Americans diagnosed with serious illnesses tend to have significantly poorer quality of life due to limited access to reliable palliative and end-of-life care. Individuals living with these conditions continue to experience health care that does not meet their needs, experience undue suffering, require increased care visits, and have limited or…

The delivery of undergraduate instruction at research universities is highly dependent on graduate teaching assistants (GTAs). The GTA position provides critical instructional support, as well as the pedagogical training and first-hand teaching experiences for future faculty. To date, most research on graduate student instruction pertains to…

One goal of college education is to ensure that graduates can meet the writing demands of the workplace and further education. The purpose of this study was to determine if UNH Manchester is preparing students to write effectively in their careers and in graduate education. Data were collected from respondents who rated themselves on 20 statements…

Software engineering is a growing field, with ever-increasing demand for capable engineers who can design, implement, and test the software that is needed for the modern world. With this increasing demand for software engineers, there is a corresponding increase in the demand placed on computer science programs that graduate these engineers.…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore cooperating teachers' perceptions of a year-long teaching residency program at a four-year college located within the Midwest. This exploration is critical considering that residency programs appear to show promise and continue to grow in number and influence, still limited scholarly research…

This study examined the lived experiences of premedical advisors employed in four-year institutions of higher education in the northeastern U.S. advising premedical students about the gap year options between undergraduate education and medical school. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews of 17 premedical advisors and analyzed…

This study aims to understand better how undergraduate students become civically engaged graduates. Three Pennsylvania-based institutions were identified to be the focus of this research. These institutions each have less than 5,000 undergraduate students, are part of a small city with under 100,000 residents, and have a civic-engagement component…

The use of undergraduate teaching assistants (UTAs) has increased in recent years at a number of institutions, especially in active-learning and high-enrollment introductory courses. Currently, there is research demonstrating their benefit to students, and the short-term impacts of the experience on the UTAs. However, no study to date has…

This doctoral dissertation offers an example of how arts-based educational research can be a space to inquire about and explore the complexities of one's own teaching practice and in this case teaching undergraduate arts courses during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the pandemic led to me emergency remote teaching, I began creating digital art and…

The overarching goal of this dissertation is to examine institutional change initiatives in STEM and to understand the impact of engaging with a specific change strategy on a biochemistry educator's instructional practice. Institutional change initiatives involve executing an intentional strategy to influence teaching practices within a specific…

The low student enrollment in respiratory care programs nationwide has led to a pipeline shortage of respiratory care practitioners. The deficit of essential health care workers, such as respiratory care practitioners, has resulted in staffing shortages and resource strains in hospitals nationwide. The purpose of this study was to research the…

Online education is fast growing due to its accessibility and scalability, but engineering has fallen behind other fields in adopting and researching the online educational format. Student course-level attrition is a significant issue in online courses. The goal of this dissertation is to better understand the factors that impact course level…

Heavy metals are a recognized toxic environmental contaminant, even at very low concentrations. There have been well-known events in the last decade within the US of high amounts of lead in the drinking water supplies of cities, leading to detrimental effects within its population. Ways have been found to remove this metal, and others, from water…

Anatomy and Physiology (ANP) courses are a standard requirement for effectively all undergraduate healthcare programs in the country. A large majority of students enrolled in these courses are attending 2-year colleges and pursuing nursing certifications and recertifications. Traditionally, the instructional method and content of Anatomy and…

Self-assessment skills are emphasized in signed language Interpreter Education Programs (IEPs), and it is well-established that self-assessment is an essential element of a sign language interpreter's professional development, yet anecdotal evidence suggests that practicing interpreters frequently do not engage in self-assessment. This study aimed…