Discussion forums are important components of online courses because of the collaboration and community they foster, and the language used within the discussion forums may be influential in this development. In particular, studying the gendered language patterns of discussion forums can help gain insight into students' state of mind and propensity…

This study aims to answer the following research question: How is participation in selected high impact practices (HIPs) that promote social capital associated with community college students' positive civic learning outcomes (CLOs) such as communication and listening, diversity, and consensus-building? This study analyzed responses to the 2019…

This practice-based approach argues service learning can teach social justice in parks & recreation management education. The US parks system creation and history is rooted in injustice. Use of US parks and park service employment remain inequitable today. Significant work must be done in the provision of recreation and park services to all…

Indianapolis, Indiana is a sprawling city making it an exceptional locale to pursue environmental learning and stewardship research, particularly in the urban context. To achieve improved understanding of people's attitudes and behaviors towards their natural environment and resources, research was conducted on different local populations of…

This dissertation in practice created a new form of educator development called the Virtual Educator Network (VEN) and examined its impact on educators' attitudes towards inclusion, feelings of support, and incorporation of new strategies to solve problems of practice they find important. The VEN is a form of professional development that pulls…

Despite seven decades of policies aimed to equalize the educational inequities and social injustices experienced by people of color, the inequities and injustices still remain. Through qualitative case study and portraiture methodologies, this study examined how a multi-level social network of families, educators, and community members engaged…

This Dissertation in Practice (DIP) was a group dissertation as required by the Doctorate in Educational Leadership program and created a new form of educator development called the Virtual Educator Network (VEN). This DIP examined the VENs' impact on educators' attitudes towards inclusion, feelings of support, and incorporation of new strategies…

The purpose of this dissertation is to examine how academic performance of the online learning mode compares with the traditional face-to-face mode in rural community colleges. As online learning has become a popular instructional offering among many rural community college students seeking to advance their opportunities, so has the level of…

Cross-sector education collaborations, sometimes termed "collective impact" or "cradle-to-career" initiatives, have emerged in recent years across the U.S. as local interventions attempting to align services among educational institutions, local government, businesses, other community-based organizations, and philanthropies to…

This article expands upon and problematizes the practice of community-engaged research (CES) through the lens of school closings. Rather than employ a one-dimensional view of CES that portrays university researchers and community partners as collaborating equally on all stages of the research, we suggest a broader, more flexible understanding that…

To receive the Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement, campuses must provide extensive documentation indicating a commitment to institutionalizing community engagement. When they do so, the Carnegie Foundation recognizes community engagement as part of the institutional identity of the campus. The Community Engagement…

Places of worship play important roles as anchor institutions that promote community engagement and motivate political activity. Universities, particularly in urban settings, can also serve as anchor institutions that connect communities. Yet, there is often a gulf between the two, to the detriment of the broader community. In this article, we…

As we look ahead to the next 20 years of educational change, I argue that broader community contexts interplay with students' in-school learning, and thus, we, as an educational change field, ought to examine more deeply the role school-family-community partnerships play in the students' holistic development. This consideration is particularly…

Objective: The Gaelic Athletic Association (GAA) is part of the cultural fabric of Irish society with a club in almost every community nationwide. The aim of this project was to carry out a pilot evaluation of the GAA Healthy Club Project (HCP), which is a unique effort by a national governing body to include health as part of the core business of…

Higher education institutions are increasingly required to provide a measured response to perceptions that challenge institutions' value proposition as assets to their communities. This article focuses on best practices in the campus' efforts to create a pathway to demonstrate community impact. The ability of systematic tracking of partnership and…