This article examines the visual environment on the campuses of two Historically Black Colleges or Universities and two Predominantly White Institutions. I use photos and observations to identify common physical campus variables that may give some insight into the Historically Black Colleges or Universities' campus culture and the unique traits…

This qualitative study investigated staff retention in higher education by focusing on the retention of academic advisors. Academic advisors play an integral role in student success and advising is notably one of the fields in higher education with the greatest turnover. This turnover comes at great costs, financial and otherwise, for the…

This dissertation explores the use of place-based pedagogy as a tool for teaching for transfer in a college composition class in West Virginia. Although existing composition scholarship indicates that themed classes (such as a place-based class) are unlikely to facilitate transfer among the students, this is mostly due to instructors of themed…

Special education comprises specially designed instruction, at no cost to parents, to meet the unique needs of children with disabilities (IDEA, 2017, Sec. 300.39). IDEA further states that specially designed instruction can be implemented in the classroom, in the home, in hospitals and institutions, and in other settings. Placement decisions are…

The purpose of this qualitative descriptive study was to explore how teachers in schools with a highly effective school climate describe leadership styles and qualities of the schools' leadership. The primary research question guiding this study is: How do teachers in schools with a highly effective school climate describe leadership styles and…

The campus built environment is an omnipresent force at an institution of higher education. That force is influential during a student's transition into the post-secondary system. Literature on this subject suggests that understandings of the relationship between the campus built environment and the student experience are limited and demand…

Teachers and students constitute the primary relationship dyad in the school--the most common and routine interactions influencing the learning process. It is straightforward to observe the connection between teacher well-being and student well-being and learning; when teachers are well, they can more effectively address students' needs. When…

The beneficial effects of nature and natural environments have been extensively researched and the findings generally support that nature and natural environments can reduce stress and improve cognitive function. To evaluate if self-reported stress levels are reduced, or if cognitive functions are enhanced among adult learners in the presence of a…

This dissertation applies cognitive load theory to teacher working conditions in New York City. To connect small-scale cognitive processes with perennial organization-level effects, the theoretical components of this paper develop a novel framework. Load reduction leadership (LRL) illuminates how day-to-day school operations impact staff members'…

Research on video activity detection has primarily focused on identifying well-defined human activities in short video segments. The majority of the research on video activity recognition is focused on the development of large parameter systems that require training on large video datasets. This dissertation develops a low-parameter, modular…

This study addressed the need to understand the negative experiences of student affairs practitioners of color (SAPOCs) related to racial battle fatigue (RBF) and the accompanying need to explore how SAPOCs working at predominately white institutions (PWIs) experience RBF. The author conducted a multiple-case study with 10 SAPOCs, who served as…

This study employs legal research methods to explore how federal protections for individuals with disabilities apply in the context of postsecondary extended reality (XR) learning, such as for classes taught in virtual reality. Other examples include the use of 360 degree, interactive videos in online courses and activities that leverage digital,…

Black women who become school-based administrators are severely understudied in scholarly research (Lomotey, 2019). Studies suggest that Black women in the United States, who ascend into educational leadership positions, rely on professional training(s) associated with their employment and understandings accrued from inter/personal background…

The main goal of the present work was to introduce a new conceptual framework for quantifying and classifying the environment by imposing a structure for sequencing contextual influences that echoes the study of genes. According to Bronfenbrenner's Bioecological Model of Human Development (BMHD), children's developmental outcomes are the result of…

Due to advancements in information and communication technology and the increasing student demand for online education, online learning units and their leaders are becoming central to the future of the larger institutions in which they reside. The current study was motivated by the imperative to understand how senior leaders influence the ability…