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Overcoming Current Challenges In Higher Education Through Team Teaching, Carol Rogers Shaw, Corinne Brion, Katelyn Case

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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Team teaching in online higher education courses provides an innovative approach to meeting the needs of students and enhancing the teaching experiences of instructors. In this study, two instructors collaborated to team teach a course in an online doctoral program; this article shares their experiences. A multi-method qualitative approach was utilized to explore the benefits and challenges of team teaching. Data included questionnaire responses from students, journal entries written by instructors, and interviews with program administrators. The findings offer possible solutions to common challenges in higher education today such as increasing …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 10, Issue 1, Spring 2026

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2026 issue (Volume 10, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

This issue of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence brings together articles that explore innovative instructional approaches and emerging technologies for strengthening teaching and student learning in higher education. The contributions examine team teaching as a model for building instructor collaboration and reducing burnout in online doctoral courses, cross-curricular instruction in speech-language pathology clinical education, guidance for graduate students undertaking single-case research design in the social sciences, an experiential SNAP Challenge assignment for …

Faculty Perceptions Of Lgbtq+ Students In Higher Education, Serena Gramling, Laura E. Barrow, Stacy Mikel, Mark J. Sciuchetti Dr., Falynn Turley

Higher Learning Research Communications

Objective: Limited faculty understanding of LGBTQ+ student experiences may contribute to exclusionary campus climates and discriminatory practices. This study examined faculty perceptions to identify ways to improve support for LGBTQ+ students and promote inclusive environments.

Method: A descriptive quantitative design was used to examine faculty perceptions of LGBTQ+ students and differences across geographic regions. 142 participants completed the 20-item instrument.

Results: Although regional differences in acceptance were observed, geographic location did not significantly predict faculty attitudes. Faculty acceptance played a key moderating role in the relationship between awareness and engagement in inclusive practices. Findings indicated that faculty attitudes alone are …

Reining It In: From Reflexive To Intentional Instructor Self-Disclosure, Rona Miles, Alla Chavarga, Chelsea Blaney

Essays in Education

Instructor self-disclosure is often promoted as a means of humanizing the classroom environment and improving learning outcomes. Though disclosure has the potential to be highly beneficial, it also carries a risk to students and learning that is often overlooked. This paper presents a point of departure perspective that instructor self-disclosure should be approached with far greater caution than most educators consider. We argue that disclosures should occur only when they are justified with a clear pedagogical purpose. Casual or spontaneous disclosures, by contrast, carry sufficient potential for unintended harm such that their risks outweigh presumed benefits to classroom rapport and …

Educator Perceptions And Uses Of Generative Artificial Intelligence (Genai) In Middle Level, Secondary, And Higher Education Classrooms, Rachel Stowers

Honors Capstones

GenAI has experienced rapid growth and controversy over its benefits, drawbacks, and ethicality in education. This study examines Illinois educators’ attitudes and classroom use of GenAI across middle school, high school, and higher education. Data was collected through a digital survey containing both quantitative and short-answer questions, yielding 330 respondents who were practicing teachers, along with five supplemental interviews. Preliminary results show that respondents ages 20–29 reported the highest understanding of how to use GenAI yet were also the most likely to express ethical discomfort, with 45.9% disagreeing that they feel comfortable using it ethically. While responses varied, educators generally …

The Campaign For Motivation: Comparing Tabletop Role-Playing Game Running With Classroom Instruction, Arpit Bawa

Journal of Research Initiatives

Motivation is a cornerstone of effective teaching and learning, influencing student engagement, satisfaction, and academic performance. This descriptive case study examines Tabletop Role-Playing Games (TRPGs) as an underutilized pedagogical approach in higher education and compares the motivational processes involved in TRPG game running with those in classroom instruction. Leveraging the mere exposure effect (Zajonc, 1968), the study proposes that faculty unfamiliar with TRPGs can lower perceived barriers to adoption by identifying familiar motivational elements shared with classroom teaching. The study draws on self-determination theory, motivational frameworks, and case study methodology to analyze structural parallels between TRPG game mastering and instructional …

Zooming Into Success: Collaborative Virtual Spaces For Dissertation Research And Pedagogy In Higher Education, Stephanie L. Brooke

International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

Dissertation students face numerous challenges, including narrowing down research topics, managing scholarly writing, and overcoming writer’s block. This article explores the creation and piloting of collaborative virtual spaces designed to support dissertation mentees in their academic journey. Through this project, three distinct virtual spaces emerged, each addressing specific student needs: emotional support, academic writing, and research alignment. The development of these spaces was influenced by theory as well as workplace cultural initiatives in an online program for dissertation mentoring. Creating these collaborative virtual spaces based on student needs led to transformative best practices in virtual learning environments. This method provides …

Determinants Of Critical Thinking In The Ai Era: The Mediating Role Of Self-Efficacy In Digital Literacy And Students’ Social Interaction, Annisa Arrumaisyah Daulay, Atikah Asna, Devi Eka Yulita Br Tarigan

Buletin Konseling Inovatif

The importance of critical thinking in higher education has become increasingly prominent amid the rapid advancement of digital technology and artificial intelligence. This study aims to examine the effects of social interaction and digital literacy on students’ critical thinking skills, with self-efficacy serving as a mediating variable. Employing a quantitative approach with path analysis, data were collected from 650 university students during the 2024/2025 academic year and analyzed using SmartPLS. The results indicate that self-efficacy has a significant effect on critical thinking (β = 0.455, p < 0.001) and functions as a mediator linking digital literacy (β = 0.286, p < 0.001) and social interaction (β = 0.166, p = 0.001) to critical thinking ability. Furthermore, digital literacy exerts a significant indirect effect on critical thinking through the enhancement of self-efficacy (indirect effect = 0.234, p < 0.001). These findings underscore that strengthening digital literacy and social interaction within educational curricula, along with fostering students’ self-efficacy, can effectively enhance critical thinking skills, which are essential for addressing academic and professional challenges in the digital era.

Fostering Psychological Ownership And Self-Authorship In Higher Education: Pathways To Student Engagement, Growth And Knowledge Creation, Noora Heino, Markku Ikävalko, Anssi Tarkiainen, Terhi Virkki-Hatakka

International Journal of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education

This study explores the intersection of psychological ownership (PO) and self-authorship (SA) in the context of university students’ project-based learning. It examines how students develop a sense of ownership over their course projects, ideas, and knowledge they create, and how this engagement shapes their learning, identity, and sense of self. The findings highlight the role of control and perceived idea quality in fostering psychological ownership, as well as the importance of intimate knowledge and perceived object quality in supporting self-authorship. The study underscores that when students feel connected to their ideas, their motivation, persistence, and engagement increase, especially in creativity-driven …

White Undergraduate Students’ Perceptions Of Faculty Of Color, Jeffrey Cross

Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Capstones

Despite decades of initiatives that promote the values of diversity, equity, and inclusion in higher education, the percentage of faculty who identify as people of Color still remains low. Experiences of discrimination and marginalization from White faculty colleagues and White students has been commonly reported by faculty of Color. While studies have examined these experiences from the faculty perspective, research addressing White students’ experiences with faculty of Color has been sparse. The purpose of this study was to examine White undergraduate students’ perceptions of faculty of Color at predominately White institutions and how these students understand the influence of racial …

A Phenomenologically Informed Study Of Black Male Preservice Teachers’ Lived Experiences: Professional Socialization, Social Representation, And The Redesign Of Teacher Education For Equity, William A. Anders

Student Theses

This qualitative research explores the experiences of Black male preservice teachers in New York City’s teacher education programs. To examine the underrepresentation of Black male preservice teachers, the research employs Critical University Studies and Critical Race Theory to investigate the institutional barriers they face. Using semi-structured interviews with seven participants and reflexive thematic analysis, the findings revealed six paramount themes: Pathways in Teaching, Representation and Identity, Experiences in Teacher Education, Racial Bias and Institutional Challenges, the Role of Mentorship and Support Networks, and Teaching Philosophy.

Participants described the challenges that Black male preservice teachers face, including isolation, economic hardships, unsuitable …

Preparing English As A Medium Of Instruction (Emi) Lecturers: The Required Competences And Rationales, Harumi Manik Ayu Yamin, Sisilia Setiawati Halimi, Harni Kartika Kartika

International Review of Humanities Studies

Despite the increasing trend of English as a Medium of Instruction (EMI) in higher education in Indonesia, studies focusing on professional development for EMI lecturers remains scarce. Given the pivotal role lecturers have in the success of EMI programs, it is essential that these lecturers are provided with the necessary training and support to effectively deliver their courses in English and make well-informed pedagogical choices. This paper aims to investigate necessary sets of skills and competences required by EMI lecturers and rationales for incorporating them in EMI teacher training programs. This study employed a qualitative approach. It involved a critical …

Automating Academia: Implications Of Genai Use In Doctoral Research And Online Mentoring, Cheryl Burleigh, Andrea M. Wilson

Journal of Online Mentoring

This study critically examines the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI), specifically ChatGPT, in the development of doctoral dissertation proposals, highlighting both its potential and its ethical implications. Through a content analysis of a dissertation proposal created using ChatGPT, the study investigates how GenAI supports structural organization, academic writing, and citation formatting while exposing significant concerns related to fabricated references, methodological misalignment, and diminished scholarly rigor. Although GenAI accelerates the proposal-writing process, its outputs often lack the depth, coherence, and originality expected at the doctoral level, thereby threatening the integrity of academic research. Findings reveal that GenAI-generated content may deceive …

Enablers And Constraints To Implementing Intellectual Virtues Pedagogy In A Higher Education Context: A Teacher Educator Perspective, Ellen Larsen, Katie M. Burke, Melissa Fanshawe A/P, Yvonne Salton, Mark Oliver

Australian Journal of Teacher Education

Higher education aims to develop graduates with specific professional and disciplinary expertise and lifelong learning capabilities. We argue that instruction for these learning dispositions, conceptualised in this study as intellectual virtues, is challenging and complex. We report on practitioner research conducted by nine teacher educators as we worked to implement intentional instruction of intellectual virtues in our teacher education courses. Drawing on online surveys and reflective conversations, we used descriptive statistical and thematic analysis to investigate the approaches taken to integrate the intellectual virtues and, more specifically, the challenges and opportunities for doing so. Findings highlighted the structural, cultural, and …

Generative Artificial Intelligence Application In Occupational Therapy Education, James Wersal, Justin Mason, Mary Shotwell

Journal of Occupational Therapy Education

Generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) is a developing technology within Higher Education Institutions with substantial potential to transform teaching pedagogy, improve individualized learning experiences, and automate administrative functions. GenAI has the potential to bring significant enhancements by advancing adaptive learning interfaces, customized learning materials, and automate administrative support. Despite these benefits, ethical considerations, data privacy, and the risk of over-reliance should be considered prior to using GenAI. The authors highlight how GenAI is supported by adult learning theory and provide practical strategies for incorporating GenAI in the occupational therapy curricula and to support the faculty role. The impact of GenAI on …

When Prayers Aren’T Enough: The Need For Mission Formation And Professional Development For Lay Faculty At Catholic Colleges And Universities, Lucy A. Pesce

Seton Hall University Dissertations and Theses (ETDs)

Current literature suggests that administration and faculty must make a more intentional effort within Catholic higher education to articulate the mission of these religiously-affiliated institutions in response to two current issues: dwindling numbers of clergy and vowed religious faculty and administrators, and fewer students nationwide who self-identify with any form of organized religion. However, few studies have examined the experience of lay faculty at Catholic institutions who are entrusted with advancing the mission, regardless of their religious affiliation, and their professional development needs.

Using the Association of Catholic Colleges and Universities’ Catholic Identity and Mission Assessment (CIMA) as a framework …

Borderlines Of Becoming: Transfronterizx College Students Navigating Surveillance, Hybridity And Belonging Along The Us-México Border, Aylin Garcia

Open Access Theses & Dissertations

This narrative literature review examines the educational experiences of transfronterizx college students along the U.S.– México border, a population largely absent from higher education scholarship. Drawing on Borderlands Theory, Anzaldúa’s frameworks, and critical perspectives on neoliberalism and militarization, this thesis highlights the border as a site of both constraint and possibility. Structural violence, surveillance, and militarization intersect with linguistic, racial, and class hierarchies to shape students’ mobility, identities, and sense of belonging. At the same time, students mobilize hybrid identities, cultural wealth, and transborder networks to assert agency, cultivate belonging, and resist deficit narratives. It also identifies persistent gaps, particularly …

Comparing Massed And Distributed Course Formats: Effects On Outcomes In A Graduate Augmentative And Alternative Communication Course, Brandon Scott Eddy, Alli Sauerwein, Leah Meloy, Eric Sanders

Teaching and Learning in Communication Sciences & Disorders

The effects of massed versus distributed learning have been well studied in the verbal and motor learning literature, with findings suggesting enhanced outcomes from distributing learning over time. However, some studies have found limited evidence to support enhanced outcomes from distributed learning when applied to an entire academic course. The effects of course scheduling on student learning in speech-language pathology graduate coursework have received limited attention. This study compared learning outcomes between a one-week massed format and an eight-week distributed format in an online two-credit augmentative and alternative communication graduate-level course. Learning outcomes were assessed before students enrolled, immediately after …

Framework Integration In Academia: Moving From Theory To Practice, Lori B. Doyle, Kara S. Bratton, Timothy Young, Catherine Webb, Cari A. Chittick, Heather L. Vezner, Rebecca A. Stanton, Tanya M. Tarbutton

Journal of Organizational & Educational Leadership

Character education has been a point of focus and research in K-12 education dating back to the 1990s. The work of integrating a character-forward framework in higher education is now considered a beneficial and impactful practice. One university has successfully completed the initial work of integrating a servant leadership framework in the School of Education using an approach in line with the community of practice model. The authors of this paper work together and have each played a key role in not only the early stages but the ongoing phases associated with maintaining and improving. This theory-to-practice article begins with …

Developing An Instrument To Measure Teacher Attitudes Toward Multilingual Pedagogies, Lauren H. Ramers

Dissertations

In an increasingly globalized world, substantial numbers of multilingual learners occupy K–12 and higher education spaces bringing diverse linguistic resources that, when intentionally and appropriately leveraged, can significantly enhance English language learning outcomes. Multilingual pedagogies, which honor and build upon students' full linguistic repertoires, are essential for fostering equitable and inclusive learning environments. This quantitative exploratory study investigated teachers' attitudes toward multilingual teaching with the goal of developing a reliable survey instrument—the Multilingual Pedagogy Scale (MPS)—to measure how teachers perceive language learning in multilingual classrooms and what they report doing in their classrooms.

First, a review of the research helped …

A Collaborative Teaching Approach: Teaching Emergent Bilinguals In Higher Education, Erika Oliveros

Theses, Dissertations and Culminating Projects

This dissertation examines the collaboration between two college instructors, one in writing and one in psychology, to enhance support for emergent bilinguals at a private university in the northeastern United States. While collaboration among educators is widely encouraged in K–12 settings, it is far less common and studied in higher education, particularly in relation to language-minoritized students. Through an action research model, this study examines how our informal exchanges evolved into a more intentional and reflective collaboration over time. Grounded in the frameworks of translanguaging (García, 2009) and community cultural wealth (Yosso, 2005), the study traces the evolution of our …

Diversity Initiatives In Higher Education: Understanding The Experiences Of Black Males In Cuny’S Nyc Men Teach, Fatima Sherif

Dissertations, Theses, and Capstone Projects

This qualitative study examines the experiences of Black males in New York City Men Teach (NYCMT), a diversity initiative designed to increase the representation of Black male educators. Despite efforts, Black men remain underrepresented in education. Drawing from narrative-inquiry and guided by Critical Race theory and the Radical Care framework, this research explores how participants experience NYCMT and what their stories reveal about the effectiveness of diversity initiatives. Data from Semi-structured interviews were analyzed using thematic analysis, revealing five key themes: community, financial benefits, mentoring, professional development, and challenges. Findings show that while NYCMT offers critical emotional, financial, and structural …

Becoming A Beloved Community: A Restorative Reckoning For A Radical Conversion To Transform Discourse In Higher Education, Latasha Tomay Varlack-Butler

Dissertations

This dissertation critically examines the misappropriation of Restorative Justice Discourse (RJD) within three predominantly white institutions (PWIs), analyzing 59 institutional documents through Critical Discourse Analysis, Relational Critical Discourse Analysis, and Rhetorical Criticism (Fairclough, 1995; Vaandering, 2021; van Dijk, 2008). Tribal Colleges and Universities and South African institutions have emerged as exemplars of authentic RJD, countering co-optation within PWIs. The findings demonstrate that RJD as applied in PWIs is framed in ways that attenuate its transformative potential, perpetuating color-evasiveness (Bonilla-Silva, 2017) and obscuring the intersectional experiences of Black, Indigenous, and disabled communities (Crenshaw, 1991; Million, 2009).

Grounded in decolonial praxis (Smith, …

Learning A Little Bit Harder: The Intersecting Experiences Of First-Generation And Single-Mother College Students, Natalie Lecy, Elizabeth Hendrix, Brian A. Droubay

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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This study examines the experiences of nine first-generation, single-mother college students, focusing on these intersecting, double-jeopardy identities. Participants’ difficulty navigating college varied; contributing factors included family background, social capital, the type of college attended, and whether they established a mentor. The following themes were established: 1) realizing college is an option, 2) caught between two worlds, 3) college wasn’t designed for us, 4) economic barriers, and 5) disparities in social capital. Our findings indicate colleges were unprepared to meet the unique challenges faced by this group. We present recommendations for the …

The Role And Influence Of Faculty As Predictors For Retention And Satisfaction Among Generation Z, Katelyn Romsa, Stephani Jarecke, Jessie H. Hendricks, Bryan Romsa

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

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While previous research has established that faculty and their interactions with students have had the greatest impact on student retention and satisfaction for centuries, limited studies have been done to understand how faculty are influencing Generation Z, our newest generation of students in higher education. This study examined how the quantity of faculty interactions is impacting student retention and satisfaction among 342 Generation Z first-year college students at a public land-grant institution in the Midwest using the National Survey of Student Engagement instrument. In a Mann-Whitney U test, significant difference was …

Full Issue: Journal On Empowering Teaching Excellence, Volume 9, Issue 1, Spring 2025

Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

The full-length Spring 2025 issue (Volume 9, Issue 1) of the Journal on Empowering Teaching Excellence

Access the online Pressbooks version (with downloadable EPUB format) here.

The issue includes five articles addressing challenges in higher education: faculty-student interactions with Generation Z students, experiences of first-generation single-mother college students, implementation of an interdisciplinary museum studies course, guidance for creating educational videos, and a book review on resistance to change in higher education. The journal emphasizes practical strategies for effective teaching, inclusivity, and innovative approaches to pedagogy across various educational contexts.

Institutionalizing Normality: Disability, Productivity, And Higher Education, Ashley Dirzis

Student Theses

This thesis examines how capitalism and neuronormative domination shape the structures and values of academic institutions, affecting faculty, students, and research subjects alike. By privileging productivity, conformity, and efficiency in the pursuit of income, universities often marginalize those who diverge from normative standards of thinking, behavior, and embodiment, particularly disabled individuals. Drawing on Marta Russell’s Disability and Capitalism and the shaping of disability by capitalist systems, Robert Chapman’s notion of the "Empire of Normality" and Jay Dolmage’s concept of the retrofit from Academic Ableism, this paper analyzes how academia reinforces ableist norms. It explores the realities and barriers that …

Factors Influencing Jordanian College Understudies' Impressions Of Learning Through Emergency Distance Learning (Edl), Abdelnaser Sanad Alakayleh

Journal of Research Initiatives

In this study, which used a quantitative and correlational approach, the variables influencing Jordanian university students' perceptions of their education under emergency remote learning scenarios were investigated. An online survey was administered to a sample of 765 male and female education stage students. Jordan offers higher education for both genders and at different levels in different regions. Many criteria connected to perceived learning were taken into consideration when administering the study questionnaire. It was discovered that the economics students had a more positive perception of learning than the education and science students, followed by deep learning, avoiding superficial learning factors, …

Online Inclusivity: Mission And Best Practice, Colin P. Marks, Zoe Niesel

Faculty Works

This essay examines the role of inclusivity as a foundational principle in online legal education, arguing that it is essential to fulfilling institutional missions, aligning with established pedagogical best practices, and enhancing the overall learning experience. Drawing on the development of a fully online J.D. program, the piece outlines how inclusivity can be embedded at both the institutional and classroom levels. It highlights strategies for fostering a sense of community among geographically dispersed students, including integrating online learners into broader academic and co-curricular activities, designing courses that balance synchronous and asynchronous instruction, and implementing consistent instructional standards. The essay further …

Research Methodology Education In Europe: A Multi-Country, Cross-Disciplinary Survey Of Current Practices And Perspectives, Silke Kniffert, Ivan Buljan, Flavio Azevedo, Peter Babinčák, Lucija Batinović, Thomas Rhys Evans, Sara Garofalo, Christopher Graham, Lucianne Groenink, Malika Ihle, Milosav Klugar, Lucia Kočišová, Michal Kohút, Nikolaos Kostomitsopoulos, Seán Lacey, Anita Lunić, Ana Marušić, Thomas Nordström, Charlotte R. Pennington, Daniel Pizzolato, Ulf Toelch, Marta Topor, Miro Vuković, Michiel R. De Boer

Publications

Background

Research methodology education aims to equip students with the foundational knowledge of robust scientific practices, emphasizing deep understanding of scientific inquiry, integrity, and critical thinking in research practice. A literature review reveals that the observed diversity in research methods course design and instruction stems from a lack of consensus about the essential foundations required to critically engage with, design, and execute research in education. This is further compounded by a limited pedagogical innovation. However, no study has yet investigated how research methodology is taught and perceived across European universities. The objective of this study is to examine practices and …