Adult and Continuing Education Commons^™

Effects Of A Filial Therapy Program On Gifted Children’S Self-Regulation And Academic Perseverance, Helin Yarcel, Fuat Tanhan

Journal of Educational Research and Practice

The aim of this study was to examine the effects of a 10-session filial therapy program delivered to mothers on gifted children’s self-regulation and academic perseverance. Participants were 45 gifted students attending a Science and Art Center (Bilim ve Sanat Merkezi [BİLSEM]) in Eastern Türkiye and their mothers, who were randomly assigned to an experimental, placebo, or control group. Self-regulation and academic perseverance scales were administered as pre-test, post-test, and 6-week follow-up measures. Given the sample size, data were analyzed with non-parametric tests, including the Kruskal–Wallis H, Friedman, Wilcoxon signed-rank, and Mann–Whitney U tests. Results showed improvements in self-regulation …

Benefits And Costs For Chattanooga Residents Of Incorporating Training Into Economic Development Strategies, Timothy J. Bartik, Iryna V. Lendel, Sevrin Williams

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

This report evaluates the benefit-cost tradeoffs of adding a workforce training component to Chattanooga's economic development incentive packages, using the Bartik Benefit-Cost Model of Business Incentives. Focusing on hypothetical projects across seven industries, the analysis compares the present value of training costs against resulting gains in residents' per capita income over a 20-year horizon. Findings show that training, layered onto existing PILOT-based tax incentives, delivers benefits more than 25 times its costs—driven by training's greater cost-effectiveness in inducing business location decisions and its stronger tendency to direct new jobs toward local residents. While training is not self-financing from a city …

The Perceived Benefit Of A Degree Requirement In Emergency Medical Services Education And Success, Joseph H. Wood

Internet Journal of Allied Health Sciences and Practice

Introduction: This study sought to assess how graduates of Wallace Community College's paramedic program impacted their readiness for the NREMT Paramedic examination and entering the workforce, specifically comparing those who completed an associate degree to those who completed the certificate program. Methods: This qualitative study analyzed the perspectives of graduates from the paramedic program using a phenomenological approach. Using a purposive sampling technique, nine graduates were chosen for one-on-one interviews, and six were selected for a focus group. Results: Analysis of participant responses revealed three main themes: the perceived value of a degree, student preparedness for the NREMT exam and …

Writing Together, Writing Differently: Collective Authorship As Reflective Practice, Thanh Thao Le, Trut Thuy Pham

The Qualitative Report

This article examines collective authorship as a reflective and ethical research practice within a sustained program of co-authored qualitative, post-qualitative, linguistic, and reflective inquiries into teacher reflection, professional learning, language, silence, and recognition. It offers an oral-history-informed reflective methodological account of a writing collective and asks how collective authorship became a methodological practice through our collaborative writing process. The primary materials were shared drafts, margin comments, revisions, silences, version histories, short reflective notes, and remembered writing encounters. Teacher-reflection texts and related professional writing materials from our broader research program formed the secondary materials around which the writing process unfolded. Analytically, …

The Negotiated Identities Of Refugee-Background Women During Resettlement, Iuliia Fakhrutdinova

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

Refugee-background women experience unique challenges while resettling in the U.S. as they navigate complicated transnational gender roles, education gaps, migration trauma, learning a new language, and literacy in the adaptation process during resettlement, which can derail the productive paths they are on. Therefore, ignoring refugee-background women’s unique experiences and failing to understand their identities prevents our society from doing social justice and creating a space for a smooth adaptation to the new context. Language plays a paramount role in identity formation, as it moves away from the belief that identity is an essential concept. For refugee-background women during resettlement, their …

Paragliding The Cliff Edge: Introducing Open Mic Studies. A Creative Response To Navigating The Post-18 Landscape For Young Adults With Send., James Tarling, Charlie Robinson, Nick Hall, Sammy Shepherd

Plymouth Interdisciplinary Education Open Journal

This conceptual article investigates novel ways of thinking about Open Mic Nights (OMN) – performance spaces understood as free, community arts and performance opportunities where the members of the public are welcome to perform music, poetry and comedy in front of an audience. For the purposes of this article, music-related OMN that take place in pubs or community centres are discussed.

The article is intended to be a primer for OMN studies that offers new and emerging trailheads for future research and discussion. Its central focus is how OMN may benefit the Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND) community with …

Remixing Dialogue: A Case Study On Perceptions Of Hip Hop Pedagogy In A Professional Learning Course, Kelly J. Thelen

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This qualitative case study examines how teachers’ decision-making and professional autonomy shift while participating in a Hip Hop Pedagogy Professional Learning course supported by structured FIXIT (Lo & Wachter, 2023a, 2023b, 2023c, 2023d; Wachter & Lo, 2024) game-facilitated dialogue in a rural, culturally and linguistically diverse Midwest community. Grounded in Freire’s (1970) Critical Pedagogy, Ladson-Billings’ (1995) Culturally Relevant Pedagogy, Culturally Sustaining Pedagogy (Paris and Alim, 2017), and Adult Learning Theory (Knowles et al., 2005), the study explores the reclamation of agency by teachers in a time of constrained creativity and educator autonomy shaped by strict policy environments, an emphasis on …

Evaluating The Motivations Of Participants In Online Equine Extension Courses, Sarah Vos

Department of Animal Science: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

Traditional program evaluations emphasize participant demographics, knowledge gain, behavior change, and program impact. However, evaluating participant motivation can provide addition insight into why participants enroll in extension programs and help explain participant engagement and persistence throughout a program. The purpose of this study was to evaluate participant motivation in two online equine extension courses and examine potential relationships between motivation, demographics, and course delivery method, and describe participant engagement in Virtual Horse Judging Camp (VHJC). This cross-sectional study utilized convenience sampling of participants in two online equine extension courses, Horse Adult Leader Training and Educational Resource (HALTER) and VHJC. The …

From Minimum To Meaningful: A Use Of Force Training Regimen For Rural Police Departments, Joseph Corley

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This paper examines how small and rural law enforcement agencies can improve use of force training despite limited staffing, budgets, and training opportunities. Current Minnesota POST Board minimum standards establish baseline requirements but allow significant variation in how agencies develop and deliver training, contributing to inconsistent officer preparedness and skill retention. Drawing on current research in police training, motor skill retention, and scenario based learning, this paper argues that infrequent, skills based training is insufficient for preparing officers to manage dynamic, high risk encounters. The paper proposes an evidence based training regimen centered on two department led use of force …

Empowerment Or Oppression? College Students’ Interpretations Of Sex And Relationships In The Popular Media, Nicola Mcclung, Riana Pella

Journal of Media Literacy Education

Scholars have long emphasized the harmful effects of overtly sexist and oppressive media images on young people’s understandings of sex and relationships. Yet, this emphasis on explicit harm leaves a gap in understanding how college students interpret subtle, hidden, and ambiguous media messages. To address this gap, we asked 196 California college students at a large public university to critique a range of mainstream media content— from overtly oppressive, to affirming of nondominant gender identities, to containing mixed messages about empowerment and oppression. Responses were coded using our media literacy scoring guide for assessing students’ ability to critically analyze media …

Are Extension Agriculture Programs Hitting Their Target With Military Veterans?, Adam Ingrao, Craig W Carpenter, Michael Lotspeich-Yadao, Charles M. Tolbert

Journal of Extension

The desire to support military veterans has led to a variety of targeted Extension programs, but the types and availability of these programs vary substantially. After reviewing the size and diversity of the U.S. veteran population, we examine one of the main USDA programs targeting veterans: the Beginning Farmer and Rancher Development program. We then use matrix analysis to categorize veteran support programs across other program areas. Finally, we compare these programs with veterans' needs, as described in recently conducted veteran focus groups, and conclude by highlighting gaps and opportunities for improving Extension programming for veterans, including substantially improving program …

The Primary Care Brief Intervention Competency Assessment Tool (Bi-Cat): Examining Reliability And Validity, Arielle Guillod

Dissertations

Within primary care, the Primary Care Behavioral Health (PCBH) model integrates behavioral health services into medical settings through brief, population‑based interventions delivered by behavioral health consultants (BHCs). Although effective performance in this role requires competencies distinct from traditional mental health practice, few psychometrically sound tools exist to assess clinical skills in primary care. The Brief Intervention Competency Assessment Tool (BICAT) is commonly used for this purpose but lacks published evidence supporting its reliability and validity. This dissertation examined the psychometric properties of the BICAT across two studies. Study 1 evaluated factor structure, internal consistency, and construct validity in a heterogeneous …

Building Community Leadership Capacity Through Extension Partnerships: An Evaluation Case Study, Paul A. Hill, Lendel K. Narine

Journal of Human Sciences and Extension

This evaluation study examines the effectiveness of the Leadership Dixie program in enhancing leadership capacity among participants in Washington County, Utah. As a program partner, Utah State University (USU) Extension conducted the evaluation on the program’s 25th class, comprising 27 participants (N = 27). The program, characterized by 10 monthly “Challenge Day” field tours, was evaluated using two instruments to collect data on participant learning and satisfaction levels, overall program experience, demographics, and impacts on social capital, interpersonal leadership skills, community engagement, and volunteerism. Results indicate strong positive outcomes in social capital, community engagement, and volunteerism while highlighting areas for …

Nsu Library Link - Summer 2026, Nova Southeastern University

NSU Florida Link Newsletter

No abstract provided.

Trauma-Informed Esl Ecology: Centering Teacher Well-Being, Equity, And Structural Responsibility In Adult Esl Classrooms, Ghenwa Nasreddine, Heejin Song

Journal of English and Applied Linguistics

Government-funded adult English as a second language (ESL) programs in Anglophone countries increasingly encounter students with histories of trauma, displacement, and structural adversity due to existing and emerging geopolitical conflicts and unsettling sociopolitical realities. These conditions shaping English language teaching (ELT) inevitably influence learners’ cognitive and emotional engagement in language learning, as well as their relationships with teachers and peers. Despite burgeoning literature on trauma-informed practice in ELT, significant gaps remain regarding teacher preparedness, professional development, and institutional support structures to enact trauma-informed pedagogies in linguistically and culturally diverse adult ESL classrooms. Drawing on a critical review of recent scholarship …

Teachers’ Awareness Of Family Engagement In Multilingual Education, Sedighe Zamani Roodsari

Journal of Multicultural Affairs

This study investigated public school teachers’ awareness of family engagement as a linguistic and cultural resource for multilingual students. Multilinguals are typically described as individuals who can communicate in more than one language, with English not being their native language, and their linguistic choices are influenced by societal norms and systems (Šifrar Kalan et al., 2024; Wei, 2008). Preparing pre-service teachers to enhance opportunities for multilingual students remains a critical need in teacher education programs, as they strive to move beyond monolingual ideologies in their teaching practices (Cárdenas Curiel et al., 2024; Kim & Choi, 2020; Williams & Ewing, 2019). …

Michigan's Automotive Workforce Transition, Erik Vasilauskas, Michael Horrigan

Upjohn Institute Technical Reports

This report examines how changes in automobile production, specifically the shift from internal-combustion-engine (ICE) vehicles toward hybrids and battery-electric vehicles (BEVs), are likely to affect employment in Michigan’s automotive manufacturing and distribution system over the next decade. The goal is to quantify how many jobs in Michigan depend on the automotive supply chain today, how that employment has evolved since the early 2000s, and how it may change through 2030 under alternative production-and-demand scenarios. The results are intended to inform the workforce planning and community transition strategies of the Michigan Department of Labor and Economic Opportunity’s Community and Worker Economic …

How Disability Inclusion Shapes Student Experiences In Egyptian Public Universities, Ramez Maher

Theses and Dissertations

The inclusion of students with disabilities in higher education is a critical aspect of equity, social justice, and human rights, particularly in Egypt, where systemic barriers continue to hinder access to education for this demographic. Despite the enrollment of approximately 19.4 million students in 2018, only 38,135 students with disabilities were admitted, highlighting the significant challenges they face in accessing higher education.   Through a qualitative approach employing reflexive thematic analysis, this study explores the interplay of institutional policies, cultural attitudes, and accessibility challenges that affect the educational experiences of students with disabilities in Egyptian public universities. The analysis of 21 …

Book Review: A Literacy Coach’S Playbook: Building A Winning Team To Improve Student Achievement, Kirsten Burke Smith

The Language and Literacy Spectrum

This scholarly book review of A Literacy Coach’s Playbook: Building a Winning Team to Improve Student Achievement (Brieske-Ulenski & Kelley, 2025) provides a detailed overview of a new clinical model of literacy coaching. The proposed approach, a Clinical Literacy Coaching Framework (CLCF), draws upon a medical model to build Literacy Leadership Teams (LLT) to improve data-informed and culturally-sustaining instruction.

Artificial Intelligence In Higher Education: A Snapshot In Time Of Faculty Perspectives And Institutional Adaptation, Alexander Levine

Journalism

The purpose of this research is to examine where higher education currently stands in relation to artificial intelligence, how it arrived at this moment, and where the future may be heading. More specifically, this study seeks to document a snapshot in time of how faculty members, university administrators, and educators perceive the role of artificial intelligence in higher education and how they believe it may shape the academic landscape moving forward.

By examining how artificial intelligence currently influences teaching, learning, and institutional decision-making, this study aims to create a record of perspectives during a period of rapid technological change. As …

Tackling The Transfer Of Knowledge Problem In Intelligence Analysis Training, Pedro Sotomayor

Critical and Creative Thinking Capstones Collection

Intelligence analysis training faces a persistent challenge: analysts trained in critical and creative thinking strategies often struggle to apply those strategies in their demanding work environments. This synthesis paper examines the problem of knowledge transfer in intelligence analysis training, specifically, how to facilitate the application of analytic techniques from the classroom to the analysts' workplace. Drawing on educational psychology literature, including the Theory of Identical Elements, the Theory of Analogy and Abstraction, and research on near and far transfer, the paper argues that knowledge transfer cannot be achieved through curriculum design alone. Variables such as student motivation, the open nature …

Institutional Responses To The College Mental Health Crisis: A Critical Systems Review, Angel Huerta

The Scholarship Without Borders Journal

The mental health crisis among U.S. college students continues to escalate, exposing structural, cultural, and systemic failures within higher education. This review synthesizes evidence on institutional responses, drawing on Bronfenbrenner’s Ecological Systems Theory and Critical Theory, to examine how policies, faculty interactions, campus climate, and resource distribution influence student mental health outcomes. Findings reveal persistent gaps between policy intentions and practice, insufficient counseling capacity, inconsistency in faculty accountability, and inequities affecting marginalized student groups. The review highlights how organizational structures can unintentionally reinforce power imbalances and reproduce harm. Recommendations include system-level alignment of policies and practices, mandatory faculty training, enhanced …

Elevating Voices: Exploring The Impacts And Experiences Of Required Workplace Dei Training, Marika Barto

Dissertations

Mandatory diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) training is a common element institutional DEI initiatives in their response to dismantling racial inequity in government organizations; yet, the lived experiences of racially marginalized participants remain critically underexamined—particularly in government settings, where the bureaucratic structures implementing these trainings are themselves racialized. This research was conducted during one of the most politically hostile environments for DEI work in recent memory. Federal executive actions in 2025, specifically the “Bondi memo,” directed entities subject to federal antidiscrimination laws to cease DEI practices, creating immediate chilling effects that directly impacted this study and reminded us that the …

Reclamando Corazón Y Voz: Latinas Speak Their Truth Through Plática As Resistance In California Community College Learning Disabilities Assessments, Maricela Becerra

Dissertations

Although California Community Colleges (CCCs) offer learning disability (LD) assessments to determine eligibility for academic accommodations, for Latina students navigating converging forces of race, gender, language, citizenship, and ableism, these assessments often surface unspoken histories of harm. This study advanced Chicana feminista DisCrit (CFDC), extending disability critical race theory through Chicana spirituality and cultural intuition to examine possibilities when an educadora situates assessments in a plática grounded in consideración—respectful, relational, and unhurried care.

Rooted in Chicana feminist pláticas methodology and authored from the positionality of a disabled Latina scholar–practitioner, this qualitative decolonial dissertation explored how Latina students reflected on …

Practitioners’ Experiences Of Developmental, Individual Differences, Relationship-Based (Dir) Approach In Their Professional Practice With Neurodivergent Clients: A Hermeneutic Phenomenological Study, Ekaterina Sidor

Educational Studies Dissertations

This phenomenological study explores how professionals experience integrating the developmental, individual-differences, and relationship-based (DIR) framework in their work with neurodivergent clients. Although DIR is recognized as an evidence-based developmental approach in the field of autism support, little is known about how its integration affects practitioners themselves. Grounded in relational-cultural theory and transformative learning theory, the study examines how engagement with DIR influences practitioners’ professional practice and development. Using a qualitative, hermeneutic phenomenological design, data were collected through open-ended questionnaires and in-depth interviews with multidisciplinary professionals from diverse international contexts who completed DIRFloortime training and actively implement DIR in their work. …

Learning To Get Out Of The Wing - The Motivations Of Learners Incarcerated In Québec Provincial Prisons, Frédérick Armstrong

Journal of Prison Education Research

41 men and women incarcerated in the Québec provincial prison system were asked why they enrolled in educational activities. Relying on self-determination theory’s to describe and categorize their motivations, we found that most respondents had extrinsic motivations to participate in educational activities and that only three respondents could be described as intrinsically motivated. Respondents joined programmes to escape boredom, to receive financial compensation or to receive some other benefits; not for the pleasure of learning. These results are different from other research reporting that a majority of incarcerated learners were intrinsically motivated. After addressing this contrast and arguing that it …

Workplace English For Non-Profits: Using Visual And Specific Purposes Pedagogy, Emma K. Brown

2026 Symposium

Between April and June 2025, I designed and taught an English for Specific Purposes (ESP) workshop series for Refugee and Immigrant Connections Spokane (RICS) in Spokane, Washington. The purpose of this workshop series was to provide RICS’s employees, who were advanced English learners, instruction and practice with the nuances of professional communication, especially email communication, and vocabulary unique to their career in a non-profit organization. The workshop was entirely voluntary, provided online over Zoom after their workday had ended, and met once a week for one hour. I designed this workshop series using the pedagogy of ESP: conducting a thorough …

More Than A Rod: Reconceptualizing Medical Student Development Through The Lens Of Social Determinants Of Learning, Dejour Young

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Medical education traditionally follows a biomedical paradigm that emphasizes academic rigor but often overlooks non-academic factors that fundamentally influence student success. The aim of this study was to reconceptualize medical student development by shifting focus from traditional academic metrics to the systemic, non-academic factors that affect learning and well-being.

This study employs a systemic analysis of structural barriers, defined as institutional policies, practices, and environments that create and perpetuate inequity in medical education. This investigation was grounded in the Integrated Social-Ecological Framework for Learning (ISEF-L), a three-tiered conceptual framework developed for this study. The ISEF-L includes Social Determinants of Learning …

Challenges And Innovations In Tennis Coach Development: International Insights From Practitioners Across Continents, Miguel Crespo, Rafael Martinez-Gallego, Christine Nash

Journal of Coach Development

Tennis is a global sport with effective coaches being essential to the continued appeal, therefore the work of the coach developers within the International Tennis Federation (ITF) is crucial. This research examined the work and aspirations of coach developers in tennis using in-depth interviews with 10 ITF coach developers. Subsequently, we developed detailed pen portraits of two ITF coach developers at different levels of experience and engagement in order to highlight any differences in work, objectives or ambition. Findings from coach developers revealed three themes: support from ITF; barriers to learning; making learning less traditional. The pen portraits added further …

Exploring The Transformative Effects Of Executive Coaching On Leaders: A Qualitative Study, Dwayne Norman

Theses & Dissertations

This qualitative dissertation examines the transformative effects of executive coaching on leaders’ development, personal growth, decision-making, and overall effectiveness across varied organizational contexts. Grounded in authentic leadership theory and employing a generic qualitative inquiry design, the study investigated how leaders who completed executive coaching describe changes in their behavior and mindset. Eleven experienced leaders participated in semi-structured interviews selected through purposive sampling. Thematic analysis, guided by the cyclical and inductive coding methods of Saldana (2021), generated 187 initial codes, which were distilled into 72 final codes. These final codes were then further refined into twelve categories and four overarching themes: …