Higher Education Commons^™

The Second Little Book Of Joy: More Ways To Infuse Delight Into Teaching And Learning, Eugene Korsunskiy

Dartmouth Scholarship

This is the second volume in a growing collection that started as The Little Book of Joy: Tiny Ways to Infuse Delight Into Teaching and Learning ( https://digitalcommons.dartmouth.edu/facoa/4352).

This second volume presents 36 new practices authored by educators and students for bringing joy into our classrooms.

As teachers, we know that a joyful learning environment helps students thrive. We know that fun is an important catalyst of-not a distraction from-the rigorous work of teaching and learning. A growing body of research supports this intuition, showing that joy helps with focus, creativity, problem-solving, teamwork, perseverance in the face of challenges, …

Navigating Racist Spaces Through Radical Self-Care: A Photovoice Exploration Of The Experiences Of Black Graduate Students, Laetitia Adelson, Cherese Fine, Dion Harry, Keneisha Harrington, Rebecca Lynn Morgan Ph.D., Tomiko Smalls, Jerad Green, Courtney Allen, Anuoluwapo Bankole, Robin Phelps-Ward

Faculty Publications

This manuscript examines the impact of racist campus climates for Black graduate students at a predominantly white institution. Using a photovoice methodological design, this study illuminates students’ ability to thrive through radical self-care despite the many racist factors, incidents, and systems at the institution. The paper ends with recommendations for improving campus racial climate in graduate education.

Twelve Tips For Using Microlearning For Faculty Development, Kylie Fitzgerald, Brett Vaughan, Tamara Clements, Svetlana King, Alison Ledger, Kate Mathews, Rosalind Norton, Michael Poulton, Rosie Shea, Rashmi Watson, Walter Eppich, Stephen Trumble, Marco De Carvalho Filho

Research outputs 2022 to 2026

Teaching is an expected as part of the health professional’s role, amidst clinical and administrative workloads, yet many receive limited education training. Microlearning addresses this gap through short, focused, flexible learning units integrated into daily workflows for immediate application. Our paper presents twelve practical tips to guide faculty developers to design, implement, evaluate and sustain microlearning programs for faculty development (FD). The tips offer ideas to help faculty developers manage common barriers to engagement (i.e. time, relevance, technology, institutional support) and provide ideas to navigate these. The tips are applicable to health professions education (HPE) settings seeking scalable, sustainable, low …

From Classroom To Care: A Pilot Level I Fieldwork Experience Building Acute Care Self-Efficacy, Hannah Y. Oldenburg, Jennifer Bergstrom, Traci Kruse, Tamra Trenary, Corey Mcgee

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Level I fieldwork provides an opportunity for occupational therapy students to be exposed to the occupational therapy framework and process across various practice settings. This study addresses a gap in the literature regarding introductory fieldwork experiences for occupational therapy students in complex medical settings, specifically acute care. Researchers implemented a seven-week Level I fieldwork experience at two Midwest trauma centers, utilizing a mixed-methods, two-cohort design with 12 students and 16 practitioners. The program featured a blended Level I fieldwork supervision model, combining faculty-led and traditional on-site supervision. Over the seven-week period, students showed significant improvement in their perceived self-efficacy regarding …

Examining The Relationship Between Musculoskeletal Knowledge And Fieldwork Performance Among Canadian Student Occupational Therapists, Madelyn Walther, Viansa Guiotto, Rhona Anderson, Emily S. Ho

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

To evaluate the physical aspects of occupational performance, occupational therapists must understand the anatomical structure and function of the body. As such, occupational therapy academic programs must provide sufficient foundational musculoskeletal (MSK) education to prepare student occupational therapists for successful clinical practice. There is a paucity of research on MSK educational needs, and the relationship between student occupational therapists’ MSK academic outcomes and fieldwork performance. This study examined the relationship between MSK anatomy course academic grades and fieldwork performance indicators on the Competency-Based Fieldwork Evaluation for Occupational Therapists (CBFE-OT) of student occupational therapists. A mixed-methods sequential explanatory design was conducted …

Development Of A Comprehensive Practical Exam (Cope) Assessment Process For Occupational Therapy Doctoral Students, Robert E. Larson, Cynthia Tiongco, Sandra M. Whisner, Laurie D. Stelter, Laura Alexander, Megan R. Taylor, Molly Setliff, Paula Perkins, Belinda D. Alexander, James Matthew D. Geddie

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Measures are needed to ensure students are adequately prepared for clinical experiences. A Comprehensive Practical Exam (CoPE) was developed based on high fidelity simulation and an Observed Structured Clinical Examination format to assess readiness for Level II fieldwork. Teams of faculty developed multiple case simulations with consistent components across the cases for first- and second-year student cohorts. Rubrics were developed for grading student performance on the simulations with categories required for Level I fieldwork completion as well as other components required for success on Level II fieldwork. The CoPE included three components: chart review/preparation, client interaction, and documentation. The first-year …

Entry Requirements As Predictors Of Early Academic Success And Student Performance In Undergraduate Occupational Therapy Education, Eileen Du Plooy, Daleen Casteleijn, Denise Franzsen, Gopika Ramkilawon

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The selection process for health sciences programs such as occupational therapy is complex, involving a combination of academic and non-academic selection criteria as entry requirements. This study aimed to investigate the predictive value of entry requirement variables on academic performance during the first and second year of an undergraduate occupational therapy program in South Africa. A quantitative, cross-sectional design was utilized, and the sample included 129 first- and second- year occupational therapy students. Data was collected retrospectively through educational data mining of university records and institutional dashboards. The variables analyzed included National Senior Certificate Grade12 (NSC12) grades (Mathematics, Life Sciences, …

Integrating Service-Learning And Student-Led Research: Exploring Its Impact On Occupational Therapy Doctorate Students, Laura Bray, Camille Skubik-Peplaski, Shirley P. O'Brien

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

The ability to communicate, critically think, and build confidence in delivering occupational therapy services is essential for occupational therapy students. Service-learning has been found to assist with translating abstract concepts to concrete interactions with real-life situations. A mixed-method pedagogical study was conducted to examine the student experience of leading a research project using service-learning pedagogy and changes in student confidence in their use of occupation. Qualitative themes of Confidence in Occupation; Communication to Build a Partnership; Thinking on Your Feet; and Service-Learning Promotes Growth were revealed. Additionally, student confidence pre-/post-ratings indicated a statistically significant increase in confidence, further supporting qualitative …

Disability Accommodation Implementation Within Occupational Therapy Academia: A National Descriptive Survey On Knowledge, Training, And Attitudes, Nicole Pawek, Julie Olson Rand, Rebecca Ozelie, Hannah Y. Oldenburg

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs are accredited health professional programs that have, anecdotally, seen an increase in requested disability accommodations among students over the last decade. There is limited knowledge regarding faculty preparedness, available resources, and attitudes related to implementing accommodations in accredited occupational therapy and occupational therapy assistant programs located in the United States. Researchers aimed to describe faculty knowledge and experience with disability accommodation implementation, as well as identify available training and resources related to accommodation implementation and faculty attitudes toward the accommodation implementation process. Researchers used the Checklist for Reporting Results of Internet E-Surveys (CHERRIES) …

The Editors' Perspective: A New Era For Jote, Dana M. Howell, Renee Causey-Upton, Cynthia L. Hayden

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

No abstract provided.

Annual Report Of Undergraduate Research Fellows From August 2025 To May 2026, Office Of Research And Sponsored Programs. Morehead State University.

Office of Research and Sponsored Programs Reports and Publications

Annual Report of Undergraduate Research Fellows from August 2025 to May 2026.

A Word From The Writing Team (January 2026), Pam Walter, Mfa, Laura Deloretta, Phd

A Word From the Writing Team (Newsletter)

No abstract provided.

Understanding Ai Usage On Campus: Perspectives Of Faculty, Staff, And Students At A Regional Comprehensive Institution, Sudarshana Bordoloi Dr., Brooke Burk

Essays in Education

The rapid rise of generative artificial intelligence (AI) has reshaped teaching, learning, research, and administrative work across higher education. To better understand how campus communities are engaging with AI, this study examines the perspectives and practices of faculty, staff, and students at a regional comprehensive university in Minnesota. Drawing on survey data from 143 respondents, the study explores patterns of AI usage, perceived benefits and challenges, and the training needs required for ethical and effective integration of AI tools. Findings indicate that students primarily use AI for tutoring, idea generation, and drafting written assignments; faculty rely on AI for research, …

Expanding The Boundaries Of Scholarship: Flight Instruction And Boyer’S Call For Application, Joseph Scarcella

Journal of Critical Issues in Educational Practice

No abstract provided.

From The Ivory Tower To The Town Square: Defining The Public Scholar, Mary K. Littlepage

Theses and Dissertations--Educational Policy Studies and Evaluation

The term public scholar has gained increasing attention among academics and institutions, yet it lacks a definition grounded in empirical methods. This has left the term open to interpretation and led to inconsistencies in its application. Existing definitions are theoretical and emphasize a public scholar’s effort to bridge the gap between research and practice. My aim for this study was to conceptualize and preliminarily operationalize the term public scholar as a construct drawing on qualitative and quantitative data. Through a thematic analysis and initial Rasch scaling, I provided clear parameters around the construct specifically highlighting a public scholar’s behavior (practices), …

Effective Teaching Behaviors Of Adjunct Faculty In Occupational Therapy Education: Perspectives Of Students, Adjuncts, And Core Faculty, Kayla Collins, Marian Gillard, Christine Davis, Kirsten Davin, Barbara M. Doucet, Bridget Scheidler

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Adjunct faculty constitute nearly half of the higher education workforce in the United States, yet they often receive limited preparation and institutional support for their teaching responsibilities. In occupational therapy education, where rapid program expansion has heightened reliance on adjunct instructors, understanding which teaching behaviors are most valued is critical to ensuring instructional quality, student success, and professional readiness. This study examined perceptions of effective adjunct teaching behaviors in a doctoral occupational therapy program using the Teaching Behavior Checklist (TBC), a validated 28-item measure of teaching effectiveness. Participants included students (n = 33), adjunct faculty (n = 19), and core …

Programs Of Support For Wardship Experienced Students: Exploring Program Directors' Expectations And Experiences Through A Bioecological Framework, Adalheid Faith Crum

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

The purpose of this research is to explore the expectations and experiences of program directors of campus support programs which center wardship experienced students. This research question guided the current study: What expectations and experiences influenced program directors’ development and reform of a wardship-centered campus support program? This inquiry applies Ürie Bronfenbrenner’s Person–Process–Context–Time (PPCT) bioecological model. Semi-structured interviewing was utilized for this case study. In this research, six directors of campus support programs centering wardship experienced students were interviewed. Additionally, this work employs content analysis of twenty-eight National Research Collaborative for Foster Alumni and Higher Education (NRC-FAHE) publications, introducing fourteen …

Course Improvement Strategies For Effective Learning, Omar Ahmed Raheem Al-Shebeeb

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

Manufacturing processes Lab (IENG 302L) is one of the courses that is taught in the Industrial Engineering Department. The students perform several manufacturing processes in this course and for every one of these manufacturing processes, the students need to submit a project report. One of these manufacturing processes is a CNC turning process. The turning project of this course has historically had extensive average time for completion. As such, it was deemed necessary that a way to improve the quality of a turning project be generated. Industrial Quality Control (IENG 316) is also taught as part of the industrial engineering …

Teaching Strategies In The First-Year Engineering Seminar Course, Akua Oppong-Anane, Wen Juan Mo, Marshal Miezah, Gia Huy Pham, Susie Huggins, Lizzie Santiago

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

This poster highlights the teaching strategies that are implemented in the First-Year Engineering Seminar Course at West Virginia University (WVU). The teaching team incorporated active learning techniques into the course to enhance student engagement, promote critical thinking, support the development of engineering identity, and encourage major and career exploration.

A Rapid, Accessible Active Learning Framework For Stem At Wvu Tech, Somenath Chakraborty, Zahmeeth Sayed Sakkaff

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

Many undergraduates find it difficult to move from listening to doing—especially in STEM courses that require sustained practice, timely feedback, and confidence. This poster describes a rapid, low-cost active-learning routine that can be added to existing lectures at WVU Tech with minimal redesign. Instructors insert brief engagement micro-cycles every 10–15 minutes: a concept question or mini-problem, a one-minute individual attempt, a short pair discussion, and a concise explanation that targets common misconceptions.

Forming Groups With Ai Coding, Dimas Abreu Archanjo Dutra

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

The poster will detail the creation and deployment of a custom computer-based team formation tool using an Artificial Intelligence (AI) coding agent. The students respond to a survey administered on the LMS about knowledge, skills, availability, and course of study. The survey results are downloaded from the LMS, anonymized, and given to a coding agent as a sample input. The agent is instructed to create groups that have diverse skills, a common time availability for meeting, and are in different majors. Students enrolled in Honors section are grouped together, and groups all belong to the same lab section. Results are …

Gamification For Learning At Wvu Tech: Examples From Engineering And Biology, Tamara Floyd-Smith, Aida Elisabet Jiménez-Esquilín

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

At WVU Tech, gamification is intentionally implemented by many faculty as a broad, multi-modal instructional approach rather than a single tool or activity. Faculty employ a range of gamification strategies, including the digital platform Kahoot but also analog, hands-on games (e.g., discipline-specific board games). These approaches are used for multiple instructional purposes, including supporting students in checking their understanding, practicing recall, working through challenging concepts, and developing problem-solving skills. Here we present applications of gamification for learning in engineering and biology courses at WVU Tech. Student feedback was collected regarding the use of Kahoot quizzes as a valuable and enjoyable …

Towards Increasing The Retention Of Freshman Engineering Students: Implementing A New Course, Ee 101 Introduction To Electrical And Computer Engineering, Omer Lateef, Mingyu Lu, Waseem Alaqqad, Charan Litchfield, Kenan Hatipoglu

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

To assist with improving student retention in the undergraduate electrical and computer engineering program, a course was developed and implemented at the freshman level in the Spring of 2021.  This course was named EE 101: Introduction to Electrical and Computer Engineering and served to give freshman students an opportunity to meet the professors of the ECE department and experience live sessions dedicated to presenting “upcoming” topics and research endeavors of their expertise.  Students typically will not be attending the electrical or computer engineering subjects until their sophomore year and this course, set in second semester for a freshman, attempts to …

Rethinking Student Feedback: Separating Instructor And Course Evaluation To Improve Teaching Practice, Cameron Rusnak

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Poster Session Papers

Student evaluations of teaching are commonly used to inform instructional improvement, personnel decisions, and course development. At many institutions, including those using the Student Perceptions of Teaching (SPOT) instrument, instructor effectiveness and course structure are evaluated within a single, unified survey. While efficient, this approach can unintentionally conflate student perceptions of course difficulty, content sequencing, or assessment design with perceptions of instructor performance. As a result, feedback intended to support reflective teaching practice may become ambiguous or difficult to interpret.

This poster proposes an effective teaching practice centered on distinguishing between instructor-focused and course-focused feedback within traditional SPOT reviews. Rather …

Ai-Resistant Activities For Online And Large Enrollment Courses, Jason Bock, Eric Lemley

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

The rapid adoption of generative AI tools has fundamentally challenged traditional assessments in higher education, particularly in large-enrollment and fully asynchronous online courses where instructor presence and grading time are constrained. While many instructors have responded by restricting AI use or adopting detection tools, research increasingly shows that detection-based approaches are unreliable and labor-intensive. We propose a design-centered alternative: reshaping assessments so that AI use becomes insufficient, rather than prohibited.

Drawing on a systematic process of testing proposed and original assessment ideas directly against multiple generative AI models (using both simple and advanced prompting strategies), we present a curated playbook …

Integrating Antithetical Thinking And Writing Practices, Cody Grey

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

Following similar pedagogical practices to Steven Krause's (2011) chapter on antithetical writing in Writing Spaces, an open-source composition studies textbook, I developed a short writing assignment requiring students to role-play a "hostile" or oppositional viewpoint from the one they were preparing to take in their larger persuasive writing project. Titled the "Antithetical Micro-Essay," the purpose of the short writing assignment is to prepare students for unintended audiences and counterarguments they could hypothetically encounter while composing their persuasive essays (called the Editorial). By adopting an oppositional viewpoint, students were challenged to earnestly understand the positions of their oppositions, including their …

Priming Students From Confucian-Heritage Culture For Success: Lessons From Music Pedagogy, Amanda Li

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

Rising to more than 1.1 million in 2024, the number of international students in the United States continues to be a significant portion of the student population in higher education. Although no definitive number is readily available, anecdotal and my personal teaching experiences suggest that a sizable number of international students studying music in the United States are Chinese-native speakers from Confucian Heritage Cultures (CHC).

Much of the literature on Chinese international students is non-discipline specific, treating them as a homogenous whole. These students’ challenges and coping strategies are commonly categorized into language- and culture-related issues, which are inevitably intertwined. …

Preserve Democracy By Teaching Social Action, Cheyenne C. Luzynski

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

This presentation introduces social action pedagogy aimed to empower students to lead campaigns on pressing social issues and strengthen their participation in democracy. Teaching social action has enhanced the knowledge, practice, and skills of leadership and civic engagement. America’s Promise Alliance conducted a research study on the state of young people in 2024 and found that young people have low trust in American institutions and adults and feel negatively affected by the current social and political climate (Flanagan et al., 2025). The report also found that young people want access to civic education and engagement opportunities to correct inequalities and …

From Prompt To Practice: Designing Custom Ai Bots For Interpersonal Skill Development, Alaina Michelle Schrader

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

Developing strong interpersonal, leadership, and professional communication skills is foundational in counselor and education preparation programs (Fecke et al., 2023; Lateef, 2010; Stamer et al., 2023). Despite this reality, students often have limited opportunities for repeated, low-stakes practice before engaging with real clients, students, families, administrators, and other stakeholders (Lateef, 2010; Maurya, 2024; Stamer et al., 2023). This session describes a teaching practice that uses custom AI bots as simulated clients, parents, group members, and school administrators to create realistic, structured practice environments where students can rehearse counseling skills, consultation conversations, advocacy, boundary-setting, and professional decision-making without the pressure or …

Designing Ai-Aware Media 101 Curriculum Through Faculty–Librarian Collaboration, Miranda Gale Smith, Elizabeth Oppe

2026 Scholarly Teaching Conference: Concurrent Session Papers

This presentation explores faculty–librarian collaboration as a teaching practice. It will inform attendees about the work done by a faculty member (Elizabeth) and a Student Success & Instruction Librarian (Miranda) to design and implement an AI-aware curriculum into an existing Media 101 course at West Virginia University. This resulted in the careful integration of subject-specific and information literacy expertise into the course’s curriculum. More broadly, this is meant to illustrate that in terms of practice, treating AI-aware curriculum development as a shared, iterative process grounded in mutual respect for distinct but complementary forms of knowledge has the potential to yield …