In recent years, there has been a large increase in college programs for crime scene investigations. In order for college graduates to be competitive when applying for these highly sought-after jobs, graduates must be able to demonstrate the skills and knowledge they have acquired during their college coursework in lieu of on-the-job experience.…

Many stakeholders emphasize the importance of diverse populations' participation in the sciences, though the motivations for this vary. Some reference an economic standpoint by emphasizing the importance of either recruiting more science workers to compete in a global economy, or of individual financial success for people from historically…

Leveraging racial sensemaking and constructive-developmental frameworks, this study investigates how school leaders implementing culturally responsive-sustaining education make sense of racism, and how their racial beliefs change over time. Given New York State's mandate that educators implement culturally responsive-sustaining education, it made…

This descriptive qualitative study was designed to understand the experiences of former Community Psychology (CP) undergraduate students who participated in a degree program at a California university. The purpose of this qualitative study is to explore how former Community Psychology undergraduate students describe their experiences using…

Technology has been brought into the educational milieu changing the way teachers and parents communicate. It allows teachers and parents to communicate conveniently while also facilitating the sharing of a variety of media (i.e., photos or video). Photos paint a visual picture of learning in the classroom, allowing families a glimpse into their…

Non-formal STEM education programs can expose youth to STEM concepts outside the formal school environment. These programs employ education techniques such as hands-on learning, problem-solving, and connection to authentic science experiences. Youth participating in non-formal STEM programs are more likely to consider themselves science people and…

This study focused on South Asian American students' experiences of belonging at a historically women's college (HWC) in the United States. The purpose of this study was to understand where, how, and with whom South Asian American undergraduate students experience and enact belonging at historically women's colleges. The research questions that…

This autoethnographic exploration of my journey from college athlete to an adaptive athlete and an Israel educator. The emergent self-study leverages photographic and poetic inquiry to explore feelings surrounding my relationship to my acquired physical disability and my relationship with my Jewishness and Israel. My story connects the seemingly…

This arts-based educational research dissertation is grounded in my emergent practices of photography and understandings about its material medium of photobook through visual reading and small book making. With the four chapters and one separate and accompanying handmade photobook titled "Missing Mountain," I seek to trace, sort out,…

Background: Data storytelling is an interdisciplinary practice that uses visual and narrative elements to engage an audience with data. Students need more opportunities across school curriculum to consider the connections between data and social and environmental contexts. Few studies have investigated how to support teachers in co-designing for…

With a growing interest in Social and Emotional Learning (SEL) in education (Goldberg et al., 2019; Gordon et al., 2016; Todd et al., 2022), schools have been positioned as effective settings for SEL development of students (Nielsen et al., 2015). As the potential of Physical Education (PE) to promote student learning in social and affective…

This qualitative research study explores autistic student sense of belonging in college using photovoice methodology. Belongingness is associated with feeling respected and important to others such as peers, faculty, and staff in the campus community (Strayhorn, 2019). Further, sense of belonging is a function of perceived support from peers,…

This dissertation is based on auto-criticism, a new qualitative inquiry that combines educational criticism and arts-based research. It focuses on my own experiences as an aspiring educator who struggles with stuttering and public speaking anxiety. The study aims to describe, interpret, evaluate, and thematize my experiences of dealing with public…

This theoretical study examines the use of visual images as a bridge to and from printed literary texts for secondary-level and higher-education students. Elementary educators and literacy experts have long embraced the visual as a means through which pre-readers begin to "read" stories and for supporting young readers' comprehending…

This study focused on both the voice and experience of successful Black students in higher education as well as the factors, both internal and institutional that they perceive as contributors to their success. This research is important because while a breadth of research exists that examines Black students and their relationship to higher…