We are becoming more and more aware of the marks our human existence is leaving on our global environment: the Anthropocene as discourse of that awareness is turning into a living and lived-in reality. I argue that such discourse cannot remain the purview of the natural and social sciences alone: culture must be recognized in its pivotal role of…

Substance use represents a significant global health challenge that many countries lack the capacity to adequately address. While research has identified effective substance use practices and policies, utilization of this knowledge remains weak. Technology transfer is a process designed to accelerate the use of evidence in real-world settings.…

Developing students' global awareness and competencies is crucial in our increasingly interconnected world. This qualitative case study explored what influences social studies teachers' curricular decisions regarding incorporating global topics into their classrooms. The study focused specifically on five high school teachers in Indiana, USA who…

For years, scientists, policymakers, business leaders, and entrepreneurs have warned of social, environmental, and economic risks throughout society. Although researchers have explored the role of baccalaureate-granting institutions in addressing wicked problems of sustainability through multi-stakeholder initiatives, the role of "community…

When major transnational events occur, such as the 2015 economic crisis within Greece, the 2016 violent conflicts within Turkey, and the creation of political policies such as the 2017 President Trump Executive Orders on visa and immigration, the effects ripple throughout the field of international higher education. How higher education…

New Jersey consistently ranks as one of the top-performing states in the country when it comes to education. Most recently, it was ranked third in the nation. A look at the state's standards in any subject shows the state works diligently to vertically align standards while also challenging students in order to better prepare them for the future…

In this study, academic freedom was defined by 17 foreign-born professors: 12 Arab-born and five non-Arab professors from nine different higher education institutions, as the ability to express different ideas, research any topic, and publish the results without fear of intimidation. Semi-structured interviews were conducted to examine how…

Though age and gender do not affect students' knowledge of global issues and associated ambiguity, the academic major of undergraduates did. Students' combined perceptions on knowledge of these issues and their associated ambiguities varied among the four academic groups of majors. Unlike teacher education majors and in combined other majors…

This qualitative multi-site case study explores critical aesthetic experiences in teacher education classrooms, and advocates for the inclusion of theoretical and practical knowledge of "difficult knowledge," visual culture, and critical aesthetics in the classroom. Social reality consists of a perpetual stream of tragic and horrific…

Little is known about the variety of ways students conceptualize matrix multiplication, yet this is a fundamental part of most introductory linear algebra courses. My dissertation follows a three-paper format, with the three papers exploring conceptualizations of matrix multiplication from a variety of viewpoints. In these papers, I explore (1)…

A problem facing education today is that learning typically requires rote memorization rather than the use of higher-order thinking skills. Higher-order thinking is needed in a global society to solve real world problems, therefore students should be required to develop and practice higher-order thinking skills. The purpose of this mixed method…

The fields of pattern recognition and machine learning are on a fundamental quest to design systems that can learn the way humans do. One important aspect of human intelligence that has so far not been given sufficient attention is the capability of humans to express when they are certain about a decision, or when they are not. Machine learning…