The magnitude and scale of current threats to ecosystems requires interdisciplinary approaches to both science and training. For example, urbanization has resulted in increased runoff from communities into coastal habitats, necessitating work across the marine-terrestrial interface. This runoff holds myriad pollutants which can impact vulnerable…

Since its inception in 1992 at Ball State University, safe zone trainings (SZT) have been conducted at hundreds of institutions of higher education (Poynter, 2017). While previous studies have focused on SZT programs, ally development, and the campus climate for the LGBTQIA community, there is a lack of scholarship on SZT facilitators. This…

This study investigated the use of playgroups as a play-based intervention for Early Intervention aged children with developmental delays. Children currently enrolled in Early Intervention National, across New York State, and locally are being provided with fewer services than in prior years due to provider shortages. Children from diverse…

Prior to COVID-19, suicide was the second leading cause of death for college students for over a decade. Within this group, transgender college students were ten times more likely to attempt suicide than their cisgender peers. Fortunately, suicidality for this subset appears to decrease with education level. While it is not clear if an…

This phenomenological qualitative study examines a problem of practice and its context within equity, ethics, and social justice. Nationwide, African American students represent a small percentage of all students enrolled in an honors program or college. This study explores the experiences of African American students who are members of the Sally…

This study investigates the stories of youth makers who participated in the Making for Change (M4C) program at a community-based makerspace. The purpose of this study is to understand what an equity-oriented makerspace might look like and why it matters to youth learning, identity, and agency by foregrounding the voices and experiences of youth…

The United States has a weight problem. It's not just about food intake but also about energy consumption [97, 153]. This dissertation asks: "How can we encourage people to act in ways that are mutually beneficial for themselves and the environment?" To date, there is no single behavior intervention in the literature targets behavioral…

Black males complete college at a lower rate than do all ethnic minority groups in the United States. Many universities have developed programs to improve educational outcomes for Black males, yet graduation rates remain low. The purpose of this study was to explore the engagement experiences of Black male college graduates who participated in the…

This research concerns the culture of design education in the context of great change in the social and professional conditions of practice. Findings illuminate interrelationships among pedagogy, professional identity and the design of the instructional setting in programs that teach visual communication and interaction design. Participants'…

Leaders in higher education bear the responsibility of creating educational environments and programming that promote student development and help prepare graduates to work, live, and lead in today's interconnected and global society. Such institutional programming, which fosters "intercultural maturity," defined as the cognitive,…

Environmental education researchers have long identified a connection between formative play experiences in nature settings and pro-environmental behaviors (i.e., career paths) of their subjects later in life. Most studies have been post-hoc retrospective looks that have not had the ability to assess causation. As more children are removed from…

This study was aimed at exploring the relationship between school culture and teachers' work environment and further exploring the roles of school culture, teachers' efficacy, beliefs, and behaviors for character education, and teachers' work environment in the relationship between a character education intervention and students' social emotional…

The purpose of this quantitative study was to examine the influences of a school-based cultural awareness program on ethnic identity and self-esteem in fifth grade early adolescents. The development and implementation of a school-based cultural awareness program was intended to offer students a basic foundation for the development and/or…

Recent research on social emotional learning (SEL) curricula has shown that implementing SEL instruction within the classroom is a qualified evidenced-based intervention to help students develop fundamental skills for success in life. SEL curricula help teach students essential skills such as recognizing and managing emotions, developing caring…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore and describe the visual arts beliefs and practices of eight K-1 teachers in four schools and in two different school districts in a southern state. Using a phenomenological framework (Creswell, 2007; Leedy & Ormrod, 2005), the research revealed the teachers' understandings of beliefs and how…