: A Universal Design Guide, Sydney F. Bunk

Masters Projects

Research has shown that students with reported visual impairments are continuously underrepresented in study abroad programs, despite institutions promoting study abroad as a high-impact practice that benefits students of diverse backgrounds. Although study abroad participation has been increasing in recent years, students with disabilities, and particularly those with visual impairments, engage at disproportionately low rates. A lack of comprehensible information about program environments and available accommodations are contributing factors to this trend. This project is intended to improve the clarity of study abroad program materials through the development of a Universal Design for Study Abroad Guidebook. Guided by the principles …

Creating Sustainable School And Home Gardens: Zooming Into Nature With Digital Microscopes, Rita Hagevik, Kaitlin Campbell, Kathy Cabe Trundle, Lawrence Krissek

All Current Publications

This fact sheet provides information about using digital microscopes in the garden. It discusses how they work, choosing the right digital microscope, uses in the garden, and activities. It is part of the Creating Sustainable School and Home Gardens resource sheet series from Utah State University Extension and Smart Foodscapes.