Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Commons^™

Beyond The Binary: Strengthening Nursing Students’ Proficiency Of Equitable Health Promotion, Martha K. Findley

Theses

Background: Sexual and gender diverse (SGD) populations continue to experience significant health inequities, yet prelicensure nursing curricula often lack structured, evidence‑based training to prepare students for equitable care.

Purpose: This study evaluated whether a targeted, transgender‑focused simulation could improve nursing students’ clinical knowledge and preparedness for providing equitable health promotion to SGD populations.

Methods: A pre‑/post‑intervention design was used with senior‑level nursing students who completed a transgender patient simulation emphasizing communication, assessment, and equitable health promotion. Students completed a validated survey measuring knowledge and preparedness in caring for SGD patients.

Results: Significant improvements across most survey items demonstrated that the …

The Role Of Critical Professional Development In Transforming The Teaching And Learning Practices Of White Faculty: Elevating Racial Consciousness To Center Equity, Kaitlyn E. Siner-Cappas

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences of white faculty participants in a critical professional development (CPD) program that seeks to enhance racial consciousness at a public research university. The goal of the study was to understand any perceived changes in faculty positionality and teaching and learning practices following their participation in the program, as well as identify the extent to which the program supported participants in a journey towards enhanced racial consciousness.

Four themes characterized the experiences of faculty participants in this CPD program: 1) experiencing the benefits of a learning community, 2) gaining confidence in …

Healthcare Students’ Experiences Using Artificial Intelligence Simulation Tools In Clinical Simulated Laboratory Practice, Delicia S. Cousin

Student Dissertations

Artificial intelligence-driven simulation has become an important component of healthcare education by providing students with opportunities to strengthen clinical reasoning, decision-making, and technical skills in a safe learning environment. Despite its growing adoption, limited research has explored how healthcare students experience artificial intelligence-driven simulation during clinical laboratory practice. The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore healthcare students’ experiences using artificial intelligence-driven simulation tools during clinical laboratory practice. Guided by Experiential Learning Theory and Transformative Learning Theory, the study examined how students interpreted, reflected upon, and learned from these experiences. Data were collected through a researcher-developed Qualtrics questionnaire …

Professional Dispositions In Coaching Education: Icf-Credentialed Coaches’ Perspectives On Development And Assessment, Michelle Renee Thompson

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

This qualitative phenomenological study examined how professional dispositions were defined, experienced, and assessed in coaching education within the rapidly expanding field of professional coaching. The problem addressed was the lack of a clear understanding of professional dispositions in coaching and the absence of a systematic dispositional assessment comparable to that in counselor education. The researcher’s purpose was to explore how credentialed professional-level coaches defined and identified professional dispositions for effective coaching engagements and how these dispositions aligned with constructs in other helping professions. The researcher collected data through semistructured videoconference interviews. Purposeful and snowball sampling yielded 16 U.S.-based coaches who …

Pedagogy Of Care: Exploring Climate Justice Frameworks In Cuny Undergraduate Courses, Ismerlyn Gonzalez

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

Climate justice centers the human rights of communities most impacted by the climate crisis rather than solely focusing on the scientific aspects of environmental challenges and disasters. Higher education institutions play a key role in advancing climate justice education, but research shows that frameworks are not consistently defined across institutions. The IRB-approved study that produced the findings in this capstone sought to explore how climate justice frameworks are implemented at the CUNY undergraduate level and learn more about the instructors delivering these courses. From February to April 2026, instructors from different CUNY undergraduate campuses were surveyed, interviewed, and asked to …

A Praxis Of Transformative Care: Centering Historically Resilient Students At A Pwi, Tanaisha Coleman

Dissertations

Campus cultural centers frequently treat student resilience as an individual struggle rather than a collective responsibility, obscuring systemic failures. At a predominantly white institution (PWI), historically resilient students, those from diverse backgrounds who have historically endured the structural load of institutional exclusion, carry the compounded weight of navigating systemic barriers while driving institutional change. This qualitative study disrupts traditional narratives of surviving and thriving to examine how undergraduate students constituting a student advisory committee (SAC) coconstructed critical resilience rooted in transformative and collective care.

Using community-based participatory research (CBPR), this study positions students as coarchitects of their institutional experiences. Over …

Part-Time Faculty In Art And Design Higher Education: Support & Challenges, Katherine Ye Jin Lee

Masters Theses

This thesis investigates the challenge part-time faculty in art and design higher education face and the institutional support they receive through a case study conducted at Rhode Island School of Design (RISD). Through an extensive, anonymous and voluntary part-time faculty survey across different departments at RISD, it examines: 1) current perceptions of available institutional & departmental teaching support, 2) teaching approach & practice, and 3) student-faculty engagement. The research aimed to gather data on challenges that are unique to part-time faculty in art and design fields, especially in relation to faculty-student engagement to understand areas where they can be better …

A Study On Community And Technical College Students' Identification Of Culturally Responsive Pedagogy, Cynthia J. Carow Schiebe

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

The purpose of this study was to investigate whether students could identify culturally responsive pedagogy (CRP) and, to what extent, in a community or technical college classroom where a set of goals and strategies had been established to guide methodology. Previous research on CRP traditionally focused on the educators’ or administrators’ interpretation of what students had learned when CRP was used as a methodology to reduce the opportunity gap. Students in classrooms where CRP was used were able to identify content that was aligned with their needs and wants, bring their own lives into the class without fear, balance their …

Exploring The Impact Of Ungrading On Student Engagement And Motivation In A First-Year Composition Class, Mary B. Gruis

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study investigated the association between student engagement, motivation, and self-efficacy in college-level writing-intensive courses using an ungraded approach. Motivated by disillusionment with traditional grading methods and inspired by texts on equitable grading and culturally responsive teaching, the researcher explored how ungrading could foster deeper learning and equitable educational practices. Grounded in Bandura’s (1997) self-efficacy framework, this qualitative case study examined the lived experiences of first-year composition students at a two-year institution. Data collection included student interviews, student reflections, and an instructor interview. The analysis revealed themes aligned with self-efficacy, engagement, and motivation, suggesting that ungrading positively impacted students' perceptions …

Building Understanding: Developing A Mental Health Literacy Scale For Teacher Preparation Faculty, Jesse Mossholder

Dissertations, Theses, and Projects

This study aimed to create a valid and reliable Teacher Preparation Faculty Mental Health Literacy Scale. Current literature consistently indicates that traditional undergraduate college students experience high rates of stress, anxiety, depression, and burnout. Teacher preparation programs often lack systematic approaches to supporting student mental health or to preparing faculty to respond effectively. While the literature, resources, and institutional support regarding college student mental health have increased, a significant gap remains in understanding faculty mental health literacy within the context of teacher preparation programs. This mixed-methods sequential exploratory study utilized non-discriminative snowball sampling to recruit preservice educators and teacher preparation …

An Investigation Into The Student And Faculty Knowledge, Perception, And Usage Of Chatgpt, Isabella Burns

Honors Theses

Artificial Intelligence (ChatGPT) has become a significant topic in academia. Professors and university officials have been contemplating an all-out ban on utilizing such tools for undergraduate academic work. Sullivan et al (2023) noted “…student behaviors led some universities to ban the use of ChatGPT…” (p. 32). Instead of teaching students how to leverage ChatGPT as a powerful resource to enhance the learning process, universities have deemed use of ChatGPT unacceptable, equating its use with serious academic dishonesty offenses consistent with plagiarism (Hawdon et al., 2025). Directly copying from ChatGPT can constitute plagiarism and poses a significant issue for college-level studies, …

What Keeps Teachers: A Systematic Review Of Induction And Early-Career Teacher Retention In Rural Schools, Bobbie Jean Mcdonough

Teacher Education, Educational Leadership & Policy ETDs

Teacher retention remains a persistent challenge in United States education, particularly in rural K–12 public schools. This systematic review synthesized empirical research on induction and early-career teacher retention in rural United States settings published between 2000 and 2025. Guided by a postpositivist framework and aligned with PRISMA 2020 standards, 56 studies met inclusion criteria following structured database searches and multi-stage screening. Findings across the included studies indicate that retention was most consistently associated with induction, mentoring, professional learning, responsive leadership, collegial relationships, and teachers’ integration into their school and community, with no single support appearing sufficient in isolation. Across research …

Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Black Women In Undergraduate Stem Core Expansion Pathways, Lizzie L. Evans Martinez Alvarez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

The use of social incongruence in the film Hidden Figures, which juxtaposed with STEM education as the most powerful in contrast with Black women as the least powerful, supported the argument for the specific problem of practice to examine the unmet need for socially and ethnically diverse student populations in U.S. STEM higher education and careers. The purpose of this hermeneutic phenomenological research study was to identify and analyze the lived experiences of Black women regarding barriers they perceive in the STEM educational and career decision-making processes, while exploring transformational pathways to STEM academic success. The study specifically analyzed …

From Deference To Dialogue: How International Gtas From High Power Distance Cultures Adapt To U.S. Classroom Dynamics, Deborah Akua Afi Appiah

Theses and Dissertations

International graduate teaching assistants (GTAs) from high power distance cultures play a significant role in undergraduate education at U.S. universities, yet they face challenges that go well beyond language proficiency. Coming from educational backgrounds where teacher authority is unquestioned and hierarchical, these GTAs must navigate American classrooms that operate on fundamentally different assumptions, where authority is earned rather than assumed, informality is the norm, and students expect to question, negotiate, and be personally known by their instructors. The present study examined how eighteen (18) international GTAs from seven (7) high power distance countries perceived and adapted to these differences while …

Meaningful Work: A Phenomenological Study Of Embedded Writing Peer Mentors, Susan S. Detwiler

Electronic Theses & Dissertations (2024 - present)

This phenomenological case study examines the experiences of writing peer mentors who are embedded in a first-year inquiry-based writing seminar. It aims to understand how peer mentors who are engaged in the complex practice of supporting first-year writers in a writing classroom make sense of themselves and writing. At a large R-1 diverse university, I interviewed 6 writing peer mentors 3 times over 1 calendar year. I traced their development from mentees, (first-year writing students), through their three semesters of peer mentoring. They also shared written reflections from their training praxis course (a course for peer mentors focusing on their …

The Influence Of First-Year Seminar Course Modality On The Academic Outcomes Of First-Generation College Students, Keia Dodd

College of Graduate Studies: Theses & Dissertations

When universities effectively implement first-year seminars, a popular type of support designed to assist students during their initial year of college, they can meaningfully boost the academic performance of first-generation college students. This study examined whether first-year seminars influenced the academic outcomes of first-generation college students at a specific institution compared with those of their continuing-generation peers. Specifically, it investigated the extent to which course modality (face-to-face, online, or hybrid) influenced variation in first-semester grade point average (GPA) and first-to-second-year retention after controlling for race, sex, and first-generation status. The sample included 7,848 first-time undergraduate students. Multiple linear regression was …

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 …

The Impacts Of Experiential Learning On Moral Development, Jacob Tyler Greenfield

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports (ETD)

Burnout remains a widely studied phenomenon in the healthcare literature, with much of the focus placed on reactive mitigation strategies that lack meaningful engagement with moral development. Healthcare education programs rarely incorporate formal learning experiences that promote moral development as a means of addressing burnout symptoms. This qualitative single case study examined how health professions students describe the impact of experiential learning on their moral development. Participants engaged in adapted photovoice methods, focus groups, and interviews to reflect on how serving as a Project MUSHROOM student leader influenced their morality. Four themes emerged: 1) recognizing bias and the need to …

"They Just Gave Me The Syllabus": A Mixed Methods Study Of Music Therapy Educators' Preferred Pedagogies, Christina Danielle O'Brien

West Chester University Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Final Projects

In 2022, the workforce analysis of music therapists, the American Music Therapy Association reported that approximately 80% of all board-certified music therapists are white/Caucasian-European (Iwamasa, 2025). However, the AMTA does not determine the origins of race or ethnicity among postsecondary music therapy faculty in the U.S., nor does it assess their potential impact on the expansion of multicultural curricula for preservice professionals. The purpose of this convergent mixed-methods dissertation is to examine the perception of lived experiences as a pedagogical tool to enhance effective teaching practices. Twenty-six postsecondary faculty from the U.S. were recruited. Quantitative data were collected via Qualtrics …

Measuring Academic Momentum: A Quantitative Study Of Supplemental Instruction As A Community College Student Support Strategy, Cornelia Slater

Dissertations of Practice

ABSTRACT

MEASURING ACADEMIC MOMENTUM: A QUANTITATIVE STUDY OF SUPPLEMENTAL INSTRUCTION AS A COMMUNITY COLLEGE

STUDENT SUPPORT STRATEGY

Cornelia Vanessa Slater, Ed.D.

Department of Counseling and Higher Education

Northern Illinois University, 2026

Quortne R. Hutchings, Director

Community colleges serve as critical access points to higher education for diverse populations of students where completion rates are an ongoing challenge. Supplemental Instruction have been used as an academic intervention to improve success largely in four-year institutions. This quantitative study, guided by Xueli Wang’s momentum theory analyzed two research questions: (1) how supplemental instruction (SI) participation is associated with student academic success, course retention …

Awareness, Empathy, Action: How American Students’ Study Abroad Experiences In The Middle East And North Africa (Mena) Influence Self-Perceptions Of Global Citizenship, Renee Lamb

Theses and Dissertations

Internationally minded practitioners and academics have posited for decades that global citizenship could be a tool the world can use to build a stronger and more sustainably minded global culture. Through global citizenship’s inclusion in the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, Target 4: Quality Education, educators from pre-primary to university have been put at the forefront of this movement. At the higher education level, study abroad is arguably the most important global learning tool used by American institutions today for building global citizenship. However, the vast majority of American students study abroad in Western Europe, leaving a glaring gap in …

Holistic Support And Development: Collaboration Between Residence Life And Faculty On Short-Term Education Abroad Programs, Kendra Sherman

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Short-term education abroad programs are designed to increase students’ intercultural competencies, expose them to new cultures and languages, prepare them for future employability, and further their academic development (Castiello-Gutiérrez & Gozik, 2022; Yao, 2021). While education abroad programs may result in strong benefits for students, they are not without their challenges when it comes to facilitating and managing them. Both the faculty who lead these programs and the students who participate in them face challenges respective to their experiences abroad. Many researchers emphasize collaboration between student affairs and academic affairs to alleviate these challenges, but no one office is identified …

Content And Consequences: Impact Of Representation In Stem Higher Education Instructional Content On Marginalized Students, Nichole Ventura

Doctorate in Education

This qualitative study examined representation of historically marginalized students in STEM instructional content at the higher education level and its impact on their learning experiences. Despite growing diversity initiatives in STEM enrollment, curricular materials often fail to reflect the identities of underrepresented students. Using critical theory and interpretivist approaches, this research investigated how representation—or its absence—shapes students' sense of belonging, academic identity formation, and persistence. Through semi-structured interviews with undergraduate students from historically marginalized backgrounds, and purposeful sampling, this study captured the lived experiences of students engaging with STEM instructional materials. Interview protocols explored how students perceive their representation in …

Exploring The Role Of Christian Religiosity In The Acceptance Or Rejection Of Ai Chatbot Use Among Faculty At Church Of Christ Universities, Amos Gutierrez

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Higher education institutions are navigating the benefits and challenges of generative AI chatbot use and preparing faculty and students to engage with these tools ethically and responsibly. The problem is that there are many challenges and barriers to using these technologies in higher education, and Christian higher education institutions must also address context-specific considerations regarding mission and vision rooted in biblical faith and practice. The purpose of this quantitative, nonexperimental, cross-sectional study using confirmatory factor analysis and multiple regression through structural equation modeling was to examine faculty perceptions of AI chatbots and how Christian religiosity moderates acceptance. An online survey …

Nursing Students As Advocates: Addressing Social Determinants Of Health Through Service-Learning, Rebekah Mullins

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

Advocacy is at the heart of nursing practice, and advocating for the social determinants of health (SDOH) is crucial when providing care to patients from vulnerable populations. Service-learning is a strategy that can be used to teach students advocacy skills. Chapter 2 of this dissertation portfolio presents a concept analysis that explores the definition of advocacy using the Walker and Avant method (2019). The concept analysis informed the development of the case study presented in Chapter 3 and the research study presented in Chapter 4. The portfolio includes original, qualitative research that was guided by the interpretive descriptive method. The …

Navigating Undergraduate Research In The Digital Era: A Qualitative Analysis Of Faculty Digital Practices And The Visibility Of Undergraduate Research Opportunities, Danielle Rukezo, Laamiah Mansuri, Southern Mullen, Madison Millen

Undergraduate Scholarly Works

This project examines undergraduate students’ experiences with research and the ways participation in undergraduate research supports academic, professional, and personal development.

Leading Beyond The Lecture: A Case Study Exploring How Community College Students Experience Their Instructors’ Positive Leadership Strategies, Mandy Morrison

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Positive leadership, an approach to leading individuals to the point of flourishing, has been studied in corporate contexts. While the student-to-instructor relationships only distantly compare to the employee-to-supervisor dynamics, the relationships and power differential have similarities, making the pillars of positive leadership relevant in the context of higher education. Given the critical nature of student success to stakeholders in higher education and the students themselves, discovering instructor strategies that enhance student success can demonstrate an upward spiral of positivity that extends from the student, to the instructor, to the college, and ultimately to the community. Framed by leader-member exchange (LMX) …

Developing Clinical Judgment In Nursing Students Using Discourse With Meaningful Feedback, Explanatory Mixed Methods Design, Annissa C. Jackson

Nursing Theses and Dissertations

The competency of clinical judgment in new nurses leading to safe practice has declined. The integrated clinical education theory posits discourse with meaningful feedback between nurse educators and pre-licensure students during clinical experiences enhances the development of clinical judgment. Quantitative evidence is needed for efficacy of clinical teaching using discourse with meaningful feedback. The hypothesis for this study was implementation of discourse with meaningful feedback between the academic nurse educator and the pre-licensure student nurse in direct patient care will improve the development of clinical judgment in students compared to the development of clinical judgment in students exposed to other …

A Qualitative Study Of Middle School Teachers’ Experiences Integrating Computer Coding Into Mathematics Classrooms, George William Austin Iii

Theses and Dissertations

As computers become more accessible in schools nationwide, teachers are embracing them to impact achievement positively (Brudno, 2013; Cetin, 2016). As a result, computer coding instruction has gained attention as a strategy for providing students with skills that will serve them both pre and post-graduation (Burke & Kafai, 2013; Yadav et al., 2016; Ng, 2017). Computer coding is the process of providing instructions for a computer to follow. In 2017, the South Carolina State Board of Education approved Computer Science and Digital Literacy standards for all K-8 public schools in the state of South Carolina (South Carolina Department of Education, …

It's Deeper Than Rap. Exploring The Lived Experiences Of Black Faculty With Hip-Hop Epistemologies Through Counterstory, Austin Ashe

Graduate Doctoral Dissertations

This dissertation study explores the experiences of Black professors who carry Hip-Hop epistemologies and utilize Hip-Hop as a method to navigate the social and structural systems within their predominantly white institutions (PWIs). Grounded in Critical Race Theory, the study utilizes narrative inquiry and counterstorytelling. The analysis involved the development of a composite counterstory featuring the fictional protagonist, Hampton Franklin. The findings highlight common experiences among participants. Findings suggest that Black faculty are insiders whose positions grant them access and influence. Second, they are outsiders that navigate hypervisibility, invisibility, and racial battle fatigue. Third, each participant was a “pedagogue of the …