There has been a growing emphasis on integrating green and sustainable chemistry (GSC) into the curriculum. Unfortunately, there is yet to be a nationwide, uniform decision of which aspects should be included or how, leaving individual instructors or institutions to decide whether--and how--to address GSC knowledge. Furthermore, faculty nationwide…

The problem with retention has led researchers to study the causes of attrition and ways to improve successful outcomes. Students define having positive faculty-student relationships that are therapeutic as a way to enhance successful academic outcomes. The problem that was addressed in this study is that there is a limited understanding of…

This study sheds light on the assets First Generation Students of Color bring with them to a Research I University and highlights the role a small learning community plays in helping them identify and activate their assets. Through a qualitative case study consisting of five synchronous online focus groups and document analysis, I delve into the…

Due to college writing instructors' lack of pedagogical digital competence (PDC), they struggled to adapt to emergency remote teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 pandemic. The problem this study addressed is that while higher education institutions expected undergraduate instructors to use online teaching methods effectively, few studies…

This quantitative research study builds on existing theoretical concepts of human capital management, expectancy theory, and psychological contracts to show that utilization of employer-sponsored tuition benefits (ESTB) by higher education employees directly correlates to increased employee tenure and retention. ESTB utilization over a 10-year…

Since the end of the 19th century, musical theater has thrived and continued to grow as a prominent American artform. Though musical theater has roots in classical style singing, it quickly capitalized on the inclusion of contemporary music trends, notation, orchestration, and themes. Because of its influence from contemporary styles, musical…

This mixed methods study investigated the effectiveness of a novel educational framework, Creative Teacher Preparation (CTP), in enhancing the creative teaching abilities of undergraduate education students during field-based learning. The study focused on pre-service teachers enrolled in an undergraduate program designed for initial…

When instructing very large groups of students in science, it can be difficult to engage all students in the content and measure their understanding. A major unaddressed challenge in science instruction is how specifically to design and implement strategies that engender active learning particularly in high-enrollment undergraduate courses. Active…

This dissertation presents the results and outcomes of an effort to design educational tools and curriculum to improve student learning in introductory programming courses. The work was conducted at the University of California, Merced (UC Merced), situated in the Central Valley of California, and home to a diverse student population. The findings…

Nursing educators have been asked to incorporate teaching and learning strategies that prepare nursing graduates to work in healthcare environments that require higher levels of thinking and clinical judgment. It is imperative that nurse educators use evidence-based teaching strategies that reflect the actualities of nursing practice. The flipped…

Within the last decade, the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM) has made a call to action, asking educators to engage in effective teaching of mathematics which includes having classrooms rich in mathematical discourse (NCTM, 2014). In this nine-week dissertation study, three mathematics graduate student instructors (GSIs) teaching…

Nursing school attrition rates are steadily on the rise. Attrition rates are related to high course failure, program drop-out, and burnout. Resiliency is a critical quality that baccalaureate nursing students must attain to cope with nursing school stressors successfully. Nursing student resiliency is in the infancy stage of research…

Achieving equitable outcomes in undergraduate biology education requires accurate conceptions of students and the barriers they face to engagement. However, discipline-based education research has yet to engage with the implications of the contemporary landscape of higher education--and its tolls on undergraduate well-being--in theorizing how to…

This exploratory study aims to contribute to the limited literature regarding the characteristics of STEM gatekeeper courses (Seymour & Hewitt, 1997; Suresh, 2006; Weston et al., 2019; Vyas & Reid, 2023) and their role in student retention and attrition by centering issues of ableism and racism (Annamma et al., 2013). I argue that…

Higher education and workforce systems have reformed over the last decade. These reforms are in response to an evolving economy, irregular political environment, a damaging pandemic, and declining enrollment in postsecondary education, and are an attempt to better prepare employees for new occupations and increased competition for students. One…