Merrimack College is a midsized Catholic Augustinian College pursuing its historical service-based commitments while shifting priorities toward research. With limited time and resources, these two aims can create tension at institutional and faculty levels. This single institutional case study shares the work of faculty and College leadership to…

Several factors, such as declining birth rates, and the COVID-19 pandemic, have contributed to the current downward trend in college enrollments in the United States (Marcus, 2021, May 22). Declining enrollments create a greater focus on retention of students. Retention, however, is complicated by factors such as rising tuition costs, an uncertain…

Educators and administrators in higher education are currently grappling with the effects of individual and collective trauma as it relates to college students' academic performance. A plethora of research points to the inimical effects that trauma can have on students' learning and persistence. This article outlines common trauma terms and…

This manuscript describes an early childhood educator working collaboratively with a speech language pathologist and using an augmentative and alternative (AAC) device (iPad™ application) to label target vocabulary during shared book reading as an inclusive practice. The child throughout the vignettes includes a young boy identified with autism…

Africans coming to the United States of America to go to school traditionally have the ultimate goal of getting the best education and going back to their respective countries. That was my goal when I left Nigeria many decades ago! However, considering the socio-economic and political upheavals in African nations, one is forced to rethink the…

To investigate how the process of peripheralisation usurps internationalisation experiences within the global higher education centres, this article draws on two separate case studies, one conducted in Finland and the other in the UK. In both contexts, Anglophone hegemony plays an important role, but in different manners. In the Finnish case,…

This manuscript shares how one teacher education program is working to interrupt racist, xenophobic, homophobic, antisemitic, ableist, and sexist microaggressions and other forms of discrimination that occur in P-12 field experiences. In this article, we share our context, actions, and examples (i.e., critical cases) of microaggressions from…

Academic hazing within doctoral programs is often so deeply embedded within the doctoral experience that it becomes normalized. This effort translates into oppressive practices where students are broken down and rebuilt into the ideal doctoral candidate, and the process continues with the next batch of candidates. However, no one discusses the…

Math anxiety is becoming more prevalent in classrooms around the world. Students with math anxiety experience both physiological and psychological symptoms, in addition to long-term effects. This article examines the global context of math anxiety, the causes of math anxiety, and what educators can do to support students who experience math…

Gateway college science courses continue to exclude students from science, disproportionately discriminating against students of color. As the higher education system strives to reduce discrimination, we need a deliberate, iterative process to modify, supplement, or replace current modalities. By incorporating antiracist, just, equitable, diverse,…

In this reflective essay, we explore how we and our students experienced trust and opened ourselves up to being vulnerable in two iterations of a course that was built on the pedagogies of ungrading and co-creation in teaching and learning (CCTL). As approaches that fall under the broader umbrella of critical pedagogy, ungrading usually involves…

Background: Traditionally, research examining Black student's mental health has occurred from a deficits-based perspective while failing to acknowledge their fortitude in persevering despite enduring adverse circumstances (i.e. racism and discrimination). However, a growing body of literature highlights the importance of focusing on positive…

Racial inequities in retention and graduation rates are a top concern in higher education, yet scholars and practitioners rarely look to racism to explain these disparities. Critical Race Theory (CRT) is a vehicle to reveal and challenge power and oppression dynamics between racialized groups. This article proposes a practical model for student…

This article is based on the journeys of four women who completed their doctorates in the discipline of Sociology. The four former doctoral students studied at the same distance education institution in South Africa, but they hail from Nigeria, Lesotho and Cameroon, respectively. Together with their former supervisor, autoethnography is used to…

The COVID-19 pandemic has prompted a shift to online teaching, which has dramatically affected all facets of the student experience. In this practice report, we reflect on the synchronous delivery of a popular final-year module "Face Perception" in a United Kingdom (UK) psychology undergraduate degree. In the module, students learned via…