Mindfulness practice has been shown in the literature to enable school students of all ages to have better coping skills and academic achievement. The school milieu is a good fit for the delivery of mindfulness interventions. Implementing programming in schools is challenging, and there is a gap in understanding whether schools will successfully…

This work explores the complex cognitive processes students engage in when addressing contextual tasks requiring linear and exponential models. Grounded within Piagetian constructivism and the Knowledge in Pieces (KiP) epistemological perspective (diSessa, 1993, 2018), this empirical study in a clinical setting develops a Microgenetic Learning…

In counseling supervision, leadership is often associated with supervisors' skills, role, position, and responsibilities. However, supervisees need to learn and practice how to lead also: for example, how to promote others' well-being, how to support, and advocate for others and self. Graduate supervisee relational leadership in the mental health…

This study was about a university course, "Mindfulness & Sustainability" (GC495), that I designed, instructed, and assessed. Twenty-one students and I went on a mindful learning journey; together we cultivated a community of Transformative Sustainability Learning (TSL). I used The Work that Reconnects (WTR) to teach mindfulness in…

The purpose of this quantitative correlational-predictive study was to determine if, and to what extent, self-talk (self-reinforcing, self-managing, combined and individually) predicts academic burnout for undergraduate students in the Southwest region of the United States. The triadic model of self-regulated learning and job demands-resource…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how community college student-athletes who reside in the central California area describe how mindfulness training has influenced their psychological well-being. The conceptual framework comprised mindfulness-acceptance and commitment (MAC) to provide the theoretical foundation. MAC…

An ongoing concern in higher education is the disjunction between how faculty teach and how students learn best. A primary objective of higher education is to produce content experts, which does not automatically translate to expert teachers of content. Lacking formal instruction on how to teach their content, faculty often teach in the same…

This dissertation study was designed in response to the focus in schools on test scores and accountability, which has increasingly impacted students' experiences in schools as well as art education curriculum and pedagogy. In this study, I responded to and aimed to disrupt the neoliberal culture of public schools in my high school art classroom by…

This dissertation explores the lived experience of transformation in mentor-coaches trained and certified through the Center for Mentoring, Coaching, and Leadership Development (CMCLD). The CMCLD describes its training as a transformational process in which mentor-coaches adopt a listening mindset that becomes a lifestyle change. This dissertation…

Contemporary research pertaining to the experiences of flow in education is scarce and that which does exist in the literature often focused on the teacher-student relationship. The purpose of this qualitative, interpretive, phenomenological approach (IPA) study was to examine the lived experiences of secondary school counselors as related to…

Metacognition involves the monitoring, regulation, and evaluation of one's own cognitive processes and is known to enhance educational outcomes and retention in students (Bruin & Van Gog, 2012). This study assessed metacognitive practices among college students at the University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus, by administering existing…

The present study sought to explore the lesser-known dark side of flow in academics. Although flow is typically viewed as a positive experience, its outcomes are not always beneficial. In order to carry out this endeavor, a sequential explanatory design was utilized to assess the potential negative consequences associated with flow in the domain…

In the past 15-20 years, contemplative practices, designed to cultivate present-moment awareness, have become more common in K-12 educational settings with some growth in higher education contexts seeking to reorient around teaching the "whole student". In response to calls that have also emerged in higher education to advance social…

This dissertation explores the impact of mindful meditation on imaging students, aiming to determine whether meditation practices can enhance students' overall outlook and mood amidst the numerous stressors encountered within their academic program. Imaging students often face high-pressure situations, including the emotional toll of caring for…

The assistant principal position is a middle management position that can be challenging and lead to burnout, attrition, and turnover. There is little research on the characteristics of the assistant principal position, the impact of policy, and the role that positive psychological resources play in explaining well-being. With a sample of 184…