Despite the widespread integration of personal devices in K-12 education, students are inadequately prepared to utilize technology in alignment with the demands of the contemporary world (World Economic Forum, 2022). They are coming of age amidst a disruptive technological landscape, encompassing artificial intelligence, robotics, the internet of…

The 21st century is a new era full of hope and challenges, and 21st century skills are crucial to today's globalized world (Goradia, 2018; Bellanca & Brant, 2010; Worapun et al., 2022). More and more educational organizations have started to realize the importance of applying 21st century skills to contemporary education. In this changing…

This dissertation develops and evaluates the validity and reliability of the Skills Self-Efficacy Scale for Adolescents (SSES-A), a measure designed to assess adolescents' self-efficacy in critical future skills: problem-solving, communication, creativity, collaboration, and critical thinking. Anchored in Social Cognitive Theory and Psychometric…

This dissertation offered insights into the repercussions of safetyism within societies shaped by cognitive distortions and political correctness. Safetyism, which prioritized emotional safety over intellectual liberty and a multitude of viewpoints, contributed to heightened vulnerability among individuals. Protecting individuals from provocative…

The purpose of this causal-comparative study was to employ a quantitative research paradigm to determine the impact of a one-to-one technology initiative on the development of the 4 C skills of high school students. An objectives-based evaluation model was used to review the one-to-one implementation for future planning and continuous improvement.…

The purpose of this study was to determine if the use of one-to-one technology integration initiatives had a positive impact on student engagement. This study looked at survey results from teachers and administrators/building leaders in Southeast Missouri school districts who have been using one-to-one technology integration for a minimum of two…

This study explores how Black girls express their "Black girl imagination" while participating in a critical, informal science learning program, Empowering Girls Through Art & Science, designed to prioritize the positive visibility of Black girls and promote the critical exploration of scientific histories. The goal of the research…

Student engagement is a common problem in schools today and a challenging one to solve. Choosing to dive deeper into this complex problem at one high school, ten teachers participated in a coaching cycle designed to impact self-efficacy in student engagement with the support of the school's instructional coach in collaboration with the principal.…

Organizations advance and grow by solving problems one at a time, and management graduates should possess critical thinking and problem-solving capacities to be effective business managers and creative engineers. The problem was that critical thinking and creative problem solving are operationally ill-defined in engineering and management…

There is an ever-increasing need for technologically literate citizens to find creative ways to solve societal problems. STEM, the integration of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics subjects continues to be a popular topic as schools grapple with how to best prepare students for an ever-evolving society. As societal and technological…

This research study employed quantitative and qualitative designs to explore the impact of immersive technology on the Computational Thinking (CT) capabilities of students enrolled in an engineering program at a Historically Black College or University (HBCU). The quantitative study in this research employs a survey design approach to explore the…

This study utilizes an educational historical narrative research method to understand the unique viewpoint of Lowenfeld toward visualization as a holistic concept in progressive art education. Employing a social constructivist framework, it explores the problem that the emphasis in education on the surface elements of standardized subject-based…

A critical issue today for organizations is the lack of skills among the workforces. One of the main concerns for industries and organizations in the United States is how they plan to keep up with these shortcomings and be able to compete with fierce competition in a global market. The only rational and palpable answer to this concern is for the…

This study explores how an afterschool science program for girls that uses a curriculum written by female scientists/science educators and highlights the contributions of women in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields affects girls' perception of scientists, confidence in their science skills, belief in their ability to…

The purpose of this non-experimental research study was three-fold: (1) to investigate the relationships among the attributes of creative problem solving ability (divergent thinking, convergent thinking, motivation, general knowledge and skills, and environment) and their relationships in the humanities (specifically those that took enrichment…