As time passes, different groups of students might perceive things differently than those who preceded them. The idea of what higher education should be, look like, feel like, and be reflected upon in the aftermath might be shifting from the worldviews which have existed in recent decades. Added to the generally changing nature of perspectives,…

Both fashion design and education are areas where new technologies can have a significant impact. This dissertation examines the potential of virtual reality (VR) for fashion design education and focused on the profound affordances that virtual reality offers - immersion and agency. Using a phenomenological approach, the study combined arts-based…

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns many post-secondary educational institutions all-around the world, including the USA, were forced to transition their teaching methods from a traditional in-person to an online teaching format starting in the spring of 2020. This research however is focused on the transitioning of…

Muslim women are portrayed with a dichotomous image: on one side, as the victims of the patriarchal Muslim men and, on the other, as the violent associates of the Muslim terrorist (Maruoka, 2008). The act of head covering, the most visible Muslim-identified marker, has thus assumed an outsized space in research of Muslim women. However, while…

The integration of behavioral sensing and Artificial Intelligence (AI) has increasingly proven invaluable across various domains, offering profound insights into human behavior, enhancing mental health monitoring, and optimizing workplace productivity. This thesis presents five pivotal studies that employ smartphone, wearable, and laptop-based…

Basic Need Insecurities often impact the ability of community college students to persist and complete their goals. The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated BNI for students' forcing administrators to respond to and address BNI. This study will highlight administrators' responses toward BNI and focus on the changes and/or services administrators…

When one thinks of the fashion industry, one might think of famous designers and celebrity fashion shows. Today, fashion is a $1.2 trillion global industry, employing 1.9 million people in the United States, creating a positive impact on regional economies across the country (JEC, 2015; US Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2017).…

The need to understand how Muslim students experience college is a growing concern, given the number of incidents that indicate a hostile environment after the events of September 11, and the subsequent war against terror. Muslim graduate students are more visible on campuses across the United States. This study examines the experiences of Muslim…

The rise of online course enrollments in higher education has highlighted the need to establish and validate effective online instructional strategies focused on improving learning outcomes and affective responses towards instruction. One such strategy, group-based context personalization, frames instructional materials within contexts relevant to…

The relative insignificance of fashion to the discipline of sociology, as well as academia writ large, has led to a substantial paucity of theory and scholarship about people dressing their bodies. Despite Aspers and Godart's 2013 plea in the "Annual Review of Sociology" to change the tide and seriously examine of the sociology of…

The number of students from Saudi Arabia studying in the United States is increasing; this study focused on understanding Saudi women studying in the United States. A qualitative phenomenological approach was used to address the main research question: What are the perceptions of Saudi women on their experiences as international college students…

The purpose of this study was to investigate the application of a social psychological theoretical framework to the study of creativity in apparel design, with a focus on technological engagement and motivational factors. A sample of 32 apparel design students from two major southeastern universities were selected to complete a self-report…

Sustainability is gaining importance because of heightened ecological challenges. The UN declared 2005-2014 as the decade of sustainable development encouraging educational institutions at all levels to nurture ecologically literate individuals. An ecologically literate person has the knowledge necessary to comprehend interrelatedness among…

The purpose of this study was to explore the efficacy, benefits and student perceptions of using Internet videoconferencing and a web camera to connect college and university fashion students with apparel industry professionals. A total of 70 college and university fashion students, three instructors, and three apparel industry professionals…

In an ever changing global economy, higher education experiences accountability issues in educating the workforce. Graduates require the knowledge and skills necessary to succeed in the global workplace. For graduates to have the opportunity to attain this understanding and expertise, it is critical to identify what influences curriculum…