In the wake of a global pandemic, an economic recession, and police violence, the role of libraries as a safe place is critical. These events have changed how librarians provide instruction and build communities within the university and outside it. This article discusses how the authors changed their approach to geospatial and data analysis…

While focus group discussions have become popular across the communication research field, some researchers have pointed out the importance of studying group interactions within focus groups. However, most researchers used a qualitative approach and mostly explored the interaction between participants or between participants and the moderator.…

Discrepancies in the number of females occupying superintendent positions in the United States continue to exist; therefore, this study utilized a survey design to examine the perceived barriers to achieving the top positions in education as well as differences by gender among aspiring superintendents in K-12 in Illinois. Statistical analyses…

The Partnership for College Completion (PCC) was founded to "advance equity in higher education" by supporting colleges and universities to improve college completion for Black, Latinx, and Pell-eligible students--those groups that experience persistent disparities in completion. Simultaneously, PCC engages in state policy reform to…

The role of the school leader continues to evolve. As the roles of principals and superintendents become more complex and demanding, there is a necessity to explore the perceptions of Illinois public school principals, superintendents, and Illinois Association of Regional Superintendents of Schools (IARSS) regional superintendents on the need for…

There continues to be a discrepancy in the number of females occupying the superintendent position in the United States. In Illinois, 24% of superintendents are female while 75% educators are female. This study examined the perceived barriers of aspiring superintendents in achieving the top position in education as well as the differences between…

Too frequently, representations of disciplinary writing foreground static notions of knowledge creation and literate practice in science and engineering. Rooted in discourse community theory, such representations present normative tropes of scientific practice that background notions of disciplinarity and obscure people's lived experience and…

This article describes a unique interdisciplinary course on social media and the self developed and taught by the authors at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville. The article describes challenges facing humanities faculty who wish to teach on topics with high societal currency and student interest. Current research into humanistic approaches…

Peer-learning networks (PLN) can be valuable tools for doctoral students. Participation in these networks can aid in the completion of the dissertation, lead to increased scholarship productivity, and assist in student retention. Yet, despite the promise of PLNs, few studies have documented their effect on social work doctoral education. This…

Addressing the importance of international student engagement on campus and creating friendships with host-country nationals during their time abroad, this small-scale study explores the question of, "Are there trends in how or through what means international students are making connections with co-national, multi-national, or host-national…

This article reports the results of a social network analysis (SNA) performed on the mother's primary network of interaction in 15 Mexican American families in the city of El Paso, Texas, the neighbourhood of La Villita, in Chicago, and the city of Lincoln, Nebraska. The goal of this study was to examine potential opportunities for Spanish use by…

More districts realize that communicating in a clear and engaging way with stakeholders about everything from the district's overall education vision to scholastic and extracurricular success stories can go a long way toward enlisting broad community support. And although face-to-face communications are still important, technology provides a…

John Seely Brown suggested that learning environments should be spaces in which all work is public, is subject to iterative critique by instructors and peers, and in which social interaction is primary. In such spaces, students and teachers engage in a situated cognition approach to teaching and learning where "cognitive accomplishments rely…

Since the mid-20th century, instructional technologies and educational media in social work education have undergone significant development with the goals of improving learning and performance and enhancing access. This growth has been marked by technical advances in hardware and by innovations in media, or so-called soft formats. Current…

Transformed into a large collaborative learning environment, the Internet is comprised of information reservoirs namely, (a) online classrooms, (b) social networks, and (c) virtual reality or simulated communities, to expeditiously create, reproduce, share, and deliver information into the hands of educators and students. Most importantly, the…