The purpose of this study was to examine the Problem of Practice (POP) to determine if and how creating an Esports extracurricular program could potentially benefit and impact academic performance and attendance among high school students. The Dissertation in Practice (DIP) investigated how providing a daytime program could engage and motivate…

African American students make up approximately 13.1% of all students enrolled in postsecondary institutions across the United States (Hanson, 2023). African American students overwhelming, approximately 68%, attend public institutions. Further, approximately, 72% of African American students are enrolled at 4-year institutions. African American…

Biomedical engineering (BME) undergraduate students take courses that allow them to develop skills in multiple disciplinary areas (e.g., biology, medicine, chemical, mechanical, electrical engineering) and as such, have a wide array of career opportunities available to them upon graduation. While their broad curricular exposure lends itself to…

Greek life is an activity that is part of student involvement on a college or university campus. Student involvement allows students to increase their knowledge outside of the classroom through interaction with their peers and faculty, which will hopefully lead to graduation. The creation of Greek life engaged students in activities outside of the…

American Christian higher education has undergone a transformation in ideology since its inception in the Colonial Period. Christian service by students was originally attributed to the manifestation of one's love for Christ, but with successive eras, there has been a secular shift in worldview and discourse as well as service motivation from the…

Community colleges have long served a diverse population of students. Prior research shows that Black males have the lowest graduation rate compared to men of other races and even females of the same race. This qualitative study aimed to research the effects of sense of belonging on Black male retention at one community college in the Northeast…

Higher education administrators, faculty, and other stakeholders desire positive student outcomes, such as persistence and academic achievement, from their student populations. Undergraduate students' cocurricular involvement and academic motivation have previously been shown to separately have a positive correlation with such outcomes. This…

Science education in the United States has endured substantial reform due to national needs for a bolstered, more diverse science, technology, engineering, and mathematics workforce. Recent reform efforts call for students to be engaged in scientific inquiry through the practices of scientists and engineers. Opportunity gaps exist in science…

This qualitative grounded theory study created a theory, including a definition, of overcommitment in undergraduate students at a four-year public institution. Although overcommitment has been studied for decades, the concept of overcommitment in undergraduate students has not been thoroughly explored. Undergraduate students can overcommit in a…

This study described the lived experiences of fifteen African American male college students and their perception of their high school academics. The purpose of this qualitative study was to describe the lived experiences of African American male college students on the factors promoting and inhibiting their academic achievement. In addition, this…

This dissertation uses a cross sectional quantitative design to investigate the relationship between first-year college students' social class and their pre-college interest in engaging in co-curricular experiences during college, their motivations for engaging in co-curricular experiences, and their perceptions of whether co-curricular activities…

College students who have experienced mental health issues are at a higher risk for suicide and suicide ideation than students who do not suffer from mental health issues. Approximately 1,100 college students die by suicide in the U.S. annually (Furr et al., 2001; Taliaferro & Muehlenkamp, 2015). Although there are research studies that seek…

The purpose of this qualitative study was to explore the experiences of African American male Upward Bound participants to determine their identity status and to document their perceptions of Upward Bound's influence on their academic outcomes. This study examined the experiences of eight African American male Upward Bound participants at…

Although much research exists on the academic benefits of ability grouping for highly gifted students, and considerable numbers of studies are reported in the literature concerning the emotional and social adjustment of these talented students, there is a lack of information on the reasons for the distinct disparity in the levels of achievement…

The virtue of student engagement in all aspects of college life has been studied extensively throughout higher education. Research demonstrates that engagement in academics and the social aspects of college lead to retention and persistence. Beyond persistence, engagement has been linked to numerous other desirable effects of college. This…