Higher Education and Teaching Commons^™

Building A Culture Of Safety Through Faculty Mentorship: The Peer Pairing Framework For Clinical Nurse Educators, Clare A. Chambers

HCA Healthcare Journal of Medicine

Background

Clinical nurse educators often transition from bedside practice to clinical education in high-risk settings without structured support. Limited or absent mentorship during this transition may affect educator confidence, student learning outcomes, patient outcomes, and the ability to sustain a culture of safety. Although mentorship is widely recommended in nursing education, implementation strategies remain limited. The Peer Pairing Framework was developed as a staged mentorship approach to support clinical nurse educators and inform a comprehensive mentorship model.

Methods

The Peer Pairing Framework was informed by a voluntary onboarding survey of 914 clinical faculty, of whom 73.52% expressed interest in having …

Effectiveness Of A Reflective Dialogue Groups Strategy In Improving Assessment For Learning (Afl) Competency Of Pre-Service Teachers, Dr. Sayed S. Salman

International Journal for Research in Education

The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of the reflective dialogue groups strategy on Assessment for learning (AfL) competency of 8 pre-service teachers enrolled in a teaching practicum course in Bahrain Teachers College. The study made use of a two-cycles action research method to collect qualitative data using artifact analysis through holistic rubrics, as well as quantitative data through surveys and observations checklists for triangulation and research rigor. From Cycle 1 of the study, results showed that the use of the strategy improved AfL competency partially in terms of qualitative data and moderately to highly in terms …

Report On Open Educational Resource And Open Access Publication Practices Of Winona State University Educators, Kayla Olson

Library Faculty Works

This report presents the findings from a survey disseminated to all employees over Winter 2026 that focused on Winona State University educators' knowledge of and practices around copyright/intellectual property, open educational resources (OERs), and open access (OA) publishing. It establishes a baseline understanding of our educators’ advanced information and professional development needs, and can be replicated in the future if needed. In all, responses suggest that there may be continued interest in professional development and support around OERs, some interest in professional development around OA publishing, and potential benefits to further faculty and staff development around copyright/intellectual property. The author …

Sjsu Erfa Annual Meeting Minutes, May 8, 2026, San Jose State University, Emeritus And Retired Faculty Association

SJSU ERFA Minutes

SJSU ERFA Annual Meeting Minutes

May 8, 2026

Sjsu Erfa Board Minutes, September 14, 2026, San Jose State University, Emeritus And Retired Faculty Association

SJSU ERFA Minutes

SJSU ERFA Executive Board Minutes

September 14, 2026

Sjsu Erfa Board Minutes, May 4, 2026, San Jose State University, Emeritus And Retired Faculty Association

SJSU ERFA Minutes

SJSU ERFA Executive Board Minutes

May 4, 2026

Designing With Intent: A Comparative Analysis Of Custom Ai Chatbots As Udl-Aligned Tools For Multidisciplinary Instruction, Ephraim Q. Teye, Clarissa Oteng-Darko, Leping Liu

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

The growing presence of AI in higher education has prompted instructors to move beyond passive adoption, to deliberate theory-grounded design. This session presents two custom AI chatbots (DisneyBot and Rico) developed within a teacher preparation course as the technology-enhanced component of a multidisciplinary instructional unit. DisneyBot is built on the ChatGPT platform to guide learners through an exploration of Disney parks, and Rico, is built on the Gemini platform as an interactive guide to information about Puerto Rico by scaffolding learning across four subject-specific lesson modules – Social Studies, ELA/ENL, Science, and Spanish. Both chatbots were developed to support differentiated …

Core Mathematics Applications Using Ai, Zachary Porter

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

This presentation examines ways to use prompts with AI to build on the applications of core mathematics topics involving algebra, finance, probability, and statistics. We will use AI to discover how the topics in core mathematics could apply to students regardless of their major.

A Student-Centered Model For Ethically Evaluating Ai Integration In Learning Support Services And Beyond, Cristina Caputo, Raymond Bruels Iii, Alexis Rivera

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

As artificial intelligence (AI) reshapes higher education, learning support centers are uniquely positioned to intentionally assess whether if and how to best integrate AI tools into academic services. This session presents a 6-week project framework that was designed to:

• Review the literature on critical AI literacy and training

• Benchmark current best practices in AI policy, use, and integration alongside human-centered academic services

• Examine student AI knowledge and use (needs assessment)

• Identify and evaluate relevant AI tools or platforms

The framework was developed within the Academic Success Center (ASC) at Nevada State University where Center peer educators …

Enhancing Mathematics Learning With Notebooklm: From Passive Study To Active Engagement, Nakisa Ghanbarian, Diana Moss

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

This 25-minute interactive session explores how NotebookLM can be used to enhance student learning in mathematics by transforming passive study habits into active engagement. Rather than focusing solely on the capabilities of AI, this session emphasizes practical, classroom-centered applications that support conceptual understanding and meaningful learning.   Participants will be introduced to key features of NotebookLM, including its ability to generate explanations, summaries, guided responses, and audio-based content from instructor-provided materials. Through live demonstrations, we will present realistic student use cases, such as exploring difficult concepts, identifying and correcting errors in problem-solving, generating personalized study guides, and creating additional practice opportunities. …

Ai Tutors, Worksheets, And Task Design: Matching Ai Tools To Learning Structure, Brock Casselman

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

Artificial intelligence is increasingly used by students as a learning resource in STEM courses. However, classroom observations and survey data suggest that unstructured AI use may correlate with reduced student achievement. Two concerns are especially relevant: AI systems can produce incorrect responses in tasks requiring precise validation, and students may use AI in ways that reduce active engagement with course material.

This session presents two instructional approaches designed to address these limitations: structured AI-generated worksheets and in-chat AI tutors. AI worksheets generate controlled sets of practice problems within instructor-defined course constraints. In-chat tutors provide interactive practice through problem generation, Socratic …

Crafting Resilient Ai Policies For Education, Delight Ejiaka, Miranda Hannasch, Branden Cunningham

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

The rapid integration of generative artificial intelligence into academic spaces requires a shift from passive restriction to resilient, active pedagogical frameworks. This virtual panel explores actionable strategies to protect academic integrity, promote deep critical thinking, and manage AI use, particularly in foundational courses. Panelists will discuss the implementation of high-engagement classroom interventions. The will offer frameworks for transparent student disclosure practices. Attendees will leave with practical templates for syllabus policies, assignment rubrics, and disclosure benchmarks designed to foster a culture of transparency and process-oriented learning in an AI-permeated landscape.

Resisting Ai With Paper: Possibilities, Concerns And Protest, Laura Evans

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

While there are a number of commercial benefits involved in incorporating AI usage and training into college composition classrooms, to many the perils and problems involved in student AI use outweigh these possibilities. A growing number of composition instructors have chosen to return to requiring assignments to be handwritten on paper as an increasingly viable, and even necessary, strategy to combat the growing use of ChatGPT and other AI text generation software as an essay-writing tool. This strategy has a number of potential benefits – the ability to regulate AI usage, to create better memory retention, and decrease student screen-time …

From “I’M Not A Coder” To “I Built A Website”: Teaching Business Concepts Through Ai Vibe Coding, Jean Jeon

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

This presentation shares my experience developing an AI vibe coding project for business students with little or no coding experience. Students first replicated a website, then created their own improved version and learned from peer feedback. Through trial and error, they revised their prompts and applied course concepts related to target audiences, user experience, branding, and business models. What began as an AI tool assignment became a learning-by-doing experience that encouraged students to think like marketers. I will share the project structure, student learning process, and lessons I learned while learning alongside my students.

Ai For Everyone: Designing An Introductory Ai Course Across Disciplines, Jesse Fitts, Waleed Faris

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

As artificial intelligence reshapes virtually every field, universities face a growing imperative to ensure AI literacy is not reserved for computer science majors alone. This panel presents the collaborative design of an introductory AI course built for undergraduate general education — one that serves students across disciplines, regardless of technical background.

Two co-designers will share the story of building the course from complementary angles. The first presenter will address the technical foundation of the curriculum: how core AI concepts such as machine learning, data, and algorithms were translated into accessible, hands-on learning experiences for non-specialist students. The second presenter will …

Beyond Adoption: Shared Values And Guiding Questions For Ai-Aware Teaching, Sarah Cummings, Lyndsay Munro

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

We will discuss how shared questions can provide coherence without requiring uniform practice across disciplines, courses, or instructors. Examples from faculty across disciplines demonstrate how educators can begin with common values while reaching different, contextually appropriate decisions. By shifting attention from finding the single “right” approach to AI toward asking shared questions about teaching and learning, the framework offers a practical way forward amid varied practices, perspectives, and policies.

Ai Across The Curriculum: Early Insights From Unr Students And Faculty, Elisabeth Linn, Elena S. Azadbakht, Rosalind Bucy

AI in the Classroom: A Virtual Summit

In July 2025, the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR) joined librarians, educators, and administrators across 15-20 institutions to participate in an Ithaka S+R AI cohort. Ithaka S+R has worked with academic libraries, teaching and learning centers, and college administrators across more than 60 institutions, leading cohorts focused on teaching and learning with AI, integrating AI literacy into the curriculum, and more. This third cohort focused on defining, implementing, and scaling AI literacy initiatives across higher education. Through interviews with faculty and students, cohorts investigate needs surrounding AI literacy specific to their campus. This presentation will describe the preliminary results of …

“Learning To Ask The Deeper Questions Behind The Image That Most People Don’T See:” Teaching Critical Visual Literacy To History Teacher Candidates Through Interdisciplinary Collaboration, Heather Koopmans, Richard Hughes

The Councilor: A National Journal of the Social Studies

Despite the ubiquitous role of images in teaching history, few teachers have formal training in how to help students critically read photographs, paintings, and other images. The essay centers on research on how Critical Visual Literacy, which focuses on how images reflect complex issues of power in society, can assist emerging teachers in helping students think historically and better engage visual evidence associated with curriculum mandates to broaden historical narratives

The Teaching Stem Center Online: Enhancing Instructional Methods For Underprepared Students' Success, Bassey Akpan, Jan Duncan

The Journal of the Research Association of Minority Professors

This study investigates the experiences and academic outcomes of underprepared and underrepresented undergraduate students enrolled in introductory STEM courses at Texas College, a minority‑serving institution committed to advancing equity in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education. The research focuses on STEM faculty across Biology, Chemistry, Computer Science, and Mathematics and how the Teaching STEM Center Online (TSC) enhances instructional methods to support this student population.

Using a mixed‑methods design, the study evaluates the implementation and impact of the TSC initiative. This includes faculty development workshops, structured instructional coaching, and the integration of evidence‑based teaching practices. Quantitative data from faculty surveys …

From Classroom Conversations To Public Dialogue: Preservice Teachers Engaging With Diverse Children’S Literature, Janell Pycior

Midwest Social Sciences Journal

Preservice teachers often engage with issues of diversity, equity, identity, and representation within the safety of their university classrooms; however, opportunities to extend these conversations into public and professional settings may be less common. This practice-based reflective article examines the experience of moving seven undergraduate preservice teachers enrolled in an upper-level Diversity in Children’s Literature course beyond their familiar classroom environment and into a professional academic conference. The students, majoring in early childhood, elementary, or special education and minoring in reading, participated in a roundtable discussion at the Indiana Academy of Social Sciences focused on diversity and representation in children’s …

Exploring Digital Media Literacy And Its Impact On Pedagogical Innovation And Creativity, Suparno Suparno, Tuty Sariwulan, Bagus Shandy Narmaditya, Ari Saptono, Saparuddin Muchtar, Muhammad Ridlo, Dingot Hamonangan Ismail

Journal of Media Literacy Education Pre-Prints

Enhancing teachers’ innovative work behavior is prominent in promoting educational quality. This exploratory study aims to understand the linkage between digital media literacy, creativity, and innovative work behavior among teachers in Indonesia. The data were obtained from teachers using an online self-administered survey. In addition, the data were analyzed using structural equation modeling with AMOS software. The results of this study indicate that there is a positive and significant influence between digital media literacy and teachers’ innovative work behavior. Indeed, creativity can also be a predictor of innovative work behavior among teachers in Indonesia. This study also notes the connection …

Oral History As A Tool For First-Year Student Success, Justin Willis, Saul Araujo

Journal of Research Initiatives

First-year college students often face significant challenges as they transition into higher education, particularly when balancing academic responsibilities with employment. Many students work out of financial necessity, which can increase stress, limit campus engagement, and negatively affect academic performance and well-being. This qualitative case study explores how oral history methods can support first-year college students as they adjust to the demands of balancing education and work. Guided by Tinto’s Model of Student Retention and Kolb’s Experiential Learning Theory, the study examines how firsthand narratives from individuals who have navigated similar challenges can foster reflection, resilience, and practical skill development. The …

Lecturer-To-Lecturer Learning Model For Artificial Intelligence Adoption In African Universities: Opportunities And Challenges, Vincent C. Asogwa

Journal of Research Initiatives

Although artificial intelligence (AI) can transform teaching, research, and administrative processes, many African universities, including those in Eswatini and Nigeria, face challenges in implementing AI effectively because of inadequate infrastructure, lecturer skill gaps, and financial constraints. This study examines the opportunities and challenges associated with adopting the Lecturer-to-Lecturer Learning Model for AI in African universities. Grounded in social constructivism, the model emphasizes knowledge sharing through social interactions, which is particularly relevant in contexts where external resources are limited. The study employs content analysis of secondary data sources, including academic literature, institutional reports, and case studies on AI adoption in higher …

Does Gender Spell Success? Exploring Female Students' Perspectives Of Faculty At A Higher Educational Institution, Chitora Jackson, Terrence Hicks, Jill Channing, Arnold Nyarambi

Journal of Research Initiatives

Numerous studies have pointed to connections and positive interactions with faculty that result in positive outcomes for students (Beckowski & Gebauer, 2018; Jones, 2020; Trolian et al., 2021). However, despite this knowledge, there are still some areas related to this topic that remain under-researched. The purpose of this qualitative interpretative phenomenological study was to explore the lived experiences of female students at a higher educational institution and to understand how those experiences shape their perspectives of female and male faculty. Additionally, this study sought to discover how faculty gender influences their interactions with students and the similarities and differences between …

Human-Centered Ai Governance In K–12 Education: A Qualitative Content Analysis Of Policy Gaps In Massachusetts School Districts, Simone Elias, Noran Moffett, Jeremy Womack, Richard Brutti

Journal of Research Initiatives

Artificial intelligence (AI) and generative AI tools have rapidly permeated K–12 education, outpacing governance structures and raising urgent concerns about equity, student data privacy, and academic integrity (Eutsler et al., 2026; OECD, 2023). Although a growing body of scholarship proposes multi-level AI governance models for education, empirical evidence on implementing these frameworks at the district policy level remains limited. This article contributes to the field by first synthesizing and adapting a K–12 AI governance framework based on peer-reviewed and policy literature, structured around macro-meso-micro levels and six pillars: ethical and equity-centered use, data governance and privacy, teaching and academic integrity, …

Digital Learning And Digital Literacy: Conceptual Distinctions, Theoretical Frameworks, And Educational Implications Across The Educational Continuum, Simone Elias, Linda Wilson-Jones, Richard Brutti

Journal of Research Initiatives

The terms digital learning and digital literacy recur frequently in educational policy and institutional discourse. Yet peer-reviewed scholarship shows they are conceptually distinct constructs operating at fundamentally different levels of analysis. This article examines the theoretical foundations, definitional genealogies, empirical interdependencies, and grade-band and postsecondary manifestations of both constructs across the full educational continuum, from kindergarten through Grade 12 and into undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral education. Drawing on literature across leading educational technology journals, the article argues that digital learning constitutes a pedagogical modality, the structured, technology-mediated environment through which instruction is delivered.

In contrast, digital literacy is a multidimensional …

Reframing Dissertation Committee Practice: A Student-Centered Conceptual Framework For Doctoral Education, Roberto Victor Rodríguez Rivera

Journal of Research Initiatives

Dissertation committees play a key role in shaping the direction, pace, and outcomes of doctoral study, but their function as a unified structure for guidance and judgment is not well understood. Although research covers supervision, examiner feedback, ethics, power, and dissertation examination, these topics are often studied separately. This article brings together both foundational and recent research to rethink dissertation committees as academic structures that adapt their support, oversight, ethical practices, and evaluation throughout the dissertation process. The article makes three main contributions: it clarifies how committee practice is conceptually fragmented, reviews research on supervision, feedback, ethics, and examination, and …

From Silos To Systems In Higher Education: Doctoral Students’ Conceptualizations Of Faculty And Staff Collaboration In Academic Planning, Linda Wilson-Jones, Simone Elias

Journal of Research Initiatives

Collaboration is increasingly recognized as central to student success and institutional effectiveness in higher education. This qualitative study investigates doctoral students’ conceptualizations of faculty and staff collaboration in academic planning. Data were collected from 22 written responses in a doctoral-level program course. Through reflexive thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006, 2021), five interrelated themes emerged: (1) holistic student support, (2) shared institutional vision and goal alignment, (3) complementary expertise and role interdependence, (4) communication as quality assurance, and (5) collaborative culture as an institutional asset. The findings indicate that collaboration functions as organizational infrastructure that aligns academic and administrative systems …

Removing Barringer: University Renaming Governance, Campus Racial Climate, And The Limits Of Symbolic Reform, Charletta H. Barringer-Brown, Daniel N. Brown

Journal of Research Initiatives

University renaming is often seen as either a necessary moral correction or a less significant symbolic reform. This article examines renaming as a matter of higher education governance. It analyzes the removal of Paul Brandon Barringer’s name from honorific spaces at the University of Virginia and Virginia Tech through a qualitative documentary comparative case study. A contextual policy scan of the University of Richmond, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Oregon State University situates the two primary cases within a wider field of naming-governance design. Guided by critical toponymy, institutional theory, policy-decoupling scholarship, organizational-routines theory, and campus-racial-climate …

Creating Space For Student Voices, Glenda Da Rosa Mayeregger

Teaching and Learning Together in Higher Education

No abstract provided.