Social group disparities persist in who chooses to pursue Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) fields in higher education. Goal congruity theory has highlighted how perceptions of other-oriented opportunities in STEM can spur interest among underrepresented students. The present work extends this framework by considering how…

There is ongoing debate in preservice science teacher education about the function, definition and assessment of preservice science teacher dispositions in preservice science teacher education programs. This is due to the numerous definitions found in the educational literature on teacher disposition. Previous research indicates that teacher…

Design schools represent a unique context for the study of creativity. Design school students are expected to master creativity by developing individualized processes. Student development in the design classroom has traditionally focused on cultivating professional skills and aptitudes. However, design school students may have long-held beliefs…

Over the past years, researchers have explored the lived experiences of people of color, namely Black women, in academia. Examiners have learned that Black women often learn how to succeed in academia but at the expense of their mental well-being and even in the midst of oppressive situations. Most of the work previously presented was largely…

This text serves to assist teachers in promoting student ownership of mathematics by synthesizing relevant research into practical classroom strategies across three tiers of student interaction and experience: classwide, peer-to-peer, and individual. Research from across these tiers of student experience is reviewed and synthesized including…

The purpose of this qualitative, phenomenological study was to explore faculty perceptions of barriers to academic literacy development for Hispanic students at a small, rural school district in North Texas. Specifically, the researcher sought to investigate the perceptions of faculty regarding the barriers to Hispanic literacy development that…

After completing the first-year seminar, this qualitative research study explored traditional first-generation students' lived experiences in their sophomore year. The second year of college is primarily viewed as challenging and difficult for sophomores. Nevertheless, colleges and universities tend to provide less support to sophomore students…

The first year of college is a time of challenging transition for many. Students are adapting to a new way of learning as well as developing as adults. Using a mixed methods design, this action research study aimed to provide insight into the student experience for academically at-risk first-year students in a health professions program at a…

Spatial skills, the set of cognitive skills that are responsible for our understanding of objects in real and imagined spaces, have been identified as a potential gate-keeper for STEM success. Because of the recent emphasis on improving education to prepare for the increasing demand for workers in STEM fields, there is a rising interest in…

For decades, educational leadership researchers have focused on school leadership behaviors, competencies, and skills that impact student outcomes measured by the students' performance on standardized tests. This practice has narrowed the focus for how the field approaches teaching and learning and the evaluation models that measure school,…

This study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of an applied mental health course in a university setting in reducing distress and symptoms of depression and increasing levels of psychological flexibility. As university psychological services are unable to meet the need of their students, other methods of treatment must be explored. Participants in…

This research addresses the conceptual and methodological challenges of studying transformative learning within the context of international education. A comprehensive framework is employed to identify key dimensions of transformative learning, and a validated instrument (Beliefs, Events, and Values Inventory) is used to quantitatively assess…

This dissertation examined the perceived impact of education abroad programs on the retention of African American male students in higher education, utilizing Kolb's Theory of Experiential Learning and Tinto's Theory of Student Retention as the conceptual framework. Given the underrepresentation and systemic barriers faced by this demographic,…

This study aimed to investigate the correlation between the emotional intelligence (EI) of K-12 school principals with student outcomes that included: student achievement, student growth, and student attendance. The participants in this student included principals form various schools in the state of Tennessee. The data from this mixed method…

The estimated prevalence of neurodivergent (ND) conditions is approximately 15-20% of the population in the United States (Doyle, 2020; Maenner et al., 2023). ND students are increasingly enrolling in mainstream colleges and universities (Bakker et al., 2019) but report that they are not receiving adequate support on campus (Dexter et al., 2024;…